Battle 548 is titled "The Shinpaku Alliance Information Squad"
Summary
Kenichi and Miu are at the Shinpaku Alliance headquarters, which they noticed has an updated exterior: various satellites dishes and antenna are seen on the roof. They walk into a room that is filled with computers, acquired through the money gotten from one of Siegfried's songs, "The Shinpaku Corporation's Song of Dreams". As Kenichi expresses his surprise he hears a familiar voice and sees that Akisame is also there.
Akisame is teaching Niijima's squad on how to hack, at the same time he is also searching for any information regarding Shigure. Akisame pulls up a stream of code, quickly translates it, and shows it to Niijima. The two discuss their findings (keeping Kenichi out of the discussion) and they reach the same conclusion.
At the Ryōzanpaku dojo, a sniper is observing the masters as they discuss Kenichi's class going on a marathon. The sniper confirms the presence of all four masters and asks permission to shoot them but he is told to stand down as their real target is not there.
The class marathon is underway and Kenichi and Miu are taking a leisurely pace, with Kenichi stating that this level of running is nothing compared to his normal training. Tanimoto is also seen holding back (to maintain his image as a normal student) as Takeda and Ukita watch the marathon. As Kenichi runs past his other classmates a man climbs out of a passing van and holds Kenichi at gunpoint, telling him to go inside. Miu attempts to retaliate but the gunman threatens to shoot their classmates and the van speeds off with Kenichi inside.
Miu chases after the van and the gunmen inside shoot at her. She is forced to dodge and realizes that they are professionals. Kenichi knocks out one of the gunmen for shooting at Miu but another holds a gun to his head, prompting an angry glare from Kenichi.
The van checks in with the sniper, who says that all the masters are still in the dojo (their shadows are seen through the sliding door). However it is revealed that the shadows are merely made from panels similar in shape to the masters, and Apachai appears behind the sniper and knocks him out.
The people in the van lose contact with the sniper and they see Akisame standing in front of them. Akisame says that his thoughts were correct: using Niijima's information squad and his own chaos statistics he had surmised that Kenichi would be targeted. He confirms that Shigure is indeed alive and he flips the van that was charging towards him.
Kenichi emerges from the van and is shown to be aware of the whole plan to become bait. As one of the gunmen crawls out to escape, he is stopped by Sakaki who states that he has a lot of questions to ask him.
Characters that Appeared
- Kenichi Shirahama
- Miu Fūrinji
- Haruo Niijima
- Akisame Kōetsuji
- Matsui
- Number 20
- Shio Sakaki
- Apachai Hopachai
- Kensei Ma
- Ikki Takeda
- Kōzō Ukita
- Kisara Nanjō
- Yūka Izumi
- Makoto Himeno
Battle(s)
Chapter Notes
Trivia
| Return to Japan Arc | The Eternal Sunset Arc | Epilogue |
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