Restaurant Legenda was a high-end French restaurant located on Mount Hakodate.
Toru, wearing a skin mask and disguised as a Western man with blond hair and blue eyes, was sitting at a table near the window.
Several exquisite dishes were placed on the table. Toru leaned back in his chair, enjoying the beautiful scenery of Mount Hakodate while waiting quietly.
Ten minutes later, a dignified and elegant middle-aged man wearing a top hat walked in.
He said a few words to the restaurant waiter, then was led by the waiter to Toru's table.
"Sir, this gentleman says he is the person you invited."
The restaurant waiter bowed.
Toru nodded at the waiter and said with a smile, "That's right, it's him. Thank you."
"We don't need any service here. I have something to discuss with him in private, so you don't need to serve us."
The waiter respectfully said, "Understood, sir. If you need anything, please call us. We won't disturb you."
After the waiter left, Toru looked at Kuroba Toichi in front of him.
Toichi was not disguised at this time, but the top hat he wore also covered most of his face.
Unless someone was familiar with Kuroba Toichi, they probably would not recognize him. Coupled with the obstruction from the hat, even roadside surveillance cameras would not be able to capture his full appearance.
"Mr. Kuroba Toichi, please have a seat. This is the restaurant's famous Hokkaido sea urchin with white asparagus foam, smoked venison tartare, and sliced scallops with kelp broth jelly."
"Although I haven't eaten them, they have received many positive reviews online, so I imagine they should taste good too."
Even though Toichi had entered the restaurant, he did not take off his hat. Instead, he followed Toru's invitation and sat across from him.
Toru elegantly poured two glasses of red wine and placed one of them in front of Toichi.
Toichi picked up the wine glass, swirled it, took a small sip, and said gently, "Fujiwara-san, if outsiders saw your current actions, they might think we were a couple."
Toru burst into laughter. "Mr. Kuroba Toichi is also a middle-aged man. I didn't expect you to speak so interestingly, like a young person."
"But you're right. My current actions would indeed make people suspicious. They are a bit too ambiguous."
Toichi smiled. "I've never felt old. Maintaining a youthful mindset has always been something I insist on."
Toru neither confirmed nor denied it. He fiddled with the wine glass twice and suddenly asked, "Mr. Kuroba Toichi, how did you know I was Fujiwara Toru?"
Toichi said slowly, "There's nothing wrong with your disguise. Even I couldn't tell you were disguised."
"I didn't expect that besides me and the two disciples I taught, there would be someone else in this world who possessed such perfect disguise techniques."
"I really don't know whether that sentence is praising me or yourself." Toru burst into laughter. "However, this isn't really disguise. It's just a false mask created by a machine."
"Kuroba Toichi, your technique is amazing, but science and technology are the important factors that drive human development forward."
Toichi was silent for a moment. He said with emotion, "To think it was made by a machine. Current technology is truly astonishing."
"But at the same time, I also feel afraid. If this technology could be used by anyone, it would bring great danger to this world."
"Regarding the technique of disguise, I struggled for a long time before finally teaching it."
Toru tapped the table and said dissatisfiedly, "Mr. Kuroba Toichi, you're changing the subject. What I'm asking you is how you knew I was the one who invited you, not about my disguise technique."
Toichi said gently, "Kaito is my son. It's impossible for me not to care about my son at all."
"When he was captured by you, I already knew. And through Kaito, I also gained some basic understanding of you and the Organization behind you."
"That is indeed a very terrifying Organization. Even I wouldn't want to provoke it."
"But there's nothing I can do. Since Kaito accidentally got involved with you, I had no choice but to step forward."
Kuroba Toichi doesn't know that I am actually the current leader of the Black Organization. He thinks I'm just a member of the Organization, at most a high-level executive, Toru thought.
"It seems I didn't think things through enough back then. I shouldn't have met Kaito with my real appearance. I should have disguised myself first."
Toru sighed slightly. This matter was indeed his oversight back then.
The main reason was that Toru at that time had not thought of using the move of killing Rum to obtain the Black Organization. Or rather, Toru at that time had not expected this matter to happen so quickly.
This resulted in the current Toru having the possibility of his identity being exposed.
If people knew that Toru was the current Rum, then both Toru himself and the Black Organization would have problems.
Fortunately, the clever Kuroba Toichi had not discovered this point either. He only considered him a member of the Black Organization.
Toichi rubbed the red wine glass in his hand. His eyes suddenly became sharp, and he asked in a low voice, "Compared to your identity, Fujiwara-san, what I'm more curious about is how I was exposed."
Toru smiled slightly. "If you don't want others to know, don't do it. Kuroba Toichi, you couldn't possibly keep disguising yourself as other people after your disappearance."
"As someone who often disguises myself, I know very well that when you constantly disguise yourself as someone else, it's easy to cause psychological problems. One day, it will make you forget that you are Kuroba Toichi, or even lead to a split personality."
"You will inevitably revert to your identity as Kuroba Toichi at some point, and as long as you act as Kuroba Toichi, you will definitely leave behind information."
"As for how I discovered you this time, it's also very simple."
"Not many people know that you are the first-generation Kaitou Kid, but as long as they know this information, information about Kuroba Toichi, the world-renowned magician, is very easy to find."
"You are someone who cares very much about your family. Unless you were truly dead, I don't believe you would ignore your own son."
Toru clasped his hands together. He said this in a relaxed and self-assured manner, completely taking the initiative. "And as long as you still have father-son affection for Kaito, then through Kaito, your information can be quickly confirmed."
"The police officer Yoshikyu Kawazoe already left Japan not long ago. So, it's very easy to know the true identity of the Yoshikyu Kawazoe currently in Japan."
"After all, your two disciples have a very good relationship with me. As long as it wasn't them in disguise, and it wasn't Kaito in disguise, then it could only be you, Kuroba Toichi."
Toichi elegantly tasted a bite of the exquisite food on the table in front of him. He said with a slight wry smile, "I didn't expect the reason for my exposure to be this."
Toru smiled without speaking.
Of course, he would not mention the ultimate weapon, the age-progression AI recognition system.
Toichi was silent for a moment. He said slowly, "Fujiwara-san, you wanted to find me, and I can roughly guess your purpose."
"Oh? Why don't you tell me?"
"Pandora's Tears. What you want to know is about this."
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)