Kidnapping

 Kidnapping (誘拐, Yūkai) is the eighth chapter of Volume seven and 60th chapter overall.

Plot
In this chapter, several fact blurbs are shown. They reveal that Wedy, Aiber, and the remaining members of the Yotsuba group all die soon afterwards. On May 1st, 2005, “L” requests that all police and media refrain from making suspects’ faces public. In response, the internet is flooded with information and pictures of criminals. “Light Yagami continues to brilliantly play the roles of both L and Kira.”

Four years later, an odd blond eighteen-year old named Near who plays with his hair and sits with one leg up to a chair talks with the president of the United States along with the director of the FBI. Near tells the president that he believes that the real L is dead and that Kira kills using a notebook of death that still resides with the Japanese police. The president asks who he is, and the director of the FBI answers that he is L’s true successor.

The president establishes the SPK (the Special Provisions for Kira), a group composed of FBI and CIA agents working with Near as leader to catch Kira.

On April 2009, Light Yagami, age 23, enters the National Police Agency and is assigned to the Intelligence and Information Bureau. Kira continues to pass judgment on criminals, and the world is divided into the people that cower in fear and the people that think he is a god.

The investigation team is spending some time at Soichiro’s house and talking to Light’s sister, Sayu. Suddenly, Aiwaza calls them saying that the director of the NPA has been kidnapped. They ask if the kidnappers made any demands. Aiwaza tells them that the kidnappers want the Death Note in exchange for the director’s safety.

Light is astounded that someone else outside the Kira investigation team knows of the Death Note’s existence.

Meanwhile, a young man named Mello, who is always seen munching on chocolate bars, has held the director of the NPA captive. They ask him who the members of the NPA force that worked on the Kira investigation with L are. The NPA director reveals the name of the investigation team—among them, Soichiro Yagami. He also reveals to the NPA director that America knows about the existence of the Death Note and will do whatever is in their power to obtain it.

The next day, the NPA gets a visit from an FBI agent. He tells them that he does not trust the Japanese police and wants them to hand over the notebook. Soichiro accuses the FBI agent of kidnapping the director of the NPA, but the FBI agent denies this. The SPK and Near is listening to this conversation.

One of Mello’s bodyguards tells him that the director of the NPA has hung himself. Mello realizes that this was the work of Kira. He is now determined to abduct Soichiro Yagami’s daughter, Sayu.

Conception
Ohba said the chapter's title "Kidnapping" refers to the kidnappings of Kanichi Takimura and Sayu Yagami. Ohba wanted to "play it straight" as this was the first chapter of the Mello and Near arc.

Chapter Guide
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