Cornered

Cornered (追いつめられた, Oitsume rareta) is the third chapter of volume nine and seventy-third overall chapter.



Plot
Most of Mello’s gang is now dead. Mello figures that Kira is involved. He notices that Sidoh is doing nothing, so he tries to get out of the room and orders the rest of his gang to bring the Death Note up to the monitor room. Mello’s gang begins to shoot at Soichiro and his team. Light orders them to use tear gas, and when they do, one of the thugs drops the notebook. They tell Light that they have the notebook, but they have no clue where Mello is. While the investigation team is searching, Mello is watching from a monitor and realizes that he’s the only one left. He blows up the two entrances so that they cannot leave. However, he also threatens to blow up the whole building with his switch if they make any sudden movements. Mello orders them to destroy all of the cameras in their helmets, throw all of their weapons over the railings, and that one of them holds the notebook while the rest back away; Soichiro does the latter. He orders Soichiro to take off his helmet and walk over the door. Mello comes out of the door and demands that Soichiro give him the Death Note and his mask. Soichiro sees his name; it is Mihael Keehl.

Soichiro tells Mello that he now knows his true name, and if he surrenders, he won’t kill him. An aggravated Light wishes that his dad would just kill him. Soichiro tells him to drop the switch, but Mello answers by saying that if he tries to kill him, he’ll just blow himself up and everyone else along with him. Soichiro tells him that he’s not afraid of death and fully prepared, along with his men, to give up their lives. Meanwhile, Light is desperately hoping that his father will kill Mello before it’s too late.

Conception
Ohba said the chapter's title "Cornered" relates to the positions that Mello and Soichiro are in when Soichiro enters the monitor room.

Ohba said that if there was a kanji character that meant "mano a mano", then he would have used that character.