Impatience

Impatience (焦り, Aseri) is the twenty-eighth episode of the Death Note anime.

Synopsis
The episode begins with Near suggesting that he and Light cooperate on the Sayu kidnapping situation. Near also tells Light that his Investigation Team should handle the hostage negotiation instead of the SPK. As Light's team prepares for their flight to Los Angeles, Soichiro says that his life may be sacrificed. Light rebukes him for saying this and tells his father to do everything he can to save his and Sayu's lives. Afterwards, Light tells Misa she should come along because he may need her Shinigami Eyes. While Misa remains oblivious to the kidnapping, Light wonders if he will need to kill Sayu or not.

The next day, the Investigation Team splits up into different planes in order to monitor Soichiro from Los Angeles. However, one of Mello's men forces Soichiro to board a different plane than was originally planned, making it impossible for the Investigation Team to monitor him during his flight. His new plane is also heading for Los Angeles. Light orders Aizawa to stand down and allow this to take place as they can't do anything yet. On the plane, one of Mello's operatives "hijacks" the plane and tells the airport to back off as they drop off a passenger (Soichiro) in a disclosed, remote location. Otherwise, all of the passengers on the plane will die. Near sends satellite images of Soichiro's drop-off location to Light. The drop off is done in the middle of the desert. Through a wireless ear-piece, Mello tells Soichiro that his only interest is in obtaining the notebook. Light orders Near to prevent any police or military forces from interfering. With the satellite monitoring Soichiro, both investigation teams are confident that they will discover Sayu's kidnapper. However, a secret floor ramp opens up and Mello orders Soichiro to enter. Near and Light become worried because no satellite can show what will be going on underground.

The masked man runs to a helicopter and Near's team decides to track it. A moment later, a missile appears from the ground. The missile is launched and Near states that he will be unable to track it. Near and L do not know whether the Death Note is in the helicopter or the missile. A moment later, Mello destroys the helicopter and Near loses track of the missile. Both teams realize their defeat and the consequences of their failure. Misa tries to comfort Light with a drink, but Light casually pushes the drink away, causing it to fall onto the floor. Later, when Near is continuing to work on a building on his desk made of dice, he deliberately has the building collapse. As this happens, most of the SPK's members die from heart attacks. Director Mason and Agent Gardner die of cardiac arrest, and Agent Ratt commits suicide by a gunshot to the head. Light then gets a message from Near. The message uses the same black font on a white background that L and Watari used when communicating with each other, and Near's voice is now no longer distorted. Near tells Light of the SPK's crushing blow, and insists that the two cooperate completely in the future. Near then says that he suspects a teen, nicknamed Mello, for these deaths and tells Light that he is playing a game to see who can catch Kira the fastest. Whoever catches Kira first, Near says, will win. Near also tells Light that there are no known pictures of Mello, though we already know this to be false. Finally, Near tells Light that Mello came from an orphanage named "The Wammy's House", and Light realizes that that was one of Watari's orphanages.

The episode ends with two shinigami having a conversation in their realm. One of them approaches a shinigami known as "Armonia Justin". The other shinigami (named "Sidoh") tells Armonia that he reported a lost Death Note to "the old guy" (presumably the King of the shinigami), and this old shinigami told him that it was the one Ryuk dropped. He then asks Armonia what he should do about this situation. Armonia suggests that he make Ryuk "give it back" to him by going to the Human World, and Sidoh agrees.