Guidance

"Light Yagami used to be Kira. Kira's power has somehow passed onto another person. Was that because Light Yagami wanted it to happen, or was there someone else in control of Light, lurking in the background, who gave him the power? Was it that person who passed Light’s power to someone else?" "...Given your premise, it would be my will."

- L and Light Yagami

Guidance (誘導, Yuudou) is the twenty-second episode of the Death Note anime series.

Synopsis
After learning the possibility that Kyosuke Higuchi is the Kira he has been searching for, L decides to act. He questions to himself how Misa would go so far, but says that if the killing of criminals does stop, then there is undeniable evidence. He also decides that Higuchi cannot be caught until he learns the complexities of the killing methods adopted by him. Meanwhile, Light questions Misa directly as to how she was able to trick Higuchi. To avoid contradicting her story later, Misa says the truth but leaves out Rem's involvement, to Light's dismay. While Misa thinks that now they have all the info they need, L reveals his decision. He asks Wedy to focus solely on setting up cameras and wiretaps in Higuchi's residence, her having been the one to do so in the office building and five of the men's homes, but Wedy says that that is near-impossible since Higuchi has extremely high-tech security. As a backup measure, L has Wedy install them in every one of Higuchi's six cars.

After this, L asks Light and Misa if they have any memory of ever killed anyone. Light and Misa both deny it vehemently, so L announces a new theory into Kira's powers. L accurately says that Light used to be Kira, and that Kira's powers have transferred to Higuchi, leaving Light with no memory of it. L now wonders if Light himself willed it or if a person was doing it from the shadows. Light decides that it would be his own will. L agrees, since there would be no reason to wait a whole week to do the transfer of power, and that that person would've killed him long ago. With this in mind, L plans to have a situation where Higuchi can't pass his power to someone else.

Ryuzaki decides that Sakura TV will air a three-hour "Kira special" where someone who could know Higuchi's secret and who Higuchi thinks he can kill (the only person under that description being Matsuda) will claim to know the identity of Kira and announce it at the end of the program, while being interviewed the entire time. They will then get Namikawa to get Higuchi to watch the program, forcing him to act. Meanwhile, Matsuda's face will be blurred out by a pane, and at just the right time the pane will fall, revealing "Matsui" as the person. Once Higuchi has to act to try and kill Matsuda, they will discover his killing method, and from there can arrest him. They decide to wait a few days to execute the plan.

Three days later, Namikawa arrives at a private meeting at another Yotsuba group member's house, along with another. One of them, Shimura, asks him who he thinks Kira is, but he refuses to touch on the subject. The two and the other, Mido, then confirm that none of them can be Kira, and they want to no longer be involved, only doing so to prevent getting killed. Shimura thinks Kira is either Takahashi or Higuchi, but Mido rules out Takahashi as a possibility since he is more of a decoy. They correctly deduce that it must be Higuchi, since he is the one who wants all the benefits the most, even if he tries to act otherwise. Shimura then asks who called Namikawa the other day. As if by coincidence, just as Namikawa tries to dismiss the subject, Light calls him. Namikawa is given permission to reveal that it is "L" to Mido and Shimura, and says they all agree on getting rid of Kira. Light says that they now plan to catch Kira, and that they need a favor. Namikawa also reveals that he has deduced that it is Higuchi, causing Light to slip up and say he knows the same. Light then goes over the plan: when the Sakura TV special begins airing at 7:00 that night, Namikawa has to call Higuchi and tell him of the "bad news"; also, if the other members try to interfere, he has to stop them. In exchange, the Yotsuba Group members, with the exception of Higuchi, will be granted immunity from prosecution.

Meanwhile, Higuchi is sitting on his sofa having a glass of red wine. He then reveals his plan to himself: once he marries Misa, he will use her Shinigami Eyes to kill his way into becoming Yotsuba's CEO. Just then, while Rem looks on, Namikawa calls him. Higuchi turns on the TV to see a shrouded Matsuda doing his interview. Higuchi initially dismisses it as a hoax, but Namikawa says that the person knows about the meetings. Matsuda goes on to talk about Hatori's death while Higuchi tries to deduce who it is. As he does, on cue, Matsuda's cover falls, revealing his face. As the interview cuts to commercial break to get everything situated again, Higuchi questions this, as he wrote Matsuda's fake name on the slip, and wonders if "Matsui" was formerly an entertainer (based on his drunken routine) and became a manager using his stage name. Namikawa then hangs up, saying that he going to contact the others.

Higuchi realizes he needs to take matters into his own hands. He tries contacting Misa, since she saw Matsuda with her eyes, but Misa hangs up on him. He tries getting Mido to pull the plug on the special, but Mido denies being able to do that, as it would make them look suspicious. Regardless, they already know it's Matsui, so they just have to kill him. Higuchi then realizes if he says the wrong thing (knowing Matsui isn't his real name), it will reveal his identity as Kira. He tries calling Mochi to get either Misa's location or Matsui's name, but Mogi, who is with Aiber, laughs it off. He then calls the president of Yoshida Productions, who claims to not remember Matsuda's name. He says that Higuchi (per the plan) can go to where all the files of hired people are and tells him where the keys are. With two hours to spare, Higuchi decides to do it, taking a revolver and slips of the Death Note with him, and drives off in a red sports car, with Wedy in pursuit. This is all according to Light's plan. As Higuchi begins to despair over losing everything, he suddenly bursts into a fit of laughter, horrifying Rem as they drive into the city.

Trivia

 * Wedy's name is displayed as "Weddy" on L's computer screens.

Episode Guide
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