Death



Death (死, Shi) is the 5th chapter of Volume eight and 66th chapter overall.

Plot
Ryuk comforts Shidoh by telling him that everyone’s looking for the Death Note, and once they find a picture of the kidnappers, he can track him down using his Shinigami Eyes from the shinigami realm. Once Shidoh finds the current owner, he must follow the human until the human dies, and then, he can write a name in it.

Light asks if Near can tell him who he suspects is the kidnapper. Near refuses to tell him because he no longer feels compelled to work with the new L and the Japanese police after they practically gave away the Death Note to the kidnappers. He tells Light that he feels that the new L is incompetent and unlike the real L, has done nothing to further the Kira investigation. Light is pissed, and he vows to get the Death Note back before Near and kill him along with the kidnappers.

Suddenly, most of the SPK members are killed. Near senses that they were spies that the kidnappers decided to kill with the notebook rather than get more information. Only a few member now survive. Light tells him that Near should quit being so resistant and share information with him so that they can both catch Kira as quickly as possible. Light asks that Near tell him who he suspects of being the kidnappers, and in exchange, Light will tell him details about the Death Note. For Near, it is a tempting offer, but it is rather dangerous to tell L about Mello because he fears that he will trace both Mello and Near to Wammy’s House. However, Near is confident that he has destroyed all pictures and information about himself. Near tells Light about Mello.

Two days later, Light finds out that mafia thugs around the U.S. are dying in unprecedented numbers, leading them to believe that the kidnappers have mob ties. Aizawa and Matsuda come back with information they found out about Mello from Wammy’s House. It seems that it was educational facility to train the next L, and Mello and a boy named Near, were the top two contenders. When L died, Mello left the orphanage, refusing to work with L. All photographers of them have been destroyed, but a fellow orphanage resident drew their portraits. Light realizes that, somehow, he is still fighting against L.

Conception
Ohba said the chapter's title "Death" simply refers to the discussion of Rem's death at the start of the chapter and the deaths of the SPK members that happen later in the chapter.