Ally

Morning brings Aizawa an exhausting ordeal at the relocated headquarters, where an elaborate security routine forces him to shed even his trousers before he can step inside. Soichiro spots a bandage on his colleague's head, which Aizawa blames on a quarrel with his wife over his grueling schedule. The men settle in to watch the live feed from Misa's room, where a listless L nibbles cake while Light and the model sit idle. Pressed on his apathy, L admits he is deflated by having been wrong about Light. He then raises a fresh notion: the power to kill might pass from one holder to another, which would render the entire chase hopeless. Light, incensed at this surrender, lands a punch, and the two trade blows across toppled furniture until Matsuda interrupts them with a magazine story about Misa.

Sifting through recent deaths, Light isolates a run of corporate executives whose companies all slid in value, the lone exception being Yotsuba. He concludes that Kira is propping up that firm, and L builds on the thought, suggesting the criminal killings are a smokescreen meant to lift Yotsuba's fortunes. Soichiro then delivers bleak news: bribed politicians will allow Kira to eliminate anyone on the force who interferes. Three choices confront the team, and resignation followed by a final push at the case becomes the road Soichiro and Mogi take. When Watari reveals that L has arranged to bankroll anyone who loses their job, the gesture enrages Aizawa, who reads it as a test of loyalty, declares his hatred for L, and walks out. To advance the Yotsuba theory, L recruits two outsiders, the swindler Aiber and the burglar Wedy, both too far beneath notice for Kira to reach.

This installment marks the debut of Aiber and Wedy, drawn from the manga chapter Strike. It first screened in Japan on February 13, 2007, with the English broadcast arriving on February 22, 2008. The closing moments leave the office behind for a park bench, where Aizawa happens upon his wife and daughter; overwhelmed that he can keep his family close, he breaks into tears as they look on, bewildered.