People are in Conan, but Ace Attorney

Chapter 879 A Dragon-like Reversal (83)

Makoto Nagashima felt the pressure on him increase several times over in that instant.

Suddenly, he understood why Shimano Taiya, a veteran leader of the long-established direct lineage organization, couldn't withstand the pressure in the courtroom. These people spoke eloquently, one sentence after another, which was very difficult for them, the militant faction...

Oh, wait a minute, in terms of physical strength, it seems he can't even beat the two people on the defense table...

This feeling of being unable to win either argument or fight left Nagashima Seiichi with a pent-up frustration. As he watched the judge seemingly seriously considering Minamoto Kou's proposal, he became increasingly uneasy.

—If he were to come forward and admit it now, wouldn't it seem a bit too pretentious?
But if he doesn't step forward now and let Ito Yasuhito come out and explain everything, then he will be undeniably guilty, without even the chance of a reduced sentence for turning himself in...

Seiichi Nagashima was torn.

However, the presiding judge had no idea what he was thinking.

After listening to Xiang Yuanguang's opinion, he thought about it more and more and felt that it made a lot of sense. Since Nagashima Seiichi said that he did not intend to give testimony in court, then let the witness who was willing to give testimony in court come.

It's not like Seiichi Nagashima is indispensable in this matter.

The blond judge quickly made his decision, raised his gavel, and prepared to bring it down.

But at that very moment, Seiichi Nagashima finally couldn't hold back any longer and hurriedly said,

"Wait a minute, Your Honor, wait a minute!"

The hand holding the mallet remained suspended in mid-air, not descending.

The judge looked puzzled at Nagashima Seiichi's sudden intervention.

What does it mean that this guy suddenly appeared and called a halt at this moment? Does it mean he's changed his mind and is going to reveal everything? But just now, he seemed quite loyal in the underworld…

Could it be that they're trying to submit some false information?
Thinking of this, the judge's doubt turned into suspicion.

However, before the presiding judge could ask any questions, Seiichi Nagashima hurriedly and loudly declared,
"Chief Judge, Boss Xiangyuan, and Boss Kiryu, well... I'll tell you the truth... I was indeed the one who traded information with Ito Yasuhito..."

"Actually, I did this for Boss Jinshan's own good..."

Seiichi Nagashima chuckled awkwardly, his voice growing softer as he spoke.

Even he himself could realize how ridiculous his words were. After all, he was already betraying Nishikiyama Akira's information, so how could he possibly be doing it for Nishikiyama Akira's own good...

However, he still said it subconsciously.

For no other reason than that he felt that saying this in court could suggest he had some grievances or other intentions, thereby potentially evoking public sympathy...

However, Seiichi Nagashima's idea was clearly not very reliable.

A hint of confusion flickered in the blond judge's eyes as he asked,

"Mr. Nagashima, you just said that you did this for Akihiro Nishikiyama? Why? What makes you say that?"

Not only did the presiding judge fail to understand Seiichi Nagashima's thought process, but many audience members in the gallery also couldn't comprehend it, leading to much discussion.

The courtroom erupted in chaos.

Kiryu Kazuma, standing behind the defense table, frowned. Although he always looked the same, his frown was slightly more pronounced now. The legendary yakuza said in a low voice...
"Could it be that Seiichi Nagashima means..."

"He'll most likely say something like, 'After I learned that Akira Nishikiyama was going to assassinate Sera Katsu, I sold this information to Yasuhito Ito because I thought Yasuhito Ito would stop Akira Nishikiyama from doing such an unjust thing.'"

Before Kiryu Kazuma could finish speaking, Minamoto Hikaru had already spoken.

The lawyer in blue lightly touched his forehead, shook his head slightly, and said softly.

"It's just a way to try and gain more benefits for myself."

“Mr. Kiryu, you didn’t attend yesterday’s court hearing, so you’re not familiar with the evidence presented. If you had looked into the evidence presented yesterday, you would have found…”

“He was one of the members of the Nishikiyama Group who fled the scene with Nishikiyama Akira after assassinating Sera Katsu.

—One of the members of the Nishikiyama Group who fled the scene with Nishikiyama Akira was Nagashima Seiichi?

A look of surprise immediately appeared in Kiryu Kazuma's eyes.

So, it seems that Seiichi Nagashima was simply acting out of self-interest, without considering any code of honor or morality whatsoever...

Before Kiryu Kazuma could say anything, Nagashima Seiichi had already spoken.

His statement was exactly the same as the view he had just expressed to Yuan Guang.

"Chief Judge, think about it. The reason I betrayed Boss Jinshan's information is because Boss Jinshan has gone astray. I don't have the ability to bring him back on the right track, so I asked others to help me in this way!"

Seiichi Nagashima said somewhat excitedly,

He glanced at the people around him, and without hesitation continued speaking.
"The person Boss Nishikiyama wants to assassinate is Sera Katsu, the fourth-generation chairman of our Tojo Clan. This is a serious breach of the code of honor in the underworld, which is why I passed the information to Ito Yasuhito, hoping that this senior member of the Shimano-gumi could stop Boss Nishikiyama from assassinating Chairman Sera..."

"But I never imagined things would turn out this way..."

Hearing Seiichi Nagashima's words, Sayoko Iwai subconsciously pushed up her black-rimmed glasses, then said with some disgust,

"So, you didn't know that Ito Yasuhito was an undercover agent for the Omi Federation infiltrated into the Tojo Clan?"

"...What? An undercover agent from the Omi Federation infiltrated the Tojo Clan?"

Seiichi Nagashima's eyes widened instantly.

His previous behavior might have been a pretense, an act, but it definitely wasn't now, because he genuinely didn't know that Ito Yasuhito was connected to the Omi Federation; he simply thought it was an internal competition between the Tojo Clan's direct lineage organizations.

This is not surprising, as vicious competition within the Dongcheng Club has been a long-standing issue.

However, the idea that a high-ranking member of the Tojo Clan was actually an undercover agent from the Omi Federation infiltrated into the Tojo Clan was far beyond Seiichi Nagashima's expectations.

He never expected things to take such an unexpected turn!

However, whether Nagashima Seiichi knew or not was no longer important to the presiding judge. He simply raised the gavel, tapped it in his hand, and then said seriously,
"now that……"

(End of this chapter)