Chapter 672: , Kenshin's Remains!

PS: Stop flooding the chat with nonsense—I'm laying out the plot! How can everyone understand what happens later if you don't explain things clearly? Can't you have a little patience? No wonder even though Kindaichi's logic is far more rigorous than Conan's, his business adaptations never achieved the same success—because one case drags on for five or six episodes, while Conan usually wraps it up in one, occasionally two. I'm so frustrated I could curse Eri Kisaki...

As the train of time slowly passed through Yonezawa Station on the Shinkansen, 25-year-old Uesugi Muneyoshi sat there, gazing with deep emotion—what he saw were either his own five-year-old shadow or that very train, carrying away fleeting passengers with the flow of time, silently heading toward another world.

Sixteen-year-old Uesugi Muneyoshi sat there... his deep gaze lingering, faintly recalling that year eight years ago when he tasted sweet sake at the Uesugi Shinai. The train glided slowly into Yonezawa Station, and the flowing silver-white world outside the window gradually came to a standstill.

The cold, sharp chill of the Tohoku region, with its quiet and stubborn demeanor, instantly enveloped the entire train car.

"We've arrived." Uesugi Muneyoshi stood up, stepped down slowly, his face slightly solemn, saying little.

"Uesugi-san, Uesugi-san, could you tell me more about Utah again? I heard the Mormons there have a custom of eating people, and in Seattle, gangs annually take over a hundred children under twelve to test drugs!" Date Chūsō, still excited, trailed behind: "The Rat King already told me! This is even recorded in *The Tale of Genji*!"

Uesugi Muneyoshi rolled his eyes, thinking it was just the inertia of East Asian performance-winning learning—if it were an Indian guy, he'd just declare victory first and explain later, I don't care about your this or that.

The snow on the Shinkansen platform had been cleared thoroughly, piled neatly on both sides, forming tidy white low walls. But what truly stood out were the figures on the platform.

There was no surging crowd or dense foot traffic like in Tokyo's Shinkansen stations—here, the flow of people was sparse, life moved at a slow pace.

Yonezawa Station wasn't empty, but the number of people was indeed small—mostly elderly in down jackets and knit hats, aside from a few staff members, hardly any young people could be seen. Compared to Tokyo's ocean-like crowds, it felt profoundly lonely, with very few people around.

The desolation and loneliness of Japan's Tohoku region hit like a wave—contrasted with the youthful energy filling the train car, Yonezawa City's response to Uesugi Muneyoshi's arrival was nothing but quiet snow and cold ice.

The air was so crisp it stung the nostrils—breathing in felt like a refreshing blast of iced tea.

The Shinkansen station building itself was well-maintained; its beige exterior glowed warmly against the snow, yet an indescribable loneliness still seeped through the empty plaza, sparse taxis, and numerous closed or struggling shop signs.

Tokyo is the "center," here is the "periphery"—this is the heart of Tohoku experiencing population decline and aging, the flip side of Tokyo's prosperity. Seeing this, Date Chūsō lost his enthusiasm for discussing American matters, suddenly feeling disinterested and saying: "Perhaps this is truly where the line of slaughter is drawn."

"Perhaps so, but humans are fundamentally self-interested—you can't enjoy luxury in Tokyo's skyscrapers while simultaneously condemning young people for not wanting to return to the countryside to rebuild places like Heyuan New Village." Uesugi Muneyoshi fell silent for a moment, then said: "Alright, let's stop talking about this—we're going to the Uesugi Shinai."

Behind them, a vast number of young girls from YKC48 and Sekishu 46 poured out of the train cars, marching forward in order under the guidance of the scholars and Suō Akira—YKC48 led by general director Yokoyama Yui, Sekishu 46 by team captain Sugai Yūka, with Platform Sakura Nai standing out as somewhat out of place, feeling she should be chatting and laughing with Uesugi Muneyoshi, yet now he had dashed off faster than a Western reporter.

"Am I not supposed to be a guest of honor at your wedding?"

Uesugi Muneyoshi didn't say much more—Fuji TV had already arranged a private car for pickup—but on the way to the parking point, they had to cross a small bridge, where Uesugi Muneyoshi suddenly stopped, gesturing for Date Chūsō to look down.

"?" Date Chūsō glanced into the space beneath the bridge, his earlier excitement about American narratives instantly fading into quiet.

In the sheltered hollow of the concrete bridge, a few makeshift shelters had been clumsily constructed using blue waterproof tarps and cardboard boxes from Yonezawa beef.

Several figures in bulky, worn-out coats huddled there, a small aluminum bowl before them—faces unclear, only visible were their gray, messy hair and a pair of hands resting on their knees, swollen joints covered in frostbite.

In the heavy snow, those few people seemed to be suffering terribly from the cold—shoulders trembling slightly, occasionally letting out one or two suppressed coughs.

"You ordered these homeless people." Uesugi Muneyoshi frowned, turning to Date: "Actually, in places like Mitani in Tokyo or Nishiku in Osaka, you see people like this everywhere."

"This... this isn't called homelessness... this is... it's people who defaulted on credit checks, low-income households, potential relapse targets for poverty, socially unstable marginal elements... well, fine, this is homelessness." Date Chūsō struggled to argue, finally admitting: "Japanese society does have homeless people, and quite a few of them." He added: "Why don't they apply for minimum living support?"

"Some people don't want to, some don't know, and because each prefecture is highly autonomous, everyone's gone to Tokyo to work and pay taxes—local governments have no surplus funds." Uesugi Muneyoshi added casually: "And if I were to apply for welfare here, the government would send out a 'willingness to help' questionnaire to all my relatives within three generations on my household register, asking if they plan to assist me financially—so everyone would know I'm destitute."

In Japan, such administrative offices have an academic term for this: "waterfront defense"—meaning they use extremely polite but overly complex and tedious questioning to softly oppose applications for welfare relief.

For Japanese people, whose culture places strong emphasis on shame, having to fill out such forms collectively feels like ultimate punishment and social death—but the system does have its rationale (for example, it catches those who flee home to avoid responsibility), so opinions vary.

"I'd rather be killed than have people know I'm applying for welfare." Date Chūsō understood, his face showing: "Wow, Uesugi-san, you're so knowledgeable": "Right, Uesugi-san, I've always wondered—why are there only male homeless people, never any females?"

"Pfft." Uesugi Muneyoshi couldn't hold back his laughter, saying meaningfully: "You guess."

"Huh? How am I supposed to guess?" Date Chūsō completely failed to understand.

Not long after, in the distance, the forested slopes of Matsuzaki Park—where the Uesugi Shinai lies—came faintly into view.

What a magnificent snow-covered landscape.

Yonezawa's vast white snow blanketed the hills and towering ancient trees, reducing the entire Tohoku world to a monochrome ink-wash palette.

Amidst this expanse of pure white and deep gray, the vermilion halls and torii gate of the Uesugi Shinai stood out like carefully placed brushstrokes—vivid, blazing, solemn, and majestic.

This is the Uesugi Shinai, where the ancestors of the Yonezawa Uesugi clan—Etchū Nagao clan, Bando Heishi, Fujiwara no Motosuke line, Kantō Kanrei Etchū no Ryū, famed as the Japanese god of war Uesugi Kenshin—are enshrined.

Uesugi Kenshin died in 1579 while using the toilet, suffering from "blood collapse"—later judged to be acute cerebral hemorrhage from excessive drinking. After his death, his tomb was relocated three times. Uesugi Kagekatsu deeply revered his father, initially burying Kenshin in Echigo Province, then during the Keichō great redistribution, when he was transferred to Aizu with 1.2 million koku, he exhumed Kenshin's remains and brought them to Aizu for reburial.

But fortune did not last—after the Western Army's defeat at Sekigahara, the Uesugi clan of Aizu, though they fought desperately to repel besieging forces including Date's army, upon hearing of the loss, Uesugi Kagekatsu knew the tide had turned, so he appealed to Ieyasu for peace and was transferred to Yonezawa with 300,000 koku.

Yet Uesugi Kagekatsu again defied opposition, exhumed Kenshin's remains once more, and brought them to Yonezawa for reburial.

Uesugi Kagekatsu's obsessive insistence on repeatedly digging up and carrying Kenshin's remains, always wanting to keep them close and rebury them, has sparked much speculation among later generations—among them, the "Uesugi Sister Theory" claims Kenshin was actually a woman, and Kagekatsu wanted to hide this truth, hence the need to rebury the remains constantly.

But Uesugi Muneyoshi already had a reasonable explanation.

The purpose of moving the remains was to prevent outsiders from desecrating or misusing the bones of Uesugi Kenshin, now enshrined as a new deity.

The chief priests of the Uesugi Shinai had been waiting a long time; upon seeing Uesugi Muneyoshi arrive, they immediately bowed and guided him, daring not to be lax—after all, he is the true descendant of Lord Kenshin!

Snow fell silently, or piled thickly on the shrine's heavy thatched roof, weighing down the eaves.

The vermilion pillars, contrasted against the snow, appeared even deeper and more solemn, as if gathering all the warmth and faith of this land. The tomb where Kenshin is enshrined lies in silent stillness, yet radiates a powerful, protective aura—this god of war, who spent his life in battle, now rests here in peace.

The once noisy YKC48 and Sekishu 46, upon entering the Uesugi Shinai, naturally fell silent—they first performed their usual visit, then followed custom by drawing omikuji fortunes.

The person drawing for YKC48 was general director Yokoyama Yui, who prayed and drew a slip.

The slip read: "Those who strive leave their name."

"Strive to leave one's name"? The plump-faced Yokoyama Yui wore a complex expression—YKC48 has declined rapidly in recent years, especially after the Maho Yamaguchi scandal earlier this year, to the point where even the title "National Female Idol Group" has become "Super Popular Female Idol Group"—their dominance is crumbling, yet internally, the next-gen ace Tomomo Tomomo is dispirited, Sashihara Rino seems like an insurmountable mountain, and the era aces Miyawaki Sakura and Matsui Jurina don't look capable of carrying the banner.

What the future holds? Only heaven knows.

Sekishu 46 team captain Sugai Yūka also began drawing her slip.

Her slip read: "Fearlessly compete for the peak."

Sugai Yūka couldn't help but smile—Sekishu 46 this year has been unstoppable, their fourth single "Dissonance" exploded nationwide, member popularity is soaring, age structure is balanced, producer Yasushi Akimoto is fully invested, and even Representative Yūka Tōya supports them.

"This world is mine, like the full moon without flaw." The refined lady from Sekishu 46, educated at Gakushūin, chanted in the elegant tone unique to the aristocracy, her voice so melodic it sounded like singing.

Uesugi Muneyoshi found it amusing, so he drew a slip too.

He slowly pulled out the slip, carefully unfolded it, and as he gently laid it flat, he saw the first three characters: "External battle, look..."

... "Uesugi Muneyoshi felt as if he'd just smeared bad luck across his face, immediately taking the slip back.

Lord Kenshin, I am your descendant!

How dare you disgust me like this?!

"You've all worked hard—please go rest now." Uesugi Muneyoshi, face darkened with frustration, told the shrine staff: "I want to visit my ancestor's remains alone—I won't be joining you."

Everyone understood, and under the guidance of the chief priest, Uesugi Muneyoshi went alone into the deepest part of the Uesugi Shinai.

This place houses the ancestors of the Uesugi family, from the first generation Uesugi Kenshin all the way to the sixteenth generation head Uesugi Shigenori, and the next one to be buried here is undoubtedly the seventeenth generation head Uesugi Kuninori, who is Uesugi Muneyuki's grandfather and the current head of the Uesugi clan.

He came before the tomb of Uesugi Kenshin, gazing at the kun-character banner and the chaotic dragon banner in the snow, he knelt down on both knees, and in the vast white snow, he became one with this solemn and dignified ancestral divine shrine beneath his feet.

However, just a few seconds after kneeling, Uesugi Muneyuki suddenly raised his head.

His right hand was shining! The Qinghui Stone was emitting light!!

Someone died?!

Impossible! How could paying respects to ancestors lead to a murder case?!

He immediately rose from the snow, searching for the direction that could trigger the Death Soul Contract, but when he looked around, this legendary forensic doctor of Japan was stunned.

In emission of light!

The bone tomb burying Uesugi Kenshin was emitting light!!

Kenshin Gong?!

You???

The divine light of heavenly blue hue before the bone ash tomb suddenly surged, and Uesugi Muneyuki hesitated for a moment, yet still extended his hand toward the bone tomb!

Death Soul Contract, Activate!!