Death Note Episode 36: 1.28

On January 28th, Light Yagami and the Task Force arrive at the isolated Yellow Box warehouse for their scheduled in-person meeting with Near and the SPK.

Near, wearing a mask resembling L, greets them and explains his trap: he swapped the Death Note that Teru Mikami—identified as X-Kira—carries with a fake one, anticipating Mikami would use it to kill everyone present except the real Kira, whose name Mikami would avoid writing.

Near instructs the group to wait for Mikami and let him act, reassuring the Task Force that no one will die from the fake notebook.

Mikami arrives outside, confirms Light's identity as Kira using his Shinigami eyes, and writes the names of Near, the SPK members, and Task Force members in what he believes is the real Death Note.

Both sides then invite Mikami into the warehouse, where he confirms the writing is complete, and a 40-second countdown to the deaths begins.

At 39 seconds remaining, Light declares his victory to Near, revealing he anticipated the notebook swap and ensured Mikami had the real Death Note hidden separately to carry out the killings.

The episode ends on the ongoing countdown.