Did Near cheat during the Kira case in Death Note? Well, that's what I'll be talking about in today's blog post. But before I continue, I would like to mention that there will be spoilers for the series in this post. So, proceed with caution! Now then, on with the post! Although Near was introduced near the end of the series, there's still a bit of evidence pointing to the fact that he is a cheater. One of the first pieces of evidence is the fact that he started out the case with the knowledge of the Death Note, which eventually made it easier for him to figure out who Kira is. Along with this, he used Mello to find out who Kira is without Mello himself knowing about it. Near is able to figure out which rule in the Death Note is fake because of Mello too, who told him about the fake rules in exchange for his photo. He used Aizawa a few times to get information about the Kira case as well, which also helped him figure out who Kira really is. There a few other things that Near has done that proves that he cheated during the Kira case, but the most notable thing is what Takeshi Obata, the artist for Death Note, says in Death Note 13: How To Read. When he is asked who he thinks the smartest character in Death Note is, he says: "Near. Because he cheats.". However, these are mostly just my thoughts on it anyways. Nonetheless, I hope you guys still enjoy this blog post! As a little bonus, I will be including a picture of Near below, for no particular reason. Enjoy!