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I know that Light didn't want to kill his father in cold blood, but after his father, Soichiro Yagami, died, he could've just killed them. And then, Near accused L #2 of being Kira.

Near only found out that Light was Kira because of the information Aizawa gave him. He could've just killed the Task Force and went incognito. I know he wanted to kill of Near and Mello, but I'm sure that he could've found a way to kill them off later.

Why didn't Light just kill the Task Force then?

Aki Tanaka
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DarkYagami
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  • There is another aspect of this question missing and not yet adressed in any answer either. Why didn't he set them up to die at the great showdown? They all brought guns, making a victim greately injure someone else and even have unnamed bystanders prepare the noted death is possible, so why not have the task force shooting down nears people and firing the fatal shots himself? He wouldn't even need X Kira in that case but backups never hurt. If he wrote down the scene early enought, he could even have forced N's thoughts and plans. He would have become the ultimate puppet master and won. – hajef Jun 26 '19 at 11:47

2 Answers2

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To add to Vixen's answer, Light didn't kill the Task Force before Near was even in the picture because they posed him no threat. Initially, he only killed criminals, and later he started killing everyone opposing his utopia. However, they were working for him then, so there was no need to kill them.

Also, keep in mind that he couldn't hide those deaths from the world. It would seem rather strange that the entire Task Force died and he was the only survivor. He would have to made them all die in such a way that he would seem innocent, but it would still seem odd to any onlooker. So, maybe he didn't want to risk exposure even more.

On a side note, it might have been his conscience if he still had any left. He partly killed his own father to convince everyone that he was innocent. He purposely made his father do the eye-trade so that his father could prove his innocence by telling everyone he had a showing lifespan, meaning he could not have been the Killer. Killing everyone else after that ordeal would make his father lose his lifespan in vain.

Aki Tanaka
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Peter Raeves
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  • First, his father's death would be in vain if and only if Kira lose. Second, L died, noone would have suspected anything if Kira killed the rest of the task force too - one by one as he learns their names or Light could kill the others and stage his own death. Third: using them as long as they are usefull is fine but why not use their cause of death and circummstances to win the final showdown? – hajef Jun 26 '19 at 12:04
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As long as there was a Task Force, there was a line of communication with Near. And thus (more) opportunities to find out the true identities of Near and Mello. The Task Force was still a valuable asset.

It was much better to try and convince Near that he wasn't Kira. And Light is (over)confident enough to believe he can pull that off. Near is much harder to fool than other people. But to Light, that probably makes it an exciting challenge.

Aki Tanaka
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Vixen Populi
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