Chapter 140: Confusing and Hazy

Inside the car, Tao Zhiming did not leave immediately.

He placed a call directly to Kinoshita Hidesue, cutting straight to the point: "The truck carrying the magnetic powder for Takeda Manufacturing has been found, and Takeda Goro, Takeda Kina's nephew, has been murdered. Was it the Shindo-gumi?"

Instead of answering, Kinoshita Hidesue asked, "Where are you? I was just about to look for you."

Tao Zhiming's voice turned grim: "Was it the Shindo-gumi or not?"

"We can confirm now that someone is framing Sumitomo and me!" Kinoshita Hidesue said concisely. "Brother Inagawa Kazushi refused Anzai Zenwei, the executive director of Sumitomo, right to my face. Yet Kurata Shinsuke, a wakagashira of the Shindo-gumi, has an audio recording of that very Anzai asking him to carry out this job, claiming he had obtained Brother Kazushi's permission! Even Shindo Shogo, the oyabun of the Shindo-gumi, had no idea that Kurata Shinsuke acted on his own. There is something deeply wrong here!"

"An oyabun doesn't know about something this big?" Tao Zhiming found it hard to believe; this was murder they were talking about.

"Oyabun Shogo has already performed yubitsume in front of Brother Kazushi to apologize. Of course, Kurata Shinsuke did the same. On the surface, it all looks like it happened simply because that bastard Anzai deceived Kurata Shinsuke," Kinoshita Hidesue said with biting resentment. "But the matter has already been exposed. This time, not only Sumitomo, but even Mitsubishi has been dragged into it."

"...Why is Mitsubishi being dragged into it?" Tao Zhiming was baffled. If someone was trying to frame Sumitomo, wouldn't Mitsubishi have even more motive?

"Didn't I mention it? That old hag Ishibashi Reiko has been rallying more and more people in Minato ward lately, and even gathered people around the Roppongi Hills project of the Mori Group. She's even prepared to give up her acting career to dedicate herself entirely to this fight. Now, some people have even started calling her the Nation's Mother! Takeda Kina has already reported the crime to the police, and Ishibashi Reiko immediately capitalized on it to fan the flames!"

Tao Zhiming's head was ringing. "Is Mitsubishi taking heavy losses?"

"We cannot rule out that Mitsui is the one pulling the strings here. After Mitsubishi lured funds from other keiretsu into the foreign exchange market, they've been striking out in all directions lately. What was once a brilliant situation is now catching fire everywhere because of Ishibashi Reiko's crusade against the yakuza. Their acquisitions of real estate and manufacturing plants are now being targeted by the media, which naturally puts them in a very passive position in the negotiations for the privatization and reform of the Japanese National Railways."

"Judging by the current situation, Mitsui is actually the one taking the least losses. With the raw materials lost, it initially seemed most advantageous to Sumitomo, since Takeda Manufacturing would have to give Hang Ho Trading an explanation for failing to fulfill the order. But now, Mitsui is preparing to drop the whole issue regarding Takeda Manufacturing; a major company under their umbrella has issued a statement of support for Takeda Manufacturing while abandoning the acquisition plans. It looks like they intend to use this as a bargaining chip to force Mitsubishi and Sumitomo into a defensive position on other fronts."

Kinoshita Hidesue voiced his assessment, then asked, "Where are you? I want to hear your opinion on how we should handle the current situation."

Tao Zhiming closed his eyes and thought for a moment before replying, "I can't come over to your place right now. Let me ask you one more thing: have people from Yūwa had any contact with Takeda Manufacturing over the past couple of days?"

"No! At least, not in any intelligence we are aware of."

"I understand," Tao Zhiming said. "Let's talk tonight. I will definitely contact you tonight, Brother Hidesue!"

He hung up the phone and slowly sorted through the information at hand.

After Zhao Yuanxi took action on his behalf, the situation had rapidly escalated.

Ishibashi Reiko had suddenly emerged, launching attacks against Mogami Properties, Sumitomo, and Mitsubishi. To say she had no one behind her—could a mere washed-up celebrity possibly have that kind of nerve?

The magnetic powder supplier under Sumitomo had its delivery truck and driver hijacked while en route to Takeda Manufacturing. Because Takeda Manufacturing was responsible for the transport, they had no grounds to demand anything from the supplier, and the order for Hang Ho Trading was undoubtedly doomed to fail.

Shortly after, Takeda Kina's mother-in-law lost borrowed money speculating on foreign exchange and couldn't pay off her debts. Mitsui bought up the bonds, using that as leverage to tilt Takeda Manufacturing toward accepting a complete takeover by Mitsui.

Now, the delivery truck had been found, Takeda Goro had been murdered, and evidence had been left behind pointing to the Shindo-gumi. Kinoshita Hidesue had confirmed that it was indeed Kurata Shinsuke of the Shindo-gumi who had struck, but the inner workings were far from simple.

Tao Zhiming frowned.

The suspicious points were glaring.

Why would Kurata Shinsuke let his subordinates expose the Shindo-gumi's identity? Why did it directly implicate Sumitomo and Mogami Properties?

What precisely was the request he received from that Sumitomo guy, Anzai Zenwei?

Why did he take action without verifying it with Shindo Shogo, the boss of the Shindo-gumi?

And why did his subordinates previously ignore Inoue Ryu's instructions and provoke Ishibashi Reiko?

Tao Zhiming picked up the phone once more and dialed Obata Yusuke.

The thread of this trap must trace back even earlier!

...

These very same doubts were also weighing heavily on the minds of Anzai Zenwei, Kinoshita Hidesue, and Inagawa Kazushi.

As soon as he finished his call with Tao Zhiming, Kinoshita Hidesue returned to the room.

This was the headquarters of the Inagawa-kai.

The atmosphere in the room was suffocatingly heavy. Inagawa Kazushi, the supreme leader of the Inagawa-kai, sat firmly in the center, flanked by several heavyweights of the main family.

Shindo Shogo, head of the Shindo-gumi, sat in a lower chair, though one of his fingers was already wrapped in white gauze.

In the middle of the floor, surrounded by the chairs, a man was still kneeling in dogeza. His fingers were also bandaged—two of them.

The old bandages had not yet been removed, and fresh blood was already seeping through the new ones.

Anzai Zenwei spoke in a grim tone, "I did indeed tell you that the chairman consented to this matter. I will pay the price for that to Lord Inagawa. However, I never asked you to kill Takeda Goro!"

Inagawa Kazushi cold-glared at Anzai Zenwei for a moment before turning his gaze to Kurata Shinsuke. "Why didn't you verify this with Shogo?"

"There was no time!" Kurata Shinsuke kept his head lowered. "Knowing the relationship between President Kinoshita and you, and knowing the connection between Mogami Properties and Sumitomo, I rashly decided to initiate the operation immediately."

Shindo Shogo's eyebrows twitched with intense fury.

"It has been four days since the incident occurred," Shindo Shogo said. "Was four days not enough time for you to report to me?"

Kurata Shinsuke's voice came from the floor: "That was another reason I didn't verify it with you, Oyabun. Managing Director Anzai stated in the recording that the matter had to be kept strictly secret..."

"By secret, didn't he mean keeping it from the outside world? It had to be kept secret from me too?"

"...I am deeply sorry for implicating you, Oyabun!" Kurata Shinsuke's voice carried a sob.

Inagawa Kazushi asked slowly, "Then why did you let that Takeda Goro find out it was the work of the Shindo-gumi? Was that for the sake of Mogami Properties and Sumitomo?"

"Those three bastards!" Kurata Shinsuke gritted his teeth. "It was all my fault! Those three idiots, in their eagerness to pry out Takeda Kina's bottom line, stupidly flaunted our strength! To carry out Managing Director Anzai's commission, I had told them the purpose behind doing it."

"To achieve the objective, I never suggested killing Takeda Goro!" Anzai Zenwei said coldly.

"What you said was that we must find out Takeda Kina's true intentions and bottom line; you didn't explicitly say we couldn't eliminate Takeda Goro. I only stressed achieving the goal and failed to warn those three fellows not to take a life—that was my mistake! Ever since the previous incident involving Ishibashi Reiko, I was desperate to score a success to make up for the family's losses..."

Veins bulged on Inagawa Kazushi's forehead. "A mistake? A slip-up? Success? Losses? You foolish bastard! The Metropolitan Police Department has already mobilized over a heinous crime like this! Evidence proving the Shindo-gumi committed this act has been found—true or false, someone is determined to make it stick! Do you think this is as simple as cutting off a finger? The entire Shindo-gumi will cease to exist! If necessary, our entire Inagawa-kai will be investigated under this pretext!"

Kurata Shinsuke was speechless, cowering flat against the floor with his head down.

"This mess was caused by you," Inagawa Kazushi looked coldly at Anzai Zenwei. "We may not be able to contend with the entire Sumitomo Group, but your actions have crossed the bottom line of the underworld. If you cannot protect the interests of the Inagawa-kai to the utmost, you know what the consequences will be."

Anzai Zenwei's face turned ashen. Although he was a dignified member of the board of directors of the Sumitomo Group, at this moment he was being threatened by the supreme boss of the Inagawa-kai.

And indeed, he was the one who had initiated it.

Yet why had Kurata Shinsuke—who had always been shrewd and cautious when visiting him in the past—made mistake after mistake recently? Why had he even made a special audio recording?

Setting everything else aside, even that alone showed a breach of discipline in how the Inagawa-kai operated!

Of course, had that recording not existed, Inagawa Kazushi probably wouldn't have shown him an ounce of courtesy.

Kinoshita Hidesue also felt deeply frustrated. Had he known beforehand, he never would have listened to Anzai Zenwei's suggestion to have the Shindo-gumi replace Suzuki Daiki and agree to Kurata Shinsuke's request.

Right now, the situation was deadlocked.

The truck hijacking had undeniably been carried out by the Shindo-gumi—what could they do about it?

At best, it would mean cutting off the gecko's tail to save the body, sacrificing the Shindo-gumi to shoulder the responsibility for the entire affair and appease public opinion.

And if they did that, they would undoubtedly plunge into an unprecedentedly passive position amidst the current struggles for various interests.

In all of this, the most innocent person seemed to be Shindo Shogo.

Not only had he performed self-mutilation by cutting off his own finger to beg forgiveness for poor supervision, but he was also likely facing prison time.

Yet since this matter involved a struggle between multiple keiretsu, external forces would inevitably push for a thorough investigation of the case, meaning the total uprooting of the Shindo-gumi was only a matter of time.

Just as he was frowning with worry, someone knocked on the door from outside and said, "Oyabun, Suzuki Daiki of the Shindo-gumi has intelligence he wishes to report to you."

Inagawa Kazushi's eyes lit up. "One of the two great blade-wielding enforcers of the Shindo-gumi? Send him in!"

The door was pushed open, and Suzuki Daiki walked into the room. After bowing to the senior bosses of the main family, he nodded to Shindo Shogo and said, "I have brought a bargaining chip."

"What chip? Speak quickly!" Shindo Shogo felt a surge of hope.

Suzuki Daiki glanced at the furnishings in the room, walked over to the wall, picked up a cassette case, inserted the tape into a machine, and pressed play.

"...Yes, Oyabun said that last time we did a magnificent job, and President Omiya was very satisfied."

"Then what was last time? What else have you done for him?"

"..."

"I'll talk! I'll talk! Last time, we asked Otani Miki from the ultra-luxury soapland in Yoshihara to pull out all the stops in serving him, so that Manager Morinaga of Hang Ho Trading died a completely natural death..."

The recording played in the quiet room, and everyone's expressions shifted in different ways.

Anzai Zenwei abruptly stood up. "Manager Morinaga—was he murdered on the orders of Omiya Hiroshi?"

Shindo Shogo hurriedly asked, "Where did this recording come from? Which faction does the person making the confession belong to?"

Suzuki Daiki offered a slight smile, but said, "What follows is not suitable for Shinsuke to hear. Oyabun, he should be detained first."

Kurata Shinsuke, who had been sprawled on the floor all this time, turned pale and looked up at his long-time rival.

Suzuki Daiki's expression remained calm, his gaze icy. "Shinsuke, you went too far this time. Did you really think you wouldn't be abandoned?"

Kurata Shinsuke's face was chalk-white, and his lips began to tremble.

"What is going on here?" Inagawa Kazushi demanded. Seeing that Suzuki Daiki didn't speak immediately, he waved his hand sharply. "Lock this fool away first!"

Kurata Shinsuke went limp and was dragged out of the room.

Only then did Suzuki Daiki take a deep breath. "I only just received this news myself. There is no proof yet!"