Chapter 142: Controlling the Whole Situation (4/4)

"First time meeting you, I am Toshi Taro." Toshi Chime first bowed to Inagawa Kazushi and Anzai Zenei, then greeted, "Brother Shufukum, Suzuki-san."
"Such impressive composure!" Inagawa Kazushi praised, looking him up and down. "It has been a long time since I last saw a young man so at ease in front of people like us."
Toshi Chime smiled. "Not at all. I have heard of your great reputations for a long time, but I didn't expect to meet Lord Inagawa and Managing Director Anzai so soon."
"Taro!" Kinoshita Shufukum broke in impatiently. "Although the matter concerning Ishibashi Reiko is troublesome right now, the rest of us can still handle it. Regarding the murder of Takeda Takanao's nephew, do you have any evidence for the judgments Suzuki-kun mentioned? Isn't there an undercover agent who only communicates with you?"
"What? Brother Shufukum, do you agree with my assessment?"
"Of course! As for Mitsui and Mitsubishi, Anzai-kun has already contacted the people in charge of this matter on their side. Setting them aside, Omiya Hiroshi is the most suspicious."
"They will certainly deny it, but is that credible? Concluding the Takeda Goro case with the current verdict to make it an airtight case serves their financial interests. In that case, Sumitomo would be completely out of the game."
"You even know about Takeda Manufacturing?" Anzai Zenei's gaze flickered.
"Of course. Brother Shufukum pays me a fee of 52 million yen a year; I have to contribute something."
Anzai Zenei looked back at Kinoshita Shufukum, only to see the man grinning broadly. "We have achieved such deep cooperation. For what Sumitomo wants to accomplish, I naturally have to contribute something."
Only then did Toshi Chime say, "I can be certain that Mitsui did not do it. I can also be certain that Yuwa has already been deeply involved. According to the situation Brother Shufukum told me, Yuwa alone lacks the power to become an independent party that can exploit the Takeda Manufacturing land to profit from the privatization and reform of the National Railways. Then the answer is obvious."
Everyone looked at him together, and Toshi Chime said definitively, "Yuwa must have already reached a secret agreement with Mitsubishi. This also explains their true purpose in being willing to shell out 5 billion yen to participate in the Mogami Gokurakucho project."
Anzai Zenei stood up abruptly. "Are you certain?"
"No evidence, this is merely an assessment."
"Wait..." Anzai Zenei raised a hand. "Why are you certain that Mitsui didn't do it, and that Yuwa is already deeply involved?"
"Because Taniura Kazuo, the marketing manager of Takeda Manufacturing, has already been bought off by Yuwa. Meanwhile, Kimura Shuta, the production manager of Takeda Manufacturing, has been hedging between Takeda Manufacturing and Mitsui, keeping Mitsui's hopes of a complete acquisition alive. Kimura Shuta is actually extremely loyal to Takeda Takanao. His condition is that the land can be taken, but after Takeda Manufacturing joins Mitsui, it must retain its independence, receive support in technology, craftsmanship, resources, and channels, and Takeda Takanao must remain as the company president."
Anzai Zenei was stunned. "How... how do you know all this?"
Toshi Chime smiled. "Takeda Takanao told me himself just now."
Kinoshita Shufukum's eyes widened sharply. When on earth did this guy make his move?
"No, why would Takeda Takanao know these things?" Anzai Zenei shook his head repeatedly. "Knowing that the people around him have been bought off, would he still remain so persistent? What is the point?"
"No, he only found out about it today," Toshi Chime sighed. "After Takeda Goro was murdered, Kimura Shuta confronted the people from Mitsui, angrily severed ties with Mitsui's plans, and it was useless for Mitsui to repeatedly emphasize their innocence. Among the three major conglomerates, Mitsui is the most likely party to acquire Takeda Manufacturing's two plots of land, all assets, employees, and future development space at the smallest cost!"
"With the help of a senior executive at Kimura Shuta's level, there was no reason to disrupt this situation. They knew Kimura Shuta very well; after all, the condition Kimura Shuta always insisted on was simply asking for Takeda Takanao to continue as president. After this incident happened, Mitsui actually loosened their stance, but they only have themselves to blame for being too greedy beforehand. Otherwise, leveraging their advantage in the magnetic tape industry and offering sufficiently favorable terms, neither Mitsubishi nor Sumitomo would have stood a chance."
Anzai Zenei muttered, "No wonder Mitsui has seemed to make no major moves all along. I thought they wanted to wait until we and Mitsubishi finished fighting each other out."
Toshi Chime turned back to Kinoshita Shufukum. "Outraged by the death of Takeda Goro, Kimura Shuta tracked down Taniura Kazuo, one of the three people who knew about the truck information. He harbored suspicions because although the magnetic powder supplier also knew the details, Taniura Kazuo, as the marketing manager, should have been the one responsible for escorting the materials. On that day, Taniura Kazuo used the excuse of confirming the delivery and final payment with Tsunewa to have Takeda Goro escort the materials instead."
"In fact, he had already tested Taniura Kazuo once before, mentioning the 100 million yen to him. But until the transaction was completed the following day, no one came forward to obstruct it, leaving Kimura Shuta uncertain. The murder of Takeda Goro made him suspicious again." Toshi Chime felt a trace of admiration. "Yet Kimura Shuta showed no suspicion; instead, he simply expressed despair and fear to Taniura Kazuo. Under those circumstances, Taniura Kazuo likely believed the time was ripe and took him to meet Omiya Hiroshi. That was how Kimura Shuta confirmed everything, and upon returning, he confessed to Takeda Takanao."
Inagawa Kazushi sighed again, "A real man."
Only then did Toshi Chime address Inagawa Kazushi. "According to Kimura Shuta, Omiya Hiroshi revealed no other intentions, merely stating that Sumitomo's Tsunewa Trading and the magnetic powder supplier could not be trusted, and that the truck's information was most likely leaked by themselves. Since the perpetrators were from the Shindo-gumi, Sumitomo was bound to pay the price. Mitsui was too greedy, wanting Takeda Manufacturing to vanish entirely, whereas Yuwa Corp. could fulfill previous commitments by placing more orders with Takeda Manufacturing. If they needed to repay Mitsubishi's loan, they could also sell the old factory's land to Yuwa."
"Sold to Yuwa? Not Mitsubishi? Didn't you say Yuwa is aligned with Mitsubishi?" As soon as Anzai Zenei asked, realization dawned on him. "That's right, Mitsubishi is Mitsubishi, and Yuwa is Yuwa."
With that, he glanced at Kinoshita Shufukum.
Kinoshita Shufukum's expression remained unchanged as he smiled cheerfully.
Toshi Chime nodded. "Omiya Hiroshi is likely using the Takeda Manufacturing land and the trouble stirred up in Mogami Gokurakucho to give Yuwa more leverage in its cooperation with Mitsubishi. This matter must have received the approval of Yuwa's chairman. Pushing things to this point—perhaps because everyone's funds were tied up by Mitsubishi—he had no choice but to further lower Takeda Manufacturing's expectations, creating a situation where they had no choice but to yield, thereby reducing the cost for Yuwa to acquire that land."
"With Taniura Kazuo as an insider, he knew that once this move was played, Takeda Manufacturing would never choose Mitsui or Sumitomo again. Then the only options left would be Yuwa or Mitsubishi. Regardless of whether Yuwa could secure the prize personally, they had after all done a lot of work in this affair and would always end up obtaining things they previously had no hope of getting."
Kinoshita Shufukum looked at him with emotion. "It all becomes clear! That being the case, the current situation is tricky. Although this deduction has no loopholes... how are we supposed to resolve the immediate crisis?"
"The immediate crisis..." Toshi Chime surveyed the people watching him and said with absolute certainty, "First, Tsunewa Trading can use that piece of evidence to initiate a criminal lawsuit against Omiya Hiroshi. The person pulling strings from the shadows won't have time to harvest the fruits of his labor before he is forced to face this long-standing cold case."
"But the Shindo-gumi case..." Suzuki Daiki cared most about this. If the skin is gone, upon what can the hair grow?
Only then did Toshi Chime produce a contract. "Managing Director Anzai, you will have to throw your full weight into handling this. Omiya Hiroshi knows my identity; he must have guessed long ago that I was the one who sent that Hong Kong person over. This dirty water has been splashed onto me from the moment I acquired the Takeda Manufacturing land—because of my relationship with Brother Shufukum, and because of Mogami Fudosan's relationship with Sumitomo. Sumitomo makes a move, overtly cutting off its own possibilities, but covertly giving me an even stronger motive to acquire this land."
"What?" Kinoshita Shufukum gave a start. "What is... this? You're saying you've acquired the land of Takeda Manufacturing?"
"So, when I said I got the news from Takeda Takanao, it was true. Just moments ago, Takeda Takanao signed a contract with me. That land now belongs to me."
Anzai Zenei stared blankly at the contract in his hand. "How is this possible... How can this be..."
The major conglomerates had schemed for so long, yet now he had successfully snatched it into his own hands?
"One of the conditions was that I must help him find the true killer." Toshi Chime gazed at him steadily. "Managing Director Anzai, now, with just a word from me, President Takeda—as Takeda Goro's superior and relative—can withdraw the accusations against the Shindo-gumi, Mogami Fudosan, and Sumitomo!"
Suzuki Daiki's eyes lit up brilliantly. No wonder he said the immediate problem was easy to resolve.
Toshi Chime continued, "As for whether Mitsubishi and Mitsui will make a fuss out of this, claiming that Takeda Takanao was coerced by Sumitomo and the Inagawa-kai, or even organizing official inspections and lawsuits under the pretext of the incident's severity, that will depend on whether you can cede a portion of your interests in the current situation to let the other two parties cut their losses. Sumitomo's next choice will be crucial!"
Kinoshita Shufukum inwardly cheered. Brilliant.
The bargaining chip was in this fellow's hands, yet everyone would instinctively assume it was acquired by someone from Sumitomo, and would still press their attacks against Sumitomo.
If Sumitomo wanted to get this land from this fellow Toshi Taro, they would have to step up and resolve the problem.
Moreover, they would also need the support of Toshi Taro and Takeda Takanao to protect them.
At the very least, for now, as long as Takeda Takanao did not target the Shindo-gumi, Mogami Fudosan, and Sumitomo, Mitsubishi and Mitsui would have to devise other methods instead of fanning the flames to turn the case into an inescapable death sentence.
Anzai Zenei, looking at Toshi Chime who met his gaze head-on, quickly reasoned through all this logic as well.
He looked at Kinoshita Shufukum, who was smiling even more happily.
Without a doubt, the 52 million yen annual advisory fee he paid Toshi Taro was precisely for this moment.
This guy's vision was truly exceptional!
Even now, Anzai Zenei still couldn't figure out on what grounds this Toshi Taro had managed to secure that land.
Toshi Chime finally said, "Let me offer another line of thought. I suspect that behind Ishibashi Reiko might be Mitsui. However, the spark that lit the fuse was very likely the Shinrin-gumi, newly hired by Yuwa. The Shinrin-gumi has intricate ties with the Hokusei-kai. My intelligence source tells me that the night before the truck was found, Heiseiji Ichiro of the Hokusei-kai warned all members to keep a low profile for the coming period. Therefore, the people who actually launched the ambush and killed Wakagashira Kurata and Takeda Goro are very likely men from the Hokusei-kai!"
"Putting aside these speculations that still require evidence for a moment, Managing Director Anzai, this wave of backlash against malicious real estate acquisitions has now blown back onto Mitsubishi itself, and Mitsubishi has lost all hope of obtaining the Takeda Manufacturing land. In this situation, is it possible that Yuwa—which has been fanning the flames and harboring ulterior motives behind the scenes—might be abandoned by Mitsubishi and carved up by the three major conglomerates? Mitsubishi has also suffered greatly; this Omiya Hiroshi has done plenty of evil deeds!"
Anzai Zenei's eyes lit up, but he didn't say anything immediately, instead asking a question: "You've got the land in your hands, but what is your stance?"
Toshi Chime laughed. "As agreed with Brother Shufukum, he has the right of first refusal."
Kinoshita Shufukum felt immensely gratified and laughed heartily. "That's right. But Anzai-kun, if I get it, doesn't that mean Sumitomo gets it?"
Watching all this unfold, Inagawa Kazushi was filled with awe.
This fellow... is extraordinary!
Having known Kinoshita Shufukum for many years, he knew the man had a secret plan to take down that Takeda Manufacturing plot.
He had also assigned this task to some subordinate factions under his own control, but up until now, no abnormal force had been mobilized against Takeda Manufacturing.
Yet in a situation like this, this Toshi Taro had actually pulled it off by exploiting the checks and balances among the major conglomerates.
Furthermore, he had seized the initiative in the shifting landscape ahead, forcing Sumitomo to stand on his side.
Right at this moment, he desperately wanted to know the entire process of Toshi Taro's plan to secure that land!
Anzai Zenei quickly sorted out the new landscape: "To successfully untangle the passive situation facing Sumitomo, the Inagawa-kai, and Mogami Fudosan, and pivot toward securing the support of Mitsubishi and Mitsui to dismantle Yuwa, what are your specific suggestions? Toshi...-kun, do you already have a plan?"
He switched to a title of equal respect, and Toshi Chime smiled with absolute confidence. "Of course I do! The entire plan consists of four major tasks!"