Chapter 145: Curtain Call and Distribution (3/4)

Yusuke Obata struggled to maintain his composure and began to report Kazunori Tao's movements in earnest.

Hiroshi Omiya listened intently, but the more he heard, the more it sounded like the routine of an ordinary student. Going to school, returning home, and occasionally visiting the bank.

"Wait, why wasn't this mentioned before?" Omiya suddenly interrupted upon hearing a specific detail. "The night he came back late, he ran into you while you were on assignment?"

"Huh?" Obata blinked, then quickly explained, "Because we only ran into each other downstairs, and he didn't see me doing anything. But it seemed he still remembered riding in my car, so he just nodded, greeted me, and went back inside."

"He remembered riding in your car..." Omiya's gaze sharpened as he asked seriously, "What were you wearing that night? No, tell me directly: were any of your tattoos visible?"

Obata was stunned. "The lighting was very dim... he probably didn't see them, right?"

Omiya frowned deeply.

How could anyone entrusted by a fellow like Hidenori Kinoshita to covertly execute Takeda Manufacturing's land acquisition be taken lightly? He had come here precisely to find flaws and suspicious points.

Ichiro Tairaji couldn't help but ask, "Even if he discovered Yusuke's identity, so what? Before Yusuke had time to kidnap him, didn't you cancel that order and change it to surveillance instead?"

"Because this fellow, Big Tao, is far from simple," Omiya said, suddenly recalling that this had happened back in March. "Ichiro, you mentioned to me once that he frequently hung out with someone from the Shindo Group?"

"Yuta Iria." Omiya nodded. "Known as the Fox of Shindo, a very clever young man!"

"How did they get so close?"

"The detailed process isn't clear. But Yusuke was cautious; when he saw him drinking with Yuta Iria, he tested the waters."

"Tested?" Omiya felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding. "How did you test him?"

"Yusuke, you tell him."

Obata recounted the process faithfully, and Omiya muttered to himself, "'Why did you approach me warmly when you clearly knew who I was?' Did that Yuta Iria really say that?"

"Yes..." Obata felt a chill run down his spine as he looked at Omiya's contemplative expression.

Are all these guys who manage to become big figures this smart?

"Is there something wrong with that sentence?" Tairaji didn't understand. "The Fox of Shindo has quite a reputation among the youth; even we know of him."

"There's a huge problem, a massive problem!" Omiya sighed softly. "Could it be that Big Tao's invitation for me to join Sanno Real Estate was a trap from the very beginning?"

"...What do you mean?"

Omiya shook his head, then looked seriously at Tairaji. "After the incident with Goro Takeda, did you issue any other instructions to your subordinates?"

"Of course I told them to keep a low profile! The Metropolitan Police Department is on the move!" Tairaji replied as if it were only natural.

"I see... Deviation from the norm is an anomaly," Omiya said, greatly distressed. "I just wonder how much of our activity they've noticed all this time, assuming they grew suspicious of you long ago."

"You're saying that because Yusuke probed Yuta Iria, he felt something was wrong, and the Shindo Group and Hidenori Kinoshita started paying attention to the Hokusei Association, laying a trap for you?" Tairaji's eyes widened. "Impossible!"

Omiya looked at his gleaming bald head.

Didn't you say he was known as the Fox of Shindo? I only chose to cooperate with you because I assumed you only cared about money and lacked top-tier intelligence. Can't you even figure out something this simple?

Tairaji looked at his expression and suddenly felt a jolt of alarm. "If they've been watching us all this time, then during this period... haven't they investigated a lot of things specifically targeting our cooperation?"

"Obata-kun!" Omiya suddenly thought of a crucial point and stared at him. "In all the movements you just described, why hasn't Big Tao met with Yuta Iria again?"

Obata said blankly, "Because... I haven't seen him with him since."

"As I thought... Just as I thought..." Omiya glared fiercely at Tairaji. "How did those three subordinates of yours leave Tokyo?"

"By car, of course... Damn it!" Tairaji was struck with sudden dread. "You're saying Yuta Iria might have been secretly tailing my most capable men the entire time?"

"Find a way to verify their status!"

"Impossible! Per your request, they left Tokyo half a month ago and quietly returned from three different directions. Since coming back, they've stayed put in the stronghold and haven't met anyone until I notified them to head straight to the location Shunsuke Kurata specified. After doing all that, they swam directly to the spot where you prepared the speedboat! Throughout the entire process, how could anyone possibly tail them?"

Just as his voice fell, the door to the partition was abruptly thrown open, and a crowd rushed in, aiming handguns at the three men.

When Omiya saw the people walking in slowly—and even someone carrying a video camera behind them—his heart plummeted, and his face instantly turned ashen...

...

To thoroughly nail Yūwa to the cross, who knows how San-ei Anzai negotiated with Mitsubishi and Mitsui, but the on-site arrest of Hiroshi Omiya and Ichiro Tairaji by Toshinobu Furukawa was actually broadcasted as video footage on the news.

"Following days of covert investigations by the Metropolitan Police Department, the mastermind behind the Goro Takeda case was raided and arrested tonight. According to Senior Superintendent Furukawa, President Hiroshi Omiya of Yūwa Shōji and Ichiro Tairaji of the Hokusei Association are also implicated in the murder of former Kowa Trading Department Manager Morinaga..."

On the screen, Omiya's face was livid, but his gaze remained fixed on Yusuke Obata, who was also pretending to be under arrest.

Given his intellect, he naturally realized the truth.

His meeting with Ichiro Tairaji had been arranged so impromptu, and the location was so secluded.

Only Yusuke Obata, whom he had ordered to bring along, possessed this information.

Yet the Metropolitan Police Department had directly laid low right here, even using equipment to eavesdrop on their conversation for quite some time before breaking down the door.

Furthermore, the Morinaga case was included in the announced grounds for arrest.

Therefore, there was only one conclusion: Yusuke Obata, who had originally been involved in this case, had double-crossed them!

At such a special juncture, there was only one remaining possibility: Yusuke Obata, initially dispatched to gather intelligence on Big Tao, had already been secretly bought off by Kazunori Tao!

Omiya's expression of boiling fury brought a smirk to Hidenori Kinoshita's face. "The guy has probably figured out that you orchestrated this setup. He must be pulling his hair out wondering: How? How could this happen!"

Watching the news on television, Kazunori Tao sighed with emotion. "Can efficiency really be this high?"

"Just think about what level of power is driving this behind the scenes," Kinoshita said with a bitter smile. "What a headache. The president of Yūwa Shōji, a company in deep cooperation with us at Sanno Real Estate, is suddenly arrested—things are going to get even more troublesome."

Yet, no sooner had he finished complaining than he burst into hearty laughter.

Tao shook his head. "The decisions made by Mitsubishi and Mitsui were truly swift."

Kinoshita sighed. "Naturally. With irrefutable evidence in the Morinaga case, clear clues and preliminary evidence in the Goro Takeda case, combined with the bargaining chips Sumitomo brought to the table and the anticipated breakup of Yūwa's assets, it's only natural for Mitsubishi and Mitsui to make a decision this fast. Every single one of the three things you've done has had a very clear and decisive effect."

"Hiroshi Omiya simply relied far too much on solving problems through covert violent means," Tao said, equally moved after learning what Shunsuke Kurata had confessed. "Still, I have to admit, his plotting came within a hair's breadth of success."

"All thanks to you!" Kinoshita gazed deeply at him. "Entrusting this matter to you was definitely the right choice! Did you plan it all along this way from the start?"

"How could that be?" Tao laughed in amusement. "I didn't even know Omiya was involved in this! From the beginning, I only established a broad direction. I spent so much time gathering information, analyzing, and judging simply because, since the conglomerates always exhaust every means to achieve their goals at the lowest cost, he would likely need friends while trapped in that sense of absolute despair where the whole world opposed him. I just can't fathom why Mitsubishi and the others couldn't also send someone to negotiate with him bearing a friendly, gentle proposal."

"You don't understand the grip the major conglomerates hold..." Kinoshita said with a sigh. "Even I prepared myself to become an important future part of the Sumitomo system before thinking about getting involved. When they can achieve their goals at a minimal cost, why would they ever want to pay out hundreds of millions more like you did?"

"Mere hundreds of millions, at most a billion or so. Big conglomerates, huh!" Tao remarked purely out of sentiment. "When I formulated this plan, I was fully prepared that if the conglomerates offered friendlier terms, I would simply execute that equipment transaction with him. After meeting Takanao Takeda for the first time, I had already made peace with the psychological reality that my proposal might not ultimately be the most attractive one. When you boil it down, Omiya actually helped me."

"Don't talk about how he helped you; if he heard you say that, he'd probably vomit blood from anger. His targets were me and Sumitomo—he just had no idea that even I was left in the dark regarding your entire plan." Kinoshita's gaze sharpened. "What's next? How do you plan to handle that plot of land?"

He remained motionless, looking squarely at Kazunori Tao.

The dust had settled, and it was time to divide the spoils.

Tao didn't answer immediately.

Kinoshita asked again, "How much did you promise Takanao Takeda in total compensation?"

"Didn't we verify the contract?" Tao smiled after a moment of thought. "The land itself is priced at 4. billion yen. 1 billion yen has already been paid to him; as for the rest, he isn't in a hurry to collect it—his only urgency is finding the real culprit."

"I'll give you triple! 12 billion yen, hand it over to me!" Kinoshita stated bluntly.

Tao shook his head.

Kinoshita's expression shifted as he stared hard at him.

"Brother Shinjuku, do you think you're suited to take hold of it right now?"

"After tonight, your dossier will immediately land on the boardrooms' desks of every major conglomerate. What difference does it make to me whether you hand it over to me now or not?" Kinoshita lowered his voice. "Do you expect me to shield you from everything?"

"I've already prepared myself to step out into the open," Tao said calmly. "Brother Shinjuku, the terms offered to Takanao Takeda include a right of first refusal valid for about five years. With things having progressed to this point, you folks at least need to put on a show of respecting that clause. With so much time ahead, wouldn't it be a better choice for Sumitomo to step in and support the development of Takeda Manufacturing, while you and I team up to get that cabaret club running there first?"

Kinoshita gazed at him intently. "Takanao Takeda told reporters that he would absolutely never cede it to any conglomerate, and then Professor Akihito Yamamoto stepped forward... You are quite something."

"I truly don't belong to any conglomerate, Brother Shinjuku, and you currently hold that same status. Besides, your goal in wanting to grab that land was merely to leverage more out of Sumitomo anyway. As long as we can cooperate with Sumitomo to complete the division of spoils in the National Railways privatization reform, what you're meant to get, you'll still get." Tao finally asked seriously, "If you take hold of it, you're ultimately planning to sell it to Sumitomo anyway, right?"

Kinoshita nodded.

Only then did Tao say, "Then let's do this! You previously lent me 1.5 billion for this land, and according to the contract, it was ultimately acquired for 4 billion yen. I don't intend to hold onto this land forever; if it's eventually sold—whether the buyer is Takanao Takeda, Sumitomo, or someone else—we will split the proceeds proportionally. You said yourself that this plot might already be worth 20 billion yen now, and it could be worth even more in the future."

Kinoshita looked at him deeply. "I never imagined you'd only require my 1.5 billion. What about the remaining 3 billion yen? Can you actually cough that up for Takanao Takeda?"

The moment for dividing the spoils was always the most critical.

Tao knew this well.

Where compromise was needed, he was prepared. Where he needed to stand his ground, he would not yield!