Substitute Toyokawa Shoko, you can become stronger by breathing

Ishikawa has only just confirmed that the efficiency is indeed worrying.

Of course, he also knew that intelligence collection and analysis were not Ishikawa's strongest areas, and it would be useless to criticize him.

His real concern was another issue.

[Toyokawa Shoko]: "Besides Kimura, who else was involved? Who was the third party?"

Ishikawa seemed stunned for a moment, clearly not expecting this "young lady" to be so perceptive, to have even detected the existence of a third party. His reply was tinged with surprise and...relief?

Ishikawa: "Ms. Toyokawa is amazing! She even figured that out! As expected of the boss's daughter..."

"Get to the point."

Kujo Renji coldly interrupted Ishikawa's potentially endless outpouring of emotion.

He really couldn't stand this "father-daughter filter" anymore.

Every time he communicated with Ishikawa, it was like playing an extremely awkward role-playing game, but he couldn't break it.

You can't tell him, don't get me wrong, your eldest brother doesn't have a daughter, but he himself traveled through time and space and was transported to the body of a female high school student?

It would be too embarrassing to say this.

Fortunately, after being confronted by him, Ishikawa immediately put away his emotion and quickly sent the information about the third-party forces.

Ishikawa: "According to our urgent investigation into the flow of funds and personal connections, the third party who worked closely with Kimura Seiichiro in this incident was Osaka City Council member Uya Kishimoto."

Kishimoto Uya?

Kujo Renji looked at the name and the detailed information that followed it, and his eyes became amused.

He knew very well that although Kimura Seiichiro had been his right-hand man, after his "fall", he had experienced possible power struggles and purges within the Soryukai, and now the direct resources and influence he could mobilize in Osaka were bound to be limited.

To stir up a public opinion storm of such a scale in a short period of time and to accurately mobilize local resources, a strong local partner is definitely needed.

It now appears that this collaborator is Yuya Kishimoto.

This also explains why Kimura can so easily direct the focus to the local issue of "West District Redevelopment" - because his collaborators are themselves deeply involved in this area.

Kujo Renji felt inexplicably relieved.

He had previously considered two possibilities: one was that Kimura was extremely cunning and had betrayed him long before his misfortune, secretly accumulating a vast, unknown force in places like Osaka; the other was that Kimura had formed a partnership with other forces in order to make a comeback after his "fall."

Now it seems to be the second one.

This at least shows that Kimura didn't harbor evil intentions from the beginning; his actions were more driven by ambition and speculation in the changing situation. This made Kujo Renji feel... a little better?

At least, his past judgment of people was not a complete failure.

He continued to read Kishimoto Yuya's information, and the amusement on his face became more and more intense.

Yuya Kishimoto, a current Osaka City Councilor, draws his primary political base and voting base from the very area he's now using to attack Ave Mujica: Osaka's Nishi Ward. His core campaign slogans were "protecting local culture," "upholding the interests of local residents," and "opposing uncontrolled development." He positioned himself as the voice of Nishi Ward's established residents and small businesses, relying on these slogans to successfully rise to power.

The result is now...

This "guardian of local interests" colluded with an "outsider" named Seiichiro Kimura, using the anxiety and dissatisfaction of the people he was supposed to "protect" to attack another "outsider". His real purpose was probably not simple from the beginning, even if there was no Ave mujica as a target.

"Hehe..." Jiujo Liansi couldn't help but chuckle.

This is really, really interesting.

This is simply a handle that is delivered to your door.

Kimura, oh Kimura, the price of only learning the form but not the spirit is very serious.

He had already figured out how to teach his former "student" a final lesson.

.......

Through Ishikawa's intelligence network, combined with his understanding of Kimura's style of doing things and the tracing of remaining traces within Winwing, he quickly locked onto a specific chain of evidence that showed Kimura manipulating public opinion and inciting confrontation in this incident.

This includes but is not limited to: "promotion contracts" signed with several local online media outlets that clearly contain biased reporting requirements; several suspicious records of funds flowing through shell companies to specific "opinion leaders" and water army teams; and even surveillance video footage of Kimura's agents secretly contacting leaders of certain social groups.

Although he had the evidence in hand, Kujo Renji did not choose to reveal all his cards immediately and point directly at Kimura Seiichiro.

Doing so may certainly give you a momentary pleasure, but the effect may not be the best. Instead, it may alert the enemy and give Kimura the opportunity to cut off or destroy deeper connections.

He chose a more insidious and more effective tactic - to divert the blame and kill someone with a borrowed knife.

His target is Kimura Seiichiro's partner in Osaka, the city councilor Yuya Kishimoto who rose to power under the banner of "protecting local interests."

Renji Kujo carefully selected some evidence, which does not directly point to Kimura or the Ave Mujica incident, but can clearly outline how Kishimoto Yuya used his position as a councilor to seek personal gain for himself or his related parties in the muddy waters of the "West District Redevelopment Plan."

For example: An anonymous land transaction record shows that on the eve of the redevelopment plan being announced, a company related to Kishimoto Yuya's relatives acquired several key old properties near the Nishi Ward shopping street at a very low price.

For example: In a fuzzy recording (the source is unknown, but the authenticity seems to be very high), a voice suspected to be Yuya Kishimoto is negotiating with a representative of a developer, suggesting that certain "benefits" can be exchanged for "influencing" planning details.

Another example: An "insider" anonymously submitted a post to an independent investigative blog known for exposing scandals, pointing out that while Kishimoto strongly opposed the reform plan in public, he was privately very close to representatives of the foundation that supported the reform plan.

These "black materials" were accurately released by Kujo Renji into the online public opinion field in Osaka during the same period of time through several different, seemingly unrelated "civilian whistleblower organizations" and anonymous social media accounts.

The timing of the launch was also carefully chosen - it happened to be when the negative reputation of Ave Mujica had just subsided and the public was curious and angry about the "mastermind" behind the incident, but lacked a specific target.

These revelations were like cold water thrown into boiling oil, instantly causing an uproar!

Is Osaka City Councilor Yuya Kishimoto suspected of abusing his power to seek personal gain from the Nishi Ward renovation?

Shocking Inside Story! Are "Native Guardians" Real Estate Vultures?

[Audio recording exposed! Councillor Kishimoto's secret deal with the developer!]

Headlines like these quickly dominated local news headlines and trended on social media.

The citizens who had previously been immersed in sympathy for Ave Mujica and condemnation of the mastermind behind the incident were immediately attracted by this more explosive and more closely related local political scandal.

Especially the residents of Nishi Ward and those voters who have always trusted Kishimoto Yuya were shocked and angry!

They originally thought that Kishimoto was their protector and the mainstay against unscrupulous developers, but now the information revealed shows that he may have been taking advantage of their trust and colluding with the forces they hate behind the scenes, and even wanted to take advantage of the chaos to buy their homes at a low price!

This feeling of betrayal is much stronger than the hostility towards an outsider band!

For a time, public opinion was in an uproar! Calls for a thorough investigation of Kishimoto Yuya and his resignation swept across Osaka like a tsunami.

..

At the same time, in the Osaka City Council, in the office of Yuya Kishimoto.

The congressman, who had just a moment ago been speaking righteously in front of the media, denouncing "foreign capital destroying local culture" and trying to appease voters, was now like a trapped beast, pacing anxiously in his carefully decorated office, which was hung with various certificates of honor and friendly photos with voters.

His face was so gloomy that water seemed to drip out of it, veins bulged on his forehead, and his originally meticulously combed hair became a little messy.

The documents on the desk were scattered all over the floor, and a valuable ceramic pen holder fell to the ground and broke into several pieces.

“Asshole! Asshole!!”

Kishimoto Yuya slammed his fist on the thick mahogany desk, making a dull sound:

"Kimura Seiichiro! I shouldn't have trusted those untrustworthy dogs from the Soryukai!!"

He picked up the internal phone on the table, his fingers trembling slightly with anger, and dialed an encrypted number.

The phone rang for a long time, but no one answered.

"Damn it! Are you afraid to answer the phone?!"

He slammed the microphone back onto its cradle with a sharp thud.

At this moment, Kishimoto Yuya did not realize that this might be an attack from another direction. In his opinion, all this pointed to one conclusion:

——He was completely betrayed by Seiichiro Kimura, the guy who asked him to cooperate with him to muddy the waters and promised him generous rewards after the success!

Why would his well-hidden "little tricks" be exposed at this time?

Why is the revelation so precise, directly pointing to his most sensitive interests in the West District renovation plan?

Why did all this happen right after he had helped Kimura put Ave Mujica in the spotlight?

This must be Kimura trying to rob his fellow thieves!

That bastard must have felt that he was no longer useful, or that he knew too much, so he just pushed him out as a scapegoat to attract all the attention so that he and that crappy band could get away!

Even...Kimura may not have intended to truly fulfill his promise from the beginning, but just wanted to use him to create chaos and then take the opportunity to profit from the West District renovation project!

The more Kishimoto Yuya thought about it, the more he felt that this was the case. The anger and fear in his heart intertwined and almost swallowed him up.

"Kimura Seiichiro..."

He growled with gnashing teeth, his eyes filled with resentment and unwillingness:

"Just wait! I won't let this go! Absolutely not!!"

He roared in the office like a mad beast, thinking about how to fight back and how to protect himself.

But he also knows in his heart that in the face of such overwhelming negative public opinion and the possible investigations that may follow, his political career may have come to an end.

- Ding dong.

Just then, an email was sent to his personal mailbox.

Kishimoto Yu couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, then clicked on the email.

The sender is unknown, but the content hits the nail on the head:

"Member Kishimoto, you must be well aware of your current situation. Kimura Seiichiro has treated you as a pawn, using your political life to conceal his true purpose. Do you think silence and distancing yourself will protect you? You are naive. Once you completely lose your value, Kimura will not hesitate to release more evidence against you, making it impossible for you to recover."

But you're not completely without chance.

Think about your base, those voters in the West Ward. They're angry and disappointed with you now because they feel betrayed. But if you can prove that you, too, were a victim, deceived and exploited by Kimura Seiichiro, the "conspirator from Tokyo," and that, upon discovering the truth, you personally brought the culprit to justice, regardless of personal risk... then not only could you clear your name, you might even be able to transform this crisis into a political show of "restoring order" and regain the trust of the voters.

As an Osaka City Council member, you have some room for maneuver within your purview. Under the guise of a City Council investigation into "suspicious business activities," you could, in collaboration with trusted contacts within the police or prosecutors' office, urgently summon or detain Kimura Seiichiro (and his Osaka agents) on charges of "commercial fraud" or "unfair competition." Especially in the current climate of surging public opinion, such an act of "following public opinion" would be well-covered.

[Of course, you need more direct evidence to support your actions and ensure that Kimura's guilt can be proven.]

[Attached are some 'gifts'. Enough for you to launch this plan and make it difficult for Kimura to escape.]

This is your last chance, Councillor Kishimoto. Will you sit back and wait for death, completely sacrificed by Kimura? Or will you give it your all, seize this opportunity, strike back, and stage a spectacular show of 'returning the wrong path and bravely capturing the villain'?

The choice is yours.

[——Osaka citizens who want justice]

The attachments to the email indeed contained several key pieces of evidence, which were more direct and more lethal than the "black materials" previously circulated on the Internet. These included some recordings, surveillance video clips of secret contacts between Kimura's agents and leaders of certain social groups, and transfer records of Kimura's benefits to Kishimoto's designated account.

These evidences are enough to drag Seiichiro Kimura into the water, and to a certain extent, they can also portray Kishimoto as a character who is "corrupted but eventually awakens."

Kishimoto Yuya looked at the email, his breathing rapid and a crazy gleam in his eyes.

Anonymous email?

There must be something fishy behind this!

But he couldn't care less. This email was like the last straw a drowning man grasped at. Even though he knew it might be poisonous, he had to hold on tightly!

Although the solution provided in the email is extremely risky and the operation is in a gray area, it is the only possible way to turn the situation around that he can see at the moment!

Arresting Kimura, throwing all the dirty water on him, and portraying himself as a deceived "victim" who finally came to his senses and sacrificed his relatives for the sake of justice...this may indeed make his core voters accept him again!

Take a gamble! This is the only gamble I can take!

There was a fierce look in Kishimoto Yuya's eyes.

He immediately began secretly contacting his most vested allies in the city council, the police, and the prosecutorial system.

Using the investigative and advisory powers granted to him by his status as a legislator, he quickly launched a secret investigation into "suspicious foreign business personnel" in conjunction with relevant departments on the grounds that he had "received multiple reports of unfair business competition and suspected market manipulation, which may be related to recent social events."

The core target of the operation is directly aimed at Seiichiro Kimura!

A secret arrest operation initiated by a desperate politician to protect himself and avoid backlash quietly began in the night of Osaka.

.........

At the same time, in an unremarkable business hotel in Osaka.

Seiichiro Kimura was standing in front of the window, watching the drizzle that had started outside at some point.

The rain hit the glass window, making a tiny sound and blurring the city lights outside the window.

His face was devoid of the usual calculating smile, replaced by a slightly tired yet strangely relieved expression.

The room was a little messy, with an open suitcase placed next to the bed, containing only a few necessities.

The laptop on the table was closed and several torn documents were scattered in the trash can.

He had just finished a brief call, and after hanging up, he stood here, looking at the rain outside the window.

He hadn't received any definite news that Kishimoto Yu was also going to attack him. But as someone who had been walking in the dark for many years, he had an almost beast-like intuition about danger.

When Kishimoto's scandal was detonated in that way and at that precise time, he already had a premonition that something was wrong.