Chapter 55: Conspiracy and a Natural-Born Villain

The next morning, while Aiko, who had slept late the previous night, was still in bed, Seiko received a message from Yamagami Taka—the police were also looking for the robbery suspect with the surname Chino.

The police had raided Chino’s home, but Chino had spent the night with a prostitute in the flower district.

Perhaps he was ashamed of being unable to afford the prostitute’s fee after squandering his illicit gains.
Perhaps, in a moment of post-coital clarity, he reflected on his life as a piece of social scum and finally realized, “How can someone like me be saved?”
Or, in a very slim possibility, he was coerced by aliens…

In any case, that morning, Chino leaped from the roof of the Isetan department store, ending a life that had only ever been a nuisance to society.

And so, the police narrowly missed their chance to apprehend the only currently known suspect in the armored car robbery.

What a pity…

While expressing her regrets to the police, Seiko also came to a realization—this surprise raid was indeed a conspiracy involving both internal and external parties.

For a long time, even Seiko had been unaware of Chino’s existence.
While this was partly due to her previous non-involvement in gang affairs, it was also because the Kumagaya City armored car robbery was itself a confidential matter within the Yamagami-gumi.
Even among the chokusan, only Yamagami Akira’s confidants knew the details.

A traitor, a chokusan, one of Yamagami Akira’s confidants…

These keywords narrowed down the list of suspects to a very small circle.

Seiko also completely understood why Yamagami Nobuo had immediately hinted to her that “there’s a problem at headquarters.”

Urawa Middle School, classroom.

“To think that so many people at headquarters were in collusion with the police! That’s terrifying…”

Saori feigned a frightened look.

The headquarters was the Yamagami-gumi Kumicho’s direct unit, akin to an “Imperial Guard.”
Yet, this time, it was precisely this trusted “Imperial Guard” that had a major lapse.

However, on second thought, it wasn’t surprising that a problem had occurred.
After Yamagami Nobuo retook control of the Yamagami-gumi, he had not carried out a large-scale replacement of the headquarters personnel.
The current headquarters was still run by the same group of people from Yamagami Akira’s tenure.
Therefore, the current headquarters could only be considered Yamagami Akira’s confidants, not Yamagami Nobuo’s.

And they certainly weren’t Seiko’s confidants.

“Not necessarily,” Seiko said casually, flipping through Saori’s class notes.
“Although I’ve taken control of all the cadres at headquarters, I haven’t interrogated them yet.
I believe most of the people at headquarters are innocent.
Only Ninomiya Shigeyoshi and his confidants are highly suspicious, but unfortunately…”

Unfortunately, Ninomiya Shigeyoshi was the Honbucho.
Because he was the Honbucho, his confidants naturally occupied key positions at headquarters.
Therefore, the entire headquarters was now untrustworthy.

Saori naturally understood the unspoken meaning in Seiko’s words.
She frowned slightly, and after a moment, raised another question: “The Nitta-gumi originally had nearly two hundred men.
With Nitta Hiraku now serving as Honbucho and controlling the original headquarters, he will have six hundred men under his command.
He will undoubtedly be the largest force within the Yamagami-gumi.
Could he be called a ‘second Takeuchi Toshio’?
No, because he is the Honbucho, tasked with the personal protection of the Kumicho and the Kumicho’s residence, he might be even more terrifying than the former Takeuchi Toshio.”

If Takeuchi Toshio wanted to rebel, he still had to be wary of Ninomiya Shigeyoshi and his headquarters men around Yamagami Akira.
But if Nitta Hiraku wanted to rebel, Yamagami Nobuo wouldn’t even have a “Ninomiya Shigeyoshi” by his side.

Seiko shook her head.
“First of all, headquarters has been run by Ninomiya Shigeyoshi for so many years.
Nitta Hiraku can at best absorb a portion of them; it will be very difficult to absorb them completely.
Secondly, I have already used the excuse of dereliction of duty and the presence of a traitor to transfer the headquarters personnel away from the Yamagami residence.
The ones now in charge of protecting the Yamagami residence are Taka-aniki and his men.”

Thirdly, what Seiko didn’t say was that under her transformation strategy, a purely combat-oriented faction like the Nitta-gumi, with only a large number of underlings, would inevitably be gradually marginalized.

Yakuza need to eat too, and they also long for a glamorous life.
Seeing other factions grow richer, with their underlings living well, the Nitta-gumi not only won’t earn more money but will also have to spend more to support a large group of men.
The more men the Nitta-gumi has, the more discord will grow within its ranks, and it will fall apart sooner or later.
This grand trend is by no means subject to Nitta Hiraku’s will.

However, Nitta Hiraku was currently a staunch supporter of Seiko as Wakagashira, a member of the “Seiko Faction.”
Seiko couldn’t openly say that she was plotting against her own people—that on the surface she was rewarding Nitta Hiraku for his support, but deep down, she was feeding him slow-acting poison.

Hearing Seiko’s explanation, Saori relaxed a little but was not completely at ease.

Yamagami Taka had no issues in terms of trustworthiness.
He was a blood relative of the Yamagami family, simple-minded but full of admiration and loyalty for Yamagami Nobuo.
He was young and inexperienced, lacking prestige within the Yamagami-gumi.
Even if he wanted to rebel, no one would support him.

But in terms of strength, he was lacking.
Saori had seen that Yamagami Taka had only a pitiful ten or so men, each one a hot-blooded idiot like himself, with more muscle than brains.
Could they really handle the security of the Yamagami residence?

Saori was very doubtful.

It seemed that her own plan had to be accelerated…

“Hey, Seiko-chan, you said you’d teach me how to shoot. When are you going to teach me?” Saori suddenly asked.

“Anytime is fine,” Seiko said, scribbling and drawing.
“Since final exams are coming up anyway, I’ll teach you during summer vacation.”

“Mmm, it’s a promise.”
Saori immediately sealed the deal.

Evening, Urawa City Police Station.

Click.

The handcuffs were unlocked.
Yamagami Nobuo rubbed his wrists and, under the disgusted gazes of the police officers, smiled.
“Thank you so much, Officer Kihara, for going to the trouble of personally letting me out.”

“Don’t thank me.
I’ve already said,” Kihara Shinichi shook his head.
“I don’t want to let you go.
You should thank the one who led the Yamagami-gumi’s purge overnight.
What a remarkable person.”

“Is it Murakami Eishi?” Kihara Shinichi suddenly asked.

Yamagami Nobuo’s expression froze for a moment, then he laughed.
“Eishi is certainly remarkable.
He’s been a smart and clever kid since he was young.”

“No,” Kihara Shinichi denied his own guess.
“These methods are swift, ruthless, and decisive, without a hint of hesitation or delay.
It doesn’t seem like something that guy Murakami Eishi could pull off.”

“I heard…” Kihara Shinichi stared into Yamagami Nobuo’s eyes and said slowly, “you’ve recently appointed another Wakagashira.
What was her name, Yamagami Seiko?”

“Hahahaha,” Yamagami Nobuo suppressed all unusual expressions and laughed heartily.
“Seiko is just a figurehead, temporarily filling the role of Wakagashira.
She’s still a child.
What does she know about the yakuza way?”

Kihara Shinichi stared at Yamagami Nobuo for a while, then also began to laugh.
“Hahaha, I thought it was impossible too.
How could the environment of your Yamagami-gumi be so poor as to raise even a minor into a natural-born villain? Hahaha…”

He looked as if he truly believed Yamagami Nobuo’s words.