Chapter 61: Death and Transition

Seiko spent a dedicated week meticulously teaching Saori and Sakura the basics of firearms, shooting techniques, and some common tactical movements.

Although she could consciously control the trembling of her fingers during training, Seiko still found that her own shooting skills had declined after a long period of neglect.

Moreover, Seiko had only just noticed that her physical fitness was also quite average.

In her past life, Seiko had been an exceptionally keen enthusiast of practical shooting competitions.
As a result, she had not only honed her outstanding shooting skills over a decade but had also developed excellent physical fitness.
If nothing else, she certainly wouldn’t have gotten out of breath after running just a few dozen meters like she did now.

Therefore, Seiko felt it would be best to pick up her regular training routine again when she had the time.

However, what gratified Seiko was that Saori, who had always excelled at everything, was surprisingly clumsy in shooting practice.

Her own frustration was regrettable, but her friend’s struggles successfully made up for it.

Only then did Seiko realize that Saori’s athletic performance had always been just “not bad” rather than “talented.”
It was just that her excellence in other areas had overshadowed this inconspicuous weakness.

After teaching them everything she was supposed to, she left the rest for Saori and Sakura to practice on their own.
There was no shortcut to shooting; sharpshooters were made, fed by bullets.

During these few days of Seiko’s shooting lessons, after some back and forth, Kiuchi Shigezawa finally agreed to half of Seiko’s terms—the mayor was willing for the Urawa municipal government and the construction company controlled by the Yamagami-gumi to jointly fund and establish a new construction company, which would jointly contract the Katakura Danchi project.

In the end, Seiko also chose to accept this compromise.

She had no choice but to compromise.
The Yamagami-gumi’s construction company was just a handful of people.
It could handle renovations, but it simply didn’t have the capability to be responsible for the construction of an entire commercial and residential complex.

At the same time, Seiko was also testing Yoshida Shoichi.

Although the man had not yet given a direct answer as to whether he was willing to run for mayor, he had repeatedly told Seiko things like “how Kiuchi Shigezawa cursed the Yamagami-gumi in his office,” “how stubborn Kiuchi Shigezawa was in refusing to accept the Yamagami-gumi’s terms,” “how he himself had spoken up for the Yamagami-gumi,” and “how his own governing philosophy was completely different from Kiuchi Shigezawa’s.”

The meaning behind his words was already very clear.

Although the man was still hesitating, he was already tempted by the idea of replacing Kiuchi Shigezawa.

“You think Yoshida Shoichi can be trusted?”

In a private hospital room, Yamagami Nobuo spoke with Seiko from his sickbed.

“He’s at least more sincere than Kiuchi Shigezawa,” Seiko said.

To this day, Kiuchi Shigezawa was still only willing to let Yoshida Shoichi act as a middleman, rather than meeting with the Yamagami-gumi in person even once.
This was enough to show that Kiuchi Shigezawa looked down on the yakuza from the bottom of his heart, and he had no intention of hiding it.

Seiko didn’t mind if her partner looked down on her or disliked her, as long as they concealed it well.
Looking down on someone or disliking them was a matter of perspective, but refusing to conceal it was a matter of attitude.
It showed that the other party’s attitude did not place enough importance on their cooperation.

In that case, it was best to terminate the cooperation in a timely manner.

“Yoshida Shoichi has limited ability, is indecisive, and opportunistic,” Yamagami Nobuo evaluated.

Seiko nodded in agreement.
Yamagami Nobuo’s assessment was very pertinent; she had seen some of it herself.
However, Seiko still said, “We don’t need a very loyal and very capable partner.
Those are requirements for a long-term collaborator.
The mayor changes every four years.
If Yoshida isn’t suitable, we’ll just switch to the next one.”

“Are you that confident about changing the mayor?” Yamagami Nobuo looked at Seiko strangely.
“Our Yamagami-gumi only has about two thousand men.
Oh, after the two purges we both conducted, we probably have fewer than two thousand now.
Including the members’ families, that’s barely over ten thousand votes.”

Seiko shook her head.
“You’re underestimating the influence of our Yamagami-gumi.
Or rather, the Yamagami-gumi has failed to leverage its strengths in the past, so we haven’t been able to maximize our influence.”

“What do you mean?” Yamagami Nobuo asked, not understanding.

“Did you know?” Seiko held up three fingers.
“Our plan to kill Kiuchi Shigezawa with praise has only been in effect for three days, but we’ve already distributed thirty thousand flyers.
At least seventeen media outlets, large and small, have condemned our Yamagami-gumi for disrupting business operations.
Even in Aiko’s elementary school, students are talking about how the yakuza are using super glue on windows…”

“That doesn’t sound like a good thing. What does it prove?”

Yamagami Nobuo had a strange expression on his face.
He couldn’t tell if Seiko was praising or criticizing the Yamagami-gumi.

“It proves that although our Yamagami-gumi only has two thousand men, we have extremely strong organizational and operational capabilities.”

“You might as well say we have an extremely strong capability for mischief, like using super glue on windows.”

“As long as we have this capability, it doesn’t really matter whether we’re doing good or bad things,” Seiko shook her head.
“The true essence of an election is just mind occupation.”

As long as you can make enough noise and make the public hear only one voice, you can get more votes.

The essence of an election is mind occupation—this was a truth repeatedly verified in the later era of social media.
When your voice is loud enough, sensational enough, gimmicky enough, and dominates the hot searches long enough, whether your ideas are right or wrong, your thinking short-sighted or visionary, your reputation noble or vile…

None of it matters.

There were no hot search lists now, no social media…

So, the Yamagami-gumi yakuza, who could make the entire city hate them in three days, were an extremely noisy tool.
The key was just how to use them.

Yamagami Nobuo looked into Seiko’s eyes and was silent for a moment.
“As long as you’re confident.”

Before Seiko could speak, Yamagami Nobuo continued, “From now on, I’ll have an extra copy of everything Eishi reports to me prepared for you.
I… probably don’t have much time left…”

Seiko’s mouth opened, and she tried to comfort him with some awkwardness, “The doctor said it’s not a big deal, just a narrowing of the cerebral blood vessels…”

“No need to humor me,” Yamagami Nobuo shook his head with a smile.
“I’m a yakuza who’s almost lived to eighty.
Do I still need to be afraid of death?”

“All I’m worried about is who I can hand this Yamagami-gumi over to after I die.”

“Before, there was your father.
He was incompetent, but at least he was an option.
After your father died, I once thought the Yamagami-gumi was hopeless.
Now, thankfully, thankfully…”