Traveling Through the Tokyo Bubble Era

Chapter 1042 Be Prepared to Get Away with Conflict
November 27th, noon.

Hideki Hanyu was quite satisfied as he saw the Nakayama sisters off from the Yorozuya.

Recalling how the two sisters had tried their best to please him last night, Hideki Yuzuru suddenly realized that he couldn't just pretend to be a nice guy when dealing with women.

Sometimes, giving someone a hard time can lead to a different kind of experience.

However, Hideki Yuzuru immediately put the matter of romantic love out of his mind after seeing the Nakayama sisters off.

For him, there are still too many important things to deal with at this stage.

For example, after generating buzz with Haruko Naito, the power struggle between the Naito family and Itochu Corporation has now reached a fever pitch.

Because of Naito Haruko's background, from the outside perspective, his involvement in the Naito family affairs was clearly intended to support Naito Haruko's father, Naito Ryoichi.

As for Naito Ryoichi, this good-for-nothing second-generation rich kid, he had absolutely no idea what being low-key meant.

After believing he had Hideki Hanyu's support, this guy started bragging everywhere, as if afraid others wouldn't know he had a powerful ally.

This action indirectly confirms the outside world's speculation about Hideki Hanyu.

Although this was already part of Hideki Hanyu's plan and was a result he was happy to see.

However, Ryoichi Naito's performance still made Hideki Hanyu extremely uncomfortable.

It's hard to imagine how such an ambitious but incompetent second-generation rich kid could have given birth to such a smart daughter as Naito Haruko.

Recalling Naito Eimi's performance, Hideki Hanyu inexplicably felt that Naito Ryoichi was being cuckolded.

Of course, with that good-for-nothing Naito Ryoichi drawing attention from the outside, it would be much easier for him to act in the shadows.

For example, today he secretly arranged to meet with the person he truly wanted to support in the power struggle within Itochu Corporation.

After lunch, Hideki Hanyu got into a discreet car and drove from the back door of the garage to Setagaya Shinen in Setagaya Ward.

However, to Hideki Yuzuru's surprise, after arriving at Seiya Shinen Garden, he had not yet met the person he wanted to see, but instead encountered the old man Murayama who had come to his door again.

Looking at the old man in front of him, Hideki Yuzuru couldn't help but ask.

"Murayama-senpai, if I remember correctly, you are seventy-one years old this year, aren't you?"

Old Man Murayama immediately corrected him, "You're mistaken, I'm only seventy years old this year."

Hideki Hanyu said helplessly, "What's the difference between seventy-one and seventy?"

You're already retired, wouldn't it be better to just enjoy your retirement at home? Why bother running around for others?

Old Man Murayama said irritably, "Do you think I want to go through all this trouble? Do you know who came to my house this morning?"

"Who?" Hideki Yuzuru asked curiously.

"The current heir of the Yoshida family," the old man Murayama replied.

Hideki Hanyu asked, "Is it because of Aso?"

"What else could it be for?" said the old man from Murayama.

"Tsk tsk... Prime Minister Yoshida has been dead for so long, yet he still has to worry about his good-for-nothing grandson."

Hideki Hanyu clicked his tongue and made a sarcastic remark.

The old man from Murayama cautioned, "You'd better not say such things outside."

No matter how bad Aso's reputation is in Japanese politics, it does not affect the prestige of his maternal grandfather, Yoshida.

Most importantly, the most successful thing this former prime minister did during his tenure was to cultivate a large number of loyal followers for himself.

According to incomplete statistics, there are no fewer than forty or fifty publicly known successors.

With such an exaggerated level of training, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that his students are all over the world and that the entire court is filled with his former students and acquaintances.

This is why Aso, an arrogant and thoughtless person who could barely pass his school exams, was able to be pushed into the cabinet in this day and night and forcibly promoted to the position of prime minister in another time and space.

The political legacy left to Aso by his predecessors is truly immense.

After reminding him, old man Murayama immediately followed up with another question, "Has Yutaro Hatoyama not contacted you?"

“His cousin and I spoke on the phone.”

Yesterday at Seiya Shinen Garden, although Mr. Hatoyama did not come in person, he called immediately to express his support for his decision.

Hideki Hanyu was not surprised by this.

Not to mention that they already had a good relationship, they are now secretly cooperating in the power struggle within Itochu Corporation.

Just considering the ancestral feud between the Hatoyama and Aso families, it was clear that even if Mr. Hatoyama didn't help him in this matter, he would absolutely not help Aso.

After the war, during the time when Aso's maternal grandfather Yoshida served as prime minister, he was hated by the right-wing faction within Japan because of his pro-American stance.

These right-wing factions even plotted an assassination attempt against Yoshida and planned a top-down coup.

After the coup, the right-wing faction prepared to nominate Mr. Hatoyama's grandfather as prime minister.

Under such circumstances, it would be strange if the two families could have a good relationship.

Interestingly, however, the feud between the two families came to a conclusion in their respective descendants.

In another timeline, Aso successfully ascended to the prime minister's seat after entering the 21st century.

However, before he could even settle into his new position, he was ousted from power by Mr. Hatoyama's opposition party.

What the grandfathers failed to accomplish, they took over, but were achieved by their grandsons, and history cleverly formed a closed loop decades later.

Of course, it's only 1990 now, so thinking about so many things is pointless.

Hideki Hanyu glanced at the time, quickly got up, turned on the television, and switched the channel to Fuji TV.

The program playing on the screen is a special news program that looks rather rushed.

Actually, calling it a news program is a bit inaccurate, because this is a compilation of embarrassing moments by figures in Japanese politics.

However, the amount of Aso in the compilation is a bit too high.

It basically exposes all of Aso's stupidity from childhood to adulthood, and every viewer who finishes watching it will have one thought in mind.

Why are people like this able to get into the Japanese cabinet?

"Ha ha!"

When the TV station showed Aso's school report card, with its appalling results, Hideki Hanyu couldn't help but burst out laughing.

However, while he was laughing, he didn't forget the old man from Murayama next to him.

"Senior Murayama, what does it have to do with Mr. Hatoyama contacting me and the Yoshida family looking for you? Are you afraid that I'm not strong enough to withstand the attack from Aso?"

Looking at the content on the television, the old man from Murayama asked with a hint of helplessness, "Is this what you arranged?"

Hideki Hanyu readily admitted, "Of course, isn't that obvious enough?"
However, these are just appetizers. Time is too tight, and we can't dig out anything more in-depth yet. In a few days, even more explosive revelations will be revealed.

Oh, by the way, I'm also preparing to produce a documentary for the Aso family, to properly promote them and show how they became wealthy.

Hideki Hanyu's words brought a bitter smile to the old man Murayama's deeply lined face.

"President Yuzuru, I think you don't need to dig up any juicy gossip, and there's no need to prepare a documentary."

This morning, someone from the Yoshida family came to see me, asking me to talk to you and try to avoid conflict.

"Peace talks?"

Now it was Hideki Hanyu's turn to not understand.

"It's only been a day? Aso was causing a huge uproar in the cabinet yesterday and was even planning to use official means against me. How come he's sue for peace today? What happened?"

"This one……"

The old man from Murayama seemed unsure how to answer.

After all, the Yoshida family had come to him this morning and told him what had happened, which he himself found somewhat absurd. After organizing his thoughts, the old man Murayama explained, "Because they felt that yesterday's incident was not Chairman Yuzuru's fault, so they didn't want an unnecessary conflict to break out over a mistake."

"The fault wasn't mine?"

Upon hearing this, Hideki Yuzuru instantly understood what was going on.

"Let me guess, could it be that Aso confessed what happened?"

The old man Murayama nodded. "That's right, Aso admits that he provoked you first."

However, upon hearing this answer, Hideki Hanyu tapped the table in response.

"This is absolutely not a reason for them to seek peace."

"What does Chairman Yuzuru think is the reason?" the old man Murayama asked.

"Senior, do you think that if we really want to do something, is right or wrong really that important?"

Even if Aso is truly wrong, as long as there's a reason to do it, then even if it's wrong, they will absolutely continue to make that mistake.

Faced with Hideki Hanyu's questioning, the old man Murayama was speechless.

Because he agrees with what Hideki Hanyu said.

The struggles between the upper echelons may be for power, for profit, or for status, but rarely for right or wrong.

Hideki Hanyu continued.

"So in my opinion, there is only one reason why they would find you and take the initiative to contact me to seek peace and a ceasefire: this conflict was never part of their plan."

As Hideki Hanyu finished speaking, a funny smile suddenly appeared on his face.

"Let me guess, they must have met up last night to talk about Aso."

Then, in front of everyone, Aso confessed the details of his conflict with me, and immediately some people said they would not support Aso.

Their reasoning was not that Aso provoked me first, but that they discovered that Aso's provocation was neither planned by Aso himself nor orchestrated by someone behind the scenes.

There were no conflicts of interest or power struggles; it was simply that Aso made a foolish mistake, and his sense of superiority led him to dislike me.

They cannot accept that they would clash with me, the creator of this emerging power, for such an absurd reason.

That's why I immediately contacted you again, asking you to act as a mediator to sue for peace with me, hoping to stop the conflict before it escalates.

"It seems I don't need to explain in detail anymore."

The old man Murayama's words proved that Hideki Hanyu had guessed everything correctly.

It was this affirmative answer that made Hideki Hanyu completely lose his temper and burst into laughter on the spot.

"Haha, I was just guessing yesterday, but it turned out to be true. Is this the next generation of leaders cultivated by the Liberal Party?"

I'm really curious, what would this guy be like as prime minister?

Despite being a member of the Liberal Democratic Party and having retired, Murayama still felt a subtle embarrassment upon hearing Hideki Hanyu's words.

What else could he say but that each generation is worse than the last?

Of course, if Hideki Hanyu heard this, he might retort that the previous generation wasn't necessarily that good either.

However, old man Murayama has no time to consider the future of the Jumei Party; he needs to deal with the immediate issues.

"President Yuzuru, we can talk about the future later. Right now, I need you to give me an answer on how to respond to their request for peace."

"Seek peace?"

Hideki Yuzuru, watching the ongoing television program, slowly began to speak.

Tell them I haven't had enough fun yet.

……

The old man from the village came and went in a hurry.

However, he didn't look too happy when he returned.

Hideki Hanyu's words were tantamount to telling him that the conflict was not over yet.

The old man Murayama could actually understand why Hideki Hanyu did this.

Hideki Hanyu no longer represents just himself, but a new political force and a huge interest group.

This group, having grown stronger, has long been eager to make a splash to prove its strength and establish its position in the upper echelons of Japanese society.

But at this crucial moment, Aso provided an excuse.

Behind Aso is an old power that appears strong but is actually not as united as it seems, with the previous generation aging and the new generation not yet successfully taking over.

For the group behind Hideki Hanyu, this is undoubtedly the best stepping stone, allowing them to obtain greater benefits at a lower cost.

Last night's meeting at Seiya Shinen Garden was essentially a pep talk by Hideki Hanyu for everyone.

With the entire group ready to go to war, even if Aso's side took the initiative to seek peace, Hideki Hanyu could not agree directly.

Faced with this group of bloodthirsty sharks, Aso must pay a price enough to make them stop.

……

Beside the pond in the front courtyard of Sekoku Shinen Garden.

Hideki Hanyu is feeding the koi in the pond.

Marco suddenly appeared and said to Hideki Hanyu, "The person has arrived."

Without turning his head, Hideki Hanyu said, "Bring him here."

"Ok."

Marco responded and left.

But he soon returned, and there was another person with him.

A middle-aged man.

As the man approached, he bowed to Hideki Hanyu and said, "President Hanyu, good afternoon."

Upon hearing this, Hideki Yuzuru turned around and greeted the person with a smile.

"President Naito, it's been a long time."

The middle-aged man thought for a moment and said, "Yes, we haven't seen each other since we went public and started our partnership with Crescent Cinemas."

If an outsider were present at this moment, they would recognize that this middle-aged man was none other than Kensaku Naito, who was in charge of managing the securities business for the Naito family.

Many of the companies under Hideki Hanyu's control that went public in the past collaborated with Naito Securities, which was managed by Hanyu.

Although Haruko Naito addresses him as "uncle," from the Naito family's perspective, Kensaku Naito is merely a member of a collateral branch and holds a marginal position within the family.

He was unable to secure a position at Itochu Corporation, the core business of his family, and could only manage a securities company that others didn't care about.

Therefore, even though Naito Kensaku was quite capable, no one would consider his existence in the power struggles within the Naito family and Itochu Corporation.

But Hideki Hanyu wanted to give everyone a surprise.

"President Naito, do you know why I want to see you?"

"I can probably guess."

"Hehe, I enjoy dealing with smart people."

"Thank you very much for President Yuzuru's support."

"It's too early to thank me now; let's be prepared to get involved in the conflict first."

(End of this chapter)