Comprehension against the sky, creating the Five Thunders in the real world

To investigate internal traitors now means to suspect one's own followers.

Honda looked at Teppanyaki Taiga sitting opposite him—the current head of the Teppanyaki family and one of his most trusted supporters—and a complex emotion welled up in his heart.

Taiga Teppanyaki is straightforward and decisive, enjoying high prestige within the Teppanyaki family. He also consistently obeys Honda Kawa, earning him the title "Red Mist."

The plan's material supply made a significant contribution.

Even so, Hondakawa did not dare to completely rule out the suspicion of the Teppanyaki family. After all, the Teppanyaki family and the Yamamoto family's companies are fierce competitors in the field of military equipment. Could it be that they would do something like betraying the Yamamoto family in order to suppress them?
Similarly, Yamamoto Kazuzawa looked at Sato Takeru, the head of the Sato family, with a scrutinizing gaze.

Takeru Satoh is cunning and scheming. Although he is outwardly respectful to Ichizawa Yamamoto, he secretly tries to bypass Yamamoto and contact Ichigo Susanoo directly to gain more benefits from the plan.

Meanwhile, Susanoo Ichigo looked at Tanaka Yuichi of the Tanaka family and Matsumoto Taro of the Matsumoto family, and seemed to be preoccupied.

Yuichi Tanaka was ambitious and had always wanted to use "Red Mist" as a means to achieve his goals.

The favorable winds of the plan allowed the Tanaka family to surpass the Matsumoto family in status within the military; Matsumoto Taro, on the other hand, was shrewd and calculating, seemingly indifferent to worldly affairs, but in reality, he secretly cultivated many confidants and had considerable influence within the military.

The atmosphere in the meeting room grew increasingly oppressive; everyone kept their heads down, hesitant to speak.

On the one hand, they were unwilling to doubt their allies, since a wrong accusation would not only destroy trust between them but could also trigger a large-scale conflict between families; on the other hand, they dared not vouch for others, in case they really missed a mole and caused the "Red Mist" plan to fail completely, they would all become sinners in the Sakura Kingdom, and their families would decline as a result.

Suspicion without evidence is like a sword hanging overhead, never knowing when it will fall and pierce someone's heart.

Just then, Teppanyaki Taiga suddenly raised his head and looked sharply at Yamamoto Sento, the head of the Yamamoto family, breaking the silence in the conference room.

"I believe that the Yamamoto family is behind all of this."

His voice was loud and clear, carrying an unquestionable tone, which sounded particularly abrupt in the quiet conference room.

The reason why Teppan Taiga accused Yamamoto Sento so directly was not only because of the business competition between the Teppan and Yamamoto families, but also because the Yamamoto family had used unfair means to steal a huge order that belonged to the Teppan family in the last bidding for the procurement of materials for the "Red Mist" project, causing the Teppan family to suffer heavy losses.

From then on, Teppanyaki Taiga harbored a grudge against Yamamoto Sento, and now, taking advantage of the opportunity to investigate internal spies, he wanted to give Yamamoto Sento a hard time.

As the most powerful member of the family who followed Honda, Teppanyaki Taiga's influence in the meeting room was second only to the three elders. His words immediately attracted everyone's attention.

Yamamoto, who had been deep in thought, suddenly looked up upon hearing this, a flash of anger in his eyes.

He slammed his hand on the table, stood up, and angrily rebuked the iron plate river:

"You can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want! What evidence do you have that my Yamamoto family is behind this? Just because my Yamamoto family has a conflict of interest with your Teppanyaki family, are you going to make baseless accusations based on that?"

Yamamoto Sage's voice grew louder and louder, filled with anger and disdain:

"Do you think this is some child's game? We're having a very serious discussion about who's at fault! If we can't find the mole within our ranks, our plan in Japan will definitely fail! Hah, in the face of such a crucial matter, you're still thinking about personal gains and losses? Is your perspective really that narrow?"

At the beginning, Yamamoto was very agitated when he started cursing, his face turned red, and his hands trembled slightly with anger.

But as he spoke, his emotions gradually calmed down, and his tone became steady and powerful.

He didn't dwell on the conflict of interest between the two companies, but instead steered the conversation back to "Red Mist".

In terms of the overall plan, it not only pointed out that Tieban Dahe's accusations were baseless, but also highlighted its stance of prioritizing national interests.

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone else in the conference room nodded in agreement, their eyes filled with dissatisfaction as they looked at Teppanyaki Taiga.

In contrast, Tieban Dahe seemed somewhat at a loss at this moment.

He had only intended to vent his frustrations and didn't actually have evidence of the Yamamoto family's betrayal. He hadn't expected the Yamamoto Sage to refute him so calmly and even accuse him of "disregarding the bigger picture."

The situation.

He opened his mouth, wanting to refute, but found that he had no evidence to support his accusations. He could only stand there, his face turning red and white, looking extremely embarrassed.

He secretly regretted saying those words in a moment of impulse. Now, not only had he failed to disgust Yamamoto, he had also become the person who was being unreasonable in the eyes of everyone.

It's important to understand that people from large families value face the most, especially family leaders like Tieban Dahe, who are usually high and mighty and have never been so embarrassed in public.

He stood there, feeling like everyone's gaze was piercing him like needles, making him wish he could disappear into the ground.

He wanted to apologize, but couldn't bring himself to do it; he wanted to continue arguing, but had nothing to say, so he could only stand there, and the atmosphere became very awkward.

Just when Teppanyaki was caught in a dilemma, unsure of how to end things, Honda finally spoke up.

He coughed lightly, his gaze sweeping over the crowd, his tone calm yet carrying an undeniable authority:
"Alright, don't make wild guesses without evidence, and put aside your conflicts of interest for now. I'm not saying the mole is definitely among us."

Honda's voice fell in the silent conference room. His gaze slowly swept over the eight bigwigs from Japan present. His fingertips unconsciously tapped the table, making a dull sound, as if tapping on everyone's tense nerves.

He paused, then continued, his tone becoming more serious:
"Perhaps the Chinese have already laid out a network of spies and agents in our country, and these people are hidden in all walks of life, and may even be lurking among us."

Before we receive definitive information, no one should panic. I absolutely do not want you to cause me trouble at this crucial juncture because of unfounded speculation.

These words were like a bucket of cold water poured over their heads, instantly calming the previously somewhat agitated crowd down.

Tieban Dahe's hands, hanging by his sides, clenched quietly, then slowly relaxed. The embarrassment on his face gradually faded, replaced by a thoughtful expression.

He had to admit that Honda's guess wasn't without merit—China's intelligence capabilities in recent years were undeniable. If there were indeed agents infiltrating Japan, their superior disguise skills could certainly allow them to penetrate into the inner circle and steal the secrets of Project "Red Mist." Yamamoto Sento also suppressed his earlier anger, his fingers gently stroking the family crest embroidered on his cuff, his brow slightly furrowed.

He recalled a group of overseas students recruited by his family business last year, several of whom were from China. Although they had undergone layers of background checks, who could guarantee that there weren't any hidden intelligence agents among them? After all, when faced with interests and positions, people's hearts are often more complicated than imagined.

Susanoo picked up the sake on the table, took a small sip, and looked out the window.

In the garden of the Cherry Blossom Country, several late-blooming cherry trees were in full bloom, their petals falling in the wind, but they could not dispel the gloom in his heart.

He knew that if the mole was not actually inside, then the Chinese agents lurking in the shadows were like time bombs, potentially bringing even greater disaster to the "Red Mist" plan at any moment.

The group looked at each other, and the atmosphere of mutual suspicion gradually dissipated, replaced by a shared sense of crisis.

They asked themselves honestly, each of them was a top figure in the country of Sakura, and the rise and fall of their families was closely tied to the interests of the nation.

"Red Mist"

If the plan succeeds, each of them will reap huge benefits—either the expansion of their family business, an increase in their political status, or the consolidation of military power.

Betraying the plan would bring them no benefit whatsoever; on the contrary, it would plunge them into utter ruin.

Having figured this out, everyone nodded in agreement with Honda's view.

Subsequently, under Honda's leadership, Sakura Country quickly launched a nationwide internal cleanup operation.

The military and police departments, in conjunction with intelligence agencies, conducted a comprehensive investigation of key areas such as government agencies, military enterprises, and research institutes, and even strictly investigated some enterprises and personnel indirectly related to the "Red Mist" project.

The cleanup operation lasted for a full two weeks, during which many spies hiding in Japan were indeed uncovered.

Among these people are commercial spies posing as executives of foreign companies, technology thieves lurking in research institutions, and information spies infiltrating the media industry.

However, after detailed interrogation and investigation, the group discovered an unexpected result—the vast majority of these captured spies and agents came from a European empire, not China as they had guessed.

This result made the atmosphere in the meeting room delicate once again.

Tieban Dahe broke the silence first, his tone tinged with doubt and wariness:
"So, does that mean that empire is trying to sabotage our Japan? They were clearly involved in the preparation of the biological and chemical project targeting China before, and even provided some technical support. How could they suddenly turn against us and steal our project information? It doesn't make sense."

Master Yamamoto frowned, tapping his fingers lightly on the table:

"Could it be that they want to monopolize the results of the biochemical project? After all, once the project succeeds, the party that controls the core technology will gain enormous influence internationally."

Perhaps they never intended to truly cooperate with us from the beginning; they just wanted to use our resources to complete the initial research and development, and then discard us later.

Susanoo, however, shook his head and offered a different perspective:
"It's also possible that they reached some kind of secret agreement with China, exchanging our plans and intelligence for other benefits."

However, this possibility is unlikely, given that the empire and China are competitors in many areas, and it is unlikely that the empire would easily make concessions that would harm its own interests.

Everyone had their own opinion and argued endlessly, but they could not reach a reasonable conclusion.

As the investigation deepened, they discovered that while the spies from the European empire had stolen some peripheral information related to the "Red Mist" project, they had not accessed the core details of the project—such as the specific coordinates of the secret base in the Kunlun Mountains and the core formula of the biochemical agent.

This means that the real mole who caused the Kunlun Mountain stronghold to be raided by the Chinese special forces is still hiding in the shadows and has not been exposed.

What's even more troubling is that the massive cleanup operation, which has lasted for half a month, has caused considerable panic within the country.

Many businesses have faced operational difficulties due to the censorship of their employees, and the efficiency of government agencies has also declined significantly. Some media outlets have even begun reporting on the "abuse of power by the government to investigate citizens," which has sparked discontent among some members of the public.

If the investigation continues, not only will it be difficult to find the real mole, but it could also lead to social unrest in Japan, which would be particularly problematic for the country currently embroiled in the "Red Mist" crisis.

For Japan, which is in a critical recovery period, this is undoubtedly a disastrous situation.

Ultimately, with Honda's final decision, this large-scale internal investigation had to be brought to a halt.

Although doubts remained, everyone knew that the most important thing right now was to restore "Crimson Mist" as quickly as possible.

The focus should be on advancing the plan, rather than wasting energy on meaningless investigations.

However, there is a hidden "concealment".

It's like a thorn stuck in everyone's heart, making them restless and unable to eat or sleep.

Meanwhile, on a bustling street in Tokyo, the land of cherry blossoms, two figures were weaving through the crowd, blending perfectly into their surroundings without attracting the attention of passersby.

These two were Lin Beichen and Yu Feng, who had come from China.

In order to successfully infiltrate the Cherry Blossom Country, Lin Beichen and Yu Feng made thorough preparations.

Lin Beichen changed into a well-tailored traditional Japanese outfit, his hair was styled in the local fashion, and he wore thin-rimmed glasses, making him look like a refined local scholar.

He was fluent in multiple languages, especially Japanese, which he spoke with exceptional fluency. His pronunciation was standard, and he was adept at using various dialects and slang. Without careful observation, it would be impossible to discern his true identity.

In addition, Lin Beichen also forged a perfect identity profile for himself through special channels—a history professor at a well-known university in Japan, who was invited by a cultural institution in Tokyo to participate in an academic exchange activity on ancient East Asian culture.

This file contains not only detailed personal experiences and academic achievements, but also forged social media accounts and media reports, sufficient to withstand any form of identity verification. (End of Chapter)