Chapter Sixty-Two: The Assault

Hiding among the crowd, Wei Hua watched the throng of reporters and the numerous officers from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department at the scene, inwardly rejoicing. Oda Shin’s death had been a murder, not a suicide, but no matter how skilled the forensic experts inspecting the body might be, they would all conclude it was suicide. None of them knew that a domineering mystical art called the “Soul Capturing Technique” existed in this world. The suicide note had indeed been written in Oda Shin’s own hand, though Wei Hua had fabricated the contents. In the letter, certain forces alluded to were actually references to the Japanese Youth Association. This was the crux of Wei Hua’s scheme: he aimed to have this infamous, ultra-right-wing organization declared illegal and ordered disbanded by the Japanese government.

After watching Oda Shin’s body being carried away, Wei Hua left the scene. He had to move on to the next step of his plan. Driving his new Honda, he made his way to a secret residence belonging to Sakamoto Toshiyoshi. At that moment, Sakamoto was sleeping on his bed, utterly unaware that the noose of death was already tightening around his neck. Wei Hua entered the hideout, kicked the slumbering Sakamoto awake, and ordered him, “Call Murayama Kigi, Kurihara Saburo, Ritsuio Taro, and Kono Takahira. Tell them to bring their weapons and meet at the secret location in the countryside, and say there’s a big operation tonight—we’re going to attack a Chinese man’s home.”

Under the power of the Soul Capturing Technique, Sakamoto obeyed Wei Hua’s words as if Wei Hua were his own father. Soon, he had called the other leaders of the Japanese Youth Association. That afternoon, Sakamoto drove Wei Hua to their secret countryside meeting place—a wooden cabin hidden in a mountain valley, donated by one of the association’s members.

Once inside, Wei Hua killed Sakamoto Toshiyoshi and dug a large pit behind the cabin, into which he dumped the body. By nightfall, apart from Kono Takahira, whose corpse was absent, the other three—Murayama Kigi, Kurihara Saburo, and Ritsuio Taro—had all joined Sakamoto in the pit.

Wei Hua had spared Kono Takahira for a reason. Physically, Kono’s build was quite similar to Wei Hua’s own. Wei Hua intended to use him as a scapegoat, a plan he had prepared in advance. After burying the four bodies, Wei Hua stuffed Kono Takahira, still alive, into the trunk of the car and drove back to Tokyo. His destination was the Special Investigation Division of the Metropolitan Police Department (an invented agency for the story). The car belonged to Kono, and Wei Hua wore an outfit identical to Kono Takahira’s. A black hood rested on the passenger seat, and a large-caliber automatic pistol was stowed in the glove compartment.

Wei Hua waited for Ishii Kazumitsu. His plan was simple: he would kill Ishii in front of everyone and frame Kono Takahira, leading the police to discover that the “certain forces” mentioned in Oda Shin’s suicide note referred to the Japanese Youth Association.

But with all the association’s leaders vanished—only Kono Takahira remaining, who would commit suicide after assassinating Ishii Kazumitsu—the evidence would point to a cover-up. The police would inevitably search the homes and secret hideouts of the association heads. At those secret locations, Wei Hua had already prepared copious evidence, painstakingly forged over the course of more than a month. To obtain this information, he had used the Soul Capturing Technique to interrogate over a hundred people, designing a trap so tight it could withstand any scrutiny. This evidence would prove that the Japanese Youth Association, once a normal youth organization, had devolved into a violent group plotting to overthrow the government, orchestrating armed coups, bribing Self-Defense Force officers and senators, kidnapping, extortion, intimidation, and murder. With such crimes exposed, how could the Japanese government allow the organization’s continued existence—especially with the media following the case so closely? The fate of the Youth Association had been sealed by Wei Hua’s machinations.

At a little past nine that evening, Ishii Kazumitsu’s car emerged from the Special Investigation Division’s compound. Due to Ishii’s special status and the lack of concrete evidence linking him to bribery or Oda Shin’s suicide, the division had taken no exceptional measures against him. They collected his passport, instructed him not to leave the country for the time being, and let him go home, though he was required to be available for further questioning at any time.

As Ishii’s car pulled out, Wei Hua hurriedly donned the hood, grabbed the pistol, and rammed his car into Ishii’s vehicle. The front of Wei Hua’s car collided squarely with Ishii’s. Ishii’s driver was injured. One of Ishii’s bodyguards stepped out to curse at Wei Hua, but before he could finish, Wei Hua shot him—a marksman’s shot, right between the brows. The bodyguard collapsed. Wei Hua then fired several shots at Ishii’s car, whose door was now open. There was no return fire. Wei Hua rushed over—inside, Ishii and two other bodyguards were dead, and the driver was barely alive. Wei Hua fired a shot at each of the four to make sure, then leaped into his own car and sped away.

The Special Investigation Division responded swiftly. Hearing the gunshots, they rushed outside, but by the time they reached the scene, Wei Hua had vanished and all five occupants of Ishii’s car were dead. The division immediately began organizing a manhunt. Eyewitnesses had seen the attack, and someone had even remembered Wei Hua’s license plate number.

Not long after, the division received reports that the car used by the assailant had been found in a park 1,500 meters from the division headquarters. Officers from both the division and the local patrol had already sealed off the area.

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