Akechi Hamazou is a name that echoes like thunder through the entire underworld of Japan. His presence alone casts a chilling shadow over the criminal world, and the mere mention of his alias—"Rashomon"—is enough to send hardened gangsters and rival syndicates into fits of anxiety. Since his youth, Akechi has carved a name for himself not through flash or theatrics, but through an unnerving blend of precision, cold calculation, and an utterly ruthless efficiency that has earned him a fearsome reputation.
What makes Akechi truly terrifying isn't just his undeniable physical prowess or combat skill—though those alone would be enough to keep most enemies at bay. No, what truly cements his legend in the underworld is his brilliant and calculating mind. Akechi possesses an almost supernatural ability to read his enemies like open books. He doesn't just anticipate their moves; he predicts their motivations, their doubts, their fears, and manipulates situations so masterfully that his targets often fall into ruin without ever realizing he was the architect of their downfall. His signature tactic is psychological warfare: letting enemies suffer quietly from consequences they believe to be their own fault. They never even suspect that Akechi is the puppeteer pulling every string from behind the curtain. He orchestrates events so seamlessly that his enemies walk straight into their own demise, blaming bad luck or poor choices—never realizing it was Rashomon's game all along.
Rashomon is widely renowned and deeply feared for his uncanny predictive abilities—an almost supernatural talent that allows him to read his enemies as if they were pages from a book written just for him. It's not simply intuition; it's as if he sees the future playing out in his mind, already knowing how his enemies will act, react, and ultimately fall. He always seems to be two, three, even four steps ahead, moving with such calculated precision that opponents feel like mere pawns in a game he has already won.
This gift of foresight makes him a nightmare for anyone who dares to stand in his way, be it rival gangs, criminal syndicates, or even high-ranking government officials. Many within the political realm whisper his name behind closed doors, knowing full well that crossing Akechi Hamazou—alias Rashomon—would be a catastrophic mistake. While some gangsters talk big and show off without substance, Akechi is the complete opposite. He is the embodiment of silent power, of efficiency and menace. The old saying goes: "All bark, no bite." But in Rashomon's case, he is all bite, no bark—a predator who strikes without warning and with lethal precision. His silence is not a weakness. It is the calm before an inevitable storm, and once he decides to move, no one is safe.
Take Karen Josh, for example. Ever since she first emerged a few years ago as the host of the notorious "Anti-ZAGE Program," Akechi Hamazou had been watching her with growing suspicion. From the very beginning, he sensed that this woman could become a serious threat to Zaboru and the ZAGE Corporation if left unchecked. Her words were venomous, her charisma dangerously effective, and her influence growing steadily among disillusioned parents and conservative media circles. At that time, Akechi was somewhat disappointed to learn that the Giordano Family had taken matters into their own hands and directly threatened her, which, to some extent, seemed to work. Karen backed down, discontinued her inflammatory programming, and retreated from public harassment. On the surface, it appeared the matter was resolved.
But Akechi, ever the tactician, wasn't fooled. He knew the type of woman Karen was—ambitious, manipulative, and too greedy to walk away from an easy source of money and attention. Even after letting go of her Anti-ZAGE platform, he sensed that she hadn't truly given up. People like her rarely do. She had tasted power, notoriety, and influence, and that kind of high was hard to abandon forever. That's why, even during the lull in her public activity, Akechi made the decision to keep her under constant surveillance. He deployed one of his most trusted subordinates to the United States with the sole purpose of tracking her movements, contacts, and plans His subordinate operated under the code name "Kakashi"—a reference to the scarecrow, fitting for someone so skilled in remaining unnoticed. Like a shadow cast in daylight, Kakashi moved with silent precision, trailing his targets so expertly that they never suspected they were being watched.
As time passed and the threat began to resurface, Akechi knew that simply making her "disappear" or staging a fake suicide would only invite suspicion and backlash. It wouldn't eliminate the problem—it would only complicate matters for ZAGE in the future, especially if public sympathy turned toward her. And so, he started to formulate something far more intricate, a plan with layers of psychological pressure, social exposure, and carefully timed events that would dismantle Karen Josh's credibility from the inside out without ever revealing Akechi's hand. If she was to be taken down, it had to be in a way that ensured her own actions would be the catalyst. A trap that she would walk into willingly, unaware it had been built specifically for her.
And true to Akechi's prediction, Karen didn't stop. In fact, she became even more persistent and calculated. While keeping her face out of the spotlight, she operated from the shadows—cultivating connections, drawing influence from sympathetic public figures, and quietly rebuilding a network that could challenge ZAGE's influence. She reached out to fringe media, seeded narratives into ZAGE online forums with anonymous accounts to create subtle waves of doubt toward ZAGE's credibility. It wasn't a direct attack; it was psychological guerrilla warfare—low noise, but deep impact.
The turning point came with the release of ZAGE's Medal of Honor game. Although successful, the game drew fire from critics accusing it of historical revisionism. Karen took this spark and fanned it into a flame. With dramatic flair, she began blaming ZAGE for "deliberately corrupting" history and brainwashing youth. It was the perfect excuse to relaunch her campaign, and she did—slowly, methodically, feeding her narrative into fringe platforms and then into mid-tier news circles. Akechi, of course, never stopped watching. He knew she wasn't done. He knew the storm she was quietly building would reach a boiling point.
Then came the announcement: Karen Josh intended to go live on television—an exclusive, prime-time segment where she would "expose ZAGE to the world." This was the moment Akechi had been waiting for. Not only had he predicted this months before, but he had already put his pieces in place.
Through his new alliance with the Giordano Family—who also had stakes in ZAGE's protection —Akechi reached out to KIRK TV, the station Karen had contacted. He had previously researched the network's ownership and discovered that it was under the control of Adrian Kirk, father of Aldirch Kirk, and a terminal cancer patient whom Zaboru had recently visited in a quiet act of goodwill. This created a subtle thread of loyalty between the Kirk family and ZAGE. Leveraging this, Akechi ensured that Karen's request would be approved—giving her exactly what she wanted, while unknowingly stepping onto a stage entirely designed by him.
What Karen didn't realize—what she couldn't have possibly imagined—was that Akechi had prepared long before she ever stepped onto the television set. In the days leading up to her appearance, Akechi had already predicted which supermarket she would stop by, down to the specific drink she would pick out of habit. Using surveillance data gathered by his team, combined with his uncanny foresight, Akechi planted a harmless but carefully calculated compound into one of the drinks that would be stocked exactly at eye level on the shelf—knowing she almost always picked the same brand and flavor.
The compound was not deadly, not even truly toxic. It was an irritant—a low-level chemical that subtly destabilized emotional regulation. Just enough to cloud judgment, increase agitation, and amplify frustration without tipping off any obvious signs of drugging. It was subtle. Surgical. Akechi, being a master of precision, knew the exact dosage to trigger the desired effect while avoiding suspicion from doctors, police, or even Karen herself.
And it worked flawlessly. As the live broadcast began and Adrian calmly dismissed Karen's accusations, labeling her a fraud in front of millions, the compound took hold. Already irritated and emotionally unbalanced, Karen snapped. Her vision blurred with rage, her thoughts muddled, she could no longer hold back the fury building inside her. She erupted—shouting, storming toward Adrian, physically lunging at the frail man in front of a shocked studio audience.
The next moment, a uniformed security guard—actually one of Akechi's men placed inside the station days before—intervened with clinical efficiency. He subdued Karen before she could do any harm. Cameras cut to black. The incident was captured, distributed, and instantly went viral. What the world saw was not a whistleblower fighting for truth, but an unhinged, aggressive fraud who broke down on live TV.
Exactly as Akechi had planned.
Akechi, now settled in a discreet hideout tucked deep in the suburbs of a quiet American city, sat back with a glass of whiskey in hand, eyes glued to the glowing television screen. The breaking news of Karen Josh's arrest scrolled across every major network, the footage of her live breakdown already dominating headlines worldwide. He chuckled to himself, not out of joy, but with the grim satisfaction of a hunter who had just watched his trap spring shut with brutal elegance. Everything had gone according to plan.
But that wasn't the end—not for Akechi. Long before Karen had ever stepped into the studio, he had anticipated where she would end up after the fallout. Knowing the justice system would likely send her to a women's correctional facility, he'd already arranged for one of his operatives—this time a female inmate on his payroll—to be transferred to that very prison. Her mission wasn't to destroy Karen, but to deliver a "lesson," a reminder that the shadows stretch even into the cold, steel corridors of incarceration.
"Mess with Zaboru," Akechi muttered, his voice low and full of menace, "you mess with me." He grinned wide, teeth glinting in the dim light like a demon savoring his victory. Had anyone else been in the room, they would have likely bolted from sheer terror. It wasn't a human expression—it was a monster's satisfaction.
Yet just as quickly as it appeared, the grin faded. His face grew still, composed. Stoic. He brought the cigar to his lips, took a deep drag, and exhaled slowly, his eyes turning soft as he gazed through the window at the night sky.
"All you had to do," he murmured with a faint, sad smile, "was shine, Zabo. You're a good man. Too good for the world we live in." Another drag. "The world needs someone like you… someone who builds, who inspires, who brings light." He tapped the ash off his cigar. "And someone like me… to handle the darkness."
Akechi chuckled again, though this time the sound was softer, almost introspective. The storm had passed, and in its wake, there was no thrill of victory, no swelling pride—only the quiet weight of resolve. A man who had seen too much and done too much to ever truly celebrate the outcomes of his actions.
He leaned back, exhaling a final trail of smoke from his cigar, and muttered to himself with a smirk, "I'm chuckling a lot these days..."
There was amusement in his voice, a rare trace of warmth. He couldn't help but notice how often laughter had started slipping back into his life—something almost foreign to a man like him. Especially when he was around his nephew, Zenshin. There was something about the boy's presence that disarmed him. In a world full of knives and shadows, Zenshin was a glowing ember. Innocent. Bright. Unaware of the darkness that clung to Akechi's every step.
Akechi truly liked being near him. In those fleeting moments, he could almost pretend he wasn't Rashomon—the man feared in whispers—but simply an uncle, someone normal, someone human.
To Akechi, Zaboru was far more than just a brother-in-law. He was a man he deeply respected and admired—a rare soul who had turned passion into legacy. Not only was Zaboru his favorite video game developer, an innovator who reshaped an entire generation's idea of what games could be, but he was also the father of Akechi's beloved nephew, Zenshin—a boy who brought light into Akechi's otherwise shadowed world. Beyond all of that, Zaboru had brought genuine happiness to Ayumi, Akechi's sister. For years, Akechi had watched over her with a protective eye, fearing no man would ever be good enough for her. But Zaboru had proven himself, not just as a husband, but as a partner who helped her grow, smile, and shine in ways Akechi had never seen before.
And it didn't stop there. Zaboru had, in his own way, begun to mend the Hamazou legacy. A family once feared and reviled as Yakuza was slowly being reshaped into something more dignified, more honorable. Under Akechi's hand, that transformation was already in motion, but Zaboru's influence helped make it seem natural—even inevitable. Through the booming success of ZAGE, Zaboru brought not only wealth but also legitimacy. ZAGE had become one of the main clients of Aoshidan, Akechi's elite private security firm, further solidifying their business ties and mutual trust. To threaten Zaboru, then, wasn't merely to offend a family member—it was to provoke a man whose life was shielded by a relentless force in the shadows. Anyone foolish enough to go after Zaboru was, by extension, declaring war on Akechi.
Akechi crushed the last embers of his cigar beneath his heel, the hiss of burning tobacco echoing briefly in the silent room. Without another word, he grabbed his coat and made his way out of the hideout. His mission in America was finished. The pieces had been moved, the damage delivered, and the lesson taught. It was time to return to Japan. He would always remain in the shadows, watching over Zaboru—an unseen protector, a guardian demon, a storm hidden just beneath the calm sky like The Rashomon.
To be continue
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