Chapter 369: Did the enemy eat some intelligence-lowering pills?

After selling the two thugs named Imamura Bunichi and Nakazawa Hokuto to his own cousin, Naoki Nagayama left the sumo hall.

As for whether Naoki Nagayama could subdue these two fakes, that was no longer Naoki Nagayama's concern. After all, as the third-generation head of the Nagayama Group, he should have some skills regardless.

After appeasing his cousin, he naturally went to the studio as per his routine.

Although generally speaking there wasn't anything major, as the boss, one always had to show their presence from time to time. Though this time, his presence seemed a bit too prominent...

"Naoki-san, you're here!" "Naoki-san, good morning!" "Naoki-san, you're as handsome as ever!" "Naoki-san! You are truly amazing!"

The expressions of every staff member in the studio were so enthusiastic, and the looks they gave Naoki Nagayama were filled with a strange sense of amusement...

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Naoki Nagayama walked into the office, completely confused.

"Otomo-san, why is everyone acting so strange towards me today? Did something good happen?"

Otomo Yoshimura, who was buried in writing something, looked up and gave him a look of disdain: "Isn't it because of the good deed you did, Naoki-san?! To think you'd pretend to know nothing about it..."

"Eh? Did my scandal abroad reach the country?!" He quickly recalled all the 'good deeds' he had done recently; this should be the only one, right?

"Scandal? What scandal?" Otomo Yoshimura was baffled by Naoki Nagayama's self-exposure. "The company employees are like this because they found out about the overseas trip at the end of the year!"

Ah, so it was an employee benefit! No wonder every employee looked at him as if they were seeing a bonus~

"So that's it..." Naoki Nagayama let out a sigh of relief. "It must have been spread by the crew members from the set~"

"That's right. After Shuichi-san and the others came back to edit, the whole company knew about it very quickly!" Otomo Yoshimura rubbed his temples wearily. "Because of you, Naoki-san, I am now working overtime to perfect the distribution plan for the benefits!"

"Damn it, this was originally work for the second half of the year! It's all because you leaked the news, Naoki-san!"

Otomo Yoshimura complained. Originally, it was just an opinion between bosses; if it didn't happen this year, they could just talk about it next year~

But now that it had been announced, the subsequent specific plans needed to keep up. There would definitely be an overseas trip this year!

Naoki Nagayama didn't want to take the blame: "It can't be helped. It's all Shuichi-san's fault for begging me so hard on set~"

"What does filming in Germany have to do with an overseas trip..." Otomo Yoshimura muttered to himself. He was just about to continue organizing the relevant plans when he suddenly thought of something. "Naoki-san, you just said there was a scandal abroad??"

"Ah, it was just a misunderstanding, maliciously fabricated by the paparazzi!" Naoki Nagayama hurriedly explained. "As long as it hasn't reached the country, it's fine!"

Otomo Yoshimura's accusatory gaze made Naoki Nagayama feel uncomfortable: "Naoki-san... do you know? Our agency's other artists have never had reports of scandals like that!"

"If you weren't the president, you would definitely have been fired as an artist!"

"Haha~ Otomo-san, don't you know me by now?" Naoki Nagayama could only explain, "It was all concocted by the media!"

"..." Otomo Yoshimura stopped talking, because he truly knew that his president's private social life was very simple. Never mind ambiguous relationships with female stars, even the pets at home were male!

But why, then, did scandals always find Naoki Nagayama? And why was he labeled with the nickname "Playboy Naoki"?

This was worth pondering!

Naoki Nagayama didn't stay in the office long; the atmosphere was a bit heavy... He went straight to the editing room. Sure enough, Shuichi Yin Tang and Masataka Komori were already there.

"Shuichi-san, how is the latest 'Cat's Eye Three Sisters' coming along?"

"Editing in progress..." Shuichi Yin Tang put down his work and asked with a smile instead, "Naoki-san, how was it? Did you get complained at by Otomo-san?"

"Ah..." It looked like this guy in front of him had definitely been lectured too, but he hadn't even warned him in advance. What a heartless guy!

"Shuichi-san... you must be very happy to be able to go to Germany~"

"That's all thanks to you, Naoki-san!" Director Yin Tang said smugly, praising his own flash of inspiration. As expected, Naoki Nagayama was easier to talk to.

Naoki Nagayama nodded, not feeling flattered: "It's nothing. Providing benefits for employees is what a boss should do~"

"Well said!"

"However, if we suddenly have to bear an extra expense... the company will have to increase its ability to make money!"

"Of course~"

Shuichi Yin Tang didn't feel that anything was wrong at all, and kept playing the straight man.

"Thinking about it that way, then 'Ringu', which is simple to shoot, has a higher profit margin than 'Crows Zero', which has many actors!"

"Is... huh?" Shuichi Yin Tang realized. "Naoki-san, didn't you say you were going to change to shoot '...?!'"

Wasn't it agreed that the next one would be 'Crows Zero'? Shuichi Yin Tang had already been preparing for this movie for over half a month!

"Well... it can't be helped~ After all, we have to provide benefits!"

Naoki Nagayama grabbed Shuichi Yin Tang's weakness and was thinking of teasing him further, but he didn't expect the editing room door to open again. Otomo Yoshimura walked in with a straight face.

"Naoki-san, Shuichi-san, I just found out about something..."

"Eh?"

"It has to do with the Cat's Eye Three Sisters!"

Seeing that Otomo Yoshimura didn't look like he was joking, Naoki Nagayama and Shuichi Yin Tang followed him back to the office.

"What's wrong, Otomo-san, with such a heavy expression?"

"It's Burning Agency!" Otomo Yoshimura said. "I just received a call from them. They want to discuss the transfer of the Cat's Eye Three Sisters with us..."

"Transfer?" Naoki Nagayama and Shuichi Yin Tang were both surprised. "Did the Cat's Eye Three Sisters propose this kind of thing?"

"Of course not!" Otomo Yoshimura was very certain. "The Cat's Eye Three Sisters retired from Burning Agency before. How could they possibly want to go back now?"

"Then... what are they talking about regarding a transfer?!" Shuichi Yin Tang was a bit speechless.

Otomo Yoshimura also felt a bit angry: "They said something about how the Cat's Eye Three Sisters would reach a higher level at Burning Agency, would reorganize the Wild Cat Group, and so on. Then they even pretended to be very generous, saying they would compensate for the breach of contract..."

"Between the lines, they revealed that they are Burning Agency, and if we transfer the three artists to them, they will give us many benefits."

"Did they eat some intelligence-lowering pills? Or are they brain-damaged?" Naoki Nagayama was amused. "Openly poaching artists in their rising phase from other agencies?"

"Yeah, why would we talk to them?" Shuichi Yin Tang also didn't understand.

Otomo Yoshimura's mouth moved: "Because they are Burning Agency."

Burning Agency, which sprawled across the entertainment industry like a giant spider, had an incredibly complex network of relationships under President Ikuo Suo. It was said that he directly or indirectly controlled nearly half of the artists in the Japanese entertainment industry.

Naoki Nagayama was surprised: "So this time it's Ikuo Suo's decision?"

Logically, that shouldn't be the case. How could someone like Ikuo Suo use his connections for a mere few female idols? He had always maintained a humble demeanor.

"I don't know!" Otomo Yoshimura said. "But Naoki-san, you need to be prepared. If we decide to ignore them, then the work of our other idols might be affected..."

If Ikuo Suo made a move, relying on his connections in the Japanese media, Naoki Nagayama's main artists—Junko Ito, Yuki Saito, and the rising Yutaka Ozaki—could all potentially be affected.

"I heard Ikuo Suo also has some influence in the underworld..." Otomo Yoshimura said halfway, then suddenly glanced at Naoki Nagayama. This was a person with pure yakuza blood. "Well, we probably don't need to worry about this."

"..." Naoki Nagayama rolled his eyes at Otomo Yoshimura. "Otomo-san, regardless, we can make contact with them first to test their bottom line."

"Hai! I understand!"

Regarding the Cat's Eye Three Sisters, or rather the Wild Cat Group, Otomo Yoshimura was the one most concerned. Hearing that Burning Agency was coming to poach them again, he was now restless.

"But don't worry too much. The Cat's Eye Three Sisters will not be traded away!" Naoki Nagayama patted Otomo Yoshimura on the shoulder. "We are no longer the small company we were two years ago~"

"Hai!"

Naoki Nagayama didn't take Burning Agency too much to heart.

On the television station side, the Kadokawa Group will block most of the methods for them; a 25% share is not something given away for nothing. And if they want to play dirty, then the big brother, Nagayama Kaede, seems to have just been thinking about planting his flag in Tokyo...

If they want to play tricks with records or media, although it will cause some impact, the results Naoki Nagayama has accumulated can each be considered a trump card. If they can block one, can they block them all?

Politics... In this regard, Friends of Naoki Film is indeed very weak. But using political connections to snatch idols... Is Ikuo Suo the biological son of the Japanese Prime Minister?

Should I intervene? Political donations and the like... Capitalism seems to play very openly in this regard!

With a head full of random thoughts, Naoki Nagayama stayed in the studio until the afternoon, and finally shook his head fiercely:

"Sigh... It's so hard to live a peaceful life... In the end, I might as well just move to the United States and become a Japanese-American; it seems like I could be a cut above others in Japan?"

"Forget it, I won't think about it! I'd better think about what gift to give Akina!"

Sure enough, the attention-shifting technique is very effective. After thinking of Akina Nakamori, Naoki Nagayama's heart settled down instantly.

However, another problem popped up: "What kind of gift does an 18-year-old girl like?"

"Riko-chan, what kind of gift would an 18-year-old girl like for her birthday?" Naoki Nagayama caught Riko Hayano and asked.

"Eh? 18 years old?" The aunt in her thirties recalled, "That was more than ten years ago... Back in our day, we were happy just to receive 'Happy Birthday' from friends! It would be even better if we could have a big meal!"

"Is it that simple?" Naoki Nagayama forgot that in Japan, 18 is not yet considered an adult, nor is it a particularly important anniversary.

"Ah, it's Naoki-san's younger sister's birthday, right?"

Riko Hayano naturally knew that her boss had a younger sister of about the same age, and very consciously included her in the candidates.

"What a good older brother!"

Naoki Nagayama almost didn't react: "Eh?... Ah, yes. Hahaha~"

That's right, his own troublesome younger sister was also going to have her 18th birthday! And it's in August! A month later than Akina's!

He had completely forgotten!

However, it seems he could ask Tsuruko and get some references from someone her age!

Feeling a little guilty, Naoki Nagayama called Tsuruko Nagayama's apartment directly.

"Beep, beep, beep~"

"Moshi moshi, this is the Nagayama residence." He didn't expect Tsuruko to answer the phone directly.

"Tsuruko... you're actually home? Is university life that empty? Don't tell me you're skipping class and staying in the apartment every day?" Conversations between siblings always start with banter.

"I finished all my classes in the morning! Today is Friday! There are no classes in the afternoon! Baka Nii-chan!" Tsuruko didn't look guilty at all.

"Eh? Is university actually like that?"

"Haha~ Nii-chan, you've never been to university, have you!" A naked mockery.

Naoki Nagayama naturally wouldn't be discouraged by such small tricks. He originally wanted to retort directly, but remembering that he still had a favor to ask, he had to hold back:

"Tsuruko! Come to Sanyingyuan tonight~ I'll treat you to a big meal!"

"Eh? Why are you suddenly so kind?" He wasn't even angry after being mocked? Something is wrong!

"... Can't I just be in a good mood?"

"Hmmph..." Tsuruko was wary in her heart, but she naturally couldn't miss a big meal. "Since you've invited me like this, I'll come over~"

In the office of Burning Agency, Masato Arai put down the phone, and Etsuro Kikuchi next to him immediately asked:

"How is it? What did GG Agency say?"

Masato Arai smiled helplessly: "It's only the first contact, what else could it be? Over there is the old fox, Otomo Yoshimura. I've dealt with him before; he's an experienced old manager and not so easy to persuade."

"Kikuchi-san, we have to wait for the next move!"

Etsuro Kikuchi also felt a bit of urgency, and could only soothe his mood by sitting down: "It will definitely be fine, the President has already agreed!"

Masato Arai sighed in his heart. This time, Ikuo Suo's agreement was entirely because he used the influence of the idol disqualification incident from a while ago to explain the importance of the new form of idol groups to the President, which made the President loosen his stance and allow them to act under the name of Burning Agency, but there was no other support.

Just at this moment, the office door was pushed open all at once, and Masato Oda, who was the General Manager, walked in.

"Director Kikuchi, and Manager Arai." He had the air of someone coming to settle scores. "You want the artists under my management, and you didn't even greet me?"

The principle that the winner takes all is even more realistic in the Japanese workplace. After two years of adaptation, Etsuro Kikuchi had fully understood his position:

"General Manager Oda, Ayano Fukuhara and Saka Nonaka are just idols who are about to fade away. I just wanted to take a few as a foundation for the new agency when I leave."

His tone was calm and humble.

"They are still my people!" Masato Oda said aggressively, "Without my consent, no one can take them away!"

Masato Arai couldn't bear to see his former superior treated like this: "General Manager, the President has already agreed!"

"You're using the President to pressure me?" Masato Oda glanced at Masato Arai. This newly promoted manager would actually speak up for Etsuro Kikuchi. "Manager Arai really is a man who values loyalty!"

"General Manager, you flatter me."

Masato Oda didn't say much more, but instead said to Etsuro Kikuchi: "Kikuchi-san, no matter what, you owe me one now!"

This old guy who is going out to start a business might still have some trump cards. Trading two fading artists for a favor is not a loss.

Etsuro Kikuchi's expression darkened, but he also knew that if General Manager Masato Oda made trouble, then this chance to turn things around might be gone. In the end, he nodded slowly:

"Yes, I owe you a favor!"

"Ha, that's good~" Having obtained the desired result, Masato Oda was happy. "Kikuchi-san, I'm rooting for you! Ganbatte!"

When only two people were left in the office, Etsuro Kikuchi sighed:

"This really is the last chance!"