Great Mangaka

Taro Tanaka's smile vanished.

"Are you joking, Godfather?" His face darkened, and he asked, "Did you really let a manga artist inherit the company?"

"He's not a manga artist."

Tsukimoto Genji stopped what he was doing and calmly replied, "He has the same status as you at the beginning. As the son of a company shareholder, he's also qualified to inherit it."

Unintentionally, he brought Aika into it, which left Taro Tanaka a little stunned.

"Shareholder..."

He knew that an outsider had bought shares a while ago, and it was a woman. Taro Tanaka frowned. After thinking for a moment, he turned to Takumi and asked, "Aren't you Mirai-sensei?"

"No."

Takumi calmly cooperated with Tsukimoto Genji.

"..."

Taro Tanaka's face began to be covered with a layer of frost, with anger burning in his eyes. He sneered, "So that's it, Godfather... you don't want to give me a chance. Is this the final decision?"

"Yes."

"..."

Taro Tanaka didn't expect Tsukimoto Genji's answer to be so firm. He took a deep breath, and it felt as if his heart was being forcefully gripped. He barely managed to keep calm: "In that case, Godfather, can you reveal Mirai-sensei's identity?"

Tsukimoto Genji looked at him coldly.

"What do you want to do?"

"His animation rights haven't been sold." Taro Tanaka's smile twisted: "After all, I'm also a shareholder of Hinotori. It's better to sell them to myself than to others. I want to find Mirai-sensei to buy the animation rights."

"I refuse."

"Godfather! Have you forgotten my father's kindness?"

Taro Tanaka stood up, his face icy, and said in a more serious tone: "You promised to take care of me. My company has hit a bottleneck and needs a best-selling animation to break through. Can't you even accept this condition?"

"..."

Tsukimoto Genji was speechless. He shook his head and said, "Taro Tanaka, Mirai-sensei is the pillar of the company. Your actions are too radical. I cannot let you act. If you urgently need animation, how about this? I will buy back your shares at a high price so you have enough money to buy other animations."

"..."

Taro Tanaka did not reply.

Takumi observed him secretly. 'He didn't know if it was an illusion. He thought he saw a flash of light in Taro Tanaka's eyes.'

"Godfather, are you going to kick me out of the company?"

"No, I'm asking you to leave. How about I pay you 6,000,000 yen for your 1% of the shares?" Tsukimoto Genji asked. 6,000,000 yen — that amount exceeded the value of the shares and was completely fair to Taro Tanaka.

"Godfather, since you're so cruel, okay, but I have one condition." Taro Tanaka looked at Takumi and sneered: "You bought the company car from me, which was so hard-earned. I've always liked it. Give it back to me."

Tsukimoto Genji looked at Takumi, who shrugged: "I'm not interested in cars."

"Okay." Tsukimoto Genji nodded.

He applauded, asked the lawyers to draft the contract, and recovered Taro Tanaka's shares.

The entire process went smoothly. Taro Tanaka signed coldly, but as he picked up the check and left, Takeshi (the middle-aged bodyguard) approached Takumi.

"Young man, you had very good eyesight just now."

He extended his hand. Takumi thought and realized that person must have been referring to when he entered the door.

They shook hands, but at the moment of contact, the bodyguard's grip suddenly tightened. Takumi felt pain in his hand and quickly pulled it back.

"What do you want to do?!"

He looked at his hand; fortunately, it wasn't injured.

"Takeshi, come back!"

"Yes, young master."

Hearing Taro Tanaka's call, Takeshi sneered at Takumi and turned away.

Takumi rubbed his hands, feeling a little uncomfortable.

After leaving, Tsukimoto Genji, visibly relieved, asked, "Are you satisfied with the result, Mirai-sensei?"

"Not bad."

Takumi nodded. He was fine with Taro Tanaka leaving Hinotori: "But I always feel like something's wrong."

Taro Tanaka was obviously interested in animation and shares, but he gave up too easily, which Takumi found very strange.

Tsukimoto Genji frowned and pondered deeply. After several minutes, he shook his head: "Perhaps you were right."

"Huh?"

Takumi looked at Tsukimoto Genji with doubt, but he didn't continue. In fact, Tsukimoto Genji had started to doubt from the beginning whether Taro Tanaka was coming for money.

But if that was the case, then Taro Tanaka was terrible. 'He might have been faking it and had already discovered Takumi's identity. He called yesterday to talk about the animation of Five Centimeters Per Second because he hoped Takumi would complain to Tsukimoto Genji.'

To protect Takumi, Tsukimoto Genji thought the best solution was to let Taro Tanaka leave Hinotori Publishing, and he would undoubtedly pay a fortune.

But this was just a suspicion. Tsukimoto Genji didn't know if he was right, but he still wanted to remind him:

"Takumi, you should pay more attention to Taro Tanaka in the future; he could be your worst enemy."

Taro Tanaka sat cross-legged in the car, covered in sweat and blood, with a smile on his face.

"Young master, congratulations, you got the money. Now the company's most important funds are in your hands."

"Yes."

Taro Tanaka nodded proudly, but he felt a knot in his heart that he couldn't untangle. Although everything went as planned, he was displeased at the thought that someone else had snatched the company away from him.

"Don't worry, young master. Hinotori Publishing has focused on a manga artist and has become pathological." Takeshi saw the knot in Taro Tanaka's heart and comforted him: "Such a company is too dangerous and could go bankrupt at any moment. It's better to leave as soon as possible."

"You're right." Taro Tanaka thought about it and felt much better. Then, with a mocking grimace, he said: "My godfather abandoned me a long time ago. There's no point in keeping the shares. It's better to use the money to make animations."

"But I really didn't expect my godfather to be so courageous. To prevent Mirai-sensei from abandoning ship,"

"he handed over the future of Hinotori. Do you think this is stupid or stubborn?"

"Stupid." Takeshi said without hesitation: "He's just a manga artist. Sooner or later, he'll lead Hinotori to its demise. Abandoning the young master will definitely make them regret it."

"But... young master, is that child really Mirai-sensei?"

"It's him." Taro Tanaka nodded, a cold light shining in his eyes: "Godfather wants to trick me, how can it be so easy!"

"Takeshi-san, have you done everything I asked?"

"It's done. I used hidden power to injure the tendons in his hand, and it won't be discovered for now. But starting tomorrow, the young man's right hand will be sore and it will last for more than ten days. If he is Mirai-sensei, then Weekly Shōnen and Weekly Shōjo Manga will have to stop updating."

Takeshi replied.

"Well done!" Taro Tanaka nodded, very satisfied: "You are worthy of being a retired special forces instructor. That stupid boy didn't even know he was ambushed."

He narrowed his eyes and said: "It's a shame I didn't get Five Centimeters Per Second this time. I'll have to find a way in the future."

"Wait until I defeat Sunrise Studio first, and I'll be the number one animation creator in Osaka."

Taro Tanaka looked at the check, shook his head, and smiled, "Godfather, Godfather... soon, you'll be begging me to make animations."

- - - -

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