Tokyo: My obsession with China led me to become the king of Japanese entertainment.

"I must be crazy..." Hideaki Takizawa muttered, then straightened his newly changed suit and went inside.

There, the three giants, Jenny, Mary, and Keiko Fujishima, had been waiting for a long time.

He actually listened to the boy's suggestion, suspended the signing ceremony, and came back to report this very important news.

"Takizawa, how's it going? Has Sakurada-kun signed a contract?" The first to speak was Jenny Kitagawa, the weakest of the three.

This old man, who has at most three months left to live, has been unusually energetic lately, for reasons unknown.

Especially after the old man found out that Jun Sakurada had tricked Johnny's, he not only didn't get angry, but instead became even more proactive and eager.

Even the ambassadorial title, which Takizawa used to seduce Sakurada Jun, was approved by this old man.

Whatever his purpose, his high regard for Jun Sakurada was obvious.

"Jenni-san..." Takizawa cleared his throat, making a somewhat helpless expression: "He's too smart."

"Even though I only mentioned the name, he not only guessed that the title of Goodwill Ambassador was a limited-time title for the Olympic year, but also guessed our original plan to give the title to Arashi."

"Runjun believes that although the title is valuable, it is unwise to compete with Arashi for it, or even be hostile to Arashi's fans."

As soon as she finished speaking, it was hard to say whether the atmosphere became more relaxed or more heavy; only the corners of Fujishima Keiko's mouth turned up slightly.

Arashi was her core group, and she was very unhappy about giving up Arashi's resources in order to recruit Sakurada Jun.

Even with the explicit statement that Sakurada Jun's participation would only place him in the competition for the title, Fujishima Keiko was still reluctant to relinquish it.

Fortunately, Jun Sakurada was sensible.

"But there is an even more serious situation than this, which I accidentally got out of Jun Sakurada. As you all know, he has a very deep understanding of the Chinese market."

Hideaki Takizawa's tone gradually became serious. He glanced at Keiko Fujishima and Mary, and said softly:

"I have no doubt offended Vice President Fujishima, but Arashi may not be so suitable for the position of goodwill ambassador."

Although Takizawa Hideaki's tone, expression, and wording were extremely restrained, the expressions of the others still changed involuntarily when he said those words.

Especially Keiko Fujishima, whose gaze towards Hideaki Takizawa was almost murderous.

Damn Takizawa Hideaki, damn neutrals, how dare they attack me in this situation?

Fujishima's eyes were practically spitting fire.

In the past year, and even in the decades before Hideaki Takizawa retired from the public eye, this close associate of Kitagawa never launched an attack on Keiko Fujishima's empress faction, keeping to himself and playing his own game perfectly.

It is precisely because of this that the neutral faction, led by him, has been able to survive the previous factional struggles to this day.

But recently, she's been scrambling to recruit new talent and plotting to seize the ambassador title that's already in her pocket. And now, she's finally using the words of a sixteen-year-old boy to launch an attack on Arashi's legitimacy!

Hideaki Takizawa, do you want to start a war?

"Takizawa, you'd better give us a convincing explanation."

Before Fujishima could speak, her mother, the current head of Johnny's Entertainment, Empress Mary Kitagawa, also frowned and coldly shouted.

Three years ago, this same woman, in front of a Bunshun reporter, summoned Iijima Michi, the leader of the Iijima faction at the time, and berated her, telling her to "get out if she continues to engage in factionalism," which ultimately led to Iijima's departure and the disbandment of SMAP, the first group in Japanese entertainment history.

However, at least this time, Takizawa Hideaki didn't bring it up because he wanted to oppose Fujishima.

"It's Sakurai Sho." Takizawa Hideaki almost gritted his teeth as he uttered the name of the man who belonged to the same golden generation as him, and who even had a good personal relationship with him.

"Are you worried he'll cause trouble?" The moment the name left his mouth, Johnny Kitagawa immediately understood what Hideaki Takizawa meant.

"That's right."

Hideaki Takizawa nodded solemnly and, without waiting for anyone else to speak, began to read his report.

"From a Chinese perspective, Sho Sakurai's resume is full of red flags."

"His family background—his grandfather was in the old army and his father was a bureaucrat—is something that would easily raise suspicion."

"Not to mention, to pave the way for his political career after retirement, Sakurai-kun... got too close to those people!"

"Letting someone like him serve as a member of Arashi in such a high-profile goodwill ambassador position is risky. What if his flaws are exploited, or what if he does something he shouldn't in the future...?"

"At that time, we may face not only the problem of losing overseas markets, but also a major diplomatic incident!"

Hideaki Takizawa's tone was earnest, and his gaze was sincere; he was clearly in a real hurry this time.

Sakurai Sho is a troublemaker, and this is known to him and even to the higher-ups at Johnny's.

Coming from a family of politicians, and being an idol yet wanting to become a news anchor on a political news program—the intentions behind these actions are all too obvious.

It must be said that you can say that Johnny Kitagawa's crimes are countless, that he is a psychopath, or that he is utterly wicked, but you can never say that he is unqualified as an idol godfather.

Putting everything else aside, their extremely strict control over the speech of their artists is something other entertainment companies could learn from for a lifetime.

Before Kitagawa died, none of the artists under Johnny & Associates dared to go to the toilet, and none of them dared to make any public statements as Johnny & Associates artists, regardless of whether they should or should say it.

The rule that celebrities should not discuss national affairs has been followed by this old man for most of his life.

Sakurai Sho is only just beginning to show signs of his illness; he's in the early stages of his illness, showing signs of restlessness but hasn't dared to really cause trouble yet.

In a few years, when Johnny's looks back, they will find that:

This kid went into all the forbidden zones in China and danced around for a whole time...

At this moment, regardless of factions or considerations, Hideaki Takizawa genuinely wanted to help Johnny's defuse this ticking time bomb.

To his relief, he saw the expressions on the faces of the Kitagawa siblings begin to change.

Over the years, the two old folks have been keeping an eye on and suppressing the restless Sakurai Sho, preventing him from saying or doing things he shouldn't have.

To minimize his sensitivity, he was even assigned to work as a reporter for the 08 Olympics, in an effort to project an image of being as harmless as possible.

In retrospect, it turns out that even with such severe suppression, this kid still managed to plant so many landmines.

Even Mary Kitagawa hesitated for a moment, until—

"No!" A sharp, angry voice rang out from Fujishima Keiko.

"I absolutely disagree with harming the Arashi group and their fans because of such unfounded rumors!"