"Oh my god. Joichiro, you are hands down the best chef I have ever met, and will probably ever meet." I said as I patted my stomach after having eaten the most delicious food I'd ever tasted.

"Haha. Thank you for the compliments. I always like it when someone enjoys my cooking." he said with a smile.

"Indeed, as enjoyable as always Joichiro. Please, see yourself out and my secretary will have your payment ready." said the geezer.

"Sounds good. It was a pleasure cooking for you like always, Shinomiya-san. And nice to meet you as well, Garetty-sensei." he said before beginning to leave.

"Wait a sec, Joichiro. Here, my card. Just in case." I said before he took it.

"Thank you. I hope I never have to use it." he said before exiting and the room fell into tranquility.

"So, what's the meeting really about?"

"How familiar are you with our operations?"

"Familiar in a broad sense, but the more minute details are lost to me at the moment." I said, taking a sip of the tea.

"Mm, I assumed so. I'll have a secretary placed at your side that will help you get up to speed on things and help you with anything else you may need."

"Oh, that means this person has to be extremely trustworthy for them to know about me. I'm assuming it's someone from the Hayasaka clan."

"Indeed. The Hayasaka clan has been serving our family for generations, and they currently have a daughter that is close in age to you. I will place her by your side soon, she is currently preoccupied with my daughter."

"Forget it, just get your secretary to get me up to speed in a day or two, I'm a fast learner. I don't need a kid hanging around, serving my every whim. Besides, I'm sure your daughter is extremely close with her secretary, and I would hate to cause any animosity between us. Especially since it seems she's going to be the next head of the Shinomiya Zaibatsu."

"Why do you think that?" he said, face as still as water with eyes that could pierce steel.

"Your secretary's daughter is by the side of your daughter. That means one of two things, you either believe she is capable enough to become your successor or someone is trying to keep an eye on her. On the ride over from the airport, your secretary mentioned that his wife is currently the personal valet of your third son and was placed there under orders from your first son. And the fact that their daughter is the current secretary of your daughter means your first son is spying on both of them.

This means that your first son, and more than likely your other children, are all cold and calculating. But your first son is also jealous and paranoid and believes or has some inkling that he is not going to be your successor, which is why he's spying on them. To try and snuff out any chance they might have of becoming the successor while simultaneously snatching the position for himself.

And seeing as you've managed to create a Zaibatsu as big and prosperous as this one, means you most likely know about your sons' schemes. Which in turn means you're testing your daughter to see if she is worthy of being your successor. Also, both times that I've talked to you, you've only mentioned your daughter. Although to be fair, the first time you did offer her hand in marriage to me, but still my point stands. You have some pride in your daughter.

If she is to become the next head of the Shinomiya Zaibatsu, that means we will both be tied to the same post. Incurring her animosity now will only mean problems down the line, problems that I would very much like to avoid." I said, before taking a sip of tea to parch my thirst.

"I had an inkling that being a diagnostician meant your powers of deduction had to be good but to think you could garner so much from so little. Seeing as you are the only other owner of the Shinomiya Zaibatsu I can tell you this freely, I am seeking to make my daughter the next head. She has both the calculating side required to lead a Zaibatsu as well as the intelligence to take it to new heights.

My firstborn is vain and stupid. He believes everything should be given to him on a silver platter just because he was born into wealth. If he even attempted to be something more, perhaps the Zaibatus would go to him. My secondborn is not as vain and stupid as my first, he can even almost be called good at business. Unfortunately, it is nowhere near the level that would be required to run a Zaibatsu, much less make it prosper.

My thirdborn has the mentality of the weak. Since he was born to my second wife, his standing in the family is nowhere near my first two, and he knows it. Because of that, he has grown up with a weak mindset and uses petty tricks to compensate for his lack of power in the Zaibatsu.

My daughter on the other hand is my greatest hope. She has shown remarkable intelligence from a young age, so much so that I began to test her when I believed she had the potential. She has not let me down since. And hard as she may try to hide it, I know she has a caring side that will be essential if she wants to lead this Zaibatsu to greater heights." he said before similarly taking a sip of tea.

"I don't know if you noticed or not, but when you talked about your daughter, you had a smile on the whole time."

"I did not. But we've gone on about my family long enough. It's time for the reason why I asked for this meeting. Have you heard of the Kengan Association?"

"I know we own some part of it or at least contribute some money to it, but as for the specifics, I don't know."

"The Kengan Association can be traced back to the Edo periods of Japan. And since those times, wealthy business owners with good social standing have used the Kengan matches to settle business disputes that cannot be settled normally. Of course, this does not mean that there aren't business disputes that are even more fearsome than the matches themselves that don't go to the arena, but most choose to settle them in the arena.

Naturally, as one of the four Zaibatsu of Japan, we have and do associate with the Kengan Association, but rarely. Most of the business deals we undertake are either done swiftly without dispute or settled in other ways. But recently, there is an upstart CEO who has somehow deluded himself into thinking he is on par with the Shinomiya Zaibatsu because he has managed to hire a very good fighter.

Naturally, he has decided to settle a business dispute in the arena, but our usual fighter is currently incapacitated. That is where our problem lies and why this meeting has been called."

"Interesting. Fighting to settle business disputes. I like it. I'm assuming the business dispute is nothing major, but more of a show of power?"

"Yes. If the fight fell through, monetarily nothing would be gained but nothing would be lost either. But if we lose, we would look weak to those who wish to bring us down. And that is unacceptable." he said, while his aura seemed to flair.

"So, you want me to treat the fighter you usually use?"

"No, his incapacitation is not something currently treatable. I wanted to ask if you knew anyone that would be capable of participating in the match and if not, helping me find someone."

"When's the match?"

"Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? Jesus, and what were you going to do if you couldn't find a replacement by tomorrow?"

"Take care of it by other means."

"I see. Well, give me until tomorrow morning to make some calls and see what I can do. If worse comes to worst, I'll fight."

"Haha."

"Why are you laughing? I wasn't lying, Geezer. I'm a decent fighter you know." I said with a grin. One of the things I managed to get when in the Cyberpunk world were fighting modules that moved your body for you and fought. And Arasaka had a boatload of them. That doesn't mean I'm a master by any means, but using the modules plus my enhanced body, I could take them on with no problem.

"Be that as it may, I would prefer someone with more experience." he said with a smirk.

"Fine, fine. I'll make some calls."

"Good. I suppose that concludes that then. Feel free to stay as long as you like, but I'm going to rest." he said standing up.

"Mm, me too. That flight killed me." I said standing up to stretch.

"By the way, considering my daughter will be the next head, that mari-"

"Forget it. I'm not interested in a kid nor do I plan to force her to marry someone she doesn't want to."

"Doesn't hurt to try." he said before walking out the door followed by me right after.

Entering the elevator and going back to the suite I was in earlier, I loosened my tie and plopped on the bed.

'A fight, huh? I could fight it myself, but I don't really feel like it. I don't want to risk finding the MC for Kengan Ashura only for him to lose. I also don't know if Baki exists here, not that there's a guarantee he would fight for me even if he did. The next best thing would be to ask one of the gang, but I would need Ciri's help since I don't want them to use their points to help me. Ah whatever, I'll do it myself. Not like there's any chance I'll lose. Unless my opponent is Yuujiro Hanma, but I doubt some upstart CEO could hire him.'