Chapter 484: Critical Situation

Ichigou Ichirou narrowed his eyes, contemplating for a moment. A glint of cold light flashed in his eyes as he said in a chilling tone, "The current situation is extremely unfavorable to us. If that's the case, let's drag them down with us. I believe no one will welcome this outsider, and then we can join forces with other peers to suppress them together!"

"Moreover, Ma Tengdong of Jiuding Animation Co., Ltd. was originally one of our Shueisha employees. I checked the situation of the four manga from 'Zhi Yin Man Ke,' and the copyrights belong to Jiuding Animation Co., Ltd., while the creative ideas are attributed to a studio called Yan Huang Cultural Studio, with no clear author. We can claim that he stole our company's secrets to create those manga."

"Will readers believe most of us or will they believe them?"

"Furthermore... I believe many readers are patriotic!"

As soon as Ichigou Ichirou finished speaking, the head of the Sakai family, Sakai Kouhei, revealed a deep, approving smile and said, "This plan is quite good!"

Sakai Seitarou, who had a relatively calmer personality, opened his mouth to question whether this would escalate the situation and create more uncertainty, making it difficult to resolve and potentially causing trouble for themselves.

However, since Hakusensha was originally a splinter group from Shueisha, it was relatively young and had less strength. His position as the president was also lower in both the group and family hierarchy.

Seeing that the family head Sakai Kouhei and the second-in-command Sakai Ichirou had reached an agreement, and not having a better suggestion, Sakai Seitarou reluctantly gave up on persuasion and nodded in agreement under their gazes.

"I have no objections!"

Seeing this, Sakai Kouhei decisively said, "Alright, Ichirou, since this plan is yours, handle it. Make sure to suppress them thoroughly!"

"Understood!"

Sakai Ichirou responded solemnly.

The two exchanged a knowing smile, feeling a sense of tacit understanding.

"Hope everything goes well!"

Sakai Seitarou, who had been silently sitting by, thought to himself as he observed the two.

---

The next day, news about plagiarism involving Shueisha, Shogakukan, and Hakusensha's manga magazines increased several times compared to the previous day. Many media outlets, not previously included, discovered the opportunity and eagerly joined the hype and public opinion.

However, on that same day, unfavorable news about Jiuding Animation Co., Ltd. and Ma Tengdong emerged.

For instance, the Hokkaido News, which had a daily circulation of 1.22 million copies, published a headline: "Plagiarism Scandal Takes a Twist: 'Zhi Yin Man Ke' President is a Shueisha Dismissed Employee..."

The article, presented from the perspective of an internal Shueisha employee, described Ma Tengdong's "dark past," detailing his lack of unity with colleagues, selfishness, various bad habits, and even petty theft from coworkers. It ended with his sudden and mysterious departure. The article expressed shock at discovering that Ma Tengdong had become the president of Jiuding Animation Co., Ltd., managing 'Zhi Yin Man Ke.'

The entire article intentionally or unintentionally guided readers toward a negative interpretation.

Ma Tengdong saw this article as soon as it was published.

At the Jiuding Animation Co., Ltd. branch in Japan, Ma Tengdong, who had been in a good mood, was enraged upon seeing this newspaper. He slammed his hand heavily on the table, his face flushed with anger, and shouted, "Bastards, this is too much! This is pure slander!"

He had never been so furious in his life!

The news reported by the Hokkaido News and other newspapers was false. Although the news was presented from an observer's perspective, those familiar with the matter knew the truth. When had he ever had such stains?

Now, with so many newspapers spreading dirt on him, to increase credibility, they even detailed his work history and quoted evaluations from former colleagues, some of whom even spoke out publicly.

Regarding these named former colleagues, Ma Tengdong was infuriated. These individuals had always been at odds with him in the company, with right-wing tendencies, often suppressing Chinese people or making disparaging remarks about China in public.

Now, they had come forward to give their evaluations publicly, which was laughable!

This was undoubtedly a counterattack from the Ichikawa Group, and it was extremely insidious. They were trying to muddy the waters!

Ma Tengdong had a bad premonition!

Compared to being smeared, he was more worried about the impending situation.

Shaking his head slightly to calm his mind, Ma Tengdong took a deep breath, clenched his fists, and his eyes were filled with a cold light.

There was no way to resolve the smear against him, as he was inherently at a disadvantage. The so-called "former colleagues" evaluations were enough to mislead the public, and he had no way to prove otherwise.

"They want to muddy the waters, and now they are smearing me. If they start smearing the company too, that would be troublesome!"

Thinking about the potential dangers, Ma Tengdong felt uneasy. If the company was harmed as a result, how could he face Chairman Xia Yu?

Gritting his teeth, Ma Tengdong made a determined decision: "We can't back down now. Let's make the situation even bigger, and we'll deal with each move as it comes. With integrity, I won't believe we can't beat these bastards!"

After making up his mind, Ma Tengdong immediately took action. He sent sharp evidence and materials to all newspapers with a circulation of over 100,000, targeting each publisher under the Ichikawa Group by name. He believed many newspapers would be willing to report on these explosive news stories.

Japan had the highest daily newspaper circulation in the world, with the second highest per capita newspaper penetration rate, and the highest total consumption. There were more than ten newspapers with circulation over one million, and four of the top ten newspapers in the world were Japanese.

In such a developed environment, evening newspapers were also abundant.

That evening, some newspapers reported the sharp news provided by Ma Tengdong. The public opinion further fermented, and with the various evidence and strong rebuttals, readers' stance tilted towards 'Zhi Yin Man Ke' as the victim.

However, the good times did not last long. This situation only persisted for one night.

The next day, newspapers led by the Hokkaido News further reported the insider news.

The news stated that 'Dragon Ball,' 'One Piece,' 'Pokémon,' and other manga were secret projects of Shueisha. At that time, Ma Tengdong was involved and knew the planning details of these manga.

But soon after, Ma Tengdong left the company. Then 'Zhi Yin Man Ke' began serializing these four manga. Since the manga was first published in Hong Kong and had not entered Japan, Shueisha had not discovered it at the time.

By the time they discovered it, it was already too late. Shueisha was forced to cancel the four manga they were planning and brought the manga ideas for internal discussion within the group, leading to significant revisions. This resulted in the current four manga.

Since the situation had become irreversible, the Ichikawa Group accepted it. However, Ma Tengdong now turned around and accused them of being "plagiarists." They could not tolerate this and decided to expose Ma Tengdong, the shameless thief, and show everyone the ugly side of the Chinese people!

The news also reported that the Ichikawa Group would hold a press conference in the afternoon, showcasing a batch of strong evidence to prove their innocence!

As soon as this news broke, public opinion became extremely unfavorable for Jiuding Animation Co., Ltd.!