Natsume, Mori, and the Cycle of Succession
What if Natsume was to Mori as Mori was to Dazai?
In Chapter 50, it shows how Mori and Fuku met. Fuku remarks that he is starting to establish the ADA, meaning (according to the events of Untold Origins) Fuku and Natsume had only recently met. It can be assumed that Natsume had known Mori prior to meeting Fukuzawa, since he knows the location of Mori’s clinic and goes out of his way to make sure Mori is safe.
Later in the chapter, Mori explains that he is part of the Tripartite Tactic. This not only further pushes the idea that Natsume knew Mori before he knew Fuku, but also brings in how Mori actually became Mafia Boss - it was Natsume’s plan.
When Mori explains he is involved in the plan, Fuku reacts in shock. The Tripartite Tactic has three branches, the government, the ADA, and the Mafia. Fuku assumably knows Taneda due to the fact they are both government workers. This means that if Taneda runs the government branch, and Fuku is supposed to run the ADA branch, that leaves one last branch for Mori to run. Basically, Fuku has a surprised expression because Mori must overtake the Mafia to become part of the tactic.
Asagiri is a huge fan of parallelism in his work. The best example is the three “soukokus” - Natsume put together Fuku and Mori, Mori put together Dazai and Chuuya, Dazai put together Akutagawa and Atsushi. As all the partnerships go, it is created by the mentor. Mori guided Dazai into “darkness”, as did Dazai to Akutagawa. Perhaps as Natsume did, guiding Mori to take over the Port Mafia. Natsume might have taken Mori under his wing after seeing how cunning he was in the army.
However, I think it would be even more interesting if Natsume worked with Mori to get his “immortal regiment” passed by the government. Natsume is a government worker/has influence over the government (I’m not sure which one), so it would make sense if that was how Mori got people on board to steal a whole child (Yosano). Mori was only 26 at the time, and (from what is currently known) did not become a street doctor/information broker until after the war had ended. From what is shown, Yosano was living a pretty standard life before she was enlisted, and her ability was unknown to most. How would Mori know about this young ability user that worked at a confectionery store? It starts to add up when Natsume is included into the equation - he is described as omniscient. Perhaps it was Natsume that led Mori to Yosano.
(I wanted to add preemptively that none of this is meant to undermine the abuse Yosano faced from Mori - he put her through hell and back.)
I’m not saying that Natsume was abusive to Mori in the same manner that Mori was to Dazai or Dazai was to Aku, but Natsume is definitely still very cunning. In Untold Origins, he feigns getting capture - putting a child (14 year old Ranpo) in immediate danger to produce the results he wants (Fuku & Ranpo working together). He definitely has the same “end justifies the means” view as Mori. I certainly believe that Natsume has had a very large impact on Mori, which is why Mori holds Natsume in such a high regard.
This is all just theory and speculation. I’m probably looking into all of this waaaay too deep, but hey - thats mental illness baby!
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