Directed by Hiroshi Nishitani, Keita Kono
Main Cast:
Souaki Donzawa - as Goro Zaizen Yosuke Eguchi - as Shuji Satomi Hitomi Kuroki Hitomi - as Keiko Hanamori Maki Mizuno - as Mitsukiyo Satomi
Takaya Kamikawa - as Sekiguchi Lawyer
Synopsis:
Goro Zaizen (Shouaki Donzawa), an associate professor of surgery at the Naniwa University School of Medicine, is a promising young physician who has made a name for himself by successfully removing a cancerous tumor from the governor of Tsurukawa Osaka. But it's not always easy to rise to the top, and there are stumbling blocks along the way, as in the case of retiring Prof. Azuma, who takes a dim view of the youthful surgeon because he can't accept the fact that a youngster has taken over the title of the first professor of surgery. And so an open and shut battle ensues....... Satomi (Yosuke Eguchi), an assistant professor of the first internal medicine department, is a kind and simple physician who sees the patient's state of mind as paramount and believes that communication with the patient is indispensable. With a series of lofty ideals, he works under Togai (Masatoshi Iwu), a professor of internal medicine. One day, Satomi discovers that a patient with stomach cancer may have pancreatic cancer as a complication, and anxiously reports the case to Prof. Tidokai, but he is rebuffed with indifference. At that moment, he thinks of his good friend Zaizen Goro, who has been suppressed by Prof. Azuma for a long time and has not been able to show any opportunity to show himself, and this rare case is a heavenly opportunity for him, and if he can cure it successfully, he will be the head of the Department of Surgery in the future. So, taking advantage of Professor Azuma's absence, the eagerness to seek credit for his work, he performed an emergency surgery, and the result ......
"The White Tower" is a heavyweight television series that aired on October 9, 2003, on Fuji Television in Japan. The cast was magnificent, including a series of popular superstars such as Shumei Donzawa, Yosuke Eguchi, Hitomi Kuroki, Yashiko Yada, Maki Mizuno, and Hideaki Ito. In terms of production length, a rare 21-episode content was also introduced, because in the Japanese television industry, idol dramas are usually limited to about 10-12 episodes, with one episode being a chapter, so as to keep the episodes fresh and not to deprive viewers of enjoyment due to overly lengthy content. That's why it's a real challenge to make 21 episodes, which shows how strong this drama is.
Episode 1
Dr. Zaizen Goro (Shumeaki Donzawa), a very skilled surgeon at Naniwa University Hospital, is praised in the media as the newest authority on the first surgery department at Naniwa University after he successfully cured Osaka Governor Tsurukawa of esophageal cancer through an operation that aroused the intense cynicism of his mentor and top boss, Professor of the First Surgical Department of Higashi-Daiichi (Koji Ishisaka).
Shuji Satomi (Yosuke Eguchi), Associate Professor of the First Department of Internal Medicine, disputes the diagnosis of Ugai (Masatoshi Ibu), Professor of the First Department of Internal Medicine, who believes that the patient, Midori Konishi (Michiko Kazuwa), is not only suffering from gastric cancer, but also has a high likelihood of pancreatic cancer, and is made fun of for being too neurotic by Ugai.
The next day, Mr. Azuma's general rounds begin, and even though he's a year away from retirement, he holds the power of life and death, and the person who will replace him as a professor in the future will be chosen by him, so he intentionally rebukes Zaizen in front of everyone.
One day, Higashi and Ugai have a meeting to discuss who will succeed the professor, and Higashi admits that he is very worried about it. Ugai thinks that Zaizen is too ambitious and his own man Satomi is too ambitious. As a result of the discussion, Ugai smiles bitterly and says it's always better to choose based on your own likes and dislikes.
Satomi insists that his diagnosis is correct and calls in Zaizen to help. Zaizen, after examining the case, agrees that Nishi does have pancreatic cancer and decides to operate on him. However, when he learns that Ugai did not realize Konishi's condition, he decides not to operate on Konishi for the sake of his own future.
Episode 2
Zaizen goes to Satomi again and tells him that he has decided to help operate on Nishi, and that although it may jeopardize his chances of becoming a professor, this is a rare case and Zaizen wants to challenge his skills.
Zaizen prefers to use the time when Azuma is traveling to perform the surgery, because if it is then treated as an emergency surgery, neither Azuma nor Ugai will know about it.
But Satomi is very much against this, believing that patients should not be treated like toys and that surgery should be justified.
But in the end, Satomi had to be forced to agree because of Konishi's condition, and the operation was successfully completed and Konishi was finally cured. Zaizen and Satomi also saw each other's excellent skills, so they sympathized with each other.
Zaizen decides to curry favor with Minister Ugai in order to get a professorship, so he takes his wife to a gallery to admire the paintings and pretends to have a chance encounter with Mr. and Mrs. Ugai, and after Mr. and Mrs. Ugai leave, he buys a 4 million yen painting that Ugai has been eyeing, and sends it to Ugai in the name of his father-in-law, Matabeichi (Toshiyuki Nishida).
Episode 3
Ugai receives the painting from Zaizen in his father-in-law's name, but says subtly that he'll keep it for Zaizen, but Matabeichi laughs and tells Zaizen that it's a good thing. He introduces Zaizen to Iwata (Soga Fumitomo), the president of the regional physician.
Iwata was Ugai's classmate when he was a student at Naniwa University, and Iwata was a great benefactor to Ugai as he was able to become the head of the physician's association thanks to Iwata's help. Iwata said that if Zaizen could become a professor, it would be a great benefit to the medical association, and it would be good for everyone, so he hoped that Ugai could help Zaizen to become a professor.
Professor Funao (Joey Nakahara), Higashi's junior at Tohto University, asks Higashi to recommend him as a professor.
The next day, Higashi approaches Satomi about the surgery on Nishi and asks if the emergency surgery is really necessary. Unsure of how to answer, Satomi implicitly replies that he learned a lot from that perfect surgery. This definitely tells Azuma that it is not necessary to treat it as an emergency surgery, and Azuma, who was already very upset with Zaizen, is not going to let go of this opportunity and asks for an investigation into this matter at the professors' meeting.
A devastated Zaizen learns that Satomi leaked the story and expresses his strong resentment towards him. While Yanda and Matabei seek Ugai's help, Ugai tells Matabei to return the famous painting.
Episode 4
One day Zaizen comes to Higashi's office and learns that Igarashi (Joe Oyashi), the president of Kansai's wealthy tycoon Daxing Construction, has personally come to Zaizen's door to ask for an esophageal cancer operation.
Kanako (Tae Kimura), who has come to Naniwa University to sell a new cancer drug to Zaizen and Satomi, suddenly collapses in front of them. Upon examination, Kanako is found to have terminal cancer.
So Satomi is busy treating Kanako every day while Zaizen works on Igarashi's condition.
Satomi asks Zaizen to help Kanako, but Zaizen keeps ignoring his request. In the end, Zaizen agrees to help, but admits that it's pointless because Kanako is in her final stages and there's no way back.
Zaizen realizes that Azuma is in constant contact with professors from other universities, and that he may be trying to find an "outsider" to take over the position of professor against him.
Yuki then talks to Dong, who suggests that he will only help him if he gets them to pay a bribe.
Episode 5
Zaizen, who has successfully operated on Igarashi, comes to Professor Azuma's office to report to him, but he is disturbed when Azuma brings in Kikukawa (Kazuki Sawamura), who has been selected to succeed him.
Zaizen goes to Satomi to ask about Kikukawa, but he is surprised that Satomi, who is very enthusiastic about research, knows a lot about Kikukawa. Satomi doesn't care about that though, he's still struggling with Kanako's terminal cancer and hopes to find a way to extend her life.
The Higashi family hosts their future son-in-law Kikukawa for dinner, where Kikukawa learns that he's the next professor candidate, and excuses himself by saying that Zaizen is the one for the job.
On the day of his discharge from the hospital, Igarashi says that he is grateful to Zaizen for donating 100 million yen to the First Surgical Dept. for research expenses.
So Zaizen goes to Ugai and says that he would like to see Igarashi's donation of 100 million yen as a research fund for the 120th anniversary of the founding of the medical department.
Ugai understands that Zaizen is trying to curry favor with himself, so he tells Zaizen not to expect anything in return, but hints that the choice of the next professor is up to him.
Episode 6
The Naniwa University Medical Faculty Professors' Association conducts a test to select members for the first professor of surgery. Professor Okouchi (Hirakawa) of the Department of Pathology, who is known for his academic rigor, wins a landslide victory.
Zaizen always thought that his biggest rival to become a professor was Kikukawa, who was the favorite of Higashinaka. So he goes to Tsukuda, the director of the school, to tell him about his worries. Tsukuda, who is also reluctant to let an outsider become a professor at the school, agrees to help Zaizen become a professor.
Higashi tells Zaizen that he can become a lecturer at a cancer treatment center in New York, to which Zaizen replies that he wants to stay at Naniwa University for the rest of his life. The others support Zaizen as a professor, which makes Azuma very unhappy.
At the same time, Satomi accompanies Ugai on the general rounds of the internal medicine department. Ugai realizes that Kanako has not been transferred to the hospital according to his orders and asks Satomi about it, who says that he wants to take care of Kanako until she dies.
The first meeting of professors to select professors for the exam begins, and the selection is based on a vote of the professors' council.
Episode 7
Zaizen is waiting for the results at Keiko's (Hitomi Kuroki) house when Tsukuda, the chief medical officer, calls to tell him that Prof. Okouchi has decided to open the recruitment nationwide, which surprises Zaizen.
Later that night, Higashi hosts Kikukawa as a guest at his home, asking him to align his thoughts with his own. Kikukawa tells Higashi that once he participates, it's a win-or-go-home situation. At this time, Zaizen comes to see Dong, and Zaizen expresses his wish to be Dong's assistant in the next surgery.
On the other hand, Satomi is actively experimenting with animals and the results are promising. At the same time, he learns that Kanako died after being transferred to the hospital. Satomi suggests that Ugai should build a hospice ward for terminally ill patients in the future, but Ugai refuses on the grounds that this is not the mission of a university hospital.
After the surgery, Azuma decides to test Zaizen's true intentions of being an assistant this time and invites Zaizen to go drinking with him. He chides Zaizen for wanting to be a professor and not coming to ask for his help directly.
A slightly drunk Zaizen finds Satomi and asks for his help in making him Prof. Okouchi, but is ruthlessly rejected.
A few days later, the second meeting of the members of the Department of Medicine Professor Selection Examination was held, this time there are from the whole of Japan total **** 10 candidates.
Episode 8
Zaizen approaches Prof. Okouchi and tells him that he doesn't really want to be a professor, he just wants to be a good doctor, but Okouchi ignores him.
It so happens that Satomi comes to see Okouchi, and Okouchi tells Satomi that he wants Satomi to be the lecturer for the citizens' lecture, but of course he can refuse if he doesn't want to, he doesn't need to force himself. These words are hinting that Zaizen himself has found out Zaizen's real intention, and the clever Zaizen has to walk away in disgrace. And with Zaizen's push, Satomi agreed to work as a lecture instructor next week.
Ugai, Matabei and Iwata help Zaizen predict how many votes he can get beforehand, and it turns out that he can get roughly 18 votes, but there is no absolute certainty, and the problem still lies in the 15 votes that Okouchi can get hold of in the Basic Medicine Section.
A few days later, when the 31 people at the professors' meeting began their final vote, Azuma suddenly stood up and abstained, shocking everyone in the room.
Episode 9
Azuma's sudden abstention causes a commotion at the professors' meeting. When Zaizen learns of this, he runs off without Youhei Sasaki (Ryousei Tayama), who is being treated for esophageal cancer, much to the displeasure of Youhei's wife, Ryoe (Rino Katase), who is full of mistrust towards Zaizen.
At this point, Zaizen suddenly realizes that Azuma is testing him, but it's too late.
The results of this vote are very confusing, with Zaizen getting 12 votes, Kikukawa getting 11, and Nosaka (Kenji Yamayama) getting 7. None of the three got more than half of the votes, so it was decided to vote again the following week. The members of the medical board are also thrown into a panic by this unexpected development.
In the evening, Tsukuda and Anzai (Kobayashi Masahiro) and Yanagihara (Ito Hideaki) tell Zaizen that they want to persuade Kikukawa to withdraw from the competition.
Tenjin and Anzai came to Ishikawa University to see Kikukawa and asked him to give up the competition for the professorship, and said that even if Kikukawa became the professor, the whole medical bureau would not give him any help. This comment makes Kikukawa furious and he tells Funao. Learning of this, Funao calls Higashi, who is surprised by this. He then finds Zaizen and scolds him and tells him that he hopes Zaizen will be more careful with his words and actions in the future, looking at Azuma's angry face, Zaizen has to lower his head and apologize.
Episode 10
Ugai is also very upset about the brutality and scolds Zaizen to his face in front of Shuichi and others. Zaizen, on the other hand, threatens that Ugai must support him or else he will drag Ugai down with him, and finally kneels down in front of Ugai, tearfully hoping that Ugai will help him again.
The following day, the final voting for the professor election finally begins. Professor Okouchi, who has always been clean and honest, said that no matter how he voted, there would be no favoritism, and he would definitely make a fair and unbiased judgment, and Ugai, who pretended to be calm, announced that the voting would begin.
In the end, Zaizen narrowly beats Kikukawa, and finally takes his dream seat as a professor.
Zaizen immediately rearranges the staffing of the first shell and puts Yanagihara in charge of Youhei Sasaki, a patient with esophageal cancer.
Zaizen intentionally schedules Sasaki's surgery on the day of Higashi's retirement, but the date of the surgery is approaching, but he is reluctant to sign.
Yanagihara tells Zaizen that Sasaki's condition has changed, but is rebuked by Zaizen, who forces the surgery even more.
Episode 11
At the beginning of the new year, Daiichi Surgical Department has been transformed into a completely new "Zaizen system" due to Zaizen's ruthlessness.
Zaizen's wife and son are very happy that his patient, Youhei Sasaki, has successfully completed his surgery. Satomi is once impressed by Zaizen's strength, but at the same time has doubts about Sasaki's constant coughing, and tells Yanagihara, Sasaki's treating doctor, that he wants him to tell Zaizen about the situation.
But Zaizen is too busy talking to his father-in-law on the phone to make a rash judgment about Sasaki's condition. Despite being challenged by Satomi, he still refuses to change his treatment, for which Satomi shows his blatant displeasure.
Sasaki's condition suddenly deteriorates, and an anxious Yanagiwon rushes to Zaizen. But Zaizen is busy preparing for his trip abroad, and no matter what Yanagiwon says, he refuses to take some time off to see Sasaki.
Zaizen's public surgery abroad was a great success and was well received by the local medical community. However, Sasaki's condition is getting worse and worse, and Rima is unable to help, so he keeps writing to Zaizen, but Zaizen turns a blind eye to it.
Episode 12
Zaizen returns from a business trip to Poland, and when he arrives at the airport, he meets Sasaki's son, Yoichi (Shunta Nakamura), who has passed away, and accuses Zaizen of killing his father. Satomi rushes to dissuade Youichi and tells Zaizen that an autopsy has been performed on Sasaki's body, revealing that although Zaizen's surgery for esophageal cancer was very successful, the cause of death was pre-existing before the surgery, but Zaizen returns to the hospital completely unconcerned.
That evening, a memorial service was held at Sasaki's house.
Ironically at the same time Matabeichi and Iwata and the others are having a celebration dinner for Zaizen, and everyone is happy, except Ugai who can't smile at all.
The next day Sasaki's funeral is held and Yanagihara tells Zaizen that Satomi was the one who leaked the reason for Sasaki's death, making Zaizen very angry.
Satomi goes to Sasaki's house to offer incense, but is discovered by Sasaki's wife Ryoe, who angrily kicks Satomi out, telling him that he doesn't want to see anyone from Naniwa University here. He then presses Satomi on why Zaizen didn't come, and that it was Zaizen who killed her husband.
Ryoe is furious and decides to appoint a lawyer to sue Zaizen.
Episode 13
Ryoie is furious that Zaizen's surgery killed her husband, so she appoints a lawyer, Sekiguchi (Takaya Kamikawa), to represent her and sue Zaizen. Sekiguchi goes to the medical school of Naniwa University to conduct an investigation, but he encounters many obstacles and is unable to collect any evidence at the first surgery.
Zaizen told Ugai the whole story and said that he would be innocent even if it went to court. But Ugai is cold and says that the reputation of Naniwa University will be ruined if it goes to court. Satomi comes in and says that even though Zaizen's surgery was perfect, Zaizen should still review the cancer metastasis to his lungs. But Ugai blames Satomi for going to Sasaki's funeral and thinks he acted too rashly.
The next day, Ugai brings his lawyer, Gakufumi Kunihira (Mitsuhiro Yoshikawa), and the people involved to a meeting to investigate the accident. Kunihira, however, says that human memory is extremely unreliable, and asks everyone to take out the deceased's medical records, each articulating their memories of him, and organizing the same facts. This move causes Satomi to be strongly offended, and he leaves the meeting angrily, believing that this is undoubtedly faking the truth by concealing it.
Episode 14
Zaizen is formally indicted for medical malpractice that led to the death of Youhei Sasaki. The media is swarming around the hospital trying to get first-hand information, and Zaizen is becoming more and more agitated as the hospital is filled with tension.
On the other hand, the bento store run by Sasaki's family has managed to reopen, but many customers cancel their orders due to the lawsuit. Sasaki's younger brother, Nobuhira, who is very upset about this, argues with his sister-in-law, and the staff can't understand Ryoie's feelings, and thinks that they shouldn't have gone through with the lawsuit.
Sekiguchi, a lawyer who has been informed of the case, encourages Ryoie that he should have expected that his life would be affected if he had prepared himself for the lawsuit.
The hospital's lawyer, Kunihira, comes to Satomi's house and asks him not to testify for Ryoie, but Satomi refuses. And Higashi's daughter, Saeko (Yashiko Yada), decides to help her boss, Sekiguchi, win the case despite her parents' objections, but she begins to waver when she learns that Satomi will likely never be able to get a footing in the medical profession again as a result, but by now it's already a difficult situation to ride out.
Episode 15
Finally, the trial begins, but lawyer Kokuhira's cold-blooded questioning of Ryoie from all sides of the case nearly breaks Ryoie's heart.
Later that night, Yatabe and the others celebrate at the fan house, very happy that Kokuhira is in complete control of the situation and thinks he can make his side win the case. However, Kunihira says that if Satomi testifies in court, then Zaizen has a very good chance of losing the case.
Satomi receives a patient, Mika, a high school girl who is suffering from abdominal pain. She is diagnosed with retroperitoneal swelling, which is very difficult to cure with internal medicine, and she must rely on advanced surgery. So Satomi goes to ask Zaizen for help, but Zaizen coldly asks if the family understands that this surgery is quite difficult with the accompanying dangers. Finally, he threatens Satomi that he will never agree to the surgery unless he does not testify in court.
Satomi's wife, Michiyo (Maki Mizuno), also urges her husband not to testify in court and threatens to take her son and leave the house otherwise.
Sachiko also comes to Satomi and asks him to think about the consequences for his family, but Satomi ignores this and eventually bravely appears in court.
Episode 16
Satomi is questioned by Sekiguchi in the plaintiff's witness chair. Satomi says that he told Zaizen about the metastasis of the cancer at that time and urges him to give the patient a sophisticated examination.
When it's Kokubei's turn to be questioned, he tries to misdirect it into Satomi being jealous of Zaizen and wants to put Zaizen in an unjust situation, but Satomi always tells the truth calmly and coolly.
So the judge decides to wait to see the report of the expert physician before closing the case.
When the report finally came out, Prof. Tangmu of Peking University, who did the appraisal, made a report in favor of Zaizen, and Zaizen's side won a big victory.
A few days later, Ugai tells Satomi to transfer him to Sanin University as a professor. This coincides with Zaizen's arrival, and when he learns of this, he gloats and congratulates him.
But Satomi refuses the position and hands Ugai a letter of resignation.
Episode 17
Ryoe and Yoichi are not convinced by the verdict and convince Sekiguchi to appeal against Zaizen again. However, Kokubei points out that it is impossible to overturn the case without new evidence and testimonies, and Zaizen says that he will never settle the case and hopes that Kokubei will settle the matter once and for all this time.
On the other hand, Prof. Okouchi pays a surprise visit to Satomi, who has resigned, and brings a letter of introduction to Chisei Hospital, which is the best place for patients.
A year has passed, and Satomi's work at Chisei Hospital is on the right track. At that moment, a tired Sekiguchi suddenly comes to visit. Sekiguchi says that he has been looking for a witness for a year, but no one dares to offend Naniwa, so he has to ask Satomi for help.
Satomi suddenly thinks that he can ask retired professor Azuma for help, so he and Saeko try to convince Azuma.
Zaizen, who is doing the general rounds at Naniwa University Hospital, finds a patient with esophageal cancer, Yasuda, and overlaps him with Sasaki, who passed away. Zaizen decides to operate on Yasuda himself, but Yanagihara, who also overlaps Yasuda with Sasaki, is very disturbed by this.
On the day of Yasuda's surgery, Zaizen suddenly remembered Sasaki when he saw Yasuda's face, and in a trance, he cut Yasuda's vein by accident, and blood gushed out.
Episode 18
Zaizen, who mistook Yasuda for Sasaki, made mistakes during the operation, and the operation was finally completed after more than six hours, but Tsukuda, Kanai and Yanagihara felt that Zaizen was out of sorts.
On the other hand, Higashi introduces Prof. Masaki of Tohto University to Sekiguchi, and while Saeko wonders about her father's change, Higashi says that he is convinced that Zaizen did make a major mistake since he met Satomi.
The next day, Sekiguchi visits Masaki, who agrees to help him as a witness for the prosecution. When Zaizen learns of this, he immediately thinks that Dong is behind it, and Kokubei says that he will find a way to stop Masaki from testifying in court.
A few days later, Masaki suddenly calls Sekiguchi and says he can't testify in court.
Sekiguchi tells Azuma about this, and Azuma is furious, and Yuushi tells Sekiguchi that perhaps Sasaki's nurse at the time, Junko (Shomi Nishida), can provide a clue, giving Sekiguchi renewed hope.
So Sekiguchi visits Juneko at the hospital, but Juneko never says anything.
Episode 19
Azuma decides to gamble his life as a physician to testify in court.
In the courtroom, Kok-pyong tries to mislead the judge into believing that Dong is trying to frame Zaizen in the courtroom because of his past personal grudge against him. Dong honestly replies that he did have a grudge against Zaizen in the past, but this is not a personal grudge, and blames himself for being Zaizen's teacher and not teaching him well enough, which led to this regrettable incident, and decides to resign.
Next, Funao is questioned, and says that Zaizen was not at fault at all, much to Sekiguchi's dismay.
Later that night, another group of people get together and throw a party to honor Funao, but it actually seems like an early celebration of Zaizen's victory, and only Kunihira thinks that things are not going to go well.
When Yoshie complains to Sekiguchi that the witnesses are discussing difficult medical debates that he doesn't understand, Sekiguchi suddenly realizes that he's making a tactical error and changes his approach to the lawsuit.
When it's Zaizen's turn to be questioned, Zaizen suddenly blames Yanagihara for all the faults and says that he was poorly guided and supervised.
Episode 20
A flustered Yanagihara yells from the gallery that Zaizen is lying.
Sekiguchi then applies to have Yanagihara testify in court, but Kokubei says that Yanagihara is simply excusing himself and that none of his testimony is credible. The judge also decides not to allow Yanagihara to testify, citing the need to maintain order in the courtroom.
However, at this moment, Junzi suddenly appears and offers to testify against Zaizen.
Kokubei asks Zaizen if she has any evidence against him, and Zaizen remembers that she was at the doctor's meeting, and that the records were kept at the hospital.
Zaizen immediately calls Tsukuda and orders him to withhold all the information, while Yanagihara remembers the incident and runs to the hospital but realizes that he is already too late.
Although Yanagihara's testimony is not accepted, the transcripts presented by Tsukuda are used as evidence against Zaizen, catching the Naniwa side by surprise.
Two months later, Naniwa University Hospital lost the case and had to compensate the Sasaki family for their losses.
And Zaizen, unable to accept this fact, yells in court that he did not make a mistake, and then faints.
Episode 21
Azuma operates on Zaizen, but when he opens up his chest, he realizes that the situation is not as good as he expected. It turns out that Zaizen is not in the early stages of cancer, but that the cancer has already spread to the entire pleura, and like metastases throughout the body, there is no point in removing the initial area.
When he learns of this, he pleads with Zaizen not to tell him the truth, but Dong thinks that Zaizen is an expert in this field, so it's impossible to hide the truth from him, but he still doesn't tell Zaizen the truth in person.
Zaizen, who regains consciousness, asks how long his surgery took, and Kanai lies to him that the total **** took 2 hours and 50 minutes, and that the cancer has been completely removed, but the panicked state of Zaizen's wife, Apricot, who knows the truth, raises suspicions.
A few weeks later, Zaizen realizes that something is wrong from the medicine Kanai and Yanagihara gave him and asks Azuma, who came to check on him, but Azuma refuses to tell the truth. Zaizen then tries to coax Yanagihara and the others, and finally realizes that he has terminal cancer.
Zaizen calls Satomi and expresses his hope that Satomi will come to cure him, and calmly tells Satomi that the cancer has already spread to his brain, and that he must have been in stage 5 when it appeared in his lungs, and that Azuma must have only operated on him with an open chest and then a closed chest suture.
Satomi is shocked at Zaizen's calmness, and after seeing the CT scan, he can no longer maintain his composure.