Naturally, the two men the villains impersonated had not been identities forged out of thin air, the intelligence agencies of the great nations of man were not stupid in spite of common remarks.
The two men had known each other in life, and had been murdered, their bodies disposed of by being magically vaporized, and the villains had magically brainwashed their closest relatives and friends to ensure none of them questioned any changes in behavior (killing every person who suspected something was messy and attention grabbing). Providing the villains with established connections and reputation, explaining how they could have gained so confidence much so fast.
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Two young Japanese gangsters were in a fighting retreat, they'd seen their brothers gunned down by the Nekomata, creatures who were supposed to be fairy tales, but now were determined to take Japan's underworld for themselves. Unlike in some modern anime, they were not fatally ignorant of modern weapons, and had magically enhanced humanity's own weapons for their own use.
The two brothers vowed to go down fighting for their organization as the two-tailed-cat creatures toyed with them like cats did mice.
That was when a trash can tuned into a raccoon-dog, a tanuki wearing a green scarf.
"HEY! Buddies! You're about to die! I can get you guys back your boss and live to fight another day. Or you can die with honor here, your choice."
One of the brothers used an American phrase, "Any port in the storm!"
The tanuki reached between his legs, and pulled, and his 'pouch' turned into an expensive four-wheel drive racing car, the tanuki was connected to the car via the driver's seat he was occupying. The doors swung open.
The brothers looked back at the Nekomata closing in to murder them, and good in. The car burned rubber.
+++
"You saved my sons, for that you have my gratitude creature, but forgive me if I am weary," said the Japanese man in a expensive business suit, now in one of his reserve business buildings, surrounded by those still loyal to him.
"Understandable," the tanuki said, pouring himself a glass of saki, the bootle and the glass both produced from himself and reabsorbed into him. "Let's cut to the chase. Anyone one of your boys who tried to infiltrate or anyone who joined the Nekomata are already completely brainwashed. Super long lifespans come with the cost of it taking a long time to expand your numbers. So finding intelligent competent creatures who breed fast and offer them an upgrade is often the way to go. ... The point is... you're not going to win this war against the Nekomata like this. The army is more concerned about the kitsune, dragons, you get the idea. Work with my family, and you can get out of this as your current species, and with your empire as intact as possible, without completely losing everything to the nekomata."
"What about the other cat creatures?"
"The bakeneko and nekomimi? HA! They're not friends of the Nekomata! The shared the same realm, but they hate the Nekomata! They were treated as second class citizens! They're just scared and confused, and are acting the way ANYONE does when they're scared and confused."
"You offer vague promises, but nothing concrete."
The Tanuki slammed bottle down. "Fine! We can provide you with prayer-slips to keep the Nekomata from entering every place you own. We can direct you to priests and mikos who are spiritually empowered to make them themselves. Also how to fix up your weapons and nullify their advantage in firepower. AND! We can provide you with something far more valuable. INFORMATION! Every dirty secret the kitties keep hidden from each other but think nobody knows about, nobody suspects the towel rack! Ha! They'll scare the fur off of'er and they'll be suddenly willing to negotiate!"
"And in exchange?"
"You give us distribution rights through all your legitimate businesses. And we provide you with smuggled items that will keep you very rich in this changing world. No narcotics or slaves (by any other name)."
"Surprised to hear that last one from a Tanuki. Aren't you for anything that earns you yen?"
"I'm of a newer generation. Also, because we both know that family is the only thing either of us will trust... yeah, you can guess where this is going. But since we came to you, I'll show our hand first!"
He took out a photograph out of a pocket in his own skin.
"A beauty ain't she?"
It was photograph of a female tanuki jump kicking a lycan in the face while she was holding a basket ball under one arm.
The Tanuki looked at it and startled and quickly hid it. "Oh! Sorry! Wrong picture!"
He took out another photo of the same tanuki, only now she was pouting while wearing a traditional Japanese dress.
"There! You have one of your sons who wants to become the most manly of men in a way only Tanuki are manly," the Tanuki patted his oversized pouch. "And maybe lose some of those annoying human inhibitions... and marry my middle daughter... We become family. And so your problems become our problems. We let you continue to feed off of Japan's underside, and provide you with items that ensure you retire a still rich man as the economy goes mad around you as wizard who can turn grass into gold start popping out of the wood work."
"... It seems I have no choice."
+++
Meanwhile in the US of A, one of the world's biggest oil companies was shocked when a giant red dragon showed up outside their meeting room window, only for the beast to reveal he'd been their majority share holder for over a hundred years!
"Now who's greedy and grasping enough here to become a dragon and hold onto your wealth for centuries, and who's a suck-up and proud of it to become part of our Kobold work force?"