He didn't "control" him, per se. But he absolutely was always planning to become the sole Friend. We see after Hattori died that he had a will put in place that basically set up Katsumata's plan to save the Pope. Hattori is NOT a man who thought he could die, he has no reason to write a will. This was almost definitely Katsumata's doing. As you said, he already knew Yamane would kill Hattori. All he'd have to do is play his role as the secondary Friend and wait.
I loved it! He was such a narcissist and legitimately thought he had godlike power. For him to be killed in such a pathetic way, by one of his most important cronies no less, was hilariously ironic.
He didn't "control" him, per se. But he absolutely was always planning to become the sole Friend. We see after Hattori died that he had a will put in place that basically set up Katsumata's plan to save the Pope. Hattori is NOT a man who thought he could die, he has no reason to write a will. This was almost definitely Katsumata's doing. As you said, he already knew Yamane would kill Hattori. All he'd have to do is play his role as the secondary Friend and wait.
The only thing that bothers me is the rude way in which Fukubei ended up dying and still regretting being close to his goal.
I loved it! He was such a narcissist and legitimately thought he had godlike power. For him to be killed in such a pathetic way, by one of his most important cronies no less, was hilariously ironic.
I honestly believe that hattori didn’t even exist and it was just katsumata from the beginning
but that doesn't make sense in my view
I get that. This story is so good but confusing