Parliament may be wrapping up its current session Wednesday, but the investigation into a Liberal Democratic Party funds scandal looks likely to deepen in the coming days, making the political scene increasingly unpredictable.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had to reckon with his own involvement in the scandal for the first time, even though he was initially untouched by the allegations that several government and party officials had received tens of millions of yen in unreported funds.

Public broadcaster NHK reported that the LDP faction formerly led by Kishida ー who resigned from the faction last week ー was suspected of underreporting political funds.

News on the mishandling of funding records first surfaced in late November, but the issue seemed under control after the faction made a correction to the reports.

A special squad of the Tokyo Public Prosecutor's Office will continue to scrutinize the faction’s flow of funds and balance records, NHK said. As of Tuesday, no allegations of kickbacks to lawmakers belonging to the faction formerly led by Kishida have surfaced.

Hours after the faction released a statement saying it is taking "appropriate measures to verify the facts," Kishida said he had instructed the group to take action and make necessary changes.

“I believe that the specifics will be reported to me when it’s time. Once I have received further information, I will let them explain appropriately,” he added.

Meanwhile, the faction formerly led by the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seems to have found no respite.

All the members of its steering committee have been unable to provide an explanation in response to claims they received money from unreported income collected through fundraising parties — and new figures came to light Tuesday.

Roughly half of the lawmakers belonging to the group — it currently has 99 in total — allegedly pocketed funds for a total of ¥500 million. But there is also a chance that the total amount of both unreported income and expenses could be double this sum, reaching a staggering ¥1 billion, the Asahi Shimbun reported.

While the amount received differs based on the lawmaker, over 10 members reportedly pocketed funds amounting to over ¥10 million.

Among them, the most prominent name remains Seiko Hashimoto — an Upper House lawmaker and former Olympics minister — who has been accused of appropriating ¥20 million over five years, including the period she served in the Cabinet. Yasutada Ohno, an Upper House lawmaker hailing from Gifu Prefecture, is believed to have pocketed ¥50 million, the highest sum so far.

The leadership committee of the faction formerly led by Abe remains caught in the eye of the storm.

On Tuesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, former secretary-general of the faction formerly led by Abe, became the target of a no-confidence motion submitted by the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP), over allegations he received over ¥10 million.

”It is unacceptable for a politician to make decisions that increases the burden on the public, while at the same time they’re pocketing slush funds for themselves,” CDP Lower House lawmaker Shuji Inatomi told the assembly, alluding to the debated tax hike needed to cover an increase in defense outlays.

In what has recently been a rare sight, all the opposition forces voted in favor of the motion. But as widely expected, the Lower House rejected it.

However, that alone won’t put a complete stop to Matsuno’s troubles — he may soon be removed from his position, just days after receiving the formal backing of his party in parliament.

Several media outlets reported that Kishida is considering a reshuffle to remove all Cabinet members belonging to the faction formerly led by Abe. Together with Matsuno, economy minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, agriculture minister Ichiro Miyashita and internal affairs minister Junji Suzuki are reportedly going to lose their jobs on Thursday.

With them, 11 other junior members of the Cabinet — five deputy ministers and six political officers — might be dismissed, regardless of their involvement in the allegations.

On Wednesday, Kishida is expected to express his resolve to address the fallout from the scandal and restore public trust in politics by directly intervening in the government lineup. At the same time, pressure is mounting on the CDP to submit a no-confidence motion against the government on the last day of the parliamentary session.

The road ahead for Kishida and the LDP looks arduous, to say the least.

In an NHK poll conducted over the weekend, 66% of respondents said that Kishida’s response to the scandal ー including his stepping down from his faction and demanding his party temporary stop fundraising events — was too slow. Additionally, support for the LDP dropped below 30% for the first time since the party took back power in December 2012.

Kishida has relied on the Abe faction ever since he took office over two years ago, raising questions about whether he’ll be able to run the government and retain support within the party without any of its members present in the Cabinet.