The air in the Hokage's Office felt somewhat dry beneath lights that had burned through the night.
Baishi's fingertips lightly brushed over a Scroll that had just arrived. It was made of ANBU-exclusive encrypted fiber, cool to the touch and still carrying a trace of the morning dampness.
He did not open it immediately.
An ANBU member wearing a Wildcat mask knelt on one knee in the center of the office, his voice utterly flat.
"Lord Hokage, at exactly five this morning, the Joint Investigation Team completed its planned encirclement and entry into the Konoha Oceanic Trading Company."
"No armed resistance occurred at the scene."
Baishi withdrew his gaze from the outline of Hokage Rock beyond the window and settled it on the ANBU member.
"Get to the point."
"Yes." The ANBU captain lowered his body a little further. "The trading company's director, Mitokado Tokumitsu, refused to hand over the core account books, claiming that 'the accounts require multiple signatures, and some directors are not in the village.'"
Mitokado Tokumitsu.
Mitokado Homura's distant nephew.
"In the incinerator behind the trading company, the investigation team found a large quantity of partially burned account-book ashes. Analysis of the remnants indicates they were burned within the last three hours."
"All key cash flows and overseas cargo manifests have been cut off."
The office fell into a brief silence.
The kneeling ANBU member could clearly hear his own heart pounding in his chest. He did not dare raise his head, yet he could feel that calm gaze resting upon him.
This had been expected.
One night was enough for an old Fox entrenched in Konoha for decades to dispose of every trail that could be directly traced back to him.
"What about the people on site?" Baishi's voice remained calm.
"Mitokado Tokumitsu and seventeen