Intercepting Intelligence in the Confidential Office and the Ruthless Suppression under Compliant Procedures

Konoha General Staff Headquarters, Classified Dispatch Room.

It was already late at night, yet the place remained brightly lit. The silence was so complete that only the ticking second hand of the wall clock and the faint rustle of paper as the ninja turned through documents could be heard.

This was one of Konoha's nerve centers, the entry point for all encrypted intelligence.

At the center of the room stood a stone platform inscribed with an intricate Sealing Formula, the heart of the entire chamber. Around it stood four ANBU ninja wearing codename Masks, as motionless as statues.

Without warning, a faint glimmer lit up the formula at the platform's center.

The light flashed and vanished.

"Bang."

With an extremely soft muffled sound, a puff of white smoke burst across the platform.

As the smoke dispersed, a lone Scroll lay on the surface. Its spindle was made of specially crafted black metal, engraved in blood-red dye with a glaring mark.

Emergency classified dispatch.

Reverse Summoning.

One of the ANBU guards stepped forward. Rather than touch the Scroll, he first inspected the residual energy in the platform's formula.

"Energy source assessment: single-use consumable. Source self-destructed."

"Classification assessment: Class-A top secret."

"Channel assessment: bypassed reporting hierarchy, sent directly to the General Staff Headquarters."

The succession of low reports shattered the room's dead silence. The director of the Secretariat on duty that night, a veteran Jonin, hurried over. He picked up the Scroll, and the moment he saw the wax seal, his expression changed.

It bore a special mark belonging to the Hokage's Direct ANBU, but the design was an obsolete version left over from the Third Hokage's era.

That meant the person who had used it held an exceptionally high status and had bypassed every current communication system.

Daring not delay for