On the third day after Danzo's death, the Third Hokage signed an official document—the order to disband Root. The document was brief and plainly worded, yet it carried enough weight to suppress every voice that tried to resist. That same day, ANBU took full control of Root's old compound headquarters. Inoichi Yamanaka's Intelligence Division handled the archive audit, Shikaku Nara's jōnin squad handled personnel screening, and Shinano's sealing squad removed the remaining curse marks. The entire purge proceeded in an orderly fashion, like a precision surgical instrument slowly stripping away the diseased tissue Danzo had left inside Konoha.
As the key operative in Danzo's elimination, Shinichi was personally authorized by the Third Hokage to take part in receiving Root's assets. The authorization was written on the back of the Hokage's seal, in only two short lines: "All forbidden technique scrolls, secret technique materials, and non-case-related assets of Root are to be reviewed and registered by Senju Shinichi. Recommendations may be submitted regarding the disposition of relevant personnel." When Shikaku handed him the document, he murmured in a voice only Shinichi could hear, "The Third wants you to pick first."
Root's forbidden technique vault was located in a secret room at the deepest point of the old compound headquarters. The room was not large, roughly ten tatami mats in size, and all four walls were lined with iron filing cabinets built into the masonry. Sealing talismans had been pasted over the cabinet doors, but Shinano's sealing squad had already removed the seals, leaving only scorched yellow traces along the edges of the paper. When Shinichi pushed open the door, the air was thick with the scent of old paper, mothballs, and an extremely faint smell of blood-rust. An iron table stood in the middle of the room, piled high with loose