By the time Shisui reached the Hokage Building, night had fallen.
He did not enter through the front door, but circled around to the side entrance at the back. Jin Uchiha had taught him this: when visiting the Third Hokage, the side entrance was more appropriate. The front door was for outsiders to see; the side entrance was for their own people.
The Third Hokage waited for him in his second-floor office. The old man sat behind his desk with a document spread before him and a pipe in his hand. Through the drifting smoke, his face looked somewhat weary.
"Shisui." The Third Hokage looked up and removed his pipe from his mouth. "Coming this late—is it urgent?"
Shisui knelt on one knee in greeting, then rose and got straight to the point. "Lord Third, Mei Terumi retrieved an old file from Konoha Hospital's intelligence records office today. It was a psychological assessment the medical team conducted during the period when Yagura was being controlled."
The Third Hokage's movements paused for an instant.
He did not ask what the report contained. No one knew its contents better than he did.
"Who authorized access?" the Third Hokage asked.
"The hospital's archive regulations allow anyone with Jonin clearance or higher to access classified files. Mei Terumi is an Elite Jonin from Kirigakure, so her request followed procedure." Shisui paused. "But that file was marked S-class. Under the rules, access requires authorization from the Hokage or joint authorization from the council of elders. The hospital staff must have misread its classification."
The Third Hokage fell silent for several seconds.
"Misread." He repeated the word with a trace of knowing bitterness.
Shisui said nothing. He knew the Third Hokage understood. This was no mistake. Someone had deliberately let her through. Danzo's reach had never