While Mizuki and the others questioned the lord's confidants, Tobi, Hatake Sakumo, and Inuzuka Shigeru inspected the important areas of the lord's residence. They first checked everything in plain sight and, naturally, found nothing. If there was no wrongdoing, there would be nothing to find; even if there was, anyone with any sense would not leave the evidence out in the open.
Some people might believe that the most dangerous place was the safest and deliberately leave evidence somewhere obvious. But as long as investigators followed proper procedures, none of them would overlook evidence in plain sight.
After their initial inspection, Hatake Sakumo and the others began searching for hidden spaces where important evidence might be stored. This was familiar work for ninja. At the Anbu bases in Konoha Ninja Village, many important documents were concealed in secret locations, protected by numerous sealing formulas.
"Mr. Hatake, if this lord really does have a secret compartment, would you still think he was innocent?" Standing before a bookcase, Tobi lightly ran his fingers over the book covers and asked with a smile.
"That proves nothing. Given his position, it's perfectly normal for a lord to have things he doesn't want made public," Hatake Sakumo replied calmly.
"But what if that compartment was built using ninja methods?" Tobi asked again.
"There's nothing unusual about that either. Does a lord lack the means to hire ninja to build a secret compartment for him? Rather than discussing that, we should be looking for concrete evidence linking him to the Evil God Worshippers." Hatake Sakumo turned to glance at Tobi.
"Heh. Still refusing to budge, are you? As far as I'm concerned, those things already say plenty." Tobi turned away with a chuckle, pulled out a book, and slowly leafed through it.
"They mean nothing. Though