The stone steps beside the underground drain were narrow.
So narrow that only one person could squeeze through sideways.
The air was damp and carried the bitter smell of burned old paper.
The three-party team did not enter immediately.
Shisui checked for sealing traps first.
The Anbu Captain confirmed the route.
The Medical Ninja stayed outside the entrance to record the condition of each Distress Caller.
Itachi wrote down their entry time.
Uchiha Jun whispered, "Would they really hide things in a place like this?"
Gen looked into the darkness below the stone steps.
"The less a place looks like an archive, the better it is for hiding things that can't stand the light of day."
When they reached the lowest level, all they found was a small abandoned room.
The walls were damp.
Ash lay on the floor.
Half the wooden shelving had collapsed.
Most of the papers had been burned.
But in a corner, a stone slab pinned down a few surviving pages.
They looked as though they had been missed during a hurried cleanup.
Shisui did not reach for them directly.
He first had the Anbu Captain witness their location, then had Itachi record their position, and only then retrieved the surviving pages with tongs.
The edges of the pages were charred black.
Few words remained legible.
But the titles were still there.
Uchiha High-Risk Population Disposition Procedure.
Uchiha Final Disposition Plan.
Emergency Division Plan in the Event of Loss of Control over the Konoha Military Police Force.
Uchiha Jun's expression changed instantly when he saw those words.
"They had this ready all along?"
No one answered.
The answer was already on the paper.
These surviving pages did not necessarily mean the plans had been carried out.
But at the very least, they proved that someone had