After Itachi discovered the similar strokes, a brief stir ran through the clan meeting.
Danzo.
To the Uchiha, that name meant more than just a senior elder now.
Shisui's Eye, Root's outer perimeter, the Final Handling Plan, the Resettlement Zone template-none of these matters could be separated from him.
Now even an old-style written directive from the week before the Night of the Nine-Tails showed what appeared to be similar handwriting habits.
Uchiha Jun spoke almost immediately. "Isn't that enough?"
Gen looked at him.
"No."
Uchiha Jun gritted his teeth.
"Still not enough?"
"We can't identify Danzo from handwriting alone."
Gen held the sample down.
"Similar handwriting only means we need to keep investigating. It isn't a conclusion."
Che also sided with Gen.
He had handled more documents than anyone lately and understood the weaknesses of handwriting evidence better than anyone.
"A directive can be written by someone else, imitated, or have new content fitted to an old sample."
Cheng added, "If we say outright that it was Danzo now, they'll demand we prove he wrote every single stroke."
Those words finally calmed Uchiha Jun a little.
He hated to accept it.
But he knew they were right.
Someone like Danzo wouldn't leave himself exposed in a stroke of ink.
Gen began assigning tasks again.
Che and Cheng would compare paper fibers, sealing wax composition, numbering conventions, and file access routes.
Itachi would compile verifiable samples of strokes from Danzo's early public directives, but only as supporting leads.
Shisui would determine whether outsiders could have used the patrol routes from that year.
Fugaku would keep pressuring the Hokage Building to identify who had handled the transfer of the files with missing receipts.
None of those tasks offered any satisfaction.
But every one was more useful than simply shouting Danzo's name.