Half a wooden button was placed in a transparent evidence bag.
Everyone could see it.
And everyone could tell something was wrong with it.
The Former Informant at the border had spent years traveling trade routes. A token he carried could not possibly be this clean.
There was no dirt in the crevices of the wood grain.
There was no blood around the edges of the carved marks.
Even the area around the cord hole, where dust collected most easily, looked as though it had been carefully wiped.
Itachi stared at it for a long time.
"It's been washed."
The Medical Ninja nodded.
"Not just wiped. A chemical agent may have been used."
Crow frowned.
"Can you determine where the agent came from?"
The Medical Ninja did not answer immediately.
He used a fine needle to extract a little residue from a crevice in the wooden button, then placed it on a small slip of paper to test it.
A moment later, the edge of the paper turned a faint gray.
"A type of trace-removal agent."
Gen looked at him.
The Medical Ninja continued, "It's commonly used to remove blood, odors, and minute traces of chakra. Official medical departments rarely use it this way. It's more often seen in infiltration and cleanup operations."
Crow's expression changed.
Infiltration.
Cleanup.
Both words pointed far too closely to Root.
But Crow did not immediately say it aloud.
Nor did Gen say it for him.
It was still too early to set their conclusion in stone.
Itachi compared the wooden button with the location of the bloodstains again.
"If Morikawa Kai dropped this token while fleeing, it shouldn't have been washed so thoroughly. If the enemy picked it up and then returned it to the scene, that means they want us to connect the