The abandoned supply point was more dilapidated than it looked on the map.
A half-collapsed wooden shed leaned against the hillside.
The old flagpole had snapped in two, and rain had washed the Konoha emblem almost white.
This did not look like a place to hide someone.
Too open.
Too old.
And too easy to find.
Crow first sent Anbu around to check the surrounding area.
There was no ambush.
No obvious chakra fluctuations.
And no Morikawa Kai.
That was no surprise.
After the tea stall and the trail meant to lead them astray, no one expected the Former Informant to sit obediently at some designated spot and wait for them.
Gen stood at the entrance to the supply point without going straight in.
"Record the exterior condition first."
The Recorder noted the extent of the shed's damage, the dust at the entrance, recent footprints, and lingering scents.
This time, Crow did not rush them.
He had accepted this slow but useful procedure.
Once they entered the supply point, Itachi was the first to spot something unusual.
A plank in the corner had been moved.
There was no letter beneath it.
Only half a sheet of old paper, pressed flat.
The edges of the scrap were brittle.
It looked as though it had been torn from an old written directive.
Che was not there, but Itachi could already make a preliminary assessment.
A fragment of an old-style directive.
Only the last four digits of its reference number remained.
But those four digits were very close to the number of the Missing Receipt from the week before the Night of the Nine-Tails.
When Crow saw the number, his expression finally changed.
"This shouldn't be at a border supply point."
Gen nodded.
"Unless someone took clues from the Old Records out of