Preparations for the review meeting on the old records from the night of the Nine-Tails proceeded more slowly than those at the clan meeting had expected.
The Hokage Building did not immediately settle on an agenda.
Mitokado Homura proposed that the meeting first establish the credibility of Morikawa Kai's testimony.
Utatane Koharu also believed that, since the border former informant had suffered damage from a seal, his testimony had to be treated with caution.
Danzo did not object.
He was remarkably calm.
That approach worked in his favor.
As long as the meeting was confined to "whether Morikawa Kai was credible," every issue with the old records would be pushed back.
The witness was injured.
His memory was incomplete.
He had suffered backlash from the seal.
All of these could serve as reasons to undermine his testimony.
When Fugaku brought the meeting preparation notes back to the Clan District, Uchiha Jun immediately frowned.
"They're trying to sidestep the old records again."
Gen nodded.
"So the meeting's stated objective can't be clearing the Uchiha."
The Meeting Hall fell silent.
Those words were somewhat grating.
Of course, many clan members wanted their names cleared.
They had waited far too long for this day.
But Gen knew very well that if the Uchiha pushed the meeting toward exoneration from the outset, the higher-ups would instinctively go on the defensive.
The village would see it as the Uchiha using testimony from the border to launch a counterattack over the past.
Danzo would seize on that all the more, dismissing every request for a review as one clan's emotional grievances.
"The first thing we need to fight for is acknowledgment that the gaps in the old records must be reviewed."
Gen spread out the list.
"We aren't first demanding that the village acknowledge the Uchiha's