A fine rain fell outside the Hokage Building on the day the consolidated preliminary hearing began.
Fugaku arrived early.
He had not brought many people.
From the Uchiha, he brought only Gen, Che, and Itachi.
Shisui was not present.
Not because he was unimportant.
But because Shisui himself was already part of the leads under review.
If he sat at the conference table, Danzo would inevitably steer the discussion toward Shisui's personal feelings.
Gen had no intention of giving him that opportunity.
As soon as the preliminary hearing began, Danzo distanced himself from the outer network.
"The Old-Shell System does indeed have some unresolved issues left over from the past."
He spoke calmly.
Those words caused a subtle shift in the atmosphere of the Conference Room.
Danzo had admitted it.
But what he admitted to was a "legacy issue."
Not current manipulation by Root.
Not the core chain of command.
And certainly not advance arrangements for the Night of the Nine-Tails.
He narrowed the problem to the old shells in the outer network, preparing to sacrifice part of that network to protect Root's core.
At those words, Mitokado Homura visibly softened a little.
If they could classify the problem as a legacy issue, they could deal with a batch of old seals, old identities, and old records.
Then bring the matter to a halt.
Fugaku did not rush to refute him.
Gen had anticipated this move long ago.
The preliminary hearing was not a victory.
It was a way to force the enemy to the table.
Once the enemy came to the table, he would inevitably begin by laying out the pieces he was willing to discard.
The key was not to be satisfied with those scraps.
Gen passed the question to Fugaku.
Fugaku spoke. "Since the Old-Shell System is