Destroyed, but not recovered.
After those words were entered into the old-shell master sheet, Che's pen remained still for a long time.
Because they sounded absurd.
Yet every lead they had uncovered lately bore traces of that same absurdity.
Revoked, yet still able to open doors.
Frozen, yet still able to move carts.
Deactivated, yet still able to stamp documents.
Destroyed, yet not recovered.
Gen studied the master sheet, his understanding growing clearer.
What the old-shell system truly relied on was not any single physical object.
It was Konoha's internal trust in its old procedures.
As long as the record said destroyed, no one checked the physical object again.
As long as the file showed revocation, no one checked access again.
As long as the identification number was marked frozen, no one checked its use again.
It exploited everyone's reflexive belief that "the system has already dealt with it."
Fugaku submitted that assessment to the Third Hokage.
The wording was measured.
The closed-loop process for legacy permissions was vulnerable to falsification.
The physical objects, records, and witness accounts needed to be reviewed for consistency.
After hearing this, Danzo finally began to push back.
"If we follow the Uchiha's approach, every old record in the Hokage Building will grind to a halt."
Mitokado Homura frowned as well.
His concerns were not unfounded.
A comprehensive investigation of legacy permissions would slow many procedures in the Hokage Building.
Intelligence transfers, archive access, logistical verification, and access-control repairs would all be affected.
That was precisely what Danzo seized upon.
"This village has more to deal with than the Uchiha's old case. We still have enemy nations at our borders and infiltrators within the village. Are you going to bring Konoha to a standstill over a few old objects?"
Those words could easily stir people