The missing reference number mattered more than the submitted content.
Gen wrote that sentence at the very top of the Clan Review Memo.
The summary submitted by Root was comprehensive.
But that completeness extended only to what it was willing to show.
The Shisui influence assessment had no original reference number, which meant Root was submitting records selectively.
This was no ordinary omission.
Shisui had already been shown to intersect with the missing Sealing Wax Ring, the genius ninja influence assessment, and early underage observation entries.
The more crucial a thread was, the less acceptable it was for only a consolidated reference number to remain.
When the Hokage's Anbu entered Root to check the original records index, the Uchiha did not accompany them.
That was the boundary.
Fugaku did not argue.
He only asked Crow to issue a witness's findings.
No reading the actual text.
No copying mission records.
Only confirming whether the reference numbers existed, whether they had been altered, and whether they matched the summary.
Danzo stood at Root's entrance, his expression as cold as stone.
"Hiruzen, this will compromise Root's secrecy protocols."
Hiruzen Sarutobi replied, "Only the reference numbers will be checked."
The same sentence was repeated once more.
This time, Danzo did not stand in the way again.
Only after entering the Root Original Records Room did Crow truly understand why Danzo had refused to hand over the index.
The index was not the actual text.
Yet it could reveal what avenues Root had once pursued.
Even without seeing the mission details, the reference-number ranges, categories, and dates alone could reveal a great deal.
Entries concerning the Uchiha had been filed under multiple categories.
Old cases.
Observation.
High-impact individuals.
Emergency measures.
One range of reference numbers had been blacked out.
The blacked-out section fell precisely within