Blackouts weren't secrecy.
At least, not just secrecy.
Looking at the state of the catalog Crow had brought back, Gen knew at a glance that what Root truly wanted to hide wasn't the main text.
It was the connections.
If the blacked-out entry was merely some highly classified mission, Danzo could easily have stated its category.
Without naming the target.
Without naming the location.
Without revealing what the operation involved.
He only needed to say whether it was protection, observation, training, or containment.
Yet Danzo wouldn't even disclose the category.
That meant the category itself would expose the problem.
In the Hokage Building, the Third Hokage's patience was also wearing thin, little by little.
"Danzo, state the category."
Danzo looked at him.
"Some categories are not suitable for disclosure in front of the Uchiha."
Fugaku didn't lose his temper.
"The Hokage can verify it, then decide whether it should be entered into the record."
That was another concession.
The Uchiha wouldn't examine it directly.
The Hokage would.
If Danzo continued to refuse, he wouldn't be refusing the Uchiha anymore. He would be refusing the Hokage.
Everyone in the Conference Room realized that.
Danzo finally spoke.
"The Uchiha High-Impact Individual Contingency Plan."
A contingency plan for containment.
When those words landed, Shisui's expression finally changed.
This wasn't the first time he had learned he was under observation.
Nor was it the first time he had learned the higher-ups were watching him.
But observation and containment were two different things.
Observation could be explained as protection.
Containment couldn't.
Fugaku's voice grew heavy.
"What do you mean by containment?"
Danzo said coldly, "Restricting the spread of influence when necessary, to prevent high-impact individuals from drawing their clans into risk."
When Gen heard that, his gaze turned utterly cold.
This wasn't nurturing talent.
It