Root's counterattack came swiftly.
No sooner had an outside controller become a line of investigation than new claims began circulating in the village.
Some said the Uchiha's so-called outside controller was merely an excuse to evade responsibility for the Night of the Nine-Tails.
Some said the spatial anomaly files would sooner or later prove that the Uchiha had concealed a more dangerous Dōjutsu.
Others said the fact that Shisui and Itachi were being protected was precisely proof that the Uchiha were securing their key figures in advance.
None of these claims appeared in official documents.
Yet they slowly spread like fog through shinobi taverns, the mission hall, and patrol handovers.
They needed no evidence.
They only needed to make people uneasy again.
When Gen received the records of public sentiment, his first reaction was not anger.
It was recognition.
This was exactly the approach Root excelled at.
It did not necessarily fabricate things outright.
It was better at breaking apart a few true fragments, then gluing them back together with suspicion.
The Uchiha had indeed requested an investigation into an outside controller.
Shisui and Itachi were indeed being protected under the witness procedure.
Spatial anomalies could indeed involve the Sharingan.
All of that was true.
But once Root rearranged those facts, they became a different story.
The Uchiha were evading blame.
The Uchiha were hiding people.
The Uchiha were covering up an unknown Dōjutsu.
After reading the records, Fugaku said only one thing.
"They don't dare bring this to the table."
Gen nodded.
That was precisely the key.
If Root had evidence, they would already have submitted it at the Hokage's meeting.
The fact that they were only spreading rumors now showed that they still did not want their sources questioned.
Shisui asked, "Should we fight back?"
Fugaku did not