Once the spatial anomaly could no longer be denied, Root changed direction.
If they could not claim it did not exist, they would give it an explanation Konoha could accept more easily.
That explanation did not need to be entirely true.
It only needed to sound plausible enough, dangerous enough, and capable of turning attention back toward the Uchiha.
Danzo knew perfectly well that the village did not like complicated answers.
An outside manipulator was too vague.
An unknown wielder of spatial abilities was too remote.
The Fourth Hokage's old records, Kakashi's testimony, witnesses from multiple clans-all of those required people to take their time reading.
But "a secret Uchiha Dōjutsu going out of control" was different.
It was brief.
It was direct.
It could immediately stir up the fear left by the Night of the Nine-Tails.
In Root's underground base, Danzo spread out several old intelligence reports.
Among them were rumors of the Mangekyo within the clan.
There were mission records of Shisui, known as Body Flicker Shisui.
There were reports of Kakashi's physical abnormalities after receiving his transplanted Sharingan.
These documents did not actually prove the same thing.
But cut away their sources and rearrange them, and they could become a new story.
The Uchiha possessed an undisclosed Dōjutsu.
That Dōjutsu might involve space.
The Night of the Nine-Tails and the recent anomalies on the outskirts were both consequences of that Dōjutsu going out of control.
A Root ninja asked quietly, "Should we submit this to the Hokage Building?"
Danzo gave him a cold look.
"If we submit it now, they will only ask for the source."
So this answer could not be put on the table first.
It had to come alive in the village first.
In casual conversations during mission handovers.
In the speculation of Anbu