After Gen determined that external events would happen sooner, Fugaku did not wait.
Early the next morning, he submitted a set of temporary handling guidelines to the Hokage Building.
The guidelines were short.
There were only four provisions.
First, intelligence concerning major crises must have its sources recorded.
Second, judgments concerning the responsibility of clans within the village must be witnessed.
Third, external anomalies and interference with internal procedures must not be used as substitutes for one another.
Fourth, emergency powers may be exercised immediately, but authorization must be ratified afterward.
These four provisions looked unremarkable.
Yet each drove a nail into precisely the spot that made Root most uncomfortable.
Sources would block rumors.
Witnesses would block isolated interrogations.
Separate tracks would block muddled attribution.
Ratification would block anyone from dismissing everything afterward with a single word: "necessary."
After reading the guidelines, Hiruzen Sarutobi remained silent for a long time.
He knew this document was not simply meant to protect the Uchiha.
If a genuine external crisis arrived, any clan, department, or ninja in Konoha could be pushed by fear into becoming a convenient scapegoat.
The sooner the rules were nailed down, the less room there would be for anyone to exploit a crisis.
Shikaku Nara was the first to express his support.
"These aren't combat orders. They're a framework for assessing a crisis."
Mitokado Homura frowned.
"Too many frameworks will slow our response."
Shikaku replied, "Without a framework, the faster we respond, the further we go wrong."
The Conference Room fell silent.
Those words were unpleasant, but accurate.
After the Night of the Nine-Tails, Konoha had responded quickly.
Surveillance of the Uchiha had been swift.
Relocating the Clan District had been swift.
The Anbu's investigations had been swift.
Root's surveillance operations had been even swifter.
But much of that