When the Provisional Ratification Form was first laid on the table in the Hokage Building, Mitokado Homura looked distinctly uncomfortable.
The form was simple.
Time of operation.
Personnel involved.
Basis for initiation.
Witnesses or sources of secondhand accounts.
Post-operation confirming authority.
Classification level for sealed records.
There was not a single unnecessary word.
Nor did it ask shinobi on the battlefield to stop and write in a life-or-death moment.
But the simpler it was, the harder it was to oppose.
Shikaku Nara said, "This isn't a battlefield report. It's a Ratification Form."
The head of the Anbu studied it for a long time.
"What if the operative dies?"
Shikaku answered, "The person who issued the order ratifies it."
"What if that person dies too?"
"The department that received the intelligence confirms that the operation took place."
"What if no one knows about it?"
Shikaku looked at him.
"Then that means the operation itself carried serious risks."
No one in the Conference Room responded.
Of course, the shinobi world had plenty of operations no one knew about.
But secrecy should not be taken for granted.
Especially when those operations repeatedly targeted a particular clan within the village.
Fugaku rose to his feet.
"The Uchiha do not oppose emergency action."
With that opening, he blocked the accusation Danzo might have leveled at him.
"But an emergency is not a blank check."
"If a department can invoke an emergency to mobilize personnel, move records, spread assessments, and interfere with reviews, yet owe the Hokage no explanation afterward, then any clan could be written in as the answer to the next crisis."
The Hyuga representative's expression shifted slightly at that.
They did not like speaking up for the Uchiha.
But Fugaku's words were not only about the Uchiha.
The Byakugan was also a kekkei