The secret letter delivered to Konoha contained an old-model Iwagakure shoulder guard.
Its serial number placed it in the same squad as the one found at the scene in Liuchuan Town.
The letter claimed that Iwagakure had already sent a covert squad into the Land of Grass to retrieve the rogue ninja and destroy the records of their hired work.
As long as Konoha made a public accusation, the Land of Grass would provide more witnesses.
Another letter, delivered to Iwagakure, came with sealing wax shavings from an old Konoha beacon tower and a blurry photograph.
In the photograph, four ninja wearing Konoha forehead protectors were entering the disputed mountainous area.
It was an image captured when Kakashi had been authorized to pursue Iwahashi.
The operation was real.
The location was real.
But the photograph did not show the time-limited permit issued by the Land of Grass, nor did it show the Konoha squad turning back before the designated stopping line.
Neither letter was entirely a lie.
They had merely removed the other half of the truth-the half that could prevent a conflict.
After examining the paper, the Hokage Building confirmed another detail.
The paper came from a workshop that routinely supplied official stationery to the Land of Grass government, but the writer had deliberately avoided any consistent handwriting that could identify them.
The blood on the shoulder guard belonged to one of the victims in Liuchuan Town, proving that the sender had at least been in contact with the attack site.
That gave the secret letter more weight than an ordinary rumor.
It was not a story invented from afar. Someone had stepped into a real incident, selected the parts most likely to enrage Konoha, and rearranged them.
If Konoha publicly presented the shoulder guard and bloodstains without further