Everyone was asking what the missing copy had said.
Itachi asked why only that sheet had been taken.
The Sealed Records Room still held Akatsuki's name, Iwahashi's testimony, and the Gray Bell Relay Station route.
That intelligence was just as important.
The intruder had not touched it.
He had even left the original ring behind, allowing the character for "Void" to remain under investigation.
The only thing missing was the summary piecing together the entries before and after the missing page in the old archives.
Itachi requested the fifth volume's table of contents and the index of adjacent missions.
Page 137 recorded that a civilian armed group from the Land of Rain had proposed making contact.
Page 139 recorded that the Konoha squad had canceled the meeting, pending separate disposition by their superiors.
Yet the supply ledger for that same day showed that the Third Contact Point had requisitioned an additional four doses of antidote and a Confidential Meeting Barrier kit.
That meant the meeting had not simply been canceled.
At least someone had prepared for the contact.
Another Anbu patrol record also mentioned that two Konoha personnel whose identities were classified had entered the contact zone that night.
Their personnel numbers had been blacked out, but the method used to issue their passes belonged to Root.
What the missing page truly connected might not have been an ordinary contact.
It might have been the decision-making process linking Old Akatsuki, Root personnel, and "separate disposition."
By taking the summary, the intruder had shown that he, too, did not want Konoha reconstructing that connection from the gap.
"He knew where the files were kept," Akito said.
Itachi nodded.
"And he knew how far our investigation had gotten."
That was more dangerous than being able to pass through the Sealed Records Room.