Early the next morning, before the medicinal supply distribution point opened, a crowd had already gathered around the wooden board outside the Resettlement Zone.
They had not come to look at yesterday's records.
They were looking at a newly posted handover sheet.
The paper was thicker than the Konoha Military Police Force's daily reports, its corners stamped with the red clay seals commonly used by merchant caravans. Several neatly written lines were followed by lists of medicinal supplies, quantities, crate numbers, and handover times.
The last line stood out most glaringly.
Temporarily held by the Uchiha Konoha Military Police Force, pending verification before release.
When Uchiha Toru arrived, his expression darkened on the spot.
"Who posted this?"
No one answered.
But the onlookers had already begun murmuring.
"There really is a handover sheet?"
"He couldn't explain himself yesterday, but today he's produced records."
"If the police really held back the medicine, then the claims about wounded people waiting for it weren't empty accusations."
Uchiha Toru's hand shifted another inch toward his sword hilt.
This time, he stopped himself.
He remembered what Gen had said the night before.
A sword isn't for proving you're right.
But this sheet of paper was far harder to deal with than yesterday's provocations.
With a rumor, they could demand that the accuser explain himself.
Records were different.
Records had numbers.
They had signatures.
They had what looked like a complete chain of procedures.
Even if every detail was false, as long as no one immediately picked it apart, it would spread faster than the truth.
Standing behind the crowd, Uchiha Gen glanced at the handover sheet without rushing to tear it down.
Uchiha Toru lowered his voice. "Gen, we can't leave this here."
"Leave it."
"Leave it for them to look at?"
"They've already seen it."
Uchiha Gen walked up to the board and raised a hand to stop a police officer who was about to take the paper down.
"No one touches it."
His words made the crowd even quieter.
Uchiha Gen looked at the villagers around him.
"This handover sheet will now be registered as material submitted for public scrutiny. The police will not tear it down, hide it, or alter it."
Someone asked quietly, "Then did you hold back the medicine?"
"We'll answer after the investigation."
Uchiha Gen said, "But before we investigate, everyone should remember one thing. Yesterday's accusation couldn't identify a batch. Today, this paper suddenly has one. It could be genuine, or it could have been fabricated afterward."
The villagers exchanged glances.
That was not exactly an explanation.
But it cast doubt on the conclusion they had almost settled on.
Uchiha Gen turned to Uchiha Makoto. "Make a copy without removing the original. Note the time and place it was found, and the number of witnesses."
"Understood."
"Toru, guard this spot. Record the name of anyone who tries to remove it, replace it, or approach the original."
Uchiha Toru nodded.
He stopped looking at the crowd and watched the corners of the paper instead.
When Uchiha Gen returned to the temporary records room with the copy, Itachi was already waiting.
The boy stood straight, his face betraying no unnecessary emotion.
"Gen, sir, I heard a new handover sheet has appeared."
Uchiha Gen slid the copy toward him.
"Look at the number."
Itachi lowered his head.
The paper read: Western Border medicinal supplies, seventh batch. Three crates of blue frost grass, two crates of Hemostatic Powder, one crate of supplementary ingredients for Military Ration Pills. Delivered outside the Resettlement Zone at half past five in the morning. Temporarily held at the Uchiha Konoha Military Police Force's request for verification.
There were two signatures below.
One was Kawahara Takuma's.
The other read: Transport Squad handover officer, Yamashiro Ken.
Itachi studied it for a long time.
"Yamashiro Ken is a real name."
Uchiha Makoto frowned. "Then we have a problem."
"But this isn't his handwriting."
Itachi raised his head.
"Yamashiro Ken signed yesterday's daily report as a witness. When he writes the character for 'shiro,' he places the earth radical very low and draws the final stroke back to the left. The strokes on this sheet are too level."
Uchiha Gen did not look surprised.
"Go on."
Itachi's gaze moved to the number.
"The batch number is wrong, too."
Uchiha Makoto immediately pulled out the Transport Squad's intake ledger from the previous day.
Itachi laid the two papers side by side.
"After the Night of the Nine-Tails, emergency medicinal shipments stopped using the caravans' own numbering system. To prevent duplicate entries and fraudulent collections, the Medical Squad switched to temporary post-fire codes. The supplies delivered to the Resettlement Zone yesterday were numbered Post-fire-Western Medical-B3, not Western Border medicinal supplies, seventh batch."
Uchiha Makoto's eyes brightened.
"So they used the caravans' old record format?"
"It looks more like an old-format document prepared in advance."
Itachi said, "They knew there were medicinal supplies, knew the Transport Squad was involved, and knew medicine mattered most to the villagers. But they didn't know the Medical Squad had changed the temporary codes last night."
Uchiha Gen studied the line that read "Temporarily held by the Uchiha Konoha Military Police Force."
Those words had been written with a steady hand.
So steady that it seemed someone had decided long ago to pin everything on the Uchiha.
Uchiha Makoto said quietly, "We can explain it by posting the batch-number discrepancy."
Uchiha Gen shook his head.
"That's not enough."
"Why?"
"Because false records are harder to unravel than lies. Make someone give specifics about a lie, and the holes will show. False records are different. They force you to produce more genuine records to prove they're false."
He tapped the paper.
"And before we prove it, it can already be taken to more places."
A faint sound suddenly came from outside.
Shisui dropped down beside the window, still carrying the chill of the early morning.
"You were right."
Uchiha Gen looked up.
"Where is he?"
"Kawahara Takuma didn't go himself. He sent two caravan workers out separately with copies."
Shisui spoke quickly.
"One was headed toward the Hokage Building, and another went to find the Villager Representative who helped tally the resettlement figures last night. There's another copy at their lodgings, as though they're waiting for someone to collect it."
Uchiha Makoto's expression changed.
"Three copies?"
"At least three."
Shisui looked at the copy on the table.
"I can intercept two of them."
If Uchiha Toru had been there, he would certainly have told him to intercept them at once.
Uchiha Makoto wanted to say it, too.
But Uchiha Gen did not answer immediately.
He knew Shisui could stop them.
With Body Flicker Shisui's speed, two ordinary caravan workers had no chance of delivering anything.
But what happens after we stop them?
Kawahara Takuma would only need to say one more thing: the Uchiha Konoha Military Police Force did not even dare let Lord Hokage see the records.
Whether the paper was genuine would no longer matter.
Uchiha Gen fell silent for a moment.
"Don't intercept them."
Uchiha Makoto froze.
"Let them deliver them?"
"Let them."
Uchiha Gen said, "If the false records are only posted in the Resettlement Zone, we can only explain ourselves there. If they reach the Hokage Building and the Villager Representative, we can expose them in front of everyone."
Shisui's gaze shifted slightly.
"You want them to deliver the evidence to the place where they'll be questioned?"
"It's not evidence."
Uchiha Gen pushed the copy into the center of the table.
"It's bait."
The room fell quiet.
Uchiha Gen began assigning tasks.
"Makoto, pull all the genuine intake records for yesterday's medicinal supplies, especially the registration time for the temporary post-fire codes, the registrar's name, and the Medical Squad's verification stamps."
"Itachi, find Yamashiro Ken. Don't let him come alone. Have two of his Transport Squad colleagues accompany him. I want them to verify the signature in front of the people at the Hokage Building."
"Shisui, keep following the copies without alerting anyone. Find out who receives them, who passes them on, and who is waiting at the intersections ahead of time."
All three acknowledged his orders at once.
Itachi paused before leaving.
"Gen, sir, if they speak first at the Hokage Building, we'll be at a disadvantage."
Uchiha Gen looked out the window.
The murmurs from the Resettlement Zone were still faintly audible.
"Being at a disadvantage isn't frightening."
He said, "What's frightening is snatching the paper back first just to avoid it."
That would put them right back into the story everyone already knew.
The Uchiha were overbearing.
The Uchiha had something to hide.
The Uchiha would not let people speak.
Uchiha Gen would not let things follow that path again.
An hour later, the first copy of the false records was delivered to the Hokage Building.
The person submitting it kept his head lowered and spoke urgently.
"Please ask Lord Hokage to investigate the Uchiha Konoha Military Police Force's temporary seizure of medicinal supplies for the Resettlement Zone."
At the same time, Uchiha Gen stood at the foot of the steps outside the Hokage Building with the genuine intake ledger, the Medical Squad's verification-stamp records, Yamashiro Ken himself, and two witnesses from the Transport Squad.
Shisui dropped from the shadows beneath the eaves and said only one thing.
"The third person receiving the records isn't from the caravan."
Uchiha Gen looked up.
The doors of the Hokage Building were opening.
He tucked the genuine ledger into the crook of his arm and spoke softly.
"All the better."
"Let the false records go where they want to go."
Before you continue