Five confirmation seals hovered above the Pursuit Order.
No nation stamped its seal first.
The thin black thread had already entered the fibers of the paper.
Destroying the draft outright would sever its current attachment.
The Five Nations still needed a shared set of rules that would allow them to track Black Zetsu across borders.
If they wrote out the same powers again, Black Zetsu would simply wait on another sheet of paper.
Gen first crossed out "remains valid until the danger is eliminated."
One representative immediately objected.
No one knew how long the pursuit would last.
With a fixed deadline, Black Zetsu only had to hide until it expired to regain room to maneuver.
"Expiration does not mean we stop pursuing him."
"It means proving again why we need to continue."
The new draft operated in seven-day cycles.
During those seven days, teams could follow verified physical traces of Black Zetsu across borders.
Once they traveled more than thirty li beyond a border, they had to notify a local recordkeeping station.
Entering residential areas, sealing zones, and shinobi village archives rooms required separate permission.
If he remained at large after seven days, the authorization could be renewed.
Renewal required evidence that Black Zetsu was still active, along with the powers previously exercised and their specific consequences.
Simply stating that the threat remained was not enough.
The second revision concerned the targets.
The original draft listed Black Zetsu, controlled White Zetsu, and all unidentified black chakra as targets for action.
The new version tracked only verified core fragment fluctuations, active possession, and tampering with old commands.
Individual White Zetsu were to be isolated separately according to their actual condition.
Not responding to Black Zetsu did not automatically earn them freedom.
Nor could they be hunted down merely for having a