Takuya Yamashiro was not wearing his ninja uniform when he entered the Review Room.
His left leg still troubled him.
But the effects of the Night of the Nine-Tails showed in more than his gait.
What had truly troubled him for years were the old injuries to the chakra pathways along his waist, and the repeated demands that he return to the South Street Entrance.
His file introduced him in just two lines.
Chunin of Konoha Patrol Squad Two.
Witnessed a masked space-time ninja; his testimony established that the Nine-Tails had another controller.
Neither line was wrong.
Neither came close to being enough.
"What I'm applying to add isn't what I saw that night."
Takuya Yamashiro placed a stack of old notices on the table.
"It's what happened afterward."
The first notice had arrived on the third day after the Night of the Nine-Tails.
It required him to confirm the mask, the red eye, and the attacks passing through the man's body.
The second had arrived when the Uchiha first submitted their rescue documentation.
The third had come when the village leadership conducted another review.
The fourth had come after Obito's identity became part of the investigation.
Thirteen more had followed.
Every time someone questioned the Uchiha's rescue records, Takuya Yamashiro was questioned again.
Every time someone believed all the testimony had been steered by the Uchiha, he had to explain once more what he had said while on the verge of unconsciousness.
His testimony had indeed prevented a collective charge from being swiftly established.
But the file did not record how he had moved out of his original home after suffering severe injuries.
It did not record the kunai that had come within half a foot of his throat in an attempt to silence him.
Nor did it record