Takuya Yamashiro still walked with a slight hitch in his left leg when he entered the Konoha Military Police Force headquarters.
The old injury from the Night of the Nine-Tails had not vanished just because the case had moved through so many pages.
This time, he had not brought his testimony from back then.
Nor was he wearing a patrol ninja's uniform.
He simply held the hand of a Training Facility student.
The child's name did not appear on the public application.
The Konoha Military Police Force used a temporary number to verify his identity.
The intake officer first explained to the child that only three things needed to be checked today.
Whether he had personally seen Shuo enter the corridor beside the Records Room.
Whether he had seen the transparent Sealing Adhesive on Shuo's hand.
And whether he had submitted the anonymous statement himself.
The child did not need to prove how the grades had been altered.
He did not need to explain the recorder's memories.
Much less bear responsibility for the case's final conclusion.
The intake officer wrote those three points on a sheet of paper and placed it before the child.
He could cross off each item himself once it was completed.
If the questioning went beyond that scope, he could also point to the paper and ask for it to stop.
Takuya Yamashiro did not hold the paper for him.
The child would decide first whether to keep answering.
Takuya Yamashiro sat in the accompanying adult's seat.
The questioner asked the child why he had stayed at the Training Facility that day.
Takuya instinctively wanted to answer that the child had been waiting for him to pick him up.
But he stopped before the words left his mouth.
An accompanying adult could remind the child to