Chapter 51: The Erased Name in the Classified Archives Room
The door to the Classified Archives Room in the Hokage Building was twice as thick as an ordinary archives room door.
Two layers of seals were affixed to the door.
The outer layer was the access log.
The inner layer was the review trace.
The middle-aged shinobi responsible for guarding it was named Shingo Nara, and he had done archival work in the Hokage Building for eleven years.
He rarely made mistakes.
Precisely because he rarely made mistakes, when he discovered that page of the review record was wrong, his first reaction was not to call for help.
Instead, he pulled his hand back.
The third day after the Night of the Nine-Tails.
Confidential Record Volume Seven.
The review column ought to have contained the reviewer, the approver, and the seal-checking reviewer.
Yet now, the reviewer grid was empty.
No, it could not be said to be entirely empty.
There was a trace of ink on the paper that had been erased extremely faintly.
It was like someone had written a name, then rubbed it out bit by bit.
Shingo Nara's forehead quickly oozed sweat.
What the Classified Archives Room feared most was not missing things.
Missing things at least had a definitive outcome.
What it feared most was that the thing was still there, yet the record could not make clear who had touched it.
Half an hour later, in the Small Conference Room of the Hokage Building, the air grew heavy once more.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in the main seat.
Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura were to the sides.
Danzo remained standing in the shadows.
Three items lay upon the table.
The Access Log.
The Seal Impression Transcript.
And Shingo Ashiase's Discovery Record.
Uchiha Gen did not touch