Aokihara's face was as white as the sealing paper in the Classified Archives Room.
"The wooden pass was on me the whole time."
As he said this, his hand remained pressed to his waist.
That was where his wooden entry pass should have hung.
And the pass was indeed there now.
Shingo Nara had checked it on the spot. Its number, carved markings, and sealing points all matched.
That only made things more troublesome.
If the pass had been lost, the problem would have been simple.
But it had not been lost.
Yet the usage log showed that it had been used at the outer entrance to the Classified Archives Room around Aokihara's shift change.
A wooden pass would not walk into the Classified Archives Room on its own.
That left only two possibilities.
Aokihara was lying.
Or someone had taken the pass from him without his knowledge, then put it back.
Uchiha Gen did not immediately settle on an answer.
He looked at Aokihara.
"You said you didn't leave the outer archives around the shift change."
Aokihara nodded at once.
"I didn't."
"The entire time?"
Aokihara opened his mouth.
This time, he hesitated.
Several gazes in the Conference Room fell on him at once.
Danzo's voice came from the shadows.
"It seems you did leave after all."
More sweat beaded on Aokihara's forehead.
"I didn't go to the Classified Archives Room."
Uchiha Gen raised a hand, cutting off Danzo before he could press further.
"Where did you go?"
Aokihara swallowed.
"The Medicinal Herb Warehouse."
Mitokado Homura frowned.
"What was an archives ninja doing at the Medicinal Herb Warehouse?"
"After the Night of the Nine-Tails, we were short-handed. The Hokage Building temporarily assigned clerical and archives staff to help inventory disaster-relief supplies. I was only there for a short while."