Dawn broke.
Two documents lay on the Third Hokage's desk, one with ink long dry, the other freshly written. One reported the night's movements: Danzo's men had crept up to the main family's outer wall. The other reported the outcome: the witnesses were alive, and the evidence was intact.
He did not open them again. Beneath the lamplight last night, he had read everything he needed to.
The light outside the window was gray. The sky over the Hokage Building had not cleared in days.
Someone outside the building peered in. Hearing the rumors, they drew back again. From today onward, another layer of what lay beneath the Hokage Building would be exposed.
When Mikoto entered, her right hand was still bandaged. Kiyoshi followed her, carrying a book against his chest.
Danzo was already seated inside. He neither stood nor avoided them, looking as though he had come for an ordinary meeting.
The Third Hokage's hand paused over the documents. He, too, had protected Danzo in the past.
"The evidence is complete." Mikoto set the stack on the desk.
The six pieces filled the desk when laid out. Mikoto pressed her hand against its edge. She had waited a long time for this moment.
Six pieces. She counted them off in an even voice. Four copies of Root records, along with two separate sheets recording directions, dates, and names.
There was also a secret directive on the desk. It was Root's "Cleanup Order," found on the survivor taken in the alley last night. In black and white, it ordered the disposal of both the evidence and the people.
Added to that was the village's file on Shisui's "death." A fabricated case. Danzo's handiwork.
Kiyoshi stepped forward. He had kept the volume hidden inside the book's spine close to his body