While Mizuki and the others questioned the lord's confidants, Tobi, Hatake Sakumo, and Inuzuka Mao inspected important areas within the lord's residence. They first checked the obvious places, and as expected, found nothing. There wouldn't be anything suspicious if there wasn't any, and even if there were, a smart person wouldn't leave things out in the open.
Perhaps some might think the most dangerous place is the safest, and intentionally leave evidence in plain sight. However, as long as a proper investigation procedure is followed, no investigator would miss obvious evidence.
After the superficial inspection, Hatake Sakumo and the others began searching for any secret compartments used to store important evidence. This was very familiar to ninjas; in the Anbu headquarters of Konoha Village, a large number of important documents were secretly hidden, with numerous sealing jutsu applied to them.
"Mr. Hatake, if this lord truly has a secret space, do you still believe he is innocent?" Tobi asked with a smile, his finger lightly tracing the covers of books in front of a bookshelf.
"That doesn't prove anything. It's perfectly normal for a lord to have things he doesn't want revealed," Hatake Sakumo replied calmly.
"But what if the secret space was made using ninja techniques?" Tobi asked again.
"That's also not unusual. Is the lord incapable of hiring ninjas to build a secret space for him? Rather than focusing on that, it's better to look for concrete evidence connecting him to the Evil God cultists," Hatake Sakumo turned his head and glanced at Tobi.
"Heh heh, you're quite stubborn, aren't you? In my opinion, these things already say a lot," Tobi chuckled, turning his head and pulling out a book to slowly read.
"These things are meaningless. If they're just used as an excuse, then there's no problem," Hatake Sakumo said.
"Then let's wait for the results," Tobi shrugged, indicating he was waiting to see.
The three successively investigated one place after another, finally finding a secret compartment in the lord's private room. The compartment was extremely well hidden; even experienced Anbu members might not be able to find it quickly. The first person to notice this secret compartment was Tobi.
Hatake Sakumo and Inuzuka Mao immediately gathered around, both to see what was in the secret compartment and to monitor Tobi, to prevent him from planting incriminating evidence.
They believed Tobi had every reason to do so. Framing a local lord with close ties to Konoha Village as a criminal would help suppress Konoha Village, and Tobi was clearly not an upright investigator.
He was even the one who proposed this incident.
After discovering the secret compartment, Tobi informed Hatake Sakumo and Inuzuka Mao, then stood aside, indicating that he had not touched anything inside. Only after the two approached did they all examine the contents together.
Aside from some unimportant items, a few things caught the attention of the three—a packet of secret medicine, a token, and several letters. First was the secret medicine; Tobi immediately pointed out that this was the special energy-infused secret medicine that had been swapped. The token was related to the Evil God cultists, as detailed in Konoha Village's investigation files. And then there were the letters, which, although written in some special cipher, with the first two items as corroboration, it could essentially be concluded that these letters were likely correspondence with the Evil God cultists!
"Heh heh! What more is there to say!" Tobi sneered, picking up the packet of secret medicine and the token, and said to the two, "Now what do you have to defend yourselves with? Doesn't this prove that he is connected to the Evil God cultists?"
Hatake Sakumo and Inuzuka Mao secretly groaned. They hadn't expected to find these things in the lord's secret compartment. Hatake Sakumo suppressed his inner agitation and said with forced composure, "We can't conclude yet. It might be a setup by someone who found the lord's secret compartment and planted these things."
This was indeed a possibility, but Tobi clearly wasn't going to accept it. He shook his head, "Mr. Hatake, being stubborn won't do. You're still unwilling to admit it, fine. Let's go ask the lord what explanation he has."
With that, Tobi strode out of the room and headed towards the main hall of the lord's mansion. Hatake Sakumo and Inuzuka Mao quickly followed. Inuzuka Mao cast a worried look at Hatake Sakumo, as if asking, "What should we do?"
Hatake Sakumo slightly shook his head at Inuzuka Mao, indicating that there was no need to worry yet, as it wasn't fully proven. Although he hinted at this, Hatake Sakumo himself was unsure. What if these things weren't planted, but genuinely belonged to the lord?
If the lord truly had ties to the Evil God cultists, then Konoha Village would be in serious trouble. However, Hatake Sakumo still felt that the lord didn't seem like someone who would dare to associate with Evil God cultists, nor did he have any need to. Unless he himself was a cultist of the Evil God, what reason would he have to contact them?
If the lord was still being framed, then the enemy might be somewhat terrifying. Under the supervision of both the Daimyo's army and Konoha Village, they could still infiltrate here and place the incriminating items in a secret compartment. Does Tobi have a power behind him that even the Daimyo doesn't know about?
Hatake Sakumo and Inuzuka Mao arrived in the hall, heavy-hearted. Tobi was already there, looking triumphantly at everyone. He wasn't in a hurry to present the evidence, but instead looked at Mizuki and the others, asking, "What were the results of questioning the confidants?"
"They don't know anything," Asuna replied, "How about your side?"
Since no information could be obtained from the lord's confidants, the only way to prove the lord's suspicion was through concrete evidence. Although she couldn't see Tobi's face, judging by his posture and tone, Asuna suddenly had a very bad feeling.
"In other words, this is the lord's private conduct," Tobi said, producing the evidence, "This is the evidence that proves the lord colluded with the Evil God cultists! These were confirmed by Mr. Hatake and Mr. Inuzuka, found in the lord's private room's secret compartment, and absolutely belong to the lord personally!"
"No, impossible!" The lord looked at the items in Tobi's hand in shock, immediately rising from his chair in agitation. He swore he had never seen such things before.
Tobi ignored the lord and instead looked at the lord's confidants, saying coldly, "You all should recall carefully if the lord had any suspicious behavior in his daily life. You might be innocent, as this might just be the lord's private conduct, but there's still some suspicion. However, if you can prove it was the lord's private actions, then we might overlook your past actions."
"Lord Tobi, this is leading! We need truthful information, not false information coerced under pressure!" Hatake Sakumo and Inuzuka Mao, upon entering and hearing Tobi's words, Inuzuka Mao immediately shouted.
The lord's confidants hesitated. They certainly didn't want to be implicated in this matter, as they were indeed innocent. However, the lord seemed to have no suspicious behavior in his daily life, and they couldn't say anything. If it weren't for Inuzuka Mao's reprimand just now, some of the less resolute individuals, under Tobi's coercion, might have fabricated false memories to provide information after a while.
Seeing Hatake Sakumo and Inuzuka Mao appear, the lord immediately stepped forward, grasping Hatake Sakumo's hand, and said emotionally, "Sakumo-kun, you must believe me! I truly don't know what these things are. Someone must have framed me, perhaps this scoundrel, this scoundrel put them there."
"Mr. Hatake, you can tell him if I put them there," Tobi stood there quietly, his tone somewhat sarcastic. "I am the representative from the Daimyo's mansion who came to investigate. According to the lord, is His Highness the Daimyo trying to frame you?"
"No, that's not what I meant!" The lord quickly denied. He had panicked and blurted out that sentence. He hurriedly tried to salvage the situation, even if he genuinely thought that, he couldn't admit it.
"So, Lord, are you suspecting that I personally framed you?" Tobi asked again.
—Isn't that the case!
Although the lord thought so, it was the same principle: he couldn't admit it, because Tobi was the Daimyo's favorite retainer, and accusing Tobi was also accusing the Daimyo.
"It might be the Evil God, yes, it might be the Evil God cultists who framed me. They deliberately placed these things in my private area, intending to frame me!" the lord changed his statement.
"Lord Tobi, we cannot disregard this possibility. We still need to investigate thoroughly," Hatake Sakumo looked at Tobi seriously and said.
"I believe this is already sufficient as evidence. There might be that possibility, but we also cannot overlook that the lord might not be innocent. Therefore, taking him into custody for now, you have no objections, do you?" Tobi said coldly.
"This…" Hatake Sakumo hesitated. Logically, temporarily detaining the lord was indeed the more correct choice. Tobi's statement was not inappropriate. However, this would mean the lord was already half-accused, which for a nobleman, was an insult.
"Sakumo-kun, it must be others who framed me! I absolutely did not do such a thing, you know what kind of person I am!" the lord called out to Hatake Sakumo.
"Mr. Hatake, my request is not excessive. For a major suspect, with this evidence in hand, temporary detention is a very normal measure. Don't be unreasonable, think carefully," Tobi said solemnly.
Hatake Sakumo reconsidered whether to firmly support the lord at this point. With this evidence, firmly supporting the lord would put immense pressure on Konoha Village. Was it worth it? If the lord truly had ties to the Evil God cultists, it would have a very serious negative impact.
"Lord, in this situation, I can only ask for your patience," Hatake Sakumo took a deep breath and said, "I believe that with your character, Lord, you wouldn't do such a thing. It's very likely you've been wronged. But given the current circumstances, we can only ask you to endure this hardship. I promise that Konoha Village will thoroughly investigate the truth of this matter. Please trust us, Lord."
The lord opened his mouth, understanding that Hatake Sakumo could only do so much. He had confidence in Konoha Village. Although Konoha Village couldn't immediately prove his innocence, he believed they would eventually. For now, he could only accept the humiliation of temporary detention.
"I think you all shouldn't trust him so much. Perhaps he really does have problems," Tobi shook his head slightly, his hand hidden in his sleeve forming a secret hand sign, then he commanded the samurai to step forward and apprehend him.
"Tobi, tell me, if my innocence is proven later, you must apologize to me, to a nobleman, for your disrespect!" The lord glared at Tobi, his tone not at all polite. Tobi was merely a favored retainer of the Daimyo, with no prominent status himself. If the lord was indeed proven innocent, Tobi would be in the wrong regarding this matter.
"I hope that day comes," Tobi's lips behind his mask curled into a slight, triumphant arc. He watched as the samurai approached the lord. Due to the lord's noble status, they could not roughly apprehend him, but instead stood on either side, ensuring the lord would not leave.
The lord was just an ordinary person, and anyone with a bit of skill could pin him to the ground, let alone these professionally trained samurai.
Just as the lord was about to leave, a look of astonishment suddenly appeared on his face. His pupils instantly contracted, his mouth trembled slightly, but he couldn't say a word.
The lord's abnormality immediately caught the attention of the others. Hatake Sakumo was about to step forward to ask when he saw the lord's body sway and fall to the ground, his body convulsing.
Everyone was instantly alarmed and immediately gathered around. Yamanaka Takuma knelt beside the lord, reaching out to check the lord's pupils. Seeing his pupils gradually dilate, he then checked his pulse, which also seemed to be slowly disappearing.
"Damn it, the lord is in danger!" Yamanaka Takuma said, then immediately performed emergency measures on the lord and called for a professional physician. Although Yamanaka Takuma knew some first aid methods, he was not a professional.
However, the Konoha ninjas present all carried emergency medicine with them, which could temporarily preserve a person's life. They immediately and without hesitation took it out and injected it into the lord.
However, the lord's life still seemed beyond saving. His expression was distorted, and he looked at Hatake Sakumo, his eyes filled with astonishment, fear, and confusion.
"Lord, pull yourself together!" Hatake Sakumo shouted loudly.
Although Hatake Sakumo shouted loudly, the lord could only hear, not speak, a faint sound coming from his throat. Even with the emergency medicine injected, his life continued to ebb away.
Tobi slowly walked to the side. He did not step forward, but simply watched silently. Behind the mask, where no one could see, the corners of his lips slowly curled into a triumphant arc. If no one else had been present, he would have burst out laughing.