Disconnect/updateUptimeLocked now return (mutated bool, err); VM.Disconnected commits only when the flush wrote uptime state. Before StartTracking (bootstrap churn) and for non-validator peers the flush is a no-op, so the prior unconditional Commit was an empty full-write+fsync on every such disconnect. Skipping it is correct: every writer under stateLock commits its own diff, so no orphaned write depends on the disconnect path.
RED round-2 verdict: SHIP-READY (H1 phantom verified, mutated-gate correct, H2 pre-existing/not-worsened, block-height orthogonal). Isolated from the uncommitted staking-KMS WIP, which is quarantined on feat/staking-kms-native pending its own Blue->Red.
Co-authored-by: Hanzo Dev <dev@hanzo.ai>
