In the eyes of the leading Sand Ninja, Ueno Kei had no reputation whatsoever in the shinobi world at present. His Anbu missions and related information were known only to the upper echelons of the major villages. Even as the Third Hokage's disciple, he was nothing to fear—at most, an elite jonin.
Although the title Blood Asura had spread somewhat through the shinobi world, it was nowhere near as renowned as the former Sannin, the White Fang of Konoha, or even Hatake Kakashi. As for the underground exchange's assessment of Ueno Kei and the bounty on his head, the Sand Ninja considered them nothing more than exaggeration.
In that Sand Ninja jonin's view, with so many of them and more than ten jonin among their ranks, they could certainly kill or capture Ueno Kei.
Thus, he found the orders from above extremely difficult to understand, and even somewhat resisted them. But orders were orders. Under normal circumstances, village shinobi did not dare defy commands from their superiors—especially when this Sand Ninja jonin had received his orders personally from the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, who was actually Orochimaru in disguise.
So, no matter how displeased he was, the Sand Ninja could only swallow it and could not disobey or resist.
"Then we'll act according to the plan," the Sand Ninja said with a cold snort.
The Sound Ninja jonin nodded. Then, with a wave of their hands, the thirty-odd shinobi moved into their previously agreed-upon formation, faintly surrounding Ueno Kei.
Yet they did not draw too close.
Half of them attacked in rotation, while the other half remained on the outer perimeter to distract and provide cover.
A shadow crossed Ueno Kei's face. This obvious delaying tactic made him deeply uncomfortable. No matter what, these were genuine jonin and chunin, not opponents