Uzumaki Naruto had always considered Sasuke his brother—the person his own age, aside from Ueno Kei, with whom he was closest. Though they often bickered and glared at each other, their bond was there. The reason Sasuke had left the village for that so-called Otogakure had to be because he had been deceived by that fellow named Orochimaru.
At the very least, that was what Uzumaki Naruto believed. Sasuke had definitely not gone to Otogakure of his own free will.
Naruto had seen that Orochimaru twice before—once during the Chunin Exams, and once when they had gone to meet Tsunade this time. Naruto swore that guy was absolutely no good.
That was why Naruto absolutely had to save Sasuke! He had to bring him back to Konoha!
But someone actually wanted to stop him from going after Sasuke, so Naruto blurted out without thinking, "Who? Which bastard is stopping us from pursuing him?"
Naruto turned around irritably, wanting to see which blind fool it was. But the moment he turned his head, he wilted. Naruto felt this was a tragedy, because he saw Ueno Kei's dark expression and immediately knew he was doomed.
"Hey, um, why is it you, Brother Kei?" Naruto said quietly.
"Well, well, Naruto. You actually dared to call your Brother Kei a bastard. Hmph." Ueno Kei snorted coldly. Naruto shrank back and said nothing more.
Ueno Kei shook his head and did not say anything else to Naruto. Instead, he turned to Tsunade and said, "Lady Hokage, according to the intelligence, those Otogakure ninja should all be jonin-level opponents. I do not believe a team made up of genin can capture or kill Second Pillar. Let me dispatch the Anbu to hunt them down!"
Ueno Kei spoke calmly, but his tone radiated killing intent.
"What, Brother