To be fair, Ueno Kei was, at his core, someone ruled more by emotion than reason.
Letting a rogue ninja go? Under normal circumstances, Ueno Kei would never have done such a thing with a rogue ninja who might threaten Konoha in the future. After all, he had long sworn that he would never allow anyone to harm Konoha's interests for the rest of his life.
Yet now, he had actually let Second Pillar go. To Ueno Kei, it was an utterly absurd and shameful thing. But he had done it anyway.
For no other reason than the pleading look in Naruto's eyes, Ueno Kei's heart had softened. Honestly, he had never seen Naruto look like that before. In a moment of weakness, he had let Sasuke go.
Watching Second Pillar gradually disappear into the distance, Naruto staggered forward a few steps. Kakashi tried to support him, but Naruto gently pushed him away.
Naruto slowly stretched out his right hand and lightly grasped at the air, as though trying to catch Sasuke's retreating figure. But all he could grasp was empty nothingness...
In the end, Naruto realized once more that it was all real. He slowly closed his eyes, his body swayed, and then his consciousness gradually faded as he collapsed.
"Naruto!" Kakashi and Ueno Kei shouted anxiously in unison.
Ueno Kei reached him first and caught Naruto as he fell. After checking his condition and confirming that Naruto had merely fainted from exhaustion, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. At his signal, the worry on Kakashi's face also eased.
Looking at Naruto's exhausted expression, a trace of heartache flashed across Ueno Kei's face. This was the first time Naruto had encountered something like this, and the first time his life had suffered such a stark reversal. Perhaps, to