"Naruto! Sasuke!" Watching the two plunge into battle, Haruno Sakura cried out worriedly. Three years ago, it had been right in front of Sakura that the two had truly clashed for the first time. Though that confrontation had been interrupted by Kakashi's interference.
But from that moment onward, a rift had existed between them.
Their first complete battle had taken place after Sasuke defected, at the Valley of the End. Without question, Naruto had lost. Whatever the reason—whether Naruto had been unable to strike him down or Sasuke had been too cold and ruthless—in their first clash, Naruto had lost.
And this time was their second confrontation.
"Sakura, don't go over there!" Ueno Kei calmly extended his right hand to stop Sakura. This was a battle between Naruto and Sasuke. Their problems had to be resolved by the two of them.
"Big Brother Kei, I hope you can leave Sasuke's matter to me. No matter the outcome, I'm prepared for it! I'll bear responsibility for all the consequences!"
"As long as you're prepared, then anything is possible!"
"That is their destiny." Although Ueno Kei did not quite understand why, he had always vaguely felt that Sasuke and Naruto were bound by a special tie of fate. An invisible, unbreakable thread tightly bound the two of them. No one could escape the long river of destiny.
Even Ueno Kei himself felt that he was being pulled along by fate, and deeply so. His sense of closeness toward Naruto and his instinctive rejection of Sasuke—perhaps those, too, were a kind of destiny.
Having lived two lives, Ueno Kei might still have been an atheist, but he believed somewhat in a predestined fate lurking in the unseen. Perhaps he believed in it more than anyone else!
"Sakura, no one can interfere in what