Originally, there had been no need to send Ueno Kei on a mission of this type. But this time, he had a reason he absolutely had to go—one of them was Naruto.
As the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki, targeted hungrily by Akatsuki, once Naruto left the village, a Kage-level powerhouse absolutely had to accompany him. And that person could not merely be an ordinary Kage-level shinobi.
Within the village now, only Jiraiya and Ueno Kei had that confidence.
Another important factor was Itachi! That was right—Sasuke's target this time was Itachi. It was time for Ueno Kei to fulfill his promise to Itachi, or perhaps some kind of deal. Sasuke would definitely find Itachi this time; there was no doubt about that, because Itachi would take the initiative to find Sasuke!
So, the time had come. Ueno Kei's gaze grew somewhat distant.
"Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Rock Lee, Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuga Hinata, and Aburame Shino will be the team members!" Kakashi continued after Ueno Kei.
"Also, Might Guy will serve as the team's vice-captain! This mission is to bring back Second Pillar! All actions are to follow Kei and Guy's orders! Understood?"
"Yes!"
"Haha, this is our first mission together, Kei!" Might Guy casually threw an arm around Ueno Kei's shoulders and laughed. Ueno Kei smiled faintly as well.
"Please guide me, Guy-senpai!"
Then, led by Ueno Kei and Might Guy, the Konoha group swiftly left through the gates, racing toward the place where intelligence reported Sasuke had last appeared.
Elsewhere, within a forbidden area of the Uchiha Clan, Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki stood inside.
"This is also a forbidden area of your clan, huh? But is it really okay for an outsider like me to come in?" Kisame Hoshigaki asked with an easy smile. There was not the slightest trace