Ueno Kei slowly rose to his feet, turned around, and looked at the figures behind him. They were two ninjas dressed as Kirigakure shinobi, and one of them had the exact face from the wanted notice—Aoi Rokushō!
At his waist, he also wore a sword. Judging by its style, there was no doubt it was the Second Hokage's sword—the Sword of the Thunder God. Whether it was the genuine article or a replica, however, was unclear.
Before Aoi Rokushō drew it and used it, Ueno Kei did not dare confirm it. Besides, Ueno Kei was still a little uncertain whether Kirigakure would really hand the Second Hokage's sword back to Aoi Rokushō for him to use.
After all, one of the conditions for Aoi Rokushō defecting to Kirigakure and seeking protection there, avoiding pursuit from Konoha's Anbu, had been not only joining Kirigakure, but also surrendering the Sword of the Thunder God.
Now, that left Ueno Kei with a trace of confusion and uncertainty.
The other one should have been a Kirigakure chunin. On that chunin's right shoulder stood an owl, and Ueno Kei immediately understood. So that was how he had been discovered.
It seemed that owl was either the Kirigakure ninja's summoning beast or a tamed ninja beast.
At the same time, the three ninjas inside the room also heard the noise outside. With several whooshes, three figures suddenly darted out and stood around Ueno Kei, faintly forming a circle.
They surrounded Ueno Kei inside it.
From the speed of their reactions, judgment, and coordination, it could be seen that even if these three ninjas were genin, they were not the kind of rookies who had only just graduated and become genin. At the very least, they were fairly experienced genin.
Individually, their strength might not amount to