Natsuhiko's words were sincere.
His gentle yet firm tone, and his refusal to abandon a comrade in such a crisis—
All of it seemed to convey his determination to Kusunoki.
Kusunoki had also heard about Natsuhiko's reputation within the ANBU.
Mild-mannered. Friendly. Treated everyone in ANBU well.
Such a personality didn't seem suited for the ANBU.
Yet his mission success rate and efficiency were unquestionable.
For a brief moment, Kusunoki felt shaken.
He even wondered whether his own decision had been correct.
But as an ANBU—
As a high-ranking Commander—
He quickly steadied himself.
The ANBU's duty was to complete the mission.
Even at the cost of one's life.
However, he no longer mentioned the scroll in his hand.
That scroll was fake.
Its only purpose was to ensure that Natsuhiko continued drawing the attention of that demon-like man.
Though Kusunoki did not fear death—
He still wanted to live.
He also wanted to see what Natsuhiko intended to do.
"He's here!"
At that moment, Natsuhiko's eyelid twitched.
Without hesitation, he hurled Kusunoki aside—
Paying no mind to whether it worsened his injuries.
His body twisted sharply—
Dodging the spear-like iron sand that shot toward him—
Before landing steadily on the ground.
He looked up at the Third Kazekage puppet hovering in midair and took a deep breath.
He already knew it could fly.
He had expected to be caught eventually.
So this wasn't surprising.
"Your reaction is pretty quick." Sasori's figure slowly emerged from the treetops.
His voice remained hoarse and low. "But I don't enjoy playing cat and mouse. This ends here."
"Who exactly are you?" Natsuhiko didn't mind exchanging a few words.
It bought him time to recover chakra.
"Chasing Konoha's ANBU within the Land of Fire—no matter how strong you are, escaping Konoha's retaliation won't be easy."
"Yes, Konoha is indeed terrifying." Sasori nodded, not denying it. "But… how would they know who did it?"
For rogue ninja and missing-nin, Konoha's might was undeniable.
No matter how strong an individual was, a large-scale pursuit force could eventually grind them down.
This era no longer had monsters like Hashirama Senju or Madara Uchiha—
Who could stand against an entire nation alone.
But Sasori wasn't worried.
As he said—
If he killed everyone,
No one would know it was him.
And he was still disguised.
He had even less reason to fear.
"Recovered enough?" Sasori suddenly asked with faint amusement in his tone. "I'm about to make my move."
His voice was still hoarse—
Still suffocatingly cold—
But now there was a trace of playfulness in it.
The moment his words fell—
Natsuhiko moved.
Passive defense had never been his style.
He was still in Sage Mode.
Even if victory was impossible—
He was confident he wouldn't be struck by Sasori's weapons.
"Sage Art: Water Release: Water Blade Slash!"
The instant he activated the Body Flicker Technique—
Natsuhiko had already drawn his ninja blade.
A layer of highly compressed Water Release chakra coated its surface.
His figure vanished—
Then reappeared beside Sasori.
He did not attack the Third Kazekage puppet first.
Instead—
He targeted Sasori directly.
Every puppet master had a glaring weakness: they hated close-quarters combat.
While Natsuhiko knew Sasori had modified his body to eliminate this flaw, he had to play the role of a standard shinobi who didn't know his enemy's secrets.
"Foolish." Sasori shook his head disdainfully.
Hiruko's massive tail lashed violently toward Natsuhiko.
At the same time—
The Third Kazekage puppet descended from the air.
Blades extended from its arms—
Aiming straight for him.
Clang!
Natsuhiko's blade struck Hiruko's body fiercely.
With a deafening crash, Natsuhiko himself was violently knocked backward.
Hiruko's durability was truly astonishing.
Although that strike—infused with senjutsu chakra—had shattered a large portion of Hiruko,
Natsuhiko was still repelled by the recoil.
The fundamental gap in strength between them was simply too great.
His overall combat level was only around that of a jōnin.
The amount of chakra he could mobilize was closer to that of a chūnin.
Even though Sage Mode greatly enhanced the quality of his chakra,
The quantity he could inject into a technique remained limited.
The power of a jutsu depends not only on chakra quality—
But also on the amount poured into it.
Thus, while his slash was undeniably powerful—
And had even split Hiruko nearly in half—
For Sasori, it wasn't nearly enough.
This wasn't something like Yamato's weakened Wood Release constructs.
When Natsuhiko landed steadily on the ground, his eyes were already fixed on the massive crack in Hiruko's shell.
It was large.
It looked severe.
But that was all.
He still couldn't even glimpse Sasori's true body.
That level of defense—
Was terrifying.
No wonder it was a puppet meticulously crafted by a Kage-level master.
Whirr!
The moment Natsuhiko touched down, the Third Kazekage puppet, which had already been closing in, arrived.
The blades extending from its arms gleamed coldly as they slashed toward him.
Natsuhiko had long since locked onto the puppet's movements.
That gave him sufficient time to react.
He leapt backward—
Barely avoiding the sweeping blades—
Then, in the next instant, his ninja blade began slicing rapidly through the air around the puppet.
"Oh?" A trace of amusement flickered across Sasori's face.
From Natsuhiko's movements, he immediately guessed—
He was trying to sever the chakra threads.
The more skilled a puppet master,
The more refined their control—
And the more concealed their chakra strings became.
Sasori was among the elite of puppet masters.
With the naked eye, it was nearly impossible to see his chakra threads.
Unless one possessed the Byakugan or the Sharingan—
Or exceptional sensory abilities.
"A sensory-type ninja?"
Sasori guided the Third Kazekage puppet to evade Natsuhiko's blade while thinking to himself.
The ANBU before him clearly wasn't a Hyūga or an Uchiha.
Which left only one explanation—
He was a sensory ninja.
Sasori smiled faintly.
This ANBU was interesting. He had even shattered Hiruko.
But that was still insufficient.
Although the man's chakra quality was high,
Its quantity was severely lacking.
Otherwise, Hiruko wouldn't still be capable of fighting.
With that thought, Sasori immediately directed the damaged Hiruko forward.
Its massive tail, glinting with cold light, stabbed viciously toward Natsuhiko.
At the same time—
The Third Kazekage puppet condensed black iron sand.
The iron sand formed into spear-like projectiles—
Launching a coordinated assault.
Puppet masters were among the rare few shinobi capable of true large-scale combat.
A powerful one could rival an entire army alone.
Sasori wasn't even fighting at full strength—
Merely controlling two puppets casually.
Yet even so—
He quickly formed a pincer attack against Natsuhiko.
Such terrifying skill—
Was not something an ordinary shinobi could ever achieve.