Natsuhiko had actually noticed long ago that someone was standing deeper in the forest behind them.
That person was well concealed.
But unfortunately for him, he was completely exposed under Natsuhiko's sensory perception.
However, Natsuhiko hadn't acted immediately.
The first reason was simple—his chakra consumption had been heavy.
With chakra reserves only at about chūnin level, after one battle he was already running low.
Even though he had cut down those Suna ninja as easily as slicing vegetables, the cost to him wasn't small.
They had simply been unlucky.
They ran into an ANBU ninja like Natsuhiko—one who specialized in speed—which resulted in such overwhelming suppression.
Under normal circumstances, even if those Suna ninja were only chūnin, they wouldn't have collapsed so quickly against a jōnin.
As long as they didn't panic, they could have held out for some time.
Though in the end, they still would have been eliminated one by one.
After using so many techniques, Natsuhiko's chakra was nearly depleted.
And from his perception, the hidden figure's chakra fluctuations clearly surpassed chūnin level.
Moreover, this person had come as reinforcement.
That could only mean one thing—
He was very likely a jōnin.
That was why Natsuhiko chose to stall and bait him.
On one hand, he intended to agitate the man emotionally.
On the other, he needed time to recover his own chakra.
Though Natsuhiko might be considered a disgrace to the Senju Clan in terms of chakra reserves—
In terms of recovery speed, he was their pride.
In just a few minutes, he had already recovered seventy percent of his chakra.
And he hadn't even taken a soldier pill or any other stimulant.
Once he had recovered enough, Natsuhiko naturally couldn't afford to drag things out any longer.
And given his chakra limitations, he had already made a decision.
"The opponent is a jōnin. A true enemy. He's not like Kakuzu—someone who can fight or retreat at will. This time, I go all out. End it as quickly as possible."
His thinking was crystal clear.
He had already formulated his strategy.
He didn't know exactly who the opponent was.
But surely he couldn't be so unlucky as to encounter someone like Kakuzu again.
Facing Kakuzu, truthfully, hadn't been so bad.
Based on the anime Natsuhiko had watched in his previous life, he knew Kakuzu rarely went all out from the start.
Whether fighting the monk Chiriku or the Two-Tails jinchūriki Yugito, he had mostly let Hidan handle things.
Even when dealing with Asuma, he hadn't exerted himself fully.
Only against Kakashi had he truly fought seriously.
And that was only after Kakashi had ambushed him and destroyed one of his hearts—forcing him to retaliate in order to replace it.
With that knowledge as backup, Natsuhiko had dared to suppress the urge to use Sage Mode when facing Kakuzu.
Besides—
Even if he had used it, he probably wouldn't have won.
Better to save it for escaping.
And as expected, Kakuzu had behaved exactly as Natsuhiko anticipated.
He had even been so overconfident that Natsuhiko didn't need to use Sage Mode to retreat.
But this time—
It was different.
Natsuhiko had no intention of holding back.
The instant he vanished using the Body Flicker Technique, Sage chakra surged within him.
If he weren't wearing a mask, one would clearly see a faint layer of reddish eye shadow appear around his eyes.
The hidden Suna ninja had been eavesdropping the entire time.
When he heard Natsuhiko say that Konoha already knew they were from Sunagakure—
He wasn't particularly surprised.
There were only two possibilities.
Either it was a bluff.
Or their operation had truly been exposed.
Whichever it was, it didn't matter much.
If it was a bluff, it had little effect—there wasn't enough concrete evidence.
And if it had been exposed—so what?
Sunagakure might have lost the war and didn't wish to start another one.
But Konoha was in no position to provoke another war either.
If they could use the identity of "Iwa ninja" to stir conflict with Konoha, then everything would work out perfectly.
They could further expand their influence in the Land of Birds and the Land of Rivers.
The Land of Birds served as a buffer zone between the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth.
The Land of Rivers was the buffer between the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire.
These buffer zones were also where mission quotas were most heavily contested.
If Sunagakure could expand its influence there, it would be advantageous in every way.
Simply put—
If this operation succeeded, they profited greatly.
If it failed, they still wouldn't truly lose.
Even if some ninja were sacrificed, compared to the village's interests, such losses were insignificant.
"If we've been exposed, then I'll just eliminate them. Maybe I can even take down these two Konoha ANBU while I'm at it."
The Suna ANBU thought silently.
But in the next instant—
A sense of danger surged through his heart.
In a flash, that Konoha ANBU had already charged at him.
The chakra radiating from him spoke of something terrifying.
The quality of that chakra had reached an astonishing level!
"How did he find me? And his strength isn't right!"
The Suna ANBU's face changed instantly.
From earlier observation, that white-haired brat had seemed strong.
Jōnin-level strong—roughly comparable to himself.
But his chakra reserves didn't seem abundant.
Against another jōnin, all he would need was a successful ambush to secure victory.
Even though it was two against one—and one of them was Konoha's war hero, Kakashi Hatake—he hadn't taken them too seriously.
In his view, Kakashi's fame owed more to the legendary Fourth Hokage than to Kakashi himself.
But he had never expected—
That before he could even make a move, he would already be locked on.
And worse—
The opponent's strength was nothing like what he had imagined!
Seeing the sharp blade descending toward him, the Suna ANBU instinctively used the Substitution Technique.
He was no mediocre ninja—otherwise he would never have been assigned such a mission.
Boom!
The earth trembled slightly as thick smoke spread through the air.
The Suna ANBU landed steadily atop a tree branch.
Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at his shoulder.
His clothing had been sliced open.
A faint streak of red was visible on his shoulder.
His reaction had been fast enough—
Yet he had still been hit?
Just what kind of speed did that damned white-haired brat possess?
There was no time to think further.
The Konoha ANBU gave him no chance to breathe and launched another attack immediately.
Facing an assault that was nearly instantaneous—
The Suna ANBU gritted his teeth as his chakra erupted.
In the next moment, the sand beneath the earth responded.
It surged upward, solidifying under the reinforcement of chakra.
But that blade still came crashing down.
The edge sliced through the not-yet-fully-hardened sand—
And tore through his mask.
Drops of blood fell alongside the blade.