Later, after formulating a new strategy, Kusuna and his team attacked again, working to separate Naruto and the others from Shion. As the plan seemingly worked, with each of Shion's bodyguards being forced to fight separately, Kusuna chased after Sakura, who was holding Shion. Kusuna caught up with Sakura and incapacitated her before going after Shion. With his target now alone, Kusuna took the opportunity to kill her, unaware that he had actually killed Shion's bodyguard, Taruho, who had disguised himself with a special transformation technique.
