Quote Originally Posted by DarthEnder View Post
Well, it IS the 3rd time we've seen him fight in the series. Not sure how many more surprise moves the guy could have at this point.

Eventually, you've either got to kill a character off, or turn him into a good guy. You can't just have the heroes fighting the same guy over and over.
All very true, but if i remember it correctly he preformed a jutsu just before he got "killed". Given this fact plus the undercooled reaction when his head flew off, i don't think he's dead.