Recaps

Naruto pursued Hoshigakure’s Star Meteorite because Sakura had asked him to find a radioactive rock, while Jiraiya left him to handle the village’s internal conflict as a test. As Naruto fought Akahoshi, Jiraiya watched from a distance, convinced Naruto’s strength had already decided the battle.

• Jiraiya watched Naruto fight Akahoshi and reflected that Hoshigakure’s Hoshikage was no match for Naruto’s four-tailed cloak.
• A few days earlier, a woman asked Jiraiya to save Hoshigakure, but Naruto chose to get involved because Sakura had requested a radioactive rock.
• Jiraiya agreed not to interfere, urging Naruto to use his head and treating the mission as a test.
• With Jiraiya’s guidance and Natsuhiboshi’s help, Naruto uncovered that Akahoshi had killed the Third Hoshikage and resumed training with the Star Meteorite despite its harmful effects.
• Jiraiya watched Naruto’s battle with Akahoshi from a distance, believing its outcome was already certain.

Naruto defeated Akahoshi after Akahoshi unleashed the Mysterious Peacock Method at full strength. Akahoshi collapsed from its radiation damage, leaving Natsuhi and Naruto to confront the cost of Hoshigakure’s pursuit of power.

• Jiraiya watched Akahoshi use the Star Meteorite to intensify the Mysterious Peacock Method, worsening the tumors on his body.
• Naruto overpowered Akahoshi’s Chakra dragon, while Akahoshi’s body began to suffer the technique’s side effects.
• Akahoshi launched one final attack, but Naruto caught and crushed the Chakra dragon, leaving Akahoshi unconscious.
• Natsuhiboshi urged Akahoshi to surrender, and Naruto confirmed that he had lost consciousness.
• Natsuhi examined Akahoshi’s radiation-induced tumors and said he could not be saved, while Naruto reflected on the suffering endured by Hoshigakure’s ninja.

Natsuhiboshi ended Akahoshi’s rule, banned training with the Star Meteorite, and gave Naruto the sealed meteorites for safekeeping. After leaving Hoshigakure, Naruto reunited with Jiraiya, who praised him for thinking through what had happened.

• Akahoshi died after asking Natsuhiboshi to spare his children and warning her that she would regret what happened.
• Natsuhiboshi abolished Akahoshi’s policies, became the Star Ninja’s leader, and forbade them from using the 'Little Star' meteorite for training.
• Natsuhiboshi gave Naruto the sealed Star Meteorite and revealed that more than a thousand meteorites remained beneath the training hall.
• Natsuhiboshi welcomed Naruto’s offer to ask Sakura and other medical-nin to help treat the side effects of the Mysterious Peacock Method.
• Naruto left Hoshigakure without retrieving the remaining meteorites and reunited with Jiraiya, who praised him for thinking about the mission.

Naruto questioned why people pursued power, and Jiraiya explained how war and hardship drove them to seek strength before describing the Star Meteorite’s benefits and limits. Naruto resolved to work harder without relying on shortcuts, while the girls in Konoha relaxed in a hot spring and talked about their bodies and everyday concerns.

• Naruto asked Jiraiya why power mattered so much, and Jiraiya explained that people in war-torn countries sought strength to resist ruin and protect themselves.
• Jiraiya told Naruto that Hoshigakure’s leaders shared the goal of strengthening the village, though they disagreed over whether to use the Star Meteorite.
• Jiraiya explained that the Mysterious Peacock Method predated the Star Meteorite, which made its basics easier to learn but may have limited its ultimate potential.
• Naruto decided that shortcuts would bring trouble and hurried after Jiraiya, determined to work harder.
• In Konoha, Hinata and Ino compared their figures at the hot spring, while Sakura pounced on Hinata and Haku was caught in their teasing.
• The girls discussed training bras and menstrual care as Sakura listened and reflected on how fortunate they were to enjoy a peaceful hot spring.

Sasuke encountered Sakura Haruno and Hinata during their morning run, and Sakura recalled how Hinata had demonstrated Taijutsu for Ino the previous night. At the Hokage building, Sakura received a letter and powerful sealing scroll from Naruto, then hurried off to train after Tsunade warned her to take precautions when opening it.

• Sasuke caught up with Sakura Haruno and Hinata on their morning run and asked Sakura whether she had finished her mission report.
• Sakura Haruno recalled how Hinata had explained Taijutsu mechanics to Ino and demonstrated how skilled fighters generated power through coordinated muscles.
• Sakura Haruno finished her report after staying up through the night and went to the Hokage building, where Sasuke was also submitting his report.
• Tsunade gave Sakura Haruno a letter from Naruto containing several pages and a powerful sealing scroll, while Sasuke tried to peek at the letter.
• Tsunade warned Sakura Haruno to take precautions with the scroll, and Sakura hurried away to train.

Sakura received a letter from Naruto along with a radioactive star meteorite from Hoshigakure, which she had been searching for to advance her plans for Yang God Mode. After testing the stone, she discovered that its energy activated and strengthened Chakra, though she recognized that controlling it safely would require more research.

• Sakura read Naruto’s letter, in which he described defeating Akahoshi, changing Hoshigakure, and sending her a radioactive meteorite.
• Sakura placed the meteorite in a lead box and found that its orange-yellow crystal form looked processed.
• Sakura sensed the meteorite’s radiation make her Chakra unusually active and increase its energy.
• Sakura considered calling the strengthened energy Star Chakra but concluded that it was difficult to control and harmful to the body.
• Sakura decided that developing Yang God Mode would require extensive preparation and further work.

Sakura Haruno planned a dangerous progression from Sage Mode to Star God Mode and ultimately Yang God Mode, then trained her students and attended a Konoha meeting. The chapter ended as Tsunade asked her to report on the battle from her latest mission.

• Sakura Haruno assessed the dangers of Star Chakra and mapped out the stages required to develop Yang God Mode, beginning with mastering Sage Mode.
• Sakura Haruno put away her training materials and returned to her students, choosing to meet her responsibilities in Konoha rather than begin secluded training.
• Sakura Haruno demonstrated her Monstrous Strength Technique by smashing a crater into the training ground, silencing doubts about her Taijutsu and teaching.
• Sakura Haruno treated her students to a meal at noon.
• Sakura Haruno attended a meeting with Tsunade, the Third Hokage, advisors, and Konoha commanders, where Tsunade asked her to detail her latest mission's battle.

At a Konoha meeting about Akatsuki, Shikaku Nara sensed political tension and noticed inconsistencies in Sakura Haruno’s report. Koharu Utatane and Mitokado Homura then questioned Sakura about the deaths of eight Konoha ninja, leaving Sakura poised to answer amid a brewing confrontation.

• Shikaku Nara observed the meeting’s tense atmosphere and suspected Sakura Haruno was concealing something about her encounter with Itachi.
• Hotaru Hyuga proposed using the Byakugan to counter Akatsuki’s genjutsu and locate the half-plant, half-human beings, but Tsunade postponed her request about the Hyuga Branch Family.
• Koharu Utatane and Mitokado Homura presented an autopsy report on eight Konoha ninja who died near Sakura’s mission site and asked whether Akatsuki had killed them.
• Tsunade recognized the question as a political trap, while Sakura realized the advisors had joined forces with Danzo.
• Sakura told Koharu Utatane she could answer the question as the meeting watched the confrontation begin.

Koharu Utatane and the other advisors tried to use Sakura Haruno’s account of the Root ninja deaths to smear her and undermine Tsunade. Sakura exposed their trap, seized Shimura Danzō, and left the meeting’s power brokers stunned.

• Koharu Utatane waited for Sakura Haruno to lie about the Root ninja deaths so she could accuse her of misconduct and disloyalty.
• Sakura Haruno said one Root ninja had died at Akatsuki’s hands and challenged the advisors to ask Shimura Danzō about the other seven.
• Sakura unleashed water snakes that caught two eavesdroppers outside the meeting room and dragged them inside with Shimura Danzō among them.
• Sakura Haruno bound Shimura Danzō and taunted him while Koharu Utatane demanded that she release him.
• Shimura Danzō asked Sakura Haruno whether her humiliation of him was enough, and Koharu Utatane realized the meeting had slipped out of her control.

Sakura Haruno publicly exposed Danzo’s role in the deaths of his subordinates and his attack on her, leaving him unable to respond. She then turned her pressure on Hokage Advisors Koharu Utatane and Mitokado Homura, questioning why they had trusted him and challenged her without investigating the inconsistencies.

• Sakura Haruno held Danzo before the gathered Konoha officials and demanded that he explain how his seven subordinates died and who had injured him.
• Danzo stayed silent, and Sakura described his actions as an admission; Mitokado Homura and Koharu Utatane failed to find a way to rescue him from the public humiliation.
• Koharu considered whether she and Homura could turn the situation around, but realized that Sakura’s strength and their lack of support left them powerless.
• Sakura asked the two Hokage Advisors whether they were satisfied with her answer, and Koharu stiffly said she had no objections.
• Sakura continued pressing them, asking why they had questioned her based on Danzo’s record and a single autopsy report without first investigating its inconsistencies.

Tsunade punished Danzo for his crimes, disbanded Root, and removed Koharu Utatane and Mitokado Homura from their active advisor duties. After the meeting, she also ordered Sakura to pay for the broken conference room door.

• Koharu Utatane and Mitokado Homura blamed their support of Danzo on confusion, while Danzo accused them of plotting with him.
• Tsunade stripped Danzo of his positions, ordered him imprisoned pending investigation and trial, and disbanded Root.
• Tsunade made Koharu and Homura honorary advisors who would no longer handle practical affairs, and they left the meeting in dismay.
• Tsunade reprimanded Sakura for disrupting the meeting and breaking the conference room door, then required her to pay for its repair.
• Sakura followed Tsunade back to the Hokage building and muttered that Tsunade might spend the money on food, drink, and gambling.

Tsunade introduced Sakura Haruno to Ryūichi, a former Root sensory ninja who had defected and sought refuge in Konoha, then explained how the village would handle Root’s members. Sakura said she wanted to learn Senjutsu, and Tsunade told her the arrangements were ready while warning her that training could be fatal.

• Ryūichi revealed that he had left Root after Sakura Haruno knocked Shimura Danzō unconscious and had gone to Tsunade for help.
• Tsunade told Ryūichi that Danzo had been taken into custody and Root disbanded, then ordered him to return the next morning.
• Tsunade instructed Sakura Haruno to treat former Root ninja normally, while Sakura admitted she remained wary of them.
• Tsunade explained that she had limited the Hokage Advisors’ authority without publicly stripping them of their positions.
• Sakura Haruno asked to learn Senjutsu, and Tsunade warned her of its high death rate before directing her to contact Sage Katsuyu.

Sakura Haruno extracted Shisui’s Mangekyō Sharingan from Itachi’s crow in her hidden laboratory, triggering the Genjutsu Chakra Itachi had left inside her. When Itachi tried to leave, Sakura stopped him and held him there.

• Mebuki Haruno worried about Sakura’s decision to learn Senjutsu, while Kizashi Haruno defended her and Sakura fled breakfast.
• Sakura trained her students through sparring ahead of the Chunin Ninja Exams, then left clones with them and went to her underground laboratory.
• Sakura used the Chakra Itachi had left inside her to summon his crow and discovered Shisui’s Sharingan in its eye.
• The crow dissolved into feathers, and Itachi’s image appeared, asking where Sasuke was and what had happened to him.
• Itachi prepared to leave with the Sharingan, but Sakura used Ice Release: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals to catch his hand and stop him.

Sakura Haruno trapped Uchiha Itachi’s Shadow Clone and questioned him about Shisui’s Sharingan and the Genjutsu he had left for Sasuke. Itachi explained that he trusted Sakura to stop Sasuke from going astray, then vanished, leaving her with Shisui’s eye.

• Sakura Haruno restrained Itachi’s Shadow Clone in an ice-sealed room, and he agreed to answer her questions truthfully.
• Sakura said she would not transplant Shisui’s Sharingan into her original body or use Kotoamatsukami on her comrades, while Itachi explained that his Genjutsu was meant to protect Konoha through Sasuke.
• Itachi ran out of Chakra before explaining Kotoamatsukami’s trigger conditions, then revealed he had trusted Sakura to change Sasuke’s mind if he turned against the village.
• Itachi vanished into black feathers, and Shisui’s Sharingan dropped into Sakura’s hand.
• Sakura sealed the eye in its container and prepared a clone body to experience a Sharingan transplant.

Sakura Haruno activated a living clone and transplanted Shisui’s Sharingan into it, then projected her mind into the clone. The clone awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan and discovered she had also gained Kotoamatsukami, startling the original by offering to test it on her.

• Sakura Haruno considered the risks of creating a clone that could live independently and potentially surpass her.
• Sakura Haruno used Yang Release Chakra to make the clone’s heart beat and its body breathe, then transplanted Shisui’s Sharingan into it.
• Sakura Haruno projected her mind into the clone, which activated the three-tomoe Sharingan and experienced its enhanced vision.
• The clone adapted to her new body, then channeled Yin Release Chakra to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan.
• The clone felt her ocular power and discovered she had automatically learned Kotoamatsukami, then asked the original if she wanted to see it tested.

Sakura Haruno tested the duplicate’s newly awakened Kotoamatsukami and learned how powerful it was, along with its severe costs and long cooldown. She returned to Konoha, spent the following weeks training and preparing for the Chunin Ninja Exams, and the story ended on the first test’s date, July 1.

• The duplicate used Kotoamatsukami on the original Sakura Haruno, making her undress so the duplicate could borrow her clothes.
• Sakura Haruno broke free of the Genjutsu, and she and the duplicate concluded that the technique could be devastating at full strength but had a long cooldown and heavy ocular-power costs.
• Sakura Haruno sealed the duplicate away, gathered its test results, and considered whether Danzo might know more about Kotoamatsukami.
• Sakura Haruno sealed the underground base in ice and returned to Konoha through the underground river.
• Sakura Haruno spent the following days training with her duplicate, preparing three children for the Chunin Ninja Exams, and getting ready for Senjutsu training.
• July 1 arrived, the date of the first Chunin Ninja Exams test.

Sakura Haruno and Kakashi Hatake monitored the Chunin Ninja Exams, whose combat-focused format reflected Konoha’s preparations for the Akatsuki threat. As Konoha hosted an unusually large gathering of villages, Sakura worried that other nations might see the event as a sign of danger rather than cooperation.

• Kakashi explained to Sakura that his own Chunin exams used written, team, and individual rounds scored together, while this year’s first round tested teams’ ability to gather and protect information through cheating and defense.
• Sakura watched Konohamaru’s team seize part of another team’s exam paper and protect their own answers as weaker teams struggled and some were caught making too much noise.
• Sakura recognized that the round-robin team battles and later combat exams emphasized fighting strength, and she and Kakashi agreed that the format signaled preparation for war against the Akatsuki.
• Sakura observed Tsunade talking with Gaara and Mei Terumi while Cloud and Stone observers looked uneasy at Konoha’s large-scale exams and its efforts to unite the villages.
• Sakura felt dispirited about the other villages’ suspicions and asked Kakashi to patrol somewhere else.

Kakashi and Sakura Haruno patrolled Konoha during the Chunin Ninja Exams and discussed Kakashi’s newly awakened Mangekyō Sharingan. When the first exam ended, Kakashi asked Sakura if she was free soon.

• Sakura Haruno left the exam venue with Kakashi to patrol around it, teasing him about his lateness and lack of training.
• Sakura sensed Kakashi’s Mangekyō Sharingan and realized his strength had reached the level of a Kage.
• Kakashi told Sakura that using the Mangekyō burdened him and that its Kamui technique consumed enormous amounts of Chakra.
• Sakura and Kakashi watched over Konoha from a rooftop and continued their uneventful patrol.
• When a bell signaled the end of the first exam, Kakashi asked Sakura if she was free soon.

Sakura Haruno agreed to help Kakashi train to master his Mangekyō after she returned from Shikkotsu Forest, where she planned to learn Senjutsu. She left to meet Konohamaru and the others, while her friends’ dramatic farewells made her feel as though they expected her not to come back.

• Sakura Haruno told Kakashi she would soon go to Shikkotsu Forest to train in Senjutsu and offered to help him during the exams if his need was urgent.
• Kakashi apologized for neglecting Sakura during the earlier Chunin Ninja Exams, and Sakura teased him about favoring Sasuke.
• Sakura explained that she planned to prepare Konohamaru and the others for the round-robin team battles with repeated, stamina-focused practice fights.
• Kakashi asked Sakura to help him train with his Mangekyō, and she agreed to do so after returning from Shikkotsu Forest.
• Sakura joined Konohamaru and Moegi after the exam, then complained that her friends’ warnings about her Senjutsu training made it sound as though she would never return.

Sakura Haruno said farewell to her friends and students before traveling with Katsuyu to Shikkotsu Forest to begin Senjutsu training. Sage Katsuyu welcomed her, saying she had been waiting for a long time.

• Sasuke warned Sakura that Senjutsu training carried a high failure and death rate, but Sakura assured him she would return safely.
• Hinata and Haku hugged Sakura goodbye, and she summoned Katsuyu to take her away.
• Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi rushed over with a handmade mug and said farewell to their teacher.
• Sakura hugged her students and told them their team would never truly disband before Katsuyu reverse-summoned her from Konoha.
• Sage Katsuyu greeted Sakura at Shikkotsu Forest and said she had been waiting for her.

As Konoha’s Anbu worked to screen Root’s members, Sasuke grew exhausted and troubled by what he learned about the Uchiha Clan. Kakashi then brought him to an operating room, where Hotaru Hyuga briefed the team on a cautious operation to remove something from Danzo, leaving the procedure about to begin.

• Sasuke and Hinata worked long hours helping screen Root’s ninja, and Sasuke heard Root members describe the Uchiha Clan as traitors, leaving him increasingly confused about his family and village.
• Kakashi interrupted Sasuke’s thoughts and asked him to join an important mission, then led him to an operating room at Konoha Hospital.
• Hotaru Hyuga assigned Haku and the medical-nin to operate on Danzo, while Sasuke and Kakashi were to watch him and Hinata was ordered to remain outside and report any danger to Tsunade.
• Danzo recognized the people present and warned them not to trust the Uchiha, but Hotaru struck him unconscious and ordered the mission to begin.

After Sasuke demanded the Sharingan taken from Danzo, Hotaru Hyuga returned them to him, leaving Tsunade to handle the fallout gently. Kakashi later met Sasuke at Team 7’s training ground, where Sasuke apologized for disrespecting him.

• Hotaru Hyuga found eleven ordinary Sharingan on Danzo, gave them to Sasuke when he demanded they be returned to the Uchiha, and avoided a fight.
• Tsunade decided not to punish Sasuke harshly and told Kakashi to talk to him about his actions.
• Kakashi left Tsunade’s office and wandered to Team 7’s old training ground, where he found Sasuke waiting.
• Sasuke bowed to Kakashi and apologized for the way he had treated him, and Kakashi accepted.

Tsunade defended her decision to let Sasuke learn about Konoha’s dark past, while Hiruzen admitted his habit of delaying hard choices had contributed to the Uchiha Clan Massacre. Kakashi persuaded Sasuke to consider the consequences of refusing to surrender the Sharingan, and Sakura’s blunt reply left him stunned.

• Hiruzen criticized Tsunade for exposing Sasuke to Danzo and Root’s secrets, but Tsunade argued Sasuke needed to face the truth as a Konoha jonin.
• Tsunade confronted Hiruzen over his past delays in addressing the Uchiha, and he admitted he had not expected matters to end in massacre.
• Sasuke apologized to Kakashi but firmly refused to hand over the eleven Sharingan taken from Uchiha corpses.
• Kakashi warned Sasuke that defying the village could cost him his rank, his place in Konoha, and his chance to reunite with Naruto and Sakura.
• Sasuke agreed to ask Sakura for her opinion, and Tsunade sent his letter to Shikkotsu Forest.
• Sakura replied that Sasuke was a Konoha ninja as well as an Uchiha and threatened to deal with him if he sent another stupid question; Sasuke was stunned by her scolding.

Sasuke went to Tsunade intending to surrender the Sharingan, but she took him to Konoha Hospital’s new constant-temperature laboratory and showed him the eyes recovered from Root. He reclaimed the identified Sharingan, including his father Uchiha Fugaku’s, while Tsunade pressed him to understand his mistake.

• Sasuke spent a sleepless night wondering what Sakura meant and decided to trust her.
• Sasuke told Tsunade he had been wrong to keep the Sharingan from the village and offered her a scroll.
• Tsunade told Sasuke to keep the Sharingan and brought him to a guarded laboratory beneath Konoha Hospital.
• Tsunade showed Sasuke the Sharingan recovered from Root and explained that Danzo had treated them as consumables.
• Tsunade let Sasuke take the identified Sharingan, including Uchiha Fugaku’s eyes, while the unidentified ones remained in the laboratory.
• Sasuke thanked Tsunade, and she asked him to explain what mistake he had made.

Tsunade confronted Sasuke about disobeying orders and distrusting Konoha, then persuaded him to see the village and the Uchiha as part of the same community. Sasuke handed over the eleven Sharingan for identification and left agreeing to bury his clan members’ remains.

• Tsunade told Sasuke that his mistakes were disobeying orders and treating the Uchiha and Konoha as opposing sides.
• Tsunade explained that Konoha was a community of clans and that she valued Sasuke more than the Sharingan.
• Sasuke accepted Tsunade’s explanation, apologized, and handed her the container of eleven Sharingan.
• Tsunade said identifying the remaining eyes could take three to five months and asked Sasuke to keep the laboratory visit secret and cremate and bury the remains.
• Sasuke asked Tsunade to notify him if she identified his mother’s eyes, then left the laboratory.
• After Sasuke left, Tsunade admitted she had found him exhausting to handle, while someone in Shikkotsu Forest wondered how things had gone with Sasuke.