Recaps

Team 7 helped Koyuki’s provisional government in the Land of Snow, but the country could not afford to pay their mission fee. Sakura refused Koyuki’s attempts to settle the debt with castle property or her beauty, while their friendship remained easy and playful.

• Konoha accepted the Land of Snow as a subordinate, and Team 7 stayed to help its new government despite the lack of a mission fee.
• Koyuki told Sakura that the Land of Snow had no money and proposed paying in installments.
• Sakura worried about her dwindling funds for medical experiments, but understood that Koyuki could not burden the country’s struggling people.
• Koyuki offered the castle’s remaining possessions as payment, but Sakura pointed out that Team 7 had already claimed the valuable scrolls and armor.
• Koyuki joked that she had nothing left but her life, and Sakura again declared that Koyuki’s beauty trap would not work on her.

Sakura and Kazahana Koyuki investigated the treasure left by Kazahana Sōsetsu and discovered it was a geothermal heating system serving the Land of Snow. Two days later, Koyuki read Sakura’s report on the generators, and her expression fell as she continued.

• Sakura jokingly demanded that Koyuki reserve the Snow Ninja’s abandoned castle for her future base, while Asama Sandayu recalled a treasure Kazahana Sōsetsu had supposedly left behind.
• Koyuki remembered her father’s treasure and revealed that her crystal necklace’s hexagonal pendant was its key.
• At Mirror Square, Sakura used an Ice Clone to insert the key into the machines, which activated and warmed the Rainbow Ice Walls but revealed no obvious treasure.
• Sakura realized the machines were geothermal generators connected by pipes, and she and Koyuki concluded that Sōsetsu had left the Land of Snow a vast heating system.
• Two days later, Koyuki read Sakura’s investigation report over afternoon tea and grew visibly displeased as she read.

Sakura told Kazahana Koyuki that the provisional government would soon be dissolved and the mission was ending, while continuing to study the Snow Ninja’s Ice Release techniques. She began developing a second stage of Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals and left another new Ice Release idea unexplored.

• Kazahana Koyuki worried that the geothermal generators could heat only a small share of the country’s settlements, and Sakura estimated that at least 60 would be needed.
• Sakura told Kazahana Koyuki that the mission was complete, the provisional government would soon be dissolved, and the team would return to Konoha.
• Sakura reviewed the Snow Ninja’s Ice Release scrolls and research notes, which deepened her knowledge and gave her new techniques to study.
• Sakura practiced the Ice Body Flicker Technique but found that the brief imbalance after each movement hindered her use of Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals.
• Sasuke pointed out that Sakura’s pauses after using the Body Flicker Technique slowed her attacks and weakened the surprise effect of Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals.
• Sakura combined ideas from the Ice Body Flicker Technique and Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals, beginning to shape a second-stage technique that could use scattered ice as movement points.

Sakura improved Ice Armor using the Land of Snow armor’s curved design and prepared to leave after helping Kazahana Koyuki take control of the country. Koyuki decided she wanted to remain daimyō while continuing her movie career, relying on Sakura to protect her rule.

• Sakura redesigned Ice Armor with curved plates, making it more resistant to impacts and easier to move in.
• Sakura judged the Land of Snow armor too expensive for Konoha to use widely and reflected on the difficulties of improving the country’s economy.
• Sakura told Kazahana Koyuki she was leaving and said she might return to build a laboratory or base in the Land of Snow.
• Kazahana Koyuki said she wanted to be both daimyō and movie star, planning to delegate decisions while she was away filming.
• Kazahana Koyuki asked Sakura to help if the Land of Snow faced trouble, and Sakura was exasperated by her reliance on friends.

Kazahana Koyuki became daimyō of the Land of Snow while insisting she would continue acting, and Sakura returned to Konoha with Team 7. Kakashi rejoined his students after months away, only to find they were still upset with him and reluctant to accept his suggestion to take a mission.

• Kazahana Koyuki explained that she intended to remain an actress while fulfilling her responsibilities as daimyō, and Sakura urged her to convince Uncle Asama and address Brother Takehiko’s anger.
• The next day, Kazahana Koyuki officially succeeded to the position of daimyō of the Land of Snow, and she tearfully hugged Sakura when they parted.
• Two days after returning to Konoha, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto met Kakashi at their training ground after his two-month absence.
• Naruto complained about Kakashi’s absence, while Sakura tried to tackle him and shattered a substitution log before Kakashi escaped with the Substitution Technique.
• Sasuke told Kakashi that he had nearly mastered the Mitsudomoe and the Lightning Blade, and Kakashi proposed that Team 7 take a mission together.
• Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto silently avoided Kakashi’s suggestion because they still blamed him in part for the trouble they had faced trying to get a high-level mission.

After returning from the Land of Snow, Sasuke chose to build his fundamentals and develop Lightning Blade rather than chase quick power. The chapter ended with Kakashi reflecting on how Naruto and Sakura had helped Sasuke mature.

• Sakura and Sasuke told Kakashi they planned to turn down missions for a while and focus on training.
• Sasuke explained that he wanted to strengthen his basics instead of undergoing more special training.
• Sasuke's improved Chakra control let him refine Lightning Blade until he could wield its Lightning Release Chakra with greater calm and precision.
• Sasuke resolved to keep developing Lightning Blade and follow his own path as a Lightning Release ninja.
• Kakashi reflected on Sasuke's growth and credited Naruto and Sakura with having an influence on him.

Kakashi tested Team 7’s progress and praised Naruto and Sasuke after fighting them. He then revealed that the gathering was their farewell party and Team 7 would disband after today.

• Kakashi proposed testing Team 7’s training results with three Shadow Clones.
• Sasuke challenged Kakashi, while Sakura destroyed all three clones and Naruto and Sasuke fought Kakashi together.
• Kakashi praised Naruto’s improved Taijutsu, Shadow Clone tactics, and Chakra control, and recognized Sasuke’s progress.
• Kakashi told Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura that Team 7 would disband after their farewell party.

Kakashi disbanded Team 7 as Naruto left Konoha with Jiraiya for years of training, while Sakura prepared to follow Tsunade and Sasuke stayed with Kakashi. After bidding Naruto farewell, Sakura reflected that the story she had known had reached its end, and Team 7 went their separate ways.

• Kakashi told Naruto he would leave Konoha with Jiraiya for two or three years and said Sakura would soon receive special arrangements from Tsunade, so Team 7 had to disband.
• Kakashi encouraged Naruto and Sakura, then joined all three students in a hand-stack and promised they would reunite as Team 7 someday.
• Sakura reflected on how her actions had changed events in Konoha and wondered what path she would take now that Naruto and Sasuke had theirs.
• Team 7 and their friends held Naruto a farewell party, where they shared drinks and grew emotional over their memories together.
• At the Konoha Gate, Naruto said goodbye to Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata, and Kakashi before leaving with Jiraiya.
• After Naruto and Jiraiya disappeared from sight, Kakashi, Sakura, and the others dispersed to follow their own paths.

Sakura Haruno struggled to understand the Yin Seal’s vast collection of sealing formulas, which Tsunade had recommended so she could store surplus Chakra for her experiments. She left the chapter planning a clone-based Chakra supply and considering how to adapt the seal to collect the clones’ energy.

• Sakura Haruno complained about the tens of thousands of formulas and manuals required to learn the Yin Seal.
• Sakura Haruno learned that the Yin Seal stored Chakra as crystals and later converted that energy back into Chakra, though she could not understand how most formulas worked.
• Sakura Haruno realized that fully understanding the Yin Seal might let her create a personalized version of it.
• Sakura Haruno planned a project to use many clones to gather Chakra for her, with little need to modify the Yin Seal itself.
• Sakura Haruno considered either redirecting where the Yin Seal’s crystals formed or transferring a clone’s seal to herself.

Sakura imagined advancing the Yin Seal by storing clone Chakra and eventually converting outside energy into Chakra, but realized that mastering Sealing Jutsu was a prerequisite. She set aside those ambitions to focus on finishing her existing techniques and asked Tsunade for help with Cherry Blossom Impact’s stalled second stage.

• Sakura chose the Land of Snow as the site for an experimental facility and resolved to pursue cloning technology when she could.
• Sakura envisioned a Yin Seal: Stage Three that could convert energy such as lightning or power-plant electricity into stored Chakra.
• Sakura imagined the techniques and abilities she might develop, but recognized that her plans depended on learning Sealing Jutsu.
• Sakura decided to prioritize completing the second stage of Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals and leave other projects aside.
• Sakura brought the stalled second stage of Cherry Blossom Impact to Tsunade for advice.

Sakura visited Tsunade to discuss her Cherry Blossom Impact development, and Tsunade explained why stage two needed to account for signal transmission between neurons. Tsunade then asked Sakura to join the Anbu.

• Sakura struggled to stay motivated while working on the Yin Seal's formulae and spent the morning forcing herself through paperwork.
• Sakura went to the Hokage's office, where Tsunade woke from a nap and returned Sakura's annotated Cherry Blossom Impact progress report.
• Tsunade explained synaptic transmission and showed Sakura that stage two had to accelerate chemical signals between neurons as well as electrical signals along nerve fibers.
• Sakura understood the shortcoming and planned to consider extending her Motor Nerve Electronification method to synapses.
• Tsunade handed Sakura two sheets of paper and asked her to join the Anbu.

Tsunade recommended Sakura for the Anbu, and Sakura accepted the appointment, seeing it as a chance to grow through more challenging missions. After completing her registration, she was told to choose an Anbu mask and code name.

• Tsunade handed Sakura an Anbu application bearing her recommendation, and Sakura signed it.
• Tsunade summoned Katsura U and ordered him to take Sakura to report for duty.
• Sakura followed Katsura U across Konoha rooftops, accidentally smashing tiles as she struggled to keep up.
• Katsura U guided Sakura through the Anbu facility, where she completed the required paperwork.
• Katsura U led Sakura to a storeroom full of masks and told her to choose a mask and code name.

Sakura chose the Anbu mask and codename Kite, then learned the rules for missions from Katsura U. As he led her to the entrance assessment, he vanished into a dark corridor, and a kunai suddenly flew toward her forehead.

• Sakura chose a white cat-face mask with the codename Kite and adjusted its eyeholes for better visibility.
• Katsura U explained Anbu mask and codename rules and warned Sakura that her distinctive Ninjutsu could reveal her identity.
• Katsura U led Sakura into a dark corridor for her entrance assessment and said she would pass if she stayed alert.
• Katsura U disappeared around a corner, and a kunai flew from the darkness toward Sakura's forehead.

Sakura passed Katsura U’s alertness test by using an Ice Clone, then stopped Shino’s ambush with her strength. The Anbu assessment moved on to a sparring match between Sakura and Shino, which began at the chapter’s end.

• Sakura used an Ice Clone to avoid Katsura U’s surprise attack, impressing him and passing the alertness assessment.
• Katsura U led Sakura into a courtyard, where Shino tried to sneak up on her with a Kunai.
• Sakura caught Shino’s wrist and pinned him with the Monstrous Strength Technique, then explained that she had sensed his Chakra fluctuations.
• Katsura U clarified that Sakura was a Ninjutsu-type ninja, while Shino described his own balanced skills.
• Katsura U explained the sparring rules and started Sakura and Shino’s combat assessment.

Sakura showered after her examination fight and recalled how she had overwhelmed Shino despite his Genjutsu and Taijutsu expertise. The chapter left Shino barely able to move as Sakura raised her leg for another Monstrous Strength Technique attack.

• Katsura U led Sakura to the women's changing room and told her to shower and change before meeting her new teammates.
• Sakura recalled that Shino opened their fight with the Mist Servant Technique, but her strong mental power made the Genjutsu ineffective.
• Shino tried to control the close-quarters fight with his practiced defense, but Sakura's attacks overwhelmed him.
• Sakura struck Shino with a Star Cannon Hammer, and its force numbed his body and knocked him down despite his block.
• Shino struggled to his feet as Sakura leaped and raised her leg to use the Guarding Foot technique.

Sakura Haruno defeated Shino in a spar by stopping her devastating kick just beside him, then revealed that she had used the Monstrous Strength Technique. Shino recognized her as Tsunade’s disciple, accepted her strength, and introduced himself by his real name.

• Sakura’s kick struck the ground beside Shino, and Katsura U feared Shino had been killed in the blast.
• Shino got up unharmed, admitted defeat, and thanked Sakura for showing mercy.
• Sakura explained that she had noticed Shino could not move and had changed the kick’s direction.
• Shino realized Sakura was Tsunade’s disciple and had used the Monstrous Strength Technique.
• Shino acknowledged Sakura’s strength, removed his mask, and introduced himself as Ito Shino.

Sakura Haruno passed her Anbu assessment after defeating Shino and impressing him and Katsura U with her powerful Ninjutsu. She changed into her Anbu uniform and went to meet her new teammates, where she recognized one of them as Bushy Brows Lee.

• Sakura revealed her identity, and Katsura U scolded her and Shino for making their identities obvious.
• Sakura demonstrated several Ninjutsu, including Water Release: Wind Blade Torrent, which stunned Katsura U and convinced Shino she was difficult to defeat.
• Shino declared that Sakura had passed the assessment, and Katsura U showed her around the Anbu base while she changed into her uniform.
• Sakura met a female Anbu in the changing room and then joined Katsura U on the rooftop to meet her teammates.
• Sakura recognized one of the two Anbu waiting on the rooftop as Bushy Brows Lee.

Sakura Haruno joined Team Fourteen of the Anbu and met her new teammates, Shino and Uzuki Yugao. Their welcoming dinner at Yakiniku Q turned into a drinking session where Yugao teased and groped Sakura, while Sakura pretended to be drunk to escape; the team planned to begin missions the next day.

• Shino introduced Sakura Haruno, code-named Kite, to Uzuki Yugao, code-named Dawn, and welcomed her to Team Fourteen.
• Shino announced that the team would begin missions the next day and invited Sakura and Yugao to celebrate at Yakiniku Q.
• Sakura relaxed after meeting her teammates and hoped Team Fourteen would be as harmonious as Team 7.
• At dinner, Shino and Yugao repeatedly gave Sakura excuses to drink, including a toast to her not wetting the bed.
• Yugao became affectionate and groped Sakura while teasing her, so Sakura used Ninjutsu to imitate drunkenness until Yugao finally let her stop drinking.

Sakura watched Yugao and Shino let loose at a drinking gathering, then joined them for an awkward round of teasing before Squad 14 began its first patrol mission. The squad set out to investigate reports of Sound Ninja activity north of Konoha.

• Yugao and Shino played a Chakra- and Taijutsu-based drinking game, and Sakura watched from the sidelines.
• Yugao pulled Sakura into her arms and teased her with sake while Shino laughed and refused to help.
• The gathering ended early, and Sakura wondered whether Yugao was always so forward with people she knew.
• At dawn, Squad 14 assembled on the rooftop, and Shino briefed Sakura and Yugao on reports of Sound Ninja near Konoha.
• Sakura, Yugao, and Shino set off to patrol the area and search for Sound Ninja gatherings or signs of movement.

Sakura adjusted to her first Anbu mission with Team Fourteen, then helped uncover and eliminate two Sound Ninja, though the third escaped with the intelligence destroyed. After returning to Konoha, she used her time off to complete the Yin Seal’s runes.

• Sakura traveled with Shino and Yugao to an intelligence outpost, where Team Fourteen learned the three Sound Ninja had headed north.
• Sakura used combat clones to search the area, helping the squad cover a third of the suspicious locations before they paused for the night.
• The next day, Sakura’s Ice Clone led Team Fourteen to two Sound Ninja, while the third target escaped.
• The two Sound Ninja destroyed their scrolls before Shino could stop them, and Sakura and Yugao killed them during the confrontation.
• Shino ended the mission, and Team Fourteen returned to Konoha after two days with the Sound Ninja heads for the Interrogation Department.
• Sakura completed the Yin Seal’s runes during her days off.

Sakura completed printing the Yin Seal formulas across her body, then met with Hinata and Neji about their earlier Chakra-amplification technique. Hinata hinted that Sakura herself had made the breakthrough they came to discuss, leaving Sakura confused.

• Sakura’s Ice Clones finished printing the Yin Seal formulas across her body, and the mark appeared on her forehead once she activated the technique.
• Hinata arrived at Sakura’s lab with Neji, asked him to wait outside, and told Sakura they had come to discuss their pressure-point technique for amplifying Chakra.
• Sakura recalled that she and Hinata had abandoned their experiments after discovering how dangerous opening certain pressure points could be.
• Hinata told Sakura that the biggest breakthrough had happened to Sakura herself, leaving Sakura baffled because she had not recently studied the technique.

Hinata, Sakura, and Neji restarted the Hokuto Shinken Project, aiming to develop a controlled Tenketsu-opening technique by testing on medical research Ice Clones. The chapter ended as Sakura created several clones and began the experiments.

• Hinata explained that Ice Clones could be used to safely test ways of opening Tenketsu, and she stopped Sakura and Neji from fighting.
• Sakura agreed to restart the Hokuto Shinken Project, which aimed to develop a seven-Tenketsu Taijutsu technique more suitable for Gentle Fist users than the Eight Gates Released Formation.
• The chapter explained that opening Tenketsu could increase Chakra and combat power but risked bodily harm, and that the Eight Gates' violent Chakra was unsuitable for precise Gentle Fist techniques or Ninjutsu.
• Neji brought Might Guy's information and training notes on the Eight Gates Released Formation, earning a place on the development team.
• Sakura created several Ice Clones and began experimenting on opening Tenketsu.

Sakura, Hinata, and Neji experimented with Ice Clones to find safe Tenketsu for developing Hokuto Shinken, but found no usable options for the third fist. Sakura and Hinata devised a new way to narrow the search while Neji felt ignored beside them.

• Sakura warned Neji that Ice Clones could not safely withstand the Chakra amplification beyond Hokuto Shinken’s fifth fist, and explained that the fists had to be opened in order.
• Hinata reviewed the project’s two known safe Tenketsu, Dubhe and Merak, and Sakura outlined the search for an adjacent safe Tenketsu to become Phecda.
• Sakura, Hinata, and Neji tested possible Tenketsu with an Ice Clone, but by noon they had found no safe option after the clone died in 101 experiments.
• Sakura and Hinata reasoned that their earlier choices and the order of the Tenketsu might be wrong, then proposed routes through the head and around the organs to reduce the possible combinations.
• Neji stood silently as Sakura and Hinata discussed the experiment, feeling unhappy that they had forgotten him.

Sakura, Yugao, and Shino of Anbu Team Fourteen pursued three defectors, who underestimated the squad and tried to fight back. After Yugao and Sakura killed two of them, the last took Sakura hostage, but Sakura used Ice Release: Clone Great Explosion Technique.

• Sakura's Ice Clones helped develop Hokuto Shinken through its fifth fist, which could increase a user's strength roughly tenfold.
• In late autumn, Team Fourteen—Shino, Yugao, and Sakura—cornered three Konoha defectors in a forest.
• The defectors refused Shino's demand to surrender and attacked, believing the Anbu were weak and underestimating Sakura.
• Yugao killed one defector with a single sword strike, and Sakura killed another with Wind Blade Torrent as he fled.
• The remaining defector seized Sakura as a hostage and ordered Yugao and Shino to back away.
• Sakura used Ice Release: Clone Great Explosion Technique against the defector holding her.

Sakura and the Fourteenth Squad finished an easy mission, then enjoyed a brief break after returning to Konoha. Shino soon canceled their leave for an urgent mission and summoned Sakura and Yugao to the Hokage building.

• Shino, Yugao, and Sakura defeated the missing-nin, and Shino sealed their heads as evidence.
• Shino completed the mission report and explained that the newly formed squad needed time to adjust before taking on harder assignments.
• Sakura, Yugao, and Shino teased one another about their past teamwork mishaps while returning to Konoha.
• The squad received a few days off, and Yugao persuaded Shino to treat them to a lavish meal.
• Shino told Sakura their leave was canceled and ordered her to meet him at the Hokage building and notify Yugao.