Recaps

After the battle with Orochimaru, Sakura recovered and advanced her techniques while Sasuke trained his Lightning Release. Her search for cloning research ended with Tsunade forbidding her from conducting experiments in Konoha or the Land of Fire and denying her access to the recovered information.

• Sakura and her allies regrouped after the battle, while Kakuzu and Hidan realized Kabuto’s corpse was a fake and Orochimaru had escaped.
• Danzo reviewed the failed operation and renewed Root’s plan to recruit Sakura, while Kakashi’s group suspected Root had been watching Sasuke.
• Sakura recovered from her nerve damage, visited Sasuke, and helped him develop his Chidori techniques and explore Ice Release’s properties.
• Sakura advanced Cherry Blossom Impact and pursued plans to use nuclear energy as a source of Chakra, while Tsunade discovered Sakura could use Wind Release.
• Tsunade showcased Sakura’s Rasenshuriken at a village assembly, then the Chunin candidates and their teammates began joint training.
• Tsunade sent Sakura, Shino, and Yugao to search Orochimaru’s abandoned bases, where Sakura found a booklet on cloning technology among the recovered materials.
• After the village reviewed the recovered research, Sakura asked Tsunade for Orochimaru’s cloning technology, but Tsunade forbade human experimentation in Konoha and the Land of Fire and ordered Sakura to return the information.

Sakura fought Kakuzu and Hidan during a mission to investigate Orochimaru’s base, then saved Yugao with a temporary heart. After the squad’s future came into question, Sakura arranged to establish a research base in the Land of Snow and began pursuing her Special Jōnin assessment.

• Sakura uncovered cloning research at Orochimaru’s abandoned base, but Kakuzu and Hidan ambushed the Fourteenth Squad and killed Makoto Inuzuka and Kotaro.
• Sakura battled Kakuzu while Shino and Yugao fought Hidan, using Ice Release and her strength to damage Kakuzu before he escaped underground and kept her at bay.
• Hidan gravely wounded Yugao by removing her heart, and Kakuzu persuaded him to retreat as reinforcements approached.
• Sakura created an Ice Release heart and restarted Yugao’s blood flow, then Tsunade operated to grow Yugao a replacement heart from stem cells.
• Tsunade told Sakura that Yugao would leave Anbu after recovering and that the Fourteenth Squad would be reorganized, while Sakura proposed a Land of Snow base for cloning and stem cell research.
• Sakura showed Sasuke her research and explained her plan to grow unconscious physical clones for dangerous Ninjutsu tests, and Sasuke agreed to help establish the base.
• Sakura offered to teach Sasuke and Kakashi the Super Electromagnetic Cannon, then sent Naruto Sasuke’s reply along with extensive Ninjutsu notes.
• Sakura sent Kazahana Koyuki a letter, applied for promotion to Special Jōnin, and began her practical assessment by examining new Anbu recruits.

Sakura passed her Anbu examination, captured a bounty station tied to Akatsuki, and advanced her Ice Release research while preparing a new heart for Yugao. The arc left Yugao undergoing a secret heart procedure, while Sakura remained in the Land of Snow to examine an unusually cold cultivated heart.

• Sakura passed White Fox’s examination, then fought Sasuke in his Anbu assessment and helped secure his approval.
• Yuichi assigned Sakura to capture a bounty station linked to Kakuzu, and Sakura led the operation, subdued its leaders, and uncovered records and bodies hidden at the site.
• Tsunade reviewed the mission’s intelligence, sent Sakura to the Land of Snow, and took her to Shikkotsu Forest, where Katsuyu judged that Sakura might be ready for Senjutsu training in the year after next.
• Sakura received her Special Jōnin credentials, then traveled with Sasuke to the Land of Snow, where she funded Koyuki’s plans and converted an abandoned castle into a laboratory.
• Sakura explored the snowy wilderness with Sasuke and cultivated hearts from her own cells, discovering that some inherited her Ice Release and produced Chakra.
• Tsunade used Sakura’s cultivated hearts in a secret treatment for Yugao, who chose the heart that produced the most Chakra and promised to keep the operation secret.
• Sasuke left for Konoha to pursue a contract with the Ninja Cat Clan, while Sakura stayed behind to inspect the hearts and found the final one’s nutrient solution unusually cold.

Sakura joined a Konoha mission to investigate threats along the route to Sunagakure, where the team uncovered Sasori’s spies and learned of his meeting near Tenchi Bridge. Sakura fought Sasori and Deidara, and Naruto joined her before Deidara’s real body was caught by Sakura’s silver thread.

• Tsunade took responsibility for Sasuke and ordered discreet efforts to gather Akatsuki intelligence and contact Itachi as Konoha prepared for the Chunin Ninja Exams in Sunagakure.
• Hotaru Hyuga led Sakura, Shino, and Yuzuki Terumi on a route-security mission through the Land of Wind, where they investigated spies and uncovered Sasori’s agents.
• Sakura’s team captured Sasori’s spies and learned that Sasori would meet an informant at Tenchi Bridge to receive information about Orochimaru.
• Sakura confronted Sasori at Tenchi Bridge and used her Ice and Water Release techniques against his puppets, including the Third Kazekage puppet and his Human Puppet army.
• Gaara joined the Sand shinobi heading to the battlefield, while Orochimaru and Kabuto also approached to observe Sakura’s fight.
• Sakura destroyed Sasori’s puppets and defenses, but Sasori exploited her techniques’ limits and continued attacking with hidden puppets and a giant scorpion puppet.
• Sakura summoned Katsuyu to repel Sasori’s puppets, but Deidara arrived and bombed the battlefield, leaving Sakura to defend herself as the attacks overwhelmed her.
• Naruto rescued Sakura and fought alongside her, but Deidara’s second bomb left Naruto unconscious and bleeding after he shielded her, and Sakura pursued Deidara and revealed a silver thread attached to his real body.