Chapter Summaries

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.

Sakura summoned Uzuki Yugao from a date with Gekko Hayate for an emergency Anbu mission, reflecting on how Hayate’s survival had changed Konoha’s vigilance and Yugao’s life. Yugao joined Sakura, worried that the mission signaled another crisis.

• Sakura found Uzuki Yugao with her boyfriend, Gekko Hayate, and urgently called her away for an emergency mission.
• Sakura recognized Hayate and recalled that he had survived after cautiously leaving the scene where he overheard Kabuto and Baki, helping Konoha become wary of the Sand shinobi and Sound Ninja.
• Yugao and Hayate kissed goodbye, and Yugao changed into her Anbu uniform before joining Sakura.
• Sakura considered Yugao’s combat skills and her use of the Dance of the Crescent Moon, a sword technique Hayate had taught her.
• Yugao asked Sakura, whose Anbu codename was Kite, what the mission was about and grew concerned as she recalled being called away during the Chunin Ninja Exams.

Sakura, Yugao, and Shino rushed to investigate Sound Ninja activity and rescue a Konoha shinobi, while learning Orochimaru might be targeting Sasuke. Tsunade’s warning told Kite to follow orders and avoid confronting Orochimaru, but Kite’s silence left Shino unsure she would obey.

• Sakura led Yugao across the rooftops to meet Shino, who briefed them on Sound Ninja movements in the Land of Fire and their rescue mission.
• Shino warned that Orochimaru might be fully recovered and ordered the team to retreat if they encountered him until reinforcements arrived.
• Shino relayed Tsunade’s specific instruction for Kite to stay calm, follow orders, and not act alone.
• Shino revealed that Sasuke was away on a nearby mission, and Sakura realized Orochimaru had likely mobilized to capture him.
• Yugao assessed that Orochimaru would probably appear, and Shino warned Kite that confronting him would be fatal.
• Kite answered that she understood, but Shino could not tell whether she truly intended to follow orders.

Sakura, Shino, and Yugao reached the area near Sasuke’s distress signal and found Sound Ninja blocking their way, though Orochimaru was nowhere to be sensed. Sakura recognized the Sound Four and ordered Shino and Yugao to go ahead while she held the enemies off, leaving her to face the dangerous group alone.

• Sakura secretly resolved to risk facing Orochimaru to help Sasuke, whom she had come to regard as her brother.
• The Fourteenth Squad reached the signal area, where Sakura sensed Sasuke’s Chakra and Shino detected many unfamiliar Chakra signatures.
• Yugao confirmed Orochimaru was not nearby, but Shino warned that enemies were closing in.
• Sound Ninja attacked from above with a spiderweb, and Yugao cut through it before the attackers surrounded the squad.
• Four Sound Ninja activated their Cursed Seals, and Sakura recognized them as the Sound Four.
• Sakura told Shino and Yugao to hurry ahead to Sasuke while she stayed behind to hold off the Sound Four.

Sakura revealed her power and stayed behind to fight the Sound Ninja while Shino and Yugao went to find Sasuke. After she cut down most of the attackers, Orochimaru and Kabuto appeared near the border between the Land of Rice Fields and the Land of Fire.

• Sakura activated her Yin Seal and Cherry Blossom Impact, then told Shino and Yugao to leave and search north for Sasuke.
• Yugao and Shino agreed that Sakura was strong enough to fight alone and departed using the Body Flicker Technique.
• Sakura stopped a Sound Ninja from pursuing them with a powerful kick that sent him flying over a hundred meters.
• Sakura used Water Release: Wind Blade Torrent to slice through most of the attacking Sound Ninja, leaving eight standing.
• Orochimaru and Kabuto appeared at a concealed cave entrance, and Orochimaru hoped the day would prove fruitful.

Sakura Haruno used Ice Clones and their explosive technique to eliminate the remaining Sound Ninja, then confronted the Sound Four after they entered State Two. As Sakura searched for the hidden opponents, a white-haired young man appeared before Sasuke Uchiha.

• Sakura created eight Ice Clones, which fought the Sound Ninja while the Sound Four watched and activated State Two.
• The Ice Clones exploded at close range, killing the battered Sound Ninja and leaving only the Sound Four.
• Sakura recognized Tayuya and taunted the Sound Four, who attacked by raising a massive stone barrier.
• Sakura split the stone barrier with Water Release: Super Water Gun Technique, but the Sound Four vanished into the woods and used Tayuya's voice to mislead her.
• A white-haired young man appeared before Sasuke Uchiha in his hiding place.