Chapter Summaries

Tobirama Senju defeated Konan, captured the weakened Three-Tails, and returned to Konoha with Deidara, whom he hoped to trade for techniques that could help Sakura fly. At the Hokage's Office, Sakura's Shadow Clone's hot pot, Deidara's teasing, and Naruto's laughter enraged Tobirama, while Sakura returned from Shikkotsu Forest and sided with him against Naruto.

• Tobirama Senju defeated Konan, grabbed the shrunken Three-Tails, and teleported to Kakashi's group after they captured Deidara with Naruto's help.
• The Three-Tails revealed itself to Naruto, bit his finger, and made him scream.
• Orochimaru told Sasori of the Red Sands that rescuing someone had been their agreed transaction, then left after taunting Sasori about his attachment to Deidara.
• Tobirama Senju brought Deidara to Konoha and found Sakura's Shadow Clone eating hot pot in the Hokage's Office; the clone revealed that Sakura had gone to Shikkotsu Forest.
• Deidara and Naruto joked that their wives were pregnant, and Tobirama Senju flicked Naruto before Might Guy and Kakashi held him back from beating him.
• Sakura returned, apologized to Tobirama Senju, and told Naruto that he must have deserved the punishment, leaving him stunned.

After capturing Deidara and recovering the diminished Three-Tails, Sakura planned to trade Deidara to Iwagakure for jutsu and questioned the Three-Tails about the Four-Tails. The chapter left Sakura confronting the Akatsuki through Deidara’s ring, insulting its members as they planned their next captures.

• Tobirama Senju told Sakura that Sasori of the Red Sands had been rescued by Orochimaru and described Pain’s plan to collect the Tailed Beasts.
• Tobirama Senju gave Sakura the Three-Tails and agreed to contact Ōnoki about exchanging Deidara for Lightweight Rock and Weighted Boulder Jutsu.
• Sakura asked Tobirama Senju to help Naruto perfect the Rasengan and consider developing it with Wind Release.
• Sakura decided to keep the Three-Tails as a pet and asked him where the Four-Tails was, but he refused to betray another Tailed Beast.
• Pain assigned Uchiha Obito to team with Sasori of the Red Sands and planned missions to capture the One-Tail and Four-Tails.
• Sakura used Deidara’s ring to appear at the Akatsuki meeting, taunted Pain, and called the gathered members a pack of trash.

Sakura rejected Pain’s offer of cooperation and dared Akatsuki to come for Konoha’s Tailed Beasts, prompting Pain to send teams after Sunagakure and the Temple of Fire. The chapter left Kakuzu and Hidan attacking the temple, where Kakuzu confronted Chiriku, whose bounty was thirty-five million Ryo.

• Sakura told Pain that Akatsuki must answer for Konoha’s dead and revealed that the Two-Tails, Nine-Tails, and Seven-Tails were in Konoha.
• Pain ordered Obito, Itachi, Kisame, and Sasori to capture Sunagakure’s Tailed Beast, and sent Kakuzu and Hidan to destroy the Temple of Fire.
• Sakura brought her younger sister Mirai to the Hokage Building, where Mirai met Isobu in his fish tank.
• The Land of Fire’s nobles discussed opposing Sakura’s influence, and Chiriku proposed using Hiruzen and the other nations’ daimyo to pressure her.
• Kakuzu and Hidan attacked the Temple of Fire, killed a noble, and blocked the nobles’ escape as Kakuzu identified Chiriku and his thirty-five-million-Ryo bounty.

Sakura endured Shikkotsu Forest’s Sage Pond to refine her Sage Mode and discovered she could store Sage Chakra in her Yin Seal for instant use. Back in Konoha, she rested while Tobirama Senju prepared to advance Chakra Armor research and summoned the Research Institute’s leader.

• Sakura endured the Sage Pond’s acid while her body regenerated, and she experimented with absorbing Natural Energy into her Yin Seal to form stored Sage Chakra.
• Sage Katsuyu told Sakura that her Sage Mode was already nearly complete and warned that Hashirama Senju’s path was different; Sakura left Shikkotsu Forest planning to return in a few days.
• Sakura returned to the Hokage’s office, cleaned up Mirai with help from Uzuki Yugao, and learned Iwagakure would send someone in three days to discuss Deidara.
• Tobirama Senju told Sakura to rest, and Sakura promptly left through the window, leaving him in charge of the office.
• Tobirama Senju read the Chakra Armor mass-production plan, connected it to his Lightning God Sword, and went downstairs to summon the Research Institute’s person in charge.

After leaving work, Sakura bought desserts for Hikari and fell asleep beside her in a park, leaving Hikari to look after her. Naruto and Sasuke spotted them but chose not to interrupt, then headed to train for Naruto’s coming trip to Turtle Island.

• Sakura encountered Hikari agonizing over which desserts to buy and paid for both treats.
• Sakura teased Hikari by claiming the desserts were for Mirai, then gave them to Hikari and shared a spoonful of cake with her.
• Exhausted from losing Chakra, Sakura fell asleep against Hikari, who noticed her weakened Chakra and let her rest on her lap.
• Naruto and Sasuke saw Hikari caring for Sakura, and Sasuke explained that Sakura teased Hikari but still cared about her.
• Sasuke reminded Naruto to prepare for Turtle Island, where Naruto would confront the darkness in his heart and try to master the Nine-Tails’ power.
• Hikari waved for Naruto and Sasuke to help, but they left without disturbing Sakura, prompting Hikari to vow to make Sasuke train extra later.

Sakura rushed home after waking at the Uchiha Compound, then learned that Anko had been critically injured during a mission against Akatsuki members Kakuzu and Hidan. Sakura used her Yang Release to save Anko, then issued orders to mobilize shinobi as the chapter ended.

• Sakura learned that Uzuki Yugao had cared for Mirai overnight and paid Yugao more to keep looking after her.
• Asuma’s team returned to Konoha after finding the Temple of Fire destroyed and fighting Kakuzu and Hidan; Anko was critically injured, and Elder Mushishi stayed behind so the others could escape.
• Shirakumo Hayama told Sakura that Kakuzu’s Lightning Release appeared to come from the Fourth Raikage’s heart.
• Sakura joined Tsunade in the operating room and used Yang Release to heal Anko’s wounds and stabilize her.
• After Anko regained consciousness, Sakura ordered messages sent to Shiranui Genma, Tatami Iwashi, Mei Terumi, Hatake Kakashi, Might Guy, Second Pillar, and Karin Uzumaki.

After Kakuzu and Hidan killed Maruboshi Kosuke, Sakura mobilized Konoha to hunt them and challenged Jiraiya’s belief that Nagato was the Child of Prophecy. She sent Jiraiya to destroy the Underground Black Market in the Land of Fire after discovering a billion-ryo bounty on her, and suspected the nobles were behind it.

• Sakura ordered Konoha forces to seal the Land of Fire’s borders and search for Kakuzu and Hidan, demanding their deaths within three days.
• Jiraiya admitted he still believed Nagato was the Child of Prophecy, but Sakura pointed out that he had met Nagato before traveling the world or writing novels.
• Jiraiya reconsidered the prophecy and asked Sakura to become his disciple, then questioned whether Naruto could be the Child of Prophecy.
• Sakura showed Jiraiya her billion-ryo Underground Black Market bounty and ordered him to eliminate every operation in the Land of Fire within a month.
• Jiraiya agreed to the mission, and Sakura concluded that the nobles were likely behind the bounty and that the Akatsuki had inadvertently helped her.

Sakura revealed to Himura that she intended to overturn the noble class system and give commoners a path to power, while promising to capture the attackers who destroyed the Temple of Fire. After Himura departed, Sakura and Uchiha Hikari discussed how she would deal with nobles who resisted or surrendered, then Hikari shyly asked Sakura for cake.

• Sakura questioned Himura about the nobles killed at the Temple of Fire and explained that she rejected the nobles’ claim to rule over commoners.
• Himura defended the social hierarchy, but Sakura said shinobi could rise through the ranks and that she wanted to break the nobles’ monopoly on power.
• Sakura promised to capture those responsible for destroying the Temple of Fire, then dismissed Himura as he left for the Konoha Gate.
• Uchiha Hikari joined Sakura, and they discussed Sakura’s plans to kill nobles whether they resisted or surrendered.
• Hikari asked Sakura for cake, and Sakura agreed on the condition that Hikari beg first.

After Maruboshi Kosuke's death, Sakura's forces hunted Kakuzu and Hidan while Pain planned to use Mōryō's Terracotta Army to help them escape. When a hundred thousand Stone Golems began marching toward the Land of Demons, Sakura ordered Konoha to monitor them, protect civilians, and guard against Amegakure, leaving the army's next move uncertain.

• Asuma held a moment of silence for Maruboshi Kosuke, and Shirakumo Hayama sealed the elder's body before Konoha's forces began searching for Kakuzu and Hidan.
• Pain explained that Konoha's border defenses were bait and summoned Yomi to unleash Mōryō's Terracotta Army as a diversion for Kakuzu and Hidan.
• Yomi's Shadow Clone departed to act for Mōryō, while Pain assured Konan that he could destroy the Terracotta Army when it reached the Land of Rain.
• A messenger told Sakura that one hundred thousand Stone Golems had appeared in the Land of Bears and were marching northwest toward the Land of Demons.
• Sakura ordered the border forces to clear the Terracotta Army's route and evacuate civilians, then sent four thousand ninja to monitor it and two thousand to guard the Land of Rain Borderline.
• Sakura ordered Uzuki Yugao to send Tsunade to the Land of Rain as Konoha's experts remained occupied with other missions.

Sasuke confronted Kakuzu and Hidan while leading a Konoha squad in pursuit. After Kakuzu’s lightning attack forced Sasuke to activate Susanoo, Sasuke turned the fight around until more than a hundred Konoha Ninja arrived, surrounding the two Akatsuki members.

• Kakuzu and Hidan fled through the Land of Fire toward a meeting with the Terracotta Army, but Sasuke and more than twenty Konoha Ninja intercepted them.
• Sasuke charged Kakuzu, who used Wind Release and then revealed a lightning-based Liger Bomb drawn from the Raikage's Heart.
• Sasuke survived the attack by using Great God's True Mandate to shift his position and activate Susanoo.
• Sasuke used Heavenly Dao's Counter Mandate, unstable footing, and sand blown into Kakuzu's eyes to disrupt Kakuzu's next Liger Bomb.
• Kakuzu prepared to resume the fight, but more than a hundred Konoha Ninja led by Kakashi, Mei Terumi, and Might Guy arrived and surrounded Kakuzu and Hidan.

Sasuke’s team overwhelmed Kakuzu and Hidan, while Sakura learned that the Iwagakure delegation had arrived and delayed meeting them. She finally received Kitsuchi, Kurotsuchi, and Akatsuchi, where Kitsuchi’s praise of her past victories prompted Sakura to suggest he could witness her strength firsthand.

• Sasuke’s Mangekyō Sharingan brought misfortune upon Kakuzu as Kakashi, Might Guy, Asuma, and Shirakumo Hayama attacked him, while Mei Terumi and Karin unleashed a massive tsunami against Hidan.
• Sakura received a message that Kakuzu had been executed and Hidan captured, then learned from Mitokado Homura that Kitsuchi, Kurotsuchi, and Akatsuchi had arrived from Iwagakure.
• Sakura postponed the meeting to stroll through Konoha, eat fried sausages, and soothe Ino in the park.
• Sakura met the waiting Iwagakure delegation in the evening, and Kitsuchi praised her earlier battlefield victories while explaining that he had not witnessed them.
• Sakura asked Kitsuchi if he wanted to see her strength, making him fear that she meant they might face each other on a battlefield.

Kitsuchi negotiated with Konoha to retrieve Deidara, agreeing to surrender Iwagakure’s Lightweight Rock Technique and Weighted Boulder Jutsu plus two hundred million ryo. As the meeting ended, Kurotsuchi challenged Sakura to a fight, provoking the Konoha delegation.

• Kitsuchi met with Sakura and asked when Iwagakure could take Deidara back.
• Utatane Koharu presented Konoha’s claimed capture costs and negotiated compensation with Kitsuchi.
• Kitsuchi agreed to hand over Iwagakure’s Lightweight Rock Technique and Weighted Boulder Jutsu, along with two hundred million ryo, in exchange for Deidara.
• Kurotsuchi challenged Sakura to a fight as the meeting ended, and Kitsuchi tried to retract her challenge.
• Utatane Koharu rebuked Kitsuchi over Kurotsuchi’s challenge, saying Kurotsuchi was not qualified to challenge the Hokage.

Sakura settled Iwagakure’s dispute and later met Hinata at Ichiraku Ramen, then took her to a lakeside where they discussed Naruto. Hinata admitted her jealousy and realized Sakura had helped Naruto when she herself had only watched, leaving her ashamed and apologetic.

• Kurotsuchi challenged Sakura, but Kitsuchi stopped her and apologized before agreeing to provide Iwagakure’s secret techniques and pay two hundred million.
• After leaving the Hokage Building, Sakura ate at Ichiraku Ramen and ran into Hinata.
• Sakura invited Hinata for a walk and took her to Naruto’s childhood fishing spot, where she asked whether Hinata liked him.
• Hinata said Naruto did not like her and accused Sakura of taking for granted what others wanted, while Sakura reminded her that she had helped Naruto when he was bullied.
• Hinata realized she had watched Naruto suffer without helping him and apologized to Sakura in shame.

Hinata confessed her guilt about avoiding Naruto and crying over her treatment of Sakura, who comforted her and walked her home. After Hiashi mistook the situation and dragged Hinata inside, Sakura caught a golden-haired girl spying on her and demanded to know what she had seen.

• Hinata realized she had been a coward when Naruto was targeted and apologized to Sakura for resenting her.
• Sakura comforted Hinata, promised to help her reach Naruto, and escorted her through Konoha to the Hyuga Compound.
• Hiashi saw Hinata’s tear-streaked face, suspected Sakura had harmed her, and pulled Hinata inside before warning Sakura to stay away from his daughter.
• Sakura left the compound, noticed someone following her, and threw a pebble that struck the wall beside the hidden figure.
• Sakura grabbed the golden-haired, twin-tailed girl by the collar and demanded to know what she had seen.

Sakura punished Naruto for transforming into Naruko, then treated his wounds the next morning; Naruto and his Shadow Clone plotted to use Naruko to get revenge on Sasuke. After Kakashi returned with Hidan, Kakuzu, and Maruboshi Kosuke, Sakura prepared to tell Hiruzen Sarutobi that his old friend had died.

• Sakura caught Naruto disguised as a girl and chased him across Konoha's rooftops, striking him with a bamboo switch.
• At dawn, Sakura applied ointment to Naruto's back and told him Karin would bring lunch.
• Naruto and his Shadow Clone blamed Sasuke for the beating and devised a plan to seduce him as Naruko before revealing her identity years later.
• Kakashi returned with Hidan's head and scrolls containing Kakuzu's and Maruboshi Kosuke's bodies.
• Sakura decided to tell her master, Hiruzen Sarutobi, about Maruboshi Kosuke's death and sent Kakashi and the others to rest.

Sakura and the people of Konoha mourned Maruboshi Kosuke, and Hiruzen Sarutobi collapsed after seeing his old friend’s grave. Back at the Sarutobi Residence, Hiruzen recognized that his life was ending, entrusted Konoha’s urgent affairs to Sakura, and asked to spend his final moments with Asuma and Kurenai.

• Sakura told Hiruzen that Maruboshi Kosuke had died protecting younger shinobi from two Akatsuki members, and Hiruzen agreed to attend his funeral.
• At Kosuke’s funeral, Asuma placed flowers and Hidan and Kakuzu’s rings by the grave, while Konoha shinobi and Sakura’s younger companions paid their respects.
• Hiruzen arrived at the cemetery and walked alone to Kosuke’s grave as Sakura held an umbrella over him; after asking to go home, he collapsed in her arms.
• Sakura recognized that Hiruzen’s body had reached the end of its life and took him to the Sarutobi Residence, where he urged her to focus on Akatsuki and Iwagakure and asked Asuma and Kurenai to come in.
• Sakura returned to the Hokage’s Office and found Inner Sakura handling her duties; Inner Sakura said Tobirama Senju had worked with Tono Sukesuke on Scientific Ninja Tools.

Hiruzen Sarutobi died, and Sakura mourned the teacher who had guided and supported her before reading his letter urging her to change the cruel world. Afterward, Tobirama Senju told her about Tono Sukesuke’s Scientific Ninja Tools project, which Sakura agreed to fund, and she ordered Tobirama to train Naruto.

• Jiraiya returned to Konoha and found Hiruzen Sarutobi near death, while Asuma explained that Sakura could not save him and Tsunade was at the Land of Rain border.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi died as the last cherry-blossom petal fell, and Sakura attended his funeral among the grieving villagers and ninjas.
• Sakura knelt and bowed three times at Hiruzen Sarutobi’s grave, then accepted a letter he had prepared for her from Asuma.
• Sakura read Hiruzen Sarutobi’s letter, which urged her to pursue her own path and change the violent world, and she cried on the rooftop.
• Tobirama Senju told Sakura about Tono Sukesuke’s idea for firing ninjutsu stored in scrolls, and Sakura approved funding the project.
• Sakura told Tobirama Senju to train Naruto the next day.

Haruno Sakura visited the imprisoned Shimura Danzō to tell him Hiruzen Sarutobi had died, then gave him poisoned wine that killed him. After Danzō was cremated and buried beside Hiruzen, Mitokado Homura urged Utatane Koharu to retire and leave Konoha’s leadership to the new generation.

• Haruno Sakura told Shimura Danzō that Hiruzen Sarutobi had died, and Danzō laughed that he had outlived his lifelong rival.
• Sakura arranged for Danzō to drink wine and agreed to cremate him and place some of his ashes at Hiruzen’s grave.
• Danzō warned Sakura to be careful of Orochimaru before dying from the wine.
• Uzuki Yugao cremated Danzō and buried him beside the Third Hokage, while Utatane Koharu scattered his ashes before Hiruzen’s tombstone.
• Mitokado Homura urged Koharu to step aside for the new generation, and she left the cemetery without opposing his decision.

Yomi's hundred-thousand-strong Terracotta Army crossed the Land of Fire while the Akatsuki Organization reconsidered its plans after Pain received a strategic letter from Zetsu. As the army approached the Land of Earth, Ōnoki contacted Sakura for help, but she dismissed his alarm.

• Yomi ordered his forces to proceed toward the Land of Demons and capture the current Miko, confident that the weakened shinobi nations would not oppose him.
• Pain received a letter from Zetsu proposing that the Akatsuki Organization use Mōryō's threat to bring the Five Great Shinobi Villages into an alliance, then exploit the resulting conflict to capture the Kazekage and Mizukage.
• Pain and Konan approved Zetsu's plan, and Pain ordered Itachi and the others to abandon their operation near Sunagakure and return to Amegakure.
• Tsunade watched the Terracotta Army cross into the Land of Rain and chose to wait for new orders, expecting Ōnoki to seek Konoha's aid.
• Ōnoki contacted Sakura as the Terracotta Army neared the Land of Earth, but Sakura dismissed his warning that the Shinobi World was in grave danger.

Sakura agreed to send troops against Mōryō after Han called in the favor she had promised him, then used the looming threat to push for a wider coalition. At the online Five Kage Summit, old grudges resurfaced as Sakura challenged the other Kage, ending with her mocking Killer B for failing to solve Kumogakure’s food shortages by reclaiming farmland.

• Ōnoki warned Sakura that Mōryō could revive and endanger the Shinobi World, but Sakura refused to act without compensation.
• Han reminded Sakura of the favor she had promised him three years earlier, and Sakura agreed to send troops to help stop Mōryō.
• Sakura insisted that other villages join the campaign, and Ōnoki arranged an online Five Kage Summit for that night.
• Sakura ordered 2,500 more shinobi to the Land of Rain border while keeping Tsunade stationed there, leaving 4,500 shinobi in Konoha.
• At the summit, Ōnoki urged the Kage to unite, while Utakata questioned why the Land of Water should get involved.
• Killer B defended his brother’s invasion of the Land of Fire as an attempt to feed Kumogakure, and Sakura mocked him for not reclaiming farmland.