Sasuke Retsuden: The Sky that Fell to the Earth

A hawk brings Sakura word from Kakashi that the prime minister has mobilized his forces under the banner of Princess Manari. Recalling Zansuru's talk of shipping assets to the capital, she sets out to find Sasuke. Ganno, noticing her wedding ring over lunch, unnerves her by naming Sasuke outright, having overheard him with Jiji, and mentions that Sasuke used to watch the flowers outside. Stepping outside, she finds an almond tree in bloom, its petals reminiscent of cherry blossoms, and realizes the paintings, constellations, and zodiac signs all point to hand seals.

Sasuke, sorting inedible apricots with Jiji, learns of a nearby lake said to be a rainwater-filled meteor crater so blue by day that it looks like the sky fell to earth, and the phrase clicks into place. Meeting Sakura at her office, he pieces her hand-seal discovery together with the lake's location and asks her to join him at night. At the water's edge under a starlit sky, the two share a quiet moment before Sakura performs the seals, raising a pillar of light from which she collects the sealed polar particles. An explosion then tears through the institute, and flying dragon beasts take to the air, the assets Zansuru boasted of.

Zansuru descends on a beast to thank Sasuke for recovering the particles, and Sasuke deduces the scheme: inmates excavated the fossils, chickens served as vessels, and energy-soaked apricots powered the revivals. Sensing that Zansuru carries far too little chakra for a shinobi, Sasuke concludes someone else controls the creatures. As the beasts savage the inmates, Sakura punches an escape route through the walls, then is caught by Jiji, who embraces her before stabbing her with the same poisoned kunai Meno used on Sasuke. Revealed as Zansuru's accomplice, Jiji takes the particles to resurrect his lost love Margo, and a colossal beast rises from the ruins as Sakura lies paralyzed amid the debris. A trivia note flags that Sarada appears at her current age in Sasuke's memory despite the story predating the series.