Their Backs

When Saya seizes puppet-like control of Chōji and hurls him at Sakura, Ino wrenches that control away and turns the strike back on Team Saya. Mamushi and Sana dodge, but the blow that seems to land on Saya proves to be a substitution. Disguised as her own puppet, Saya slips back to her comrades, declaring that the Chūnin Exams no longer matter to her and that revenge is all she wants.

Marching toward the central tower, Sakura dwells on her past helplessness and how she once leaned entirely on Naruto and Sasuke. The episode cuts to a memory of Jiraiya's training, where Gerotora loosens the seal on Naruto's stomach; as it weakens, the Nine-Tails surges out, sprouts four tails, and mauls his teacher. Recovering in hospital beds afterward, Naruto apologises, and Jiraiya assures him no blame is owed, then asks whether the boy will quit. Naruto swears he never will, no matter how hopeless things look.

Back in the present, Sana whips up an unnatural sandstorm to halt Team Asuma, and Saya conjures sand dolls to harass and confuse them while Mamushi hides among the figures under a sand cloak. As Chōji swats the dolls aside, one turns out to be Mamushi, whose snake poisons both him and Ino. Recalling her medical training and her plea to Tsunade for a place in the exams, Sakura restores her chakra, drops the enemies in a single strike, purges the venom from her friends, and thanks them for taking her onto the team.