Board Thread:Naruto Discussions/@comment-28869806-20150525191639/@comment-734582-20150526103539

Sakufan2 wrote: Sasuke and Naruto consistently reached new levels of ninja godhood, whereas Sakura has only arguably surpassed Tsunade (I say she has, but others disagree with me). There was no reason Sakura couldn't learn more interesting offensive jutsus (someone who has perfect chakra control like Sakura could: easily learn the Rasengan, develop highly advanced chakra scalpels, do more with nature transformations, etc. etc.) and there was no reason Sakura had to become a medic other than Kishi just didn't think girls could fight. First off, i think it's still unclear whether she surpassed Tsunade or not. What bothers me is the theme here: Sasuke defeated his Sennin, unlocked Mangekyo and became third to do so, unlocked Rinnegan and became second to do so and mastered the jutsu of his teacher (kakashi). Naruto completed Sage Mode and surpassed Jiraiya, completed his father's Jutsu, and befriended Kurama. These are great achievements that also have a strong thematic of getting on the level on, or surpassing, legends.

Tsunade's Hundred Healing Mark was basically a light version of Hashirama healing. Sakura learned healing from Tsunade but never took it to it's logical extreme (Hashirama healing) unlike Sasuke with his 5m long lightning blade and Naruto's Rasenshuriken. She only stood on Tsunade's level during the "new three-way deadlock" whereas Naruto surpassed his sennin with his Sage Mode already, and Sasuke his sennn when he killed Orochimaru. Sakura never had much in the way of symbolism going on, not even with kakashi, unlike Naruto and Sasuke who at least share their signature Jutsu (rasengan/chidori) with Kakashi.