Chapter Summaries

Naruto waited for the first exam’s tenth question while Ibiki Morino imposed harsh rules that could permanently end an examinee’s chances of becoming a Chunin. As Sakura nearly withdrew, Naruto loudly declared that he would answer the question and earn a perfect score.

• Naruto noticed Kankuro returning with a disguised puppet proctor, while Ibiki Morino exposed the trick without disqualifying him.
• Ibiki Morino told the remaining examinees that refusing the tenth question would eliminate their entire teams from the exam.
• Ibiki Morino added that anyone who attempted the question and answered incorrectly would permanently lose the chance to participate in the Chunin Exams.
• Chiyo recognized Ibiki Morino’s rules as psychological pressure and remained calm, while more than a dozen teams withdrew.
• Sakura prepared to give up, but Naruto declared that he was going for a perfect score and urged the others to quit if they lacked confidence.

Naruto’s defiant declaration kept the examinees from giving up, causing Ibiki Morino to pass everyone who stayed and reveal that the tenth question tested their resolve. After Anko Mitarashi announced the next exam would take place in the Forest of Death, Mizuki Ember summoned Chiyo, Chojuro, and Hozuki Suigetsu and gave Chiyo a gift for emergencies.

• Naruto taunted the examinees by declaring he would get a perfect score, which helped Sasuke and Sakura hold firm and stopped anyone from giving up.
• Ibiki Morino announced that everyone who remained had passed, then explained that the first nine questions tested intelligence-gathering and the tenth tested perseverance.
• Anko Mitarashi announced that the second exam would begin the next day at Konoha’s Forest of Death, alarming the examinees.
• Mizuki Ember summoned Chiyo, Chojuro, and Hozuki Suigetsu after they returned to their lodging and praised them for passing the first exam.
• Mizuki Ember handed Chiyo a palm-sized box and told her to use its gift if she encountered danger in the second exam.

Soji gave Chiyo a mysterious box to protect her team in case Orochimaru attacked Itachi during the second Chunin Exam. Orochimaru and his allies prepared a hidden base in the Forest of Death, while Kabuto explained that he could not join the hunt because his duties required him to remain in Konoha.

• Soji gave Chiyo a box whose contents she could control and warned her to use it only if their lives were in danger.
• Soji sent Chiyo, Hozuki Suigetsu, and Chojuro to rest before the second exam and worried that Orochimaru might attack Itachi.
• Orochimaru, Ohm, and the Sound Four entered Kabuto's hidden laboratory beneath the Forest of Death.
• Kabuto showed Orochimaru surveillance feeds and explained that he had prepared arrangements around Sasuke and Itachi's central tower.
• Kabuto told Orochimaru he could not join the hunt for Itachi because he had to evaluate the examinees' information in Konoha.

Kabuto convinced Orochimaru to let him remain in Konoha by giving him two valuable tissue samples instead of joining the hunt for Itachi Uchiha. As the second Chunin Exam began, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Rasa, and Mizuki Ember gathered to watch the candidates, while Rasa asked whether they could see every part of the Forest of Death.

• Kabuto told Orochimaru he wanted to preserve his identity and position in Konoha so he could continue gathering intelligence for him.
• Kabuto gave Orochimaru two tissue samples, and Orochimaru approved his withdrawal from the plan to hunt Itachi Uchiha.
• Orochimaru, Ohm, and the Sound Four stayed in the Forest of Death while Kabuto returned to Konoha.
• Candidates began gathering at the Forest of Death for the second Chunin Exam.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi hosted Rasa and Mizuki Ember in a room equipped with surveillance screens to watch the exam.
• Rasa asked Hiruzen whether the surveillance feeds could cover every corner of the Forest of Death.

The second stage of the Chunin Exams began after the Third Hokage and the visiting Kage discussed the exam. In the Forest of Death, Chiyo sent Hozuki Suigetsu and Chojuro to gather scrolls while she went off to settle a personal matter.

• The Third Hokage brought out a crystal ball and waited to use the Telescopic Technique until the examinees entered the Forest of Death.
• Anko Mitarashi made the examinees sign life-and-death waivers, explained the Heaven and Earth Scroll requirements, and sent the teams into the forest.
• At Entrance Six, Chiyo chose to follow a river with Hozuki Suigetsu and Chojuro, hoping to use their Water Style and encounter teams seeking water.
• Chiyo entrusted the Heaven Scroll to Hozuki Suigetsu and Chojuro, then left to handle a personal grudge while they searched for an Earth Scroll.
• After Chiyo departed, Hozuki Suigetsu guessed she was going to see a man, and Chojuro worried she might overhear him.

Chiyo left her team to track down Sasuke Uchiha, but Rain Village ninja ambushed her on the way. She subdued them with the Ketsuryūgan, turned them into Human Bombs, and continued toward Sasuke, who remained unaware of the danger.

• Chojuro ignored Hozuki Suigetsu's gossip about Chiyo and headed with him toward the central tower to find an Earth Scroll.
• Chiyo used her observations of the Forest of Death entrances to estimate where Sasuke Uchiha's team was and set out to approach them cautiously.
• Three Rain Village ninja triggered a trap that appeared to blast Chiyo, but she escaped with the Substitution Technique and incapacitated them with the Ketsuryūgan.
• Chiyo cut each Rain Village ninja and infused their wounds with Chakra, testing her newly developed ability to turn people into Human Bombs.
• Chiyo controlled the three Human Bombs and led them toward Sasuke Uchiha, who did not know she was coming.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura raced toward the Forest of Death’s Central Tower, while the Sand Siblings became the first team to pass the second exam in a record ninety-seven minutes. The chapter ended with several teams waiting near the tower for prey overnight, while Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro rested safely inside.

• Naruto proposed racing to the Central Tower and robbing teams with both scrolls, and Sasuke agreed, leaving Sakura to follow their plan.
• Chiyo fell behind Sasuke’s group after tracking them through detours and avoiding fights, and she stopped for the night.
• Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara reached the Central Tower in ninety-seven minutes, defeated a team with the scroll they needed, and set a new exam record.
• Rasa celebrated his children’s success as the Third Hokage and Soji praised the Sand Siblings and discussed Sunagakure’s future.
• Naruto’s team and other confident teams gathered near the Central Tower, but postponed fighting until morning and set watches and traps for the night.
• Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro spent the night inside the tower as the only team to have passed the exam on the first day.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura encountered three Amegakure genin pursuing a young girl near the Forest of Death’s central tower. Realizing the Rain ninja had an Earth Scroll, Naruto and Sasuke attacked them to take it, and Sasuke quickly knocked two of them down.

• Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura prepared for trouble after hearing a commotion approach the central tower.
• A girl was blasted out of the forest, and the pursuing Rain ninja threw weapons at her and the Konoha team.
• The girl offered a Heaven Scroll for help, but Sasuke and Naruto decided to intervene after deducing the Rain ninja had an Earth Scroll.
• The Rain ninja attacked, with one rushing for the girl and two charging Naruto and Sasuke.
• Naruto used Wind Style: Gale Palm to boost Sasuke’s charge, and Sasuke kicked the two Rain ninja into the air and onto the ground.

Naruto and Sasuke defeated three Rain ninja, but the disheveled girl secretly tampered with Sakura while gaining the team's trust. The Rain ninja rose again and two exploded as human bombs, leaving Naruto and Sasuke injured.

• Naruto and Sasuke knocked down the three Rain ninja while Sakura watched and urged them to take their Earth Scroll.
• Sakura approached the injured girl peacefully, and the girl warned the team when the Rain ninja began to rise again.
• Naruto told Sakura to protect the girl while he and Sasuke confronted the strange Rain ninja; the girl secretly affected Sakura, leaving her briefly vacant and unaware.
• Naruto and Sasuke stabbed two Rain ninja with kunai, but the pair swelled and exploded like human bombs.
• Naruto and Sasuke escaped the blasts with scorched hair, burned arms, and minor injuries, while Sakura cried out in concern.

Naruto and Sasuke investigated why three Rain ninja had turned themselves into bombs and discovered that an unknown dojutsu genjutsu controlled them. Sasuke was overwhelmed by the mastermind’s power, and after the last Rain ninja exploded, Kin, Dosu, and Zaku arrived to confront them.

• Sasuke used his Three-Tomoe Sharingan to identify genjutsu controlling the Rain ninja, and he and Naruto decided he would try to free the last one.
• Sasuke entered the Rain ninja’s spiritual world and encountered a gigantic bleeding eye whose dojutsu genjutsu overpowered him and forced him to retreat.
• The controlled Rain ninja approached Sasuke, slit his own throat, and exploded, injuring Sasuke again.
• Kin, Dosu, and Zaku arrived and confronted Sasuke and Naruto.

Itachi and Soji recognized the danger posed by Chiyo’s revenge plot as Sasuke and Naruto faced a series of attacks in the Forest of Death. Sasuke claimed the newly arrived Otogakure team as his prey and charged them, but Kin’s auditory genjutsu left him vulnerable to Zaku’s attack.

• Itachi identified the rain ninja’s exploding wounds as an ability of the Chinoike Clan’s Ketsuryūgan and worried that Chiyo was targeting Sasuke for revenge against the Uchiha Clan.
• Soji watched Chiyo’s attack with the other Kage and hoped Oyakiro Homura would arrive in Konoha to stop her.
• Sasuke ignored Naruto’s concern after his second wound and mistook a bell-tipped weapon for an attack by the hidden mastermind.
• Kin, Zaku, and Dosu emerged from the forest, while the girl controlling Sakura retreated and kept herself concealed.
• Sasuke stopped Naruto from joining the fight and charged the Otogakure team alone.
• Kin trapped Sasuke with auditory genjutsu, and Zaku struck with Void Severing Wave while Dosu watched from the side.

Sasuke defeated the three Sound ninja sent by Orochimaru to test him, while Naruto congratulated him and anticipated taking their scrolls. As Itachi watched from the central tower, two disguised infiltrators approached him with hostile intent.

• Sasuke broke Kin's auditory genjutsu and knocked her unconscious with a punch.
• Zaku and Dosu coordinated an attack on Sasuke, but Sasuke evaded Zaku's Void Severing Wave and unleashed the Great Dragon Fire Technique.
• Zaku spent his chakra and destroyed his modified arms raising a rock barrier, allowing him and Dosu to survive the fire dragon with severe burns.
• Sasuke defeated the three Sound ninja, and Naruto congratulated him as they prepared to collect their scrolls.
• Itachi smiled at Sasuke's victory, unaware that two disguised figures had infiltrated the central tower and were closing in on him.

Sasuke defeated the Sound Ninja and Naruto obtained their Earth Scroll, while Chiyo deceived the pair about her role in the attacks. A giant snake then swallowed the Central Tower, leaving the examinees and the watching Kage stunned and demanding answers from the Third Hokage.

• Sasuke defeated the three Sound Ninja, and Dosu surrendered their Earth Scroll to Naruto in exchange for their lives.
• Chiyo approached Sasuke and Naruto, offered them her Heaven Scroll, and falsely claimed she had been separated from her teammates by the Rain Ninja.
• Sasuke and Naruto accepted Chiyo's story and began talking with her after Naruto reassured her.
• A violent tremor shook the Forest of Death, and a giant snake burst from the ground and swallowed the Central Tower.
• Naruto, Sasuke, and the other nearby examinees panicked, while Fourth Kazekage Rasa demanded that the Third Hokage explain what had happened.

The Third Hokage, Rasa, and Soji responded to Orochimaru trapping the Chunin Exam examinees inside the giant snake and the Four Violet Flames Formation. Inside the sealed tower, Orochimaru confronted Itachi Uchiha to take his Sharingan, and their battle began.

• The Third Hokage identified Orochimaru as the one behind the giant snake, and Soji suggested sending personnel into the Forest of Death while the Kage avoided provoking him.
• The three Kage sent jonin into the Forest of Death to protect the examinees and prepare to besiege Orochimaru.
• A Four Violet Flames Formation enclosed the Central Tower, while Orochimaru revealed that his target was Itachi Uchiha and that he had avoided harming the other staff and examinees.
• Orochimaru and Ohm revealed themselves to Itachi, who had stayed behind to protect the tower's occupants.
• Orochimaru attacked Itachi with Shadow Many Snake Hands, but Itachi dodged with a crow-and-shuriken technique and charged forward.
• Ohm used Wood Release—Silent Killing Binding Technique, sending a thick wooden tendril toward Itachi.

Itachi Uchiha fought Orochimaru and Ohm inside the tower as the giant snake’s fleshy interior made the battlefield increasingly dangerous. The Sand Siblings reached the top floor after Gaara destroyed the Snake Wall, arriving just as the battle stopped.

• Itachi used an explosive Great Fireball to break Ohm’s Wood Release attack and blast Orochimaru into the fleshy walls.
• Orochimaru shed his burned body with the Body Replacement Technique and continued fighting alongside Ohm, confident that the tower’s terrain favored them.
• The Sand Siblings searched the sealed tower for an exit while carrying unconscious Konoha staff, and Gaara assured Temari and Kankuro that Shukaku would help if necessary.
• The Sand Siblings found a Snake Wall blocking the stairway to the top floor, and Gaara crushed the snakes with Sandstorm Funeral.
• Gaara led Temari and Kankuro onto the top floor, where they found Itachi, Orochimaru, and Ohm, and Orochimaru’s oppressive aura froze them in place.

Itachi fought Orochimaru and Ohm inside the Central Tower as the giant snake and Ohm’s Wood Release steadily compressed the space around them. After the Sand Siblings rescued the unconscious staff, Itachi unleashed Amaterasu, burning through the snake and escaping the tower with several others.

• Orochimaru trapped the Sand Siblings in a genjutsu, but Itachi dispelled it and asked them to help.
• Temari declared that Sunagakure would support Konoha, then led Kankuro and Gaara away to rescue the hostages as Itachi had secretly instructed.
• Ohm bound Itachi with the Thorn Kill Technique, and Orochimaru bit him, but Itachi’s Shadow Clone Explosion drove Orochimaru back.
• Gaara sent Itachi a Sand Eye signal confirming that the hostages had been rescued, so Itachi activated Amaterasu.
• Amaterasu burned through the giant snake that had swallowed the tower, and several figures burst out of the Central Tower.

Itachi escaped the central tower with Orochimaru and Ohm, then faced them outside while Sasuke, Naruto, and the Sand Siblings joined the fight. The battle left Orochimaru and Ohm under pressure, with Naruto smashing Ohm into the ground after a coordinated attack.

• Sasuke recognized Amaterasu burning the giant snake and tried to rush to Itachi, but Naruto stopped him.
• Itachi, Orochimaru, and Ohm escaped from the tower, while Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro rescued the unconscious people inside and followed them out.
• Itachi found Sasuke and Naruto trapped inside the Sound Four's Four Violet Flames Formation, and the Sand Siblings offered to help.
• The Sand Siblings surrounded Ohm, Itachi engaged Orochimaru, and Sasuke and Naruto joined the fight against Ohm.
• Gaara's sand and Sasuke's Fire Release drove Ohm from his wooden defense, while Kankuro's puppet Crow helped set him up for Naruto's attack.
• Naruto leaped above Ohm and kicked him into the ground.

Naruto, Sasuke, Temari, Gaara, and Kankuro forced Ohm to reveal the Curse Seal’s power, which let him unleash an overwhelming Wood Release. Meanwhile, Itachi trapped Orochimaru in Tsukuyomi and defeated him, but chose not to kill him; Ohm still threatened Sasuke’s group.

• Naruto’s kick drove Ohm into a crater, and Sasuke, Naruto, and Temari followed up with a combined Fire and Wind Release attack.
• Ohm activated his Curse Seal and used Wood Release—Birth of Sea of Trees, swallowing the attack and rising above the five fighters with a dangerous new aura.
• Orochimaru sensed Ohm’s power and dismissed the danger to the five, while Itachi realized he had to end their fight quickly to help Sasuke.
• Itachi used Tsukuyomi to trap Orochimaru and subjected him to what felt like twenty-four hours of torture, though only an instant passed in reality.
• Itachi released Tsukuyomi and held a kunai to Orochimaru’s throat, but decided against killing him because he was unsure of the consequences and Orochimaru’s ability to survive.

After surviving Itachi’s Tsukuyomi by abandoning his damaged body, Orochimaru summoned three reincarnated shinobi as his trump card. The first two were Hashirama and Tobirama Senju, while the third was the Third Kazekage, leaving Itachi to face Orochimaru’s powerful reinforcements.

• Orochimaru let Itachi’s kunai kill his old body, then escaped as a little white snake and transformed back into human form.
• Orochimaru saw Ohm suppressing Naruto, Sasuke, Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro, then decided to use his final method against Itachi.
• Orochimaru performed Impure World Reincarnation and summoned three coffins before Itachi.
• The first two coffins revealed Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju, stunning Itachi.
• The third coffin revealed the Third Kazekage, and Orochimaru boasted that the three reincarnated shinobi would ensure his victory.

Itachi fought Orochimaru’s reanimated First Hokage, Second Hokage, and Third Kazekage, and was shocked by Hashirama’s overwhelming strength. Meanwhile, Ohm dominated Naruto, Sasuke, Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro, though two more fighters were about to join the battle.

• Orochimaru sent the unconscious First Hokage, Second Hokage, and Third Kazekage after Itachi, who tried to evade them while seeking a way to seal them.
• As the reanimated Kage’s attacks overwhelmed him, Itachi activated the first stage of Susanoo to defend himself.
• Tobirama Senju and the Third Kazekage combined Water Style and Iron Sand attacks, shattering Susanoo’s bone arm, while Hashirama Senju cracked its body with a punch.
• Itachi advanced Susanoo to its second stage, but Hashirama caught its punch and then hurled Itachi and Susanoo to the ground.
• Orochimaru tightly controlled the reanimated Kage as Itachi continued fighting, while Ohm used his Curse Seal to overpower Naruto, Sasuke, Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro.
• Two more inhuman creatures were about to join the battle against Ohm because they disliked seeing Wood Style.