Chapter Summaries

Second Pillar encouraged Naruto to stop brooding and face the Chunin Exams, while Sakura regained her confidence. Both boys renewed their resolve to compete, but their thoughts turned to the gray-white-haired Kusagakure boy they doubted they could defeat.

• Second Pillar realized his earlier comparison had hurt Sakura and felt relieved when she seemed confident again.
• Second Pillar challenged Naruto about preparing for the Chunin Exams, and Sakura noticed Naruto was brooding.
• Second Pillar mocked Naruto as a coward, prompting Naruto to straighten up and vow not to lose to him or anyone else.
• Second Pillar embraced the challenge of facing the powerful exam candidates, but he and Naruto both thought of the gray-white-haired Kusagakure boy and lost confidence in beating him.
• Kazuha sneezed while watching Genin enter the classroom, and the two children beside him reacted differently as he wondered if someone had their eye on him.

Hada Ichiba prepared for the Chunin Exams while trying to keep his plans hidden from the other participants. After receiving his Ninja Swords from Hada Ryuhiko, he agreed to keep his own swordsmanship restrained but told Hada Anna and Hada Ryuhiko to use their full abilities; the chapter ended when the classroom door burst open.

• Hada Ichiba spotted Kabuto Yakushi and three Sound ninja among the Genin, but did not see the bandaged Kotetsu.
• Hada Ryuhiko handed Hada Ichiba two Ninja Swords on Teacher Heyin’s instructions, explaining that swordsmanship could help them keep a low profile.
• Hada Anna asked whether she and Hada Ryuhiko also had to use only swordsmanship, and Hada Ichiba told them to go all out.
• The classroom door was suddenly shoved open, drawing everyone’s attention.

The rookie Genin entered a crowded classroom for the Chunin Exams, where their reunion sparked a loud quarrel between Haruno Sakura and Ino Yamanaka. As the other exam candidates resumed watching them, Hada Ichiba noticed Kabuto Yakushi approaching the group.

• Uzumaki Naruto, Sasuke, and Haruno Sakura entered the packed classroom and drew the attention of the other exam candidates.
• Ino Yamanaka greeted Sasuke by climbing onto his back, and Haruno Sakura angrily insulted her.
• Shikamaru Nara and Akimichi Choji joined the group, and Uzumaki Naruto called them the Idiot Trio.
• A shy girl in white greeted Uzumaki Naruto, while the fierce-looking youth with a small white dog announced that all nine rookie Genin were present.
• Hada Ichiba watched the rookies attract attention, then noticed Kabuto Yakushi approach them and warn them to keep it down.

Kabuto Yakushi warned the nine rookies about the other exam candidates, then used his seven attempts at the Chunin Exams to win their trust and show them his Ninja Recognition Cards. When one card revealed its information, Kabuto was suddenly overcome with terror at what appeared.

• Kabuto Yakushi quieted the nine rookies and drew their attention to the hostile looks from the other candidates.
• Kabuto warned the rookies that the people behind them were from Hidden Rain and reassured them that he had once been a novice too.
• Kabuto told Haruno Sakura that he was taking the Chunin Exams for the seventh time, prompting Shikamaru Nara to worry about how difficult the exam was.
• Kabuto showed the rookies his collection of two hundred Ninja Recognition Cards and explained how his Chakra revealed their information.
• A card displayed images and text, and Kabuto Yakushi was suddenly gripped by terror.

Naruto found Kabuto Yakushi’s Ninja Recognition Card for Hada Ichiba, whose photograph looked exactly like the deceased Taki Chiba. Team 7 and Shikamaru Nara’s teammates reacted with shock, while Kabuto recovered and tried to learn whether they knew Ichiba.

• Naruto mistook Kabuto’s frozen, sweating state for a stomachache and pointed him toward the restroom.
• Naruto spotted Hada Ichiba’s card and read his name aloud, drawing Second Pillar and Haruno Sakura over to inspect it.
• Kiba Inuzuka questioned the card’s many question marks, and Shino Aburame explained that Ichiba’s details could not be verified.
• Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka, and Akimichi Choji were shocked by Ichiba’s resemblance to Taki Chiba, while Hyuga Hinata shrank away from Naruto.
• Kabuto Yakushi regained his composure, claimed he knew little about Ichiba, and asked whether the children knew him.

Kabuto Yakushi showed the teams information cards, prompting them to conceal what they knew about Hada Ichiba while he wondered whether the card’s appearance had been a warning. He explained the Chunin Exams’ political purpose and was asked for more personal information cards, leaving him convinced that some person or force might be watching his investigation.

• Sasuke cut Naruto off before he could reveal his encounters with Hada Ichiba, and Kabuto Yakushi noticed that Team 7 seemed to know more than they admitted.
• Team 7 and Team 10 stopped discussing Hada Ichiba and examined Kabuto Yakushi’s card showing the Chunin Exams’ participants by village.
• Kabuto Yakushi explained that the joint exams assessed neighboring nations’ ninja and helped maintain a balance of power between countries.
• Second Pillar asked whether Kabuto Yakushi had detailed cards on other people.
• Kabuto Yakushi suspected that Hada Ichiba’s card had appeared as a warning from an unknown person or force, and he grew more tense about being watched.

Kabuto Yakushi showed the Genin intelligence on Rock Lee and Gaara, warning them that the Chunin Exams had gathered elite ninja from many villages. The group grew anxious as Kabuto privately considered whether Taki Chiba was present.

• Kabuto Yakushi brought out Rock Lee's Ninja Recognition Card and explained his taijutsu skill, team, and mission record.
• Kabuto Yakushi revealed that Gaara had completed a B-rank mission without a scratch, shocking Uzumaki Naruto, Shikamaru Nara, and the others.
• Kabuto Yakushi warned the group that the Chunin Exams included elite Genin from several villages and were far from simple.
• Hyuga Hinata, Ino Yamanaka, and Haruno Sakura voiced their uncertainty as they realized the danger of the exams.
• Kabuto Yakushi put away the cards while wondering whether he could prove that Taki Chiba was not there.

Uzumaki Naruto defied the hostile Genin gathered for the Chunin Exams, but an unexpected explosion struck beneath him. Elsewhere, a mysterious visitor confronted Hyuga Hiashi and asked to learn everything about Hyuga Yukina.

• Haruno Sakura and Second Pillar noticed Naruto trembling under the hostile stares, but Naruto turned around and challenged the assembled Genin.
• The crowd reacted angrily to Naruto's provocation, while Gaara urgently tried to stop Kankuro from acting.
• An explosion erupted beneath Naruto and swallowed him in stone fragments and dust, shocking everyone in the classroom.
• A visitor entered Hyuga Hiashi's room and asked him to reveal everything about Hyuga Yukina.

An unseen attacker struck at Uzumaki Naruto with a lethal blow, stunning the gathered Chunin Exam participants and raising fears of a serious incident with Konoha. Naruto survived, but the chapter ended with everyone staring at the sheathed black Ninja Sword before him.

• A sudden attack blasted up smoke and sent stones scattering across the classroom, making the three Sound Village ninja and the other participants freeze.
• Temari and the other gathered ninja realized the attack could have killed Naruto and risked provoking Konoha.
• Tenten asked Neji Hyuga whether he had seen the strike, but Neji admitted he had missed it.
• Shikamaru Nara and Second Pillar quickly looked toward a corner of the classroom as Haruno Sakura cried out for Naruto.
• Naruto stumbled back in terror, and the gathered participants saw a black Ninja Sword still in its sheath on the ground before him.

A hidden attacker demonstrated extraordinary precision and strength by throwing a sheathed Ninja Sword near Uzumaki Naruto, then attacked from the darkness. The attacker caught Second Pillar’s punch, while Shikamaru blocked his counterkick, and a dark drop of water fell beside Naruto.

• A sheathed Ninja Sword struck the ground near Uzumaki Naruto, leaving the Genin stunned by the attacker’s strength and precision.
• Kankuro cried out in shock as Temari watched Gaara, while Rock Lee and Tenten admitted they could not match the throw’s combination of strength and accuracy.
• Neji Hyuga and the other Genin searched the classroom for the attacker, but Hada Ryuhiko looked toward the ceiling instead.
• The lights at the front of the classroom exploded, and an unseen figure landed behind Uzumaki Naruto.
• Second Pillar punched at the figure, who caught his fist, and Shikamaru Nara blocked Second Pillar’s counterkick.
• A dark drop of water fell beside Uzumaki Naruto’s feet and splashed across the floor.

A hidden attacker held Uzumaki Naruto at swordpoint and warned him against reckless behavior. The examiner arrived in a burst of smoke, interrupting the confrontation as the classroom filled with tension.

• Shikamaru Nara stopped Second Pillar from attacking and directed him to look at Uzumaki Naruto, whose neck was held by a black Ninja Sword.
• The other Genin noticed the threat, while Hyuga Neji activated his Byakugan and warned Tenten and Rock Lee to be careful.
• Dosu and Kin restrained Zaku and reminded him of Lord Orochimaru's mission.
• The hidden attacker warned Uzumaki Naruto that Konoha's protection and the examiner's arrival had kept him alive.
• A large cloud of smoke filled the front of the classroom, and an angry voice ordered the Genin to be quiet.

Ibiki Morino arrived and warned the Genin against deadly fights as the first round of the Chunin Selection Exam began. Uzumaki Naruto, still shaken by a near-fatal attack, realized the exam was a written test and cried out in alarm.

• Ibiki Morino appeared with the proctors, and the attacker who had threatened Uzumaki Naruto vanished without a trace.
• Haruno Sakura and Hyuga Hinata treated Naruto's neck wound while he trembled with fear.
• Hada Ryuhiko confronted Hada Ichiba about the apparent attack, but Hada Ichiba and Hada Anna denied knowing what he meant.
• Ibiki Morino forbade unauthorized fights and killing, then ordered the Genin to submit their forms and take their number tags for the written test.
• Uzumaki Naruto heard that the first round was a written test and shouted in shock.

Hada Ichiba observed the Genin as Ibiki Morino explained the written exam rules, including strict penalties for cheating and team failure. The exam began with Naruto and Sakura’s team realizing that one member scoring zero would fail them all.

• Hada Ichiba assessed the Genin’s composure and judged them mentally capable of advancing to Chunin.
• Ibiki Morino announced that the exam used ten questions, deducted points for wrong answers, and combined each three-person team’s scores.
• Ibiki warned that cheating would cost two points each time and could remove candidates from the exam.
• Ibiki declared that any team with a member scoring zero would fail, alarming Sakura and Sasuke and making Naruto sit up in fear.
• Ibiki announced the timing of the final question and started the one-hour exam.

Hada Ryuhiko and Hada Anna panicked when they found the chunin written test contained questions they had never learned. Hada Ichiba contacted them through telepathy and reassured them that they had already passed the test.

• Hada Ryuhiko dismissed Konoha's written chunin test, then saw Hada Anna trembling in fear over her paper.
• Hada Ryuhiko read the unfamiliar questions, including code language and a complex shuriken-range problem, and realized he could not answer them.
• Hada Ichiba used telepathy to contact Hada Anna and Hada Ryuhiko during the test.
• Hada Anna calmed down when she recognized Hada Ichiba, while Hada Ryuhiko angrily told him to get out of his head.
• Hada Ichiba reassured both of them that they had already passed the test.

Hada Ichiba urged Hada Ryuhiko and Hada Anna to stay calm and search for the purpose behind Konoha’s impossible exam questions. Ryuhiko realized Konoha had set questions from different village curricula deliberately, then wondered whether the exam favored Konoha’s own genin.

• Hada Ryuhiko and Hada Anna argued that the exam questions were beyond their schooling and that strict proctors made cheating too risky.
• Hada Ichiba rebuked them for panicking and reminded them that they would one day bear responsibility for Kusagakure and its people.
• Hada Ichiba urged them to look for the larger purpose behind the difficult questions and reason out why Konoha had set them.
• Hada Ryuhiko concluded that the villages had different curricula, so some questions would be unfamiliar to certain examinees.
• Hada Ryuhiko suggested that Konoha might have deliberately ignored those differences to favor its own genin, leaving Hada Ichiba stunned.

Hada Ichiba explained that Konoha’s difficult exam questions were designed to test intelligence gathering, not to make the examinees fail. Hada Ryuhiko figured out that they were expected to cheat skillfully, but worried that he and Hada Anna lacked the means to do so; Ichiba then revealed that he knew how to solve the questions.

• Hada Ryuhiko wrongly suspected Konoha of cheating, and Hada Ichiba explained that Konoha’s reputation made that unlikely.
• Hada Ryuhiko realized Konoha did not expect examinees to solve the questions normally, while Hada Anna wondered why the exam was so difficult.
• Hada Ichiba pointed out that Ibiki Morino’s limited point deductions and warning about shameless cheating suggested that skillful cheating was allowed.
• Hada Ryuhiko concluded that the first exam tested intelligence gathering, but argued that he and Hada Anna lacked the abilities to obtain the answers unnoticed.
• Hada Ichiba said that he knew how to solve the questions, freezing Hada Ryuhiko’s smug expression.

Hada Ichiba and the others finished the written test, which he believed was the first round of Konoha’s exam. After he explained that a second question would test their psychological resolve, the trio rested until Ibiki Morino announced that forty-five minutes had passed and presented the final question.

• Hada Ichiba finished the test paper and learned through their communication jutsu that Hada Anna and Hada Ryuhiko had finished too.
• Hada Ryuhiko asked what the second round would involve, and Hada Ichiba explained that he only knew another question would follow the written test.
• Hada Ichiba predicted that the final question would be a psychological assessment, while Hada Ryuhiko doubted him and Hada Anna objected to answering more questions.
• Hada Ichiba ended the communication jutsu, and Hada Anna went to sleep while he rested and watched other examinees get eliminated.
• Ibiki Morino announced that forty-five minutes had passed and that most of the trash had been cleared out, signaling the final question.

Ibiki Morino announced the final question’s rules, forcing the Genin to choose between withdrawing and risking a permanent ban from the Chunin Exams if they answered incorrectly. Hada Ichiba recognized the test as psychological pressure, while the room fell silent under the stakes.

• Ibiki Morino focused on Hada Ichiba, noting his remarkable intelligence gathering and the way he had secretly passed information to his teammates.
• Ibiki Morino announced that the Genin had to choose whether to answer the final question, and Temari learned that refusing meant her entire team would fail.
• Hada Ichiba recognized the rules as psychological interrogation, while Hada Ryuhiko reacted and Hada Anna slept beside him.
• Ibiki Morino declared that anyone who answered incorrectly would lose the right to take the Chunin Exams for the rest of their life.
• Kiba Inuzuka protested the rule, but Ibiki Morino said it applied across all participating villages and silenced the room.

Ibiki Morino’s final-question test pressured examinees to choose between risking a lifelong Genin rank and abandoning their teammates, while Hada Ichiba and Kusagakure’s team remained unfazed. Naruto raised his hand, but declared that he would not give up and would take the exam even if he stayed a Genin forever.

• Haruno Sakura decided not to give up, while Second Pillar accepted the risk of the team being eliminated and Hada Ichiba observed the examinees’ reactions.
• Hada Ichiba judged that Kusagakure’s shinobi would not waver because they were determined to seize the opportunity for their village.
• Ibiki Morino suspected that Hada Ichiba had seen through the test’s purpose, but the first examinee gave up and was eliminated with his teammates.
• More examinees gave up, restoring Ibiki Morino’s confidence, until Naruto unexpectedly raised his hand.
• Naruto slammed his hand on the desk and declared that he would take the exam, face a lifetime as a Genin if necessary, and become Hokage through sheer guts.

Uzumaki Naruto’s refusal to give up steadied the remaining candidates, and Ibiki Morino declared them all to have passed the first exam. As the celebration began, Ibiki answered a voice beside him and froze just as the classroom window exploded.

• Uzumaki Naruto stood firm when Ibiki Morino asked the candidates to risk losing their chance to take the Chunin Exams, and the other remaining ninja followed his resolve.
• Ibiki Morino announced that all 78 candidates still in the room had passed, then explained how the written test and final question tested intelligence-gathering, courage, and leadership.
• Ibiki Morino removed his Ninja Headband and showed the candidates the scars from torture as he explained the danger of unreliable intelligence.
• Uzumaki Naruto celebrated the candidates’ success, and Ibiki Morino warmly watched him before someone beside him addressed him as Lord Chiba.
• Ibiki Morino instinctively answered the voice, then froze as the classroom window suddenly exploded.