Chapter Summaries

Naruto’s resolve steadied the examinees, and Morino Ibiki announced that everyone who stayed had passed the first stage of the Chunin Exam. Ibiki explained the test’s purpose and shared his views on intelligence and survival, leaving Hinata convinced he was showing off.

• Naruto declared that he would take part in the exam and become Hokage, encouraging the wavering examinees to stay.
• Morino Ibiki saw that Naruto had broken the tense atmosphere and announced that everyone still seated had passed the first stage.
• Sakura questioned how they could pass without answering a tenth question, and Ibiki explained that choosing whether to stay had been the test.
• Ibiki explained the purpose of the impossible questions and introduced the proctors who had posed as examinees to provide answers.
• Ibiki revealed the scars on his head and lectured the examinees about the importance of intelligence, while Hinata thought he was showing off.

Anko Mitarashi arrived to lead the second stage of the Chunin Exams after Morino Ibiki ended the first round, and the rookie teams left to meet their instructors. Hinata and Ino suspected Kurenai Yuhi and Asuma Sarutobi were hiding a secret as their teams parted ways.

• Anko Mitarashi dramatically entered the exam hall, announced the second round, and said she would eliminate more than half the candidates.
• Morino Ibiki and Anko dismissed the examinees, then Ibiki returned to collect the papers and remarked that Uzumaki Naruto had passed without answering a question.
• The rookie teams left the Ninja Academy, where several of the rookies teased Naruto while Hinata imagined a scene involving Kakashi, Kurenai Yuhi, and Asuma Sarutobi.
• Kakashi called Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke away, while Asuma and Kurenai said goodbye to their respective teams.
• Hinata and Ino exchanged a silent suspicion about Kurenai and Asuma, and Kurenai blushed before leaving with her subordinates.

Kurenai Yuhi congratulated Hinata, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka on passing the first Chunin Exam and asked them to reflect on what they had learned. After hearing that Sound Ninja had nearly injured Hinata, she warned the team to be cautious around Otogakure, leaving Kiba about to object.

• Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi teased Asuma about his feelings for Kurenai Yuhi after she left.
• Kurenai Yuhi met Hinata, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka at Training Ground No. 18 and congratulated them on passing the first exam.
• Hinata, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka described how formidable the exam candidates were, including Kabuto Yakushi's intelligence-gathering skills.
• Kiba Inuzuka told Kurenai Yuhi that Sound Ninja had attacked Kabuto Yakushi and Hinata during Naruto's fight with them.
• Kurenai Yuhi explained that little was known about Otogakure and told the team to be careful around its ninja, but Kiba began to object.

Kurenai Yuhi briefed Hinata's team on Morino Ibiki and the Forest of Death before their second Chunin Exam. The team went home to prepare, while Kurenai remained concerned about what Anko Mitarashi was planning.

• Shino Aburame asked Kurenai Yuhi about Morino Ibiki, and she described his role in Konoha's interrogation unit and the scars he received as a captive.
• Hinata asked about Anko Mitarashi, but Kurenai declined to discuss her because they were friends.
• Kurenai told the team that the second exam would take place at Training Ground 44, the Forest of Death, and explained its dangers and layout.
• Hinata decided to stay steady, listen to her teammates and Kurenai, and keep growing stronger.
• After two hours of instruction, Hinata, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame went home to prepare, and Kurenai wondered what Anko was planning.

Hinata celebrated passing the Chunin Exams with her family, then lay awake worrying that events were drifting from the story she once knew. She left the night angry at the Sound Ninja trio and determined not to wait to settle old scores.

• Hyuga Hiashi welcomed Hinata home and shared a lavish dinner prepared to celebrate her passing the first stage of the Chunin Exams.
• Hanabi congratulated Hinata, and Hiashi urged her to keep working hard for the Hyuga Clan.
• Hinata worried that Hiashi's influence would burden Hanabi with the clan's expectations and began planning to protect her sister.
• Hinata replayed Kin's unexpected attack and Anko Mitarashi's dramatic arrival, realizing events were veering from their original course.
• Hinata decided she would not wait years to retaliate against the Sound Ninja trio, then woke the next day with dark circles under her Byakugan.

Hinata met Kiba and Shino before the Chunin Exam, revealing that nerves had kept her awake and asking where Shino bought his sunglasses. At the exam gathering, Anko recognized Hinata from an old encounter and began plotting to scare her.

• Hinata dressed after washing up, ate breakfast alone while Hiashi took Hanabi to train, and headed to Training Ground 18.
• Kiba asked Hinata why she had not slept, and she said she was nervous about the exams; Kiba promised that he and Shino would protect her.
• Hinata asked Shino where he bought his sunglasses, but he discouraged her by saying glasses would make her look ugly.
• Hinata, Kiba, and Shino reached the clearing outside Training Ground 44 and waited with the other examinees.
• Anko arrived tired after Kurenai had pressed her for exam details late into the night, recognized Hinata from a past encounter, and plotted to scare her.
• Hinata sensed Anko watching her and turned to look at her.

Hinata watched Anko Mitarashi’s training session and worried about their old grudge as Konohamaru and his friends interviewed Naruto. Anko’s thrown Kunai grazed Naruto and cut the hair of a disguised Orochimaru, who returned the weapon as Anko sensed him approaching.

• Hinata considered her private oath to eat snakes until they became protected animals whenever she thought about her grudge with Anko Mitarashi.
• Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon interviewed Naruto under Lord Hokage’s orders, and Anko Mitarashi gave the group a ten-minute break before sending the children away.
• Anko Mitarashi threatened Naruto, and her Kunai grazed his cheek before cutting several locks from a Grass Ninja’s hair.
• Anko Mitarashi moved behind Naruto, touched the blood on his face, and warned him that children like him died quickly.
• The Grass Ninja with the long tongue returned Anko Mitarashi’s Kunai, and she sensed him approaching and gripped the weapon.

Anko explained the rules for the Forest of Death exam after Orochimaru and Kurama Mutsu briefly appeared around her and Naruto. The teams prepared to enter the forest for a five-day contest to collect both scrolls and reach the central tower.

• Orochimaru returned Anko's kunai, and Kurama Mutsu appeared to watch the blood before leaving.
• Hinata recognized Kurama Mutsu as one of her subordinates and worried that he might provoke Orochimaru.
• Anko released Naruto's hand and announced that twenty-six teams would compete in the Forest of Death for Heaven and Earth Scrolls.
• Anko said the teams had 120 hours to collect both scrolls and reach the central tower, and warned them not to open their scrolls.
• Anko handed Naruto waiver agreements and directed the teams to submit them, collect their scrolls, and choose an entrance.

Hinata, Kiba, and Shino submitted their agreements and prepared to choose an entrance for the Forest of Death exam. Anko stopped them to inspect their paperwork and identify their clans, while Orochimaru signed his own disclaimer and considered possible threats to his plans.

• Hinata found the agreement dull, signed it, and waited for Kiba and Shino.
• Anko ordered a Chunin to fetch dango and red bean soup, and he hurried off.
• Orochimaru arrived disguised as a Grass Ninja, signed the disclaimer, and wondered about Sasuke and the Sand Ninja.
• Shikamaru noticed that the red-curtained room concealed which teams received which scrolls.
• Anko took Hinata's group's agreements from a Chunin, inspected them, and named Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, and Hinata Hyuga.

Hinata, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame faced Anko Mitarashi's intimidating test before entering the next stage of the exam. The trio headed toward Training Ground Six, with Hinata eager to eat snake meat in the Forest of Death.

• Anko Mitarashi warned the three genin that the exam was dangerous, then lunged at Hinata with chakra snakes after Hinata called her Auntie.
• Hinata calmly admired Anko Mitarashi's stretching neck and recognized that her snakes were condensed Chakra, leaving Anko Mitarashi frozen in surprise.
• Shino Aburame explained that Hinata and Anko Mitarashi seemed like lifelong enemies, and Kiba Inuzuka found the theory strangely convincing.
• Anko Mitarashi ended her scare, praised the trio, and sent them on after Shino Aburame chose a Scroll of Heaven and Hinata picked Entrance Six.
• As they headed to Training Ground Six, Hinata suggested eating snake meat in the Forest of Death, while Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame reacted with surprise.

The wilderness battle royale began, and Hinata’s team cautiously laid traps while Orochimaru’s group headed toward Sasuke. Shadow Hinata, Kurama Mutsu, and Minazuki Hyō set out to find the Sound Ninja after they provoked the original Hinata.

• The twenty-eight teams entered the Forest of Death when the chained gate opened.
• Hinata, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame used their scouting skills to avoid danger and set traps for other teams.
• Orochimaru led his two lackeys toward Sasuke Uchiha.
• Shadow Hinata, Kurama Mutsu, and Minazuki Hyō discussed their plan to find the Sound Ninja, whom the original Hinata was angry with.
• Kin challenged Zaku after he worried that the Sound Ninja would struggle to find Sasuke in the vast forest.

Hinata, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka devised a plan to draw two teams together and take advantage of the chaos as they headed toward the Central Tower. The chapter left Hinata watching as Shino and Kiba approached teams on opposite sides, with the leader of the left-hand Kusagakure team signaling them to stop.

• Zaku and Dosu discussed their poor reconnaissance skills and their determination not to disappoint Lord Orochimaru.
• Tenten asked Neji whether he would help Hinata, and Rock Lee urged him to protect the people he cared about.
• Hinata spotted a fast-moving team while Shino Aburame and Kiba Inuzuka discussed how to pass the second exam.
• Shino Aburame proposed the Hunter Plan: Hinata would scout while he and Kiba lured two teams together.
• After running toward the Central Tower, Hinata located two teams, and Shino and Kiba split up to approach them.
• The left-hand team appeared to be from Kusagakure, and its leader signaled Shino to stop.

Kiba Inuzuka lured a Takigakure team toward the Grass Ninja team as part of a trap, with Hinata watching from nearby. The Grass Ninja recognized the danger and tried to retreat, but the furious Takigakure ninjas charged them.

• Kiba Inuzuka threw Explosive Tags at the approaching Takigakure ninjas, then drew them onward to lead them into another team.
• The Grass Ninja leader abandoned pursuit of the apparently injured ninja and chose to move toward the nearby explosions instead.
• The Grass Ninja leader realized the disheveled Takigakure ninjas had not been weakened and suspected they had walked into a trap.
• The Grass Ninja tried to flee, but the Takigakure ninjas pounced on them, eager to vent their anger.

Hinata, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka watched the Waterfall Ninja and Grass Ninja fight, then laid traps to catch them after the battle. The Waterfall Ninja captain gained the upper hand against the strange-robed Grass Ninja and charged in for a finishing attack.

• A black-spotted Kusagakure man stabbed the Waterfall Ninja captain in the shoulder, reigniting his anger.
• The Waterfall Ninja captain unleashed Wind Style: Great Breakthrough, forcing the three Grass Ninja to stop running and fight.
• Hinata asked what to do, and Shino Aburame directed the team to lay traps nearby rather than join the fight.
• Hinata, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka set traps along routes the combatants might take after the battle.
• The Waterfall Ninja captain knocked the strange-robed Grass Ninja's Kunai away and charged at him, believing he had an opening.

The strange robed man defeated the Waterfall Ninja captain and took the team’s Earth Scroll, completing his pair of scrolls. While he changed routes through the forest to avoid other teams, he found Hinata’s mocking drawing hidden behind a bush.

• The strange robed man used Lightning Release: Earth Running to electrocute the Waterfall Ninja captain and demanded the survivors’ scroll.
• The two Waterfall Ninja handed over their Earth Scroll in exchange for their captain, and the strange robed man left with his two companions.
• The strange robed man worried about Konoha’s rule that all three teammates had to reach the central tower unharmed and repeatedly changed direction to avoid danger.
• The strange robed man slashed through a bush and revealed Hinata’s stunned-face drawing, while Hinata watched nearby with her Byakugan activated.

Hinata, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka abandoned their traps and attacked the Grass Ninja team, with each taking on an opponent. Shino fought the captain but was caught in a Water Release technique and slammed into the ground.

• Shino Aburame and Kiba Inuzuka decided their traps would not work and joined Hinata to fight the Grass Ninja.
• The three Konoha ninja assigned themselves opponents and launched Kunai and Shuriken at the Grass Ninja.
• Shino charged the Grass Ninja captain while Hinata and Kiba engaged the other two.
• The captain used Water Release: Water Wave, and the current caught Shino and slammed him into the ground.

Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, and Hinata defeated the Grass Ninja team and secured the required scrolls. With a complete Heaven and Earth set, they decided to head straight to Central Tower.

• Shino Aburame used his insects to drain the Grass Ninja captain's Chakra and knock him unconscious.
• Kiba Inuzuka easily defeated the other Grass Ninja with Akamaru's help.
• Hinata knocked out her opponent with a Gentle Fist strike, and Shino Aburame explained how it disrupted the exhausted ninja's Chakra and nervous system.
• Kiba Inuzuka found the Heaven and Earth Scrolls on the Grass Ninja captain, completing the team's set with Hinata's Scroll of Heaven.
• Shino Aburame urged the team to go directly to Central Tower, and Kiba Inuzuka agreed to leave despite wanting another fight.

Hinata learned that Mizuki Rei and Kurama Mutsu were waiting for the Sound Ninja near Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto, so she left her team to find them. As Sakura struggled onward with the unconscious Sasuke and Naruto, Kurama Mutsu asked whether they should help, while Mizuki Rei kept watch for Shuoyue.

• Mizuki Rei told Kurama Mutsu that Shuoyue had been informed and would likely arrive before their target appeared around nightfall.
• Hinata, Kiba, and their companion rested near the Central Tower after deciding not to travel through the dark.
• Hinata's Shadow Clone dispersed, revealing that Mizuki Rei and Kurama Mutsu were waiting for the Sound Ninja near Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto.
• Hinata created another Shadow Clone to conceal her departure, then headed toward Mizuki Rei and Kurama Mutsu using the Byakugan.
• Sakura lowered the unconscious Sasuke and Naruto to the ground and set off in one direction, prompting Kurama Mutsu to ask Mizuki Rei whether they should help her.

Minazuki Rei and Kurama Mutsu watched three Sound Ninja while waiting for Hinata, who arrived after searching for them with her Byakugan. Hinata considered what to do next and came up with an unusual idea for carrying out her mission.

• Minazuki Rei noticed the three Sound Ninja first, and Kurama Mutsu sketched them and the surrounding scenery while they waited.
• Hinata searched the area with her Byakugan and found Minazuki Rei and Kurama Mutsu near the dozing Sound Ninja.
• Kurama Mutsu urged Hinata to attack the three Sound Ninja so they could find somewhere to sleep.
• Hinata hesitated over the decision, then thought of an unusual way to proceed with her mission.

Sakura faced the three Sound Ninja alone while Hinata, Minazuki Hyō, and Kurama Mutsu watched from nearby. After Dosu destroyed Sakura’s trap, Hinata noticed that Rock Lee was nowhere in the area and wondered whether one of her companions had scared off a squirrel.

• At dawn, Sakura woke and found Sasuke and Naruto still unconscious.
• Dosu’s group confronted Sakura, and Dosu said they wanted to fight Sasuke.
• Sakura revealed that she knew Orochimaru was behind Sasuke’s curse mark, but Zaku tried to attack her.
• Sakura triggered a trap that dropped a massive log toward the Sound Ninja.
• Dosu smashed the log with his weapon, leaving Sakura despairing.
• Hinata, Minazuki Hyō, and Kurama Mutsu watched from a tree, and Hinata noticed Rock Lee was absent.