Recaps

Naruto survived the Land of Waves mission, mastered new abilities with help from Minato and Kushina, and returned to Konoha determined to grow stronger while keeping his change in behavior restrained. Hiruzen watched Naruto settle back into his apartment as preparations for the joint Chunin Ninja Exams began.

• Naruto regained consciousness after Haku’s Senbon attack, tamed the Nine-Tails’ Chakra, and helped defeat Haku’s Demonic Mirrors while Sasuke lay unconscious.
• Naruto released Haku so he could protect Zabuza, who died after fighting Gato and his hired warriors, while the people of the Land of Waves drove the surviving men away.
• Naruto entered the Sealing Space, reunited with Kushina and Minato, received their guidance in ninjutsu and sealing, and gained Minato’s authority over the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style.
• Naruto tested Absolute Control on Kurama, controlled the Nine-Tails’ Chakra in Four-Tails Mode, and transformed the Sealing Space into a golden expanse and grassland.
• Naruto returned to bridge duty, learned five days had passed, and watched Tazuna unveil the completed Naruto Bridge before Team 7 departed for Konoha.
• Naruto returned to his apartment and cleaned it, while Hiruzen watched him and received the participant lists for the joint Chunin Ninja Exams.
• Naruto reviewed the sealing knowledge Kushina had taught him as Hiruzen read through the exam entrants.

Naruto secretly trained with Kurama, mastered the first stages of the Flying Raijin Technique, and prepared for the Chunin Ninja Exams. The arc ended as Team 7 reached Classroom 301 and found Genin guarding the entrance while beaten candidates crawled away.

• Naruto encountered Kankuro, Temari, and Gaara, then pursued Iruka after he abducted Moegi as a test of Naruto’s readiness.
• Naruto escaped ANBU surveillance and established a concealed training site beneath a waterfall, where he asked Kurama to become his partner.
• Kurama accepted Naruto and gave him Chakra, allowing Naruto to enter Golden Body Mode and train with his Shadow Clones.
• Naruto completed the first stage of the Flying Raijin Technique, teleporting to marked kunai and concealing a fixed mark in the cave.
• Naruto registered for the Chunin Ninja Exams, encouraged Sasuke to train Sakura, and ordered custom Chakra-Conductive Metal kunai from Tenten.
• Naruto secretly trained through the five days before the exams, mastering continuous midair teleportation and improving his Golden Body Mode.
• Naruto met Sasuke and Sakura at the Ninja Academy, where Genin guarded Classroom 301 as beaten candidates crawled away.

Naruto and his teammates passed the first two Chunin Exam stages, then Naruto advanced through the preliminaries while Sasuke received a Cursed Seal. As the final exam approached, Naruto gained new training scrolls and began practicing as Jiraiya sought him out.

• Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto reached the Chunin Exam classroom, where Ibiki began the written test and Naruto passed by accepting the risk of the final question.
• Anko led the second exam in the Forest of Death, where Naruto fought Orochimaru to protect Sasuke and Sakura, then met Karin and gave her a marked kunai.
• Orochimaru placed a Cursed Seal on Sasuke, but Sasuke later defeated Dosu, Zaku, and their teammate and took their Earth Scroll.
• Naruto and Sasuke reached the tower with both scrolls, and the preliminary matches began after Kabuto withdrew.
• Naruto defeated Kiba, then watched Neji badly injure Hinata before challenging Neji’s claims about fate.
• Hiruzen set the final examination for a month later, and Naruto drew the first match against Neji while Kakashi stayed to train Sasuke.
• Naruto told Hiruzen he wanted to become Hokage and protect his teammates, then received scrolls for Vacuum Blade and Shadow Clone Shuriken.
• Naruto began training the two techniques with fifty Shadow Clones, just as a deep voice spoke in his consciousness.

Naruto trained under Jiraiya, defeated Neji in the Chunin Exams, and fought to protect Konoha during Orochimaru’s invasion. The Third Hokage died, Sunagakure withdrew after learning Orochimaru had deceived it, and Naruto left Gaara with a chance to change the Shinobi World.

• Naruto confronted Jiraiya, then accepted him as a temporary teacher and learned Chakra Nature Transformation, the Rasengan, and the Summoning Technique.
• Naruto signed Mount Myoboku’s toad contract, summoned Gamabunta, and spent twenty days using Shadow Clones to develop new techniques, including Wind Release: Rasenshuriken.
• Naruto defeated Neji with the Rasengan and promised to oppose systems that controlled other people’s lives, while Sasuke’s match against Gaara was postponed until his arrival.
• Orochimaru’s forces attacked Konoha during the exams, and Naruto resisted the genjutsu, rescued Hinata, and chased after Sasuke and Gaara.
• Naruto defeated Sasuke, Temari, and Kankuro, then fought Shukaku and used the Four Symbols Seal to return him to Gaara.
• Naruto’s Tailed Beast Bombs devastated Root’s base, while Danzo survived with Izanagi and ordered Root to investigate the attack.
• Hiruzen used the Reaper Death Seal against Orochimaru and died defending Konoha, after which the village defeated the invading forces.
• Naruto explained Orochimaru’s deception to Gaara, gave him a Flying Thunder God-marked Kunai, and watched him leave with Kankuro and Temari as Sunagakure sought ceasefire negotiations.