Chapter Summaries

As the second Chunin Exam began, Kenya lounged in the tower monitoring room while Anko monitored the candidates. When Amegakure ninja tried to sneak toward the tower, Kenya stopped them with a watermelon seed, but a sudden sandstorm then alarmed Anko.

• Team 7 entered the Forest of Death and became embroiled in a fight with candidates from Amegakure.
• Kenya relaxed in a rocking chair, eating Ice Release-chilled watermelon while Anko watched the exam screens and scolded him.
• Anko spotted three Amegakure ninja sneaking toward the tower and prepared to intercept them, but Kenya stopped her.
• Kenya hardened a watermelon seed with Armament Haki and flicked it through the bulletproof window, knocking the Amegakure captain unconscious from hundreds of meters away.
• The other two Amegakure ninja fled, and Anko stared in shock as Kenya settled back down to watch the exam.
• A violent sandstorm appeared on a monitoring screen, and Anko's expression changed drastically.

Anko watched the Chunin Exam surveillance while Kenya dismissed the dangers and judged the examinees. The chapter ended as Gaara used sand to crush an Amegakure examinee’s hands and feet.

• Anko grew uneasy after the surveillance feed showed a strange sandstorm in the area where Gaara of Sunagakure was.
• Kenya ate donuts and criticized the examinees’ skills while Anko urged him to take the deadly exam seriously.
• Kenya argued that the exam reflected the Shinobi World and said he could intervene if trouble escalated.
• An Anbu alerted Anko that an examinee was using methods beyond the exam rules, and she ordered the footage onto the main screen.
• The screen showed Gaara trapping three Amegakure examinees with sand and crushing one of their hands and feet.

Gaara tortured the Amegakure examinees and unleashed a rampage that threatened to swallow them and nearby Konoha examinees in quicksand. As they neared their deaths, someone began crunching rice crackers above the rocks.

• Gaara crushed an Amegakure examinee with sand while two others tried to flee, and nearby Konoha examinees watched from behind a boulder.
• Kankuro begged Gaara to stop, but Gaara said he was enjoying the torture and shouted that his mother still craved blood.
• Gaara released Shukaku's chakra and used Sand Burial, turning the ground beneath the Amegakure and Konoha examinees into quicksand.
• Anko prepared to intervene, but Kenya had disappeared from the monitoring room, leaving half a watermelon behind.
• As the examinees were about to be swallowed, the sound of someone chewing rice crackers came from above the rocks.

Senju Kenya confronted the berserk Gaara while casually eating rice crackers, and Gaara sent three giant sand pythons to crush him. The attack disappeared into a cloud of dust, but the sound of metal scraping revealed that Kenya had apparently survived unharmed.

• Senju Kenya appeared atop a stone pillar, scolded Gaara for making too much noise, and claimed he was responsible for discipline at the exam site.
• Temari and Kankuro warned Kenya to flee because Gaara had lost control, but Kenya refused and joked about issuing Gaara a ticket for damaging the site.
• Gaara redirected his sand from the examinees and formed three giant sand pythons to attack Kenya.
• The pythons swallowed Kenya in a cloud of sand and dust, but Gaara sensed that his sand had struck something seemingly indestructible.
• A piercing sound of metal scraping came from inside the sandstorm as the pythons bit down on Kenya.

Senju Kenya withstood Gaara’s sand attacks with Armament Haki, then blew away the massive Sand Waterfall Flow with one breath. Gaara was left stunned as cracks appeared in his Sand Armor.

• Senju Kenya’s Armament Haki protected him from Gaara’s sand pythons without leaving a mark.
• Gaara unleashed Sand Waterfall Flow, sending a towering wave of sand toward Kenya and the trapped examinees.
• Senju Kenya blew out a powerful gust of air that swept away the sandstorm and cleared the rocky area.
• Temari, Kankuro, and the examinees watched in shock as Gaara’s attack was effortlessly overcome.
• Gaara stared in disbelief as cracks began appearing in his Sand Armor.

Gaara’s partial Shukaku transformation erupted after his Sand Armor cracked, but Kenya stopped his attack with a single powerful slap. Gaara was knocked unconscious and the rampaging transformation ended, leaving Kankuro, Temari, and the watching Konoha examinees stunned.

• Gaara’s Sand Armor cracked apart, causing him to lose control and partially transform under Shukaku’s influence.
• Shukaku took over Gaara’s transformed side and threatened to kill everyone nearby as Kankuro and Temari collapsed in fear.
• Kenya used Six Powers: Soru to cross the distance and pierce Gaara’s sand wall with Armament Haki.
• Kenya slapped Gaara across the face, shattering his Sand Armor and sending him crashing through trees into a distant mound.
• Gaara lay in the crater with his transformation gone, his cheek swollen and his eyes bewildered, while the onlookers gaped.

Kenya overwhelmed Gaara with a series of slaps and harsh advice, then left him with a rice cracker and told him to strengthen his body instead of relying on sand. Gaara was left crying from the unexpected mix of pain and concern, while Temari and Kankuro watched in fear.

• Gaara struggled to rise and attack Kenya, but Kenya grabbed him by the collar before his sand could gather.
• Kenya slapped Gaara repeatedly, mocking his threats and offering absurd reasons for each blow while his Armament Haki broke through Gaara’s sand defense.
• Shukaku felt the Haki’s force and retreated in fear, while Gaara stopped resisting and became frightened and confused.
• Kenya released Gaara, tossed him a rice cracker, and urged him to stop talking about killing and build his strength instead of relying on sand.
• Gaara stared at the cracker and began to cry, while Temari and Kankuro trembled as they watched.

Temari and Kankuro found Gaara beaten into a calm state, while Team 7 hid and Naruto praised Kenya’s strength as Sasuke insisted ninjutsu would prove superior. The chapter ended when a snake bearing Orochimaru’s face appeared outside their hiding place and stared at Sasuke.

• Temari and Kankuro approached Gaara in the crater and found him badly beaten but calm.
• Naruto excitedly praised Kenya and said he wanted Kenya to train him after the exams.
• Sasuke dismissed Kenya’s strength as crude taijutsu and vowed to prove the Uchiha’s power in the exams.
• A cold wind carrying a bloody stench swept into Team 7’s hiding place, filling them with a sense of danger.
• Sasuke activated his Sharingan and saw a venomous snake with Orochimaru’s face staring at his neck.

Orochimaru attacked Sasuke in the Forest of Death, intending to plant the Cursed Seal of Heaven and claim him as a vessel. Kenya intervened before the bite landed, leaving Orochimaru pinned and defeated.

• Orochimaru revealed himself in a human-faced python disguise and used his killing intent to paralyze Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke.
• Orochimaru targeted Sasuke as a potential vessel and lunged to bite his neck with the Cursed Seal of Heaven.
• Kenya appeared and slapped Orochimaru’s extended snake head against the hollow wall before he could reach Sasuke.
• Kenya pinned Orochimaru with Armament Haki, then released him after his disguise had collapsed.
• Naruto rejoiced at Kenya’s arrival, while Sasuke stared in disbelief at the man who had saved him.

Kenya confronted Orochimaru over his research into immortality, mocking the scientist and advising him to build strength through exercise. Orochimaru attacked with a vast swarm of venomous snakes, and Kenya charged forward with his arm coated in powerful Armament Haki.

• Kenya appeared inside Orochimaru's tree hollow, then washed and pocketed his rice-cracker wrapper while Orochimaru and Team 7 watched in confusion.
• Kenya asked Orochimaru about his immortality research and ridiculed it as blind experimentation.
• Kenya advised Orochimaru to do push-ups and sit-ups instead of researching body-switching techniques, enraging him.
• Orochimaru used Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes, sending a swarm of venomous snakes toward Kenya and frightening Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto.
• Kenya coated his right arm in dense Armament Haki, causing the snakes to freeze in fear, then charged at Orochimaru.

Kenya overwhelmed Orochimaru with his speed and taijutsu, then relentlessly battered him after Orochimaru shed his ruined body. Naruto cheered Kenya on while Sasuke stared in shock at the difference in their strength.

• Orochimaru used a chakra drug to push his vessel's speed and strength to their limits and prepared a powerful attack against Kenya.
• Kenya used Six Powers: Soru to bypass Orochimaru's snakes and smash him into a tree with a single punch.
• Orochimaru used his Substitution Technique to shed his damaged body and emerge in a fresh one.
• Kenya appeared beside Orochimaru and hammered him with Black Iron: Hundred Rending Barrage, leaving him unable to fight back.
• Naruto excitedly cheered Kenya while Sasuke watched in stunned silence, unable to follow Kenya's speed.

Kenya brutally defeated Orochimaru, interrupting his Eight Branches Technique and forcing him to escape. Kenya then returned to the stunned Sasuke and cheering Naruto.

• Kenya pummeled Orochimaru into a crater, leaving him gravely injured.
• Orochimaru attempted to transform with the Eight Branches Technique, but Kenya crushed a forming serpent head with Armament Haki: Meteor Stomp.
• Orochimaru used Great Snake Style: Manda Escape to split into tiny white snakes and flee underground.
• Kenya chose not to pursue Orochimaru and wiped the blood and snake slime from his flip-flops.
• Kenya turned toward Naruto, who was cheering, and Sasuke, who remained frozen and pale from the fight.

During the Chunin Exams’ break, Senju Kenya turned the tower rest hall into a barbecue stall, selling grilled sea-beast meat to exhausted candidates. As the candidates eagerly lined up to buy food, Naruto reached the front with an empty wallet.

• Kenya left Sasuke and Naruto to recover from their encounter with Orochimaru and urged Team 7 to take their scrolls to the central tower.
• After the five-day Forest of Death test ended, the surviving candidates entered the tower hungry and exhausted.
• Kenya set up a large barbecue stall in the rest hall, with Haku grilling and chilling the meat and Shizune collecting payments.
• Kenya charged ten thousand ryo per skewer, and a hungry Sunagakure candidate bought one and praised its taste and chakra-restoring effect.
• Candidates from across the nations formed a long line to buy the skewers, while Naruto reached the front with an empty wallet.

Kenya fed Naruto and Sasuke grilled meat at his stall, winning over both boys despite their different objections. After serving Team 7, he resumed business as Hinata shyly approached him with a handkerchief.

• Naruto admitted he could not afford the grilled meat, so Kenya gave him three skewers as an apprentice perk.
• Naruto devoured the meat and praised it as far better than Ichiraku Ramen.
• When Sasuke denied being hungry, Kenya pulled him to the stall and fed him a skewer.
• Sasuke was won over by the taste and the meat’s chakra-restoring energy, then eagerly ate more.
• Kenya returned to selling barbecue, and Hinata approached him with a handkerchief.

Hinata thanked Kenya for saving Hizashi, and Kenya gave her custom-made Iron Fist Knuckles while teaching her to attack with brute force. Hinata tested them by punching a huge dent into an iron pillar.

• Hinata gave Kenya a handkerchief and thanked him for rescuing Hizashi.
• Kenya criticized Hinata’s Gentle Fist and said she should learn to defend herself with physical strength.
• Kenya used Wood Release to make Hinata a pair of black iron knuckles engraved with “Iron Fist.”
• Kenya showed Hinata how to punch and urged her to test the knuckles on an iron pillar.
• Hinata activated her Byakugan, focused chakra into her right fist, and dented the pillar with a punch.

The third-stage preliminaries began, and Senju Kenya mocked the competitors from the VIP seats while Sasuke Uchiha defeated Akadō Yoroi. The next match was announced as Neji Hyuga versus Hinata Hyuga.

• Hinata Hyuga demonstrated her powerful punch against an iron pillar, and Kenya urged her to use her knuckle dusters against close-range opponents.
• The preliminaries began in the tower's central training hall, where Kenya lounged beside Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi in the VIP seats.
• Sasuke Uchiha defeated Akadō Yoroi with Lion Combo despite the restrictions of Orochimaru's cursed seal.
• Kenya mocked the competitors and insulted Zaku, prompting him to glare furiously from the arena.
• Gekko Hayate announced the next matchup: Neji Hyuga versus Hinata Hyuga.

Neji challenged Hinata’s belief in herself by claiming fate could not be changed, while Kenya mocked his fatalism and urged him to confront the Hyuga Clan’s rules directly. As Neji prepared to attack, Hinata drew the Black Iron Wood knuckle dusters Kenya had given her and faced him with renewed resolve.

• Neji told Hinata to forfeit, insisting that her weakness and their places in the Main and Branch Families were dictated by fate.
• Kenya mocked Neji over the loudspeaker and argued that he should use his strength to challenge the people enforcing the Hyuga Clan’s rules instead of targeting Hinata.
• Neji rejected Kenya’s advice and redirected his anger toward Hinata, taking the Gentle Fist stance.
• Hinata recalled Kenya’s advice about fighting an opponent who attacked at close range and steadied herself.
• Hinata put on the Black Iron Wood knuckle dusters Kenya had given her and assumed an Eight Trigrams Palm stance.

During Neji and Hinata’s match, Kenya interrupted the fight and revealed that Neji’s father, Hizashi, was alive and living on his island. The revelation shattered Neji’s convictions, while Hiruzen and Hiashi were left stunned.

• Neji attacked Hinata with Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, intending to cripple her.
• Kenya halted the match over the loudspeakers and told Neji that Hizashi was not dead.
• Kenya claimed he had rescued Hizashi from the Kumogakure delegation and that Hizashi now lived comfortably on his island in the Land of Waves.
• Neji’s belief in fate and years of resentment crumbled when he heard his father was alive.
• Hiruzen and Hiashi fell out of their chairs after hearing Kenya’s revelation.

Kenya revealed that Hizashi was alive, shattering Neji’s beliefs and driving him into a furious attack on Hinata. Hinata stood her ground and prepared to defend herself with chakra-charged knuckle dusters.

• Kenya told Hiashi that Hizashi was alive and would return to the village after the Chunin Ninja Exams, and Hiashi broke down in tears.
• Neji saw Hiashi’s reaction and realized Kenya was telling the truth, causing his beliefs about fate and his hatred to collapse.
• Neji rejected the truth and lunged at Hinata, accusing the Main Family of conspiring against him.
• Hinata refused to retreat, charged her knuckle dusters with chakra, and dodged Neji’s disordered attacks.

Hinata defeated Neji in the preliminaries, while Kenya gave Tenten iron wood spikes to use as hidden weapons. After a month of training and preparation, the Chunin Exam finals began in a bustling Konoha.

• Hinata fought back against Neji with iron knuckle dusters and knocked him out of bounds to win their match.
• After the preliminaries, Tenten worried that she could not afford more ninja tools, so Kenya offered her iron wood spikes made with Wood Release.
• Tenten threw a spike through a thick steel plate and excitedly accepted Kenya's offer to use the weapons in the finals.
• During the month before the finals, Kenya lived comfortably, checked on the Iron Fist Chamber of Commerce, and trained Sasuke and Naruto.
• A month later, Konoha filled with decorations and crowds as the finals began.