NARUTO Quiz | Episodes 20–37: Chunin Exams Written Test and Forest of Death

Kakashi is the person who nominates Team 7. Iruka worries that testing them while they are still young and inexperienced could damage their potential, but Kakashi believes that they have grown enough. Their disagreement concerns whether the timing is right, not whether they care about the students.

Lee launches techniques at eye-defying speed, and Sasuke cannot fully read the attacks even when he tries to analyze them with the Sharingan. As Sasuke realizes, Lee's strength is rooted in rigorously trained taijutsu, not genjutsu or an ability that steals the Sharingan.

Kabuto has taken the Chunin Exams several times without passing, but that experience has allowed him to compile extensive data on other candidates. His information shows Team 7 that accomplished genin are carrying the reputations of their villages into the exam. He is not the examiner deciding the results.

The first exam appears to be a ten-question written test whose result depends on the three members' combined score. Its purpose, however, is not limited to solving hard questions independently: it tests whether a ninja can gather information without the proctors catching the method. The format and the assessed skill must be distinguished.

The pressure surrounding the tenth question tests whether candidates can step into a dangerous mission despite potentially severe consequences, rather than whether they know a written answer. Naruto refuses to go back on his word, and his declaration dispels the remaining candidates' anxiety. He does not pass by writing the correct answer to the tenth question.

At the start, each team receives only one type, either a Heaven Scroll or an Earth Scroll. The team must take the other type from a rival and carry both to the tower. Two scrolls of the same type or a return to the entrance does not meet the requirement.

Sasuke is not attacking his actual teammate; he has detected an enemy disguised as Naruto. After the impostor escapes, the three establish a password so they can check one another's identities if they are separated again. The scene is about caution against transformation, not a quarrel within the team.

Naruto reasons that handing over the scroll provides no guarantee that the attacker will spare them, so he chooses to fight. Moved by that response, Sasuke also counterattacks with the Sharingan, but the enemy identifies himself as Orochimaru and departs after placing a curse mark on the Sasuke he has targeted.

Exhausted from watching over her teammates, Sakura regrets always relying on others and stands up to protect Naruto and Sasuke herself. Cutting her hair embodies her decision to cast off her hesitation. Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji, who have been watching her struggle, enter the fight with their Ino-Shika-Cho teamwork.

Team 7 heads for the tower with Kabuto but is drained by Oboro's genjutsu, which makes them walk in circles and surrounds them with duplicates that do not disappear when struck. After overcoming the trap and reaching the tower, they open the two scrolls; Iruka appears and announces that they have passed, while also explaining the responsibilities of a chunin. The scrolls must not be opened before reaching the tower.