Plot_Naruto_I
Pusingan kelayakan
Seven teams managed to pass, which was twice as many as had been expected. To cut down the prevailing Genin from the second exam, a preliminary round was staged before the third and final stage of the Chūnin Exam. The twenty-one people (twenty after Kabuto quit) were to be matched up with each other, in a fight that lasted until somebody gave in or was unable to continue fighting. The proctor of the third exam, Hayate Gekkō, did reserve the right to step in and stop the fight when he felt that there was a clear winner. Sakura at first attempted to tell the examiners that the Cursed Seal that Orochimaru had placed on Sasuke was seriously debilitating him, but Sasuke stopped her, and told her to mind her own business. At that point, Naruto stepped in to stand up for Sakura, but was swiftly silenced by Sasuke, who acknowledged Naruto by declaring that he was one of the people he wanted to fight. Later on, Naruto would return the sentiment. The first match up was Sasuke Uchiha against a member of Kabuto's team, Yoroi Akadō. Before the fight started, Kakashi warned Sasuke that, if his Curse Mark got out of control, he would have to intervene and stop the match to control the Mark, which barred Sasuke from using any jutsu at all just so he could fight. The match started with Yoroi stealing Sasuke's chakra through his hands. The match seemed hopeless for Sasuke, until he heard Naruto's taunts. Next to him was Rock Lee, which gave Sasuke an idea. He used Lion's Barrage, a copy of Rock Lee's Primary Lotus move, which had been captured by Sasuke's Sharingan. Yoroi was knocked unconscious, and Sasuke advanced to the next round. After the fight, Kakashi took him away to seal the Cursed Seal. Up next were Zaku Abumi and Shino Aburame. Zaku only had one arm he was able to move, but he bet that he could win. Down below, the Curse Mark was sealed by Kakashi, but then Orochimaru showed up for Sasuke. He said that all the Genin he currently had at his command were all disposable. As Kakashi readied his Chidori, Shino commanded a multitude of bugs to attack, leaving Zaku with a choice: to go for him or the bugs. Zaku then revealed he could use both arms, but it was too late. The bugs had blocked Zaku's chakra and had built it up in his arms, making them explode and thus ending the fight. Orochimaru left, saying that Sasuke would be his someday. The match with Misumi Tsurugi against Kankurō began. It seemed like Misumi would win, until it was revealed that the Kankurō Misumi was fighting was just a puppet. The real Kankurō was disguised, controlling the puppet with his chakra. He used the puppet to defeat Misumi. The fourth match, Sakura versus Ino, was particularly meaningful, as the two were rivals. The match dragged on for almost an hour before they hit each other at the exact same time, thus rendering each other unconscious. Hayate declared that neither of them would move on to the next round. The fifth match was Tenten against Temari. The match was over quickly, and Temari won easily. Rock Lee jumped down to avenge Temari's treatment of Tenten, but Might Guy stopped what would have turned into a fight. The sixth match of Shikamaru Nara against Kin Tsuchi of Team Dosu was next, with Shikamaru aware that he was at a disadvantage, since Kin had seen him use his jutsu in the Forest of Death without showing her own fighting style. Kin started by dodging the Shadow Possession Technique and firing needles with and without bells. She managed to divert his attention by ringing the bells with strings to mock him, then she struck him with silent needles. Shikamaru managed to get his shadow across to her using the strings to perform the jutsu. They both drew out shuriken and flung them at each other. When it came time for them to duck, Shikamaru ducked successfully, but Kin knocked her head against the wall and knocked herself out, which turned out to be the true nature of Shikamaru's battle strategy. Shikamaru emerged as the winner. Naruto was matched up with Kiba in the seventh match. The fight went poorly for Naruto at first, especially after Kiba's dog, Akamaru, joined the fight and transformed into Kiba for the Beast Human Clone jutsu. Naruto made a comeback by transforming into Kiba and tricked him by transforming into Akamaru before his transformation reversed, leading to Kiba attacking the other "Kiba", thinking that he was Naruto, which resulted in him knocking out Akamaru by mistake. Kiba then focused on attacking intensively to keep Naruto from counterattacking, until Naruto accidentally blew off, which stunned Kiba, whose sense of smell was magnified a thousand times at the time. Naruto then beat Kiba by using shadow clones to perform a new technique, Uzumaki Naruto Combo. The eighth match brought a family rivalry to the forefront, as Hinata and Neji battled. Kiba, being escorted away on a stretcher, urged Hinata to forfeit. Hinata, however, after being inspired by Naruto's courage, still wanted to fight to prove that she could be brave. They both fought in the Hyūga Gentle Fist style, enabling them to cut off each other's chakra flow. They both also had the Byakugan eyes; a trait which Kakashi said surpasses the Sharingan eye. With the Byakugan, Neji exploited Hinata's fears with the intention of killing her, and it was only by the exam proctor’s intervention that stopped him from doing that. Hinata's bravery still managed to inspire Naruto, as he vowed to battle and win against Neji in the third exam. The ninth match had Rock Lee against Gaara. Rock Lee used his remarkable taijutsu abilities, but barely managed to scratch Gaara. He then opened five of the inner chakra gates, the result being that Lee's strength was multiplied immensely for a short time, but also severely injured him. Gaara was beaten badly. Rock Lee used his Reverse Lotus technique to attempt to break through Gaara's sand armor, at the expense of great pain and injury to himself. When Gaara was falling, however, he dispersed his gourd into sand as a cushion to break his fall. Gaara used Sand Binding Coffin to crush Rock Lee's left arm and leg. Might Guy jumped down to defend Lee, regretting having taught Lee how to open the inner gates, after learning from the medical ninja that Lee could no longer be a ninja due to his intense injuries. Gaara won the match. The last match was Choji Akimichi versus Dosu Kinuta. Chōji was reluctant to battle, instead wanting to forfeit, but tried after being promised food by Asuma if he won. Chōji entered the battle with prior knowledge of Dosu's abilities, and quickly used Human Bullet Tank to hide his ears from the Sound ninja's attacks. Dosu managed to overcome this by transmitting his Vibrating Sound Drill through Chōji's flesh, quickly defeating him.