Chunin’s Exam

## **Chunin Exam**

### The Chūnin Exam

Vlad Plasmius is in the Ghost Zone at Pariah's Keep, looking for the Ring of Rage and the Crown of Fire, ancient artifacts that belonged to Pariah Dark, one of the most powerful ghosts in Ghost Zone history. Vlad manages to find the Ring of Rage easily, but when he goes for the Crown of Fire, he opens the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep that Pariah Dark was sealed in, reawakening the ghost king.

After trying to make a deal with the Fright Knight, Vlad starts to run away from Pariah, but is shot with an ectoplasmic beam and thrown straight through the Fentons' ghost portal. In the Fenton Works lab, Jack and Maddie work on the Fenton Ecto-Skeleton, a battle suit designed to beat back even the most powerful of ghosts. Vlad crash lands nearby and struggles for Jack's help.

Team 7 returned to Konoha to continue with their lives as regular genin. One day, whilst playing with Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi, Naruto met three genin from Sunagakure, Gaara, Kankurō, and Temari, and learned that they were in Konoha to participate in the Chūnin Selection Exams. Meanwhile, Kakashi, Asuma and Kurenai all volunteered their teams for the exam as well. Naruto was thrilled at the possibility of becoming a chūnin. Danny heads for school, happy he stopped ghosts and finished his homework in time. His happiness ends when Dash and Kwan chuck a football at him. Danny retaliates back by shooting a small ghost ray to knock a sign down in their path and later stuffing Dash's locker with toilet paper. Dash, angry, chases Danny into the cafeteria.

He hides under the a table inhabited by geeks. He also finds Valerie under the same table, hiding from Nathan because he keeps asking Valerie to the senior prom, despite it being three years away. Danny and Valerie start a friendly conversation, finding out they have more in common than they realize.

After school, the two continue running from their current problems. They come across Sam, hiding from her mother (who wants her to try on a perky dress). Sam isn't too pleased to see them hanging out together, worried for Danny's sake as the three run to hide in the Fenton household.

Inside however, Danny gets a surprise when he sees Vlad in the living room with his parents and Jazz. Vlad reveals his plan aloud to steal the Ecto-Skeleton that Jack and Maddie have been working on, merely claiming he is "joking."

Afterwards, he turns his attention to Valerie, who is shocked that Vlad knows her (as is Danny).

An alert goes off, with Maddie claiming that a huge ghost attack is on its way. While Danny goes into the Ghost Portal to stop the ghosts, Sam and Jazz trip the parents to buy Danny some time. Vlad, meanwhile, converses with Valerie. Danny heads to the basement lab. To his relief, Box Ghost pops out.

Then more ghosts (most of whom he has fought previously) come out of the Fenton Portal, escaping the Ghost Zone. Danny and Skulker fight and they end up outside, though Sidney Poindexter expresses that Pariah Dark is a more important threat. That doesn't stop the ghosts from attacking Danny, causing him to nearly fall unconscious and transform back into his human half.

Meanwhile, Vlad tells Valerie that he supplies her with ghost hunting gear because he's impressed by her abilities and determination, and gives her the Ring of Rage for reasons he does not yet say. Meanwhile in the Ghost Zone, Pariah Dark readies his army.

### First Phase

The first part of the exam (proctored by Ibiki Morino) was written, but it was not a test of knowledge as much as a test of information-gathering and willpower. The first nine questions were supposed to be obtained by cheating, where the genin must use any techniques to find out the correct answer without being caught. Naruto, who did not realise this, went into a traumatic state in which he felt that he would cause his entire team to be eliminated, as he did not know the answer to any of the questions. Sasuke realised that he, too, did not know the answers, but immediately activated his Sharingan to copy someone else's answers. Sakura, as a testament to her incredible intellect, answered all of the questions quickly (a feat which the examiner later said could not be accomplished at genin level). The last question was a do or die question: if one didn't answer, one's entire team failed the Chūnin Exams, but if one answered incorrectly, one would remain a genin forever. Naruto showed that he was not a quitter when he exclaimed that he didn't care if he stayed a genin forever, and that, even if that came to pass, he would still become Hokage. The genin who chose to answer the question all passed the first part of the Chūnin Exams — including Naruto, who didn't answer a single question on the written part of the exam.

### Second Phase

The second part of the exam (proctored by Anko Mitarashi) was a survival exam in the Forty-Fourth Training Ground, also known as "The Forest of Death". During this part, Naruto found himself in a desperate situation against Orochimaru, an S-rank missing-nin from Konoha so powerful that the Third Hokage later mentioned that there was nobody in Konoha that could fight him equally. It turned out that Orochimaru used to be one of the Third Hokage's pupils, also known as the Sannin. Naruto and Sasuke's reactions to the situation were a complete reversal of what had happened in the Land of Waves mission — Sasuke was frozen with fear while Naruto fought on fearlessly, at one point stopping Orochimaru's huge summoned snake in its tracks on his own (with the help of some fox chakra), and muttering to Sasuke, in a moment of glorious retribution that marked another milestone in their rivalry, "You're not hurt, are you… scaredy-cat?" Naruto eventually snapped Sasuke out of his panic. However, Orochimaru used the Five Elements Seal on Naruto, disrupting the flow of the fox's chakra, as well as Naruto's own.

However, Orochimaru was too much for Sasuke as well. In the end, Orochimaru put a Cursed Seal of Heaven onto Sasuke's neck, saying that Sasuke would eventually come to him for the power he needed to kill his brother, Itachi Uchiha. Orochimaru then left, sending his three genin, Team Dosu from Otogakure, to go after Sasuke.

Meanwhile, Anko was informed about the corpses of three genin from Kusagakure. She recognised one of them as Shiore. She found out that someone must've killed the genin and used their faces to disguise themselves and enter the exams. She suspected that the Shiore who took the exams was actually Orochimaru. She ran off to confront Orochimaru, only to have her Cursed Seal of Heaven reactivated by him. Orochimaru warned her not to stop the exams.

While both Naruto and Sasuke were unconscious from the fight against Orochimaru, Sakura had to take care of them. It was there that Sakura's personality reached a turning point. As Kin Tsuchi of Team Dosu trapped her by roughly holding her by her hair, Sakura realised how pathetic her behaviour was, always blindly praising and criticising others, when she was the one who hadn't improved at all. She reflected on herself, thinking how she was always telling Naruto that she was better than him, when he had been the one who was consistently improving, and telling Sasuke she loved him when she couldn't even muster up enough strength to protect him as a team-mate, before she symbolically freed herself by cutting off her long hair with a kunai, which she had initially kept long because it had been rumoured that Sasuke liked girls with long hair. She also decided to fight against the Oto genin, and resolved to no longer be dependent on her team-mates. At this point, Team 10 arrived on the scene. Rock Lee fought the Oto ninja and used the Front Lotus on Dosu, who was saved by Zaku but admitted that the Lotus still almost killed him. Rock Lee is then defeated by Dosu. Team 10 fights the Oto ninja to save Sakura, but ultimately fails. The rest of Team 9 arrives at the scene. Dosu Kinuta, the leader of Team Dosu, mentioned that Neji could "see through them", but before Neji could attack, an awakened Sasuke intervened.

The cursed seal on Sasuke had by now started to take effect, and, in a state of insanity and murderous intent, Sasuke defeated Zaku Abumi of Team Dosu, going as far as to dislocate his shoulders for no other reason than to cause him pain. Before he could do any more damage to anyone else, however, Sakura hugged Sasuke, crying and begging him to stop, allowing Sasuke to regain control of the seal. Dosu left with his team-mates, wondering why Orochimaru had sent him to kill Sasuke if he had known that Sasuke would have the cursed seal. Team 7 still managed to make it past the second stage by defeating Team Oboro of Amegakure, with a little help from Kabuto Yakushi, a fellow ninja from Konoha.

### Preliminaries

Seven teams managed to pass, which was more than 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 Exams. The twenty-one people — or twenty, after Kabuto withdrew — 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 matchup was Sasuke Uchiha against a member of Kabuto's team, Yoroi Akadō. Before the fight started, Kakashi warned Sasuke that, if his cursed seal got out of control, he would have to intervene and stop the match to control the seal; this barred Sasuke from using any technique, as the seal responded to flows of chakra. The match started with Yoroi stealing Sasuke's chakra with his chakra absorption. 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 the Lion Combo, a partial copy of Rock Lee's Front Lotus, which had been captured by Sasuke's Sharingan. Yoroi was knocked unconscious, and Sasuke advanced to the next round. After the fight, Kakashi took Sasuke away to seal the cursed seal.

Up next were Zaku Abumi and Shino Aburame of Konohagakure's Team 8. Zaku apparently only had one functional arm, but he bet that he could win regardless. Elsewhere, the cursed seal was sealed by Kakashi, but then Orochimaru showed up for Sasuke, asserting that all the genin he currently had at his command were disposable. As Kakashi readied his Lightning Cutter, Shino commanded a multitude of insects to attack Zaku from behind, leaving the one-armed Zaku unable to defend himself with his unidirectional technique. Zaku then revealed he could use both arms, but it was too late. The insects had blocked the tubes in Zaku's arms, building up the chakra he was trying to use and making the arms explode, thus ending the fight. Orochimaru left, saying that Sasuke would be his someday.

The match with Misumi Tsurugi against Kankurō of Sunagakure's Three Sand Siblings began. Misumi quickly used Soft Physique Modification to restrain Kankurō and threatened to snap his neck, until it was revealed that the Kankurō Misumi was fighting was just a puppet. The real Kankurō was disguised, controlling the puppet with the Puppet Technique. He used the puppet, Karasu, to crush Misumi's bones, defeating him.

The fourth match, Sakura versus Ino of Konohagakure's Team 10, was particularly meaningful, as the two were rivals. The match dragged on for a very long time, since they seemed to be quite on par, until Ino tried to possess Sakura's body to force her to forfeit the match; however, Sakura's will expelled Ino from her mind. Exhausted and out of chakra, they both went for a final attack, hitting each other at the exact same time and rendering each other unconscious. Hayate declared that neither of them would move on to the next round.

The fifth match was Tenten of Konohagakure's Team Guy against Temari of Sunagakure's Sand Siblings. The match was over quickly, as all the projectile weapons used by Tenten were completely countered by the Wind Release techniques used by Temari, who won without taking as much as a single scratch. 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, Shikamaru Nara of Konohagakure's Team 10 against Kin Tsuchi, was next, with Shikamaru aware that he was at a disadvantage, since Kin had seen him use his Shadow Imitation Technique in the Forest of Death without showing her own fighting style. Kin started by dodging the Shadow Imitation Technique and throwing senbon with and without bells, using strings to ring the bells from unexpected positions to divert Shikamaru's attention and attack him from behind. Shikamaru, however, managed to join her shadow with his, using the shadows of the strings she was holding. With Kin matching Shikamaru's movements, each drew a shuriken and flung it at the other. When it came time for them to duck, Shikamaru ducked successfully, but Kin, having previously retreated, banged her head against the wall and knocked herself out, which turned out to be the true goal of Shikamaru's battle strategy. Shikamaru emerged as the winner.

Naruto, still impaired by the Five Elements Seal, was matched up with Kiba of Konohagakure's Team 8 in the seventh match. The fight went poorly for Naruto at first, especially after Kiba's ninken, Akamaru, joined the fight and transformed into Kiba with the Beast Human Clone technique. Naruto made a comeback by transforming in a layered fashion into Akamaru and then Kiba, so that, when Kiba attacked Naruto, the second Transformation (as Kiba) gave way to the first (as Akamaru), leading Kiba to attack Akamaru (still affected by Beast Human Clone). Kiba then focused on attacking intensively to keep Naruto from counter-attacking, until Naruto accidentally broke wind, 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, the Naruto Uzumaki Combo.

The eighth match brought a family rivalry to the forefront, as Hinata and Neji of the Hyūga clan battled. Kiba, being borne away on a stretcher, urged Hinata to forfeit. At first, Neji assaulted Hinata psychologically, using her fears to convince her that she had no possibility of winning. However, after being inspired by Naruto's courage, Hinata decided to fight to prove that she could be brave as well. They both fought using the Hyūga Gentle Fist style and the Byakugan, a kekkei genkai which Kakashi asserted to surpass the Sharingan. While they initially seemed to the observers to be equally matched, Neji managed to interrupt Hinata's chakra flow in her arms, disabling her ability to use Gentle Fist. Hinata still tried to go on, and it was only the exam proctor’s intervention that stopped Neji from killing her. Hinata's bravery still managed to inspire Naruto, as he vowed to battle and win against Neji in the third exam.

The ninth match pitted Lee against Gaara of Sunagakure's Sand Siblings. At first, none of Rock Lee's taijutsu attacks managed to penetrate or circumvent Gaara's Shield of Sand, until Lee removed the weights he was wearing on his legs. The boost of speed was such that Gaara's sand couldn't follow Lee's movements, and Gaara was hit for the first time in his life. However, Gaara was revealed to be using Armour of Sand to keep Lee's attacks from working on him. Realising that his normal attacks will no longer work, Lee then used his Front Lotus on Gaara, but in the end it was revealed that it had been a sand clone. Having no other way to end the match, and with Guy's permission, Lee 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. He then proceeded to continuously beat Gaara with his Reverse Lotus. However, as Gaara fell to the ground, he dispersed his sand gourd as a cushion to break his fall. Gaara then used his Sand Binding Coffin to crush Rock Lee's left arm and leg. Might Guy jumped down to prevent Gaara from killing Lee, and regretted 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 Chōji Akimichi of Konohagakure's Team 10 versus Dosu Kinuta. Chōji was reluctant to battle, instead wanting to forfeit, but tried after being promised food by his sensei, Asuma Sarutobi, if he won. Chōji entered the battle with prior knowledge of Dosu's sound-based attacks, and quickly used Human Bullet Tank to plug his ears from the Oto ninja's attacks; however, Dosu overcame this by transmitting his sound through the water in Chōji's body, thus defeating him.

### Finals

After the preliminary ends and drawing lots to determine the first round match-ups for the main tournament, there was a one-month period in which the remaining genin could prepare themselves. Various dignitaries were also invited to watch the main matches. During this month, Naruto met Jiraiya, another Sannin, for the first time. Jiraiya agreed to be his sensei, and was the one who taught him most of the advanced techniques he learned during that time.

Under Jiraiya, Naruto improved his chakra control by practising walking on water, learned how to call upon the fox's energy at will after Jiraiya used Five Elements Unseal to cancel Orochimaru's Five Elements Seal, and how to use the Summoning Technique to call the giant toad, Gamabunta, to his aid, but was so exhausted after completing his training that Gamabunta carried him to the hospital.

Also, during the month of training, Dosu, who was trying to sneak up on and kill Gaara, was ripped to shreds by him. Hayate was murdered by Baki, the jōnin of the Sand Siblings, after he overheard Baki talking with Kabuto about their plans to invade Konoha. Gaara also attempted to assassinate Lee in the hospital on the day before the finals, but was stopped by Naruto and Shikamaru. Gaara revealed his past, which led to Naruto's realizing that they had similar histories of prejudice, before Guy stepped in and forced Gaara to leave. The next day at school, Dash messes with Danny some more, causing him to further abuse his ghost powers on Dash, something Sam is not too keen on. Back at the Fenton lab, the Fright Knight takes Maddie captive. Jack uses his incomplete Ecto-Skeleton to quickly beat up the Fright Knight and rescue Maddie, though the Ecto-Skeleton drains him of his energy and nearly kills him.

Due to the fact that Hayate Gekkō was murdered during the one month break, Genma Shiranui became the proctor for the final exam. The first match was Naruto against Neji. Naruto's fight with Neji in the first match of the finals was a very dramatic one. During the fight, Neji lectured Naruto much as he had done with Hinata during the preliminaries, telling Naruto that failures remained failures and that this could not change. Naruto eventually won the battle through a combination of the demon fox's power sealed within him and sheer belief in victory. In the process, he changed Neji's outlook on life, and inspired him to create his own fate, thus forming another important bond. Naruto was able to make Neji understand that destiny could be changed, and they became good friends from that point on.

The second match, which featured Sasuke versus Gaara, was moved to be the last, as Sasuke hadn't arrived yet. Normally he would have been disqualified on the spot, but his match had been highly anticipated — in fact, some of the crowd commented they had mostly come just to see him fight, forcing the Third Hokage to give in to the Kazekage's request to postpone the match.

The third match, which featured Shino versus Kankurō, was given to Shino on default, since Kankurō forfeited to "keep his techniques a secret" before the invasion was launched.

The fourth match was Temari versus Shikamaru. Both Temari and Shikamaru were excellent strategists, but Shikamaru was better. Although it appeared throughout the match that Shikamaru was using pointless attacks, he was actually five steps ahead, and managed to skilfully manipulate Temari into a position where he could attack from behind, using the tunnel which Naruto had dug during his match with Neji to stealthily extend his Shadow Imitation Technique. This took control over Temari's body, and forced her to imitate every one of Shikamaru's movements. Although Shikamaru could have won, he quit instead, saying that he was too low on chakra. His real reason for quitting, however, seems to be because he is incredibly lazy and saw no point in winning, which would only lead to having to fight in further matches. He also didn't want to hurt a girl.

Gaara versus Sasuke came around again. This was the battle that the crowd had been looking forward to. Sasuke arrived right on time as the match was about to begin. Sasuke demonstrated that his speed had vastly increased, to the point where the sand guarding Gaara could not keep up. Sasuke also demonstrated Chidori, a technique he had learned from Kakashi and Kakashi's only original technique, to injure Gaara. Before the match could finish, however, a smoke bomb was set off in the Kages' box. Kabuto, who was actually working for Orochimaru, used the genjutsu to put almost everybody in the crowd to sleep, and the Konoha Crush commenced.

## Invasion

Pariah's ghost army attacks Amity Park, causing a widespread panic. In the meantime, all the ghosts take this time to claim a new haven, invading various stores in the human world to hide in (except Sidney, who feels they're merely bullying their way in).

Tucker and Sam express their concern about Danny spending time with Valerie. Danny, however, enjoys her company, and Valerie (who comes from behind) thinks the same of him, too. Danny's ghost sense then goes off so he runs, only to bump into Dash. Using his ghost powers again, Danny overshadows Dash and smashes him to the lockers repeatedly. He resumes running off and finds Vlad.

Vlad points out how Danny used his powers to get revenge on bullies and that Danny and Vlad are not so different, both using their powers for personal gain. They then fight. While Danny fights off Vlad, Valerie makes note of Sam's crush on Danny, warning her she better make a move before someone else does. Tucker, Sam, Danny's parents, and Valerie's father Damon Gray watch reports about the ghost invasion on TV.

Vlad leads Danny to the football field where Vlad tells him he has a much bigger threat to fight off, as Fright Knight and his army are there. Vlad helps Danny fight off Fright Knight and his army. As they fight, Valerie comes along and attacks the two, but Danny manages to persuade her to trust him and fight alongside him.

The Fright Knight puts his sword in the ground and states a royal decree of the Ghost King, which creates a massive ghost shield around the entire city. He states that the barrier will only be removed if the humans give up the Ring of Rage, and any human removing the sword generating the barrier is an act of surrender. Valerie continues to fight the Fright Knight, only for her to be knocked unconscious.

Afterwards, Maddie arrives in the Fenton RV with Damon and the other parents to collect their kids. At the Fenton household, Vlad helps Maddie build the rest of the Ecto-Skeleton while Sam and Tucker discuss with Danny further on his close contact with Valerie, thinking the ring on her finger is used for ghost detection. They suppose the ring is the one Fright Knight mentioned, and leave to gather more info.

They find Skulker and Danny and him fight. Sidney quickly breaks it up by telling Skulker that Danny could help them. Skulker takes Danny, Sam, and Tucker into the hideout where all of Danny's enemies in the Ghost Zone are staying.

Skulker then tells them all about Pariah Dark: a powerful ghost who ruled the Ghost Zone with an iron fist, drawing unlimited power from the Ring of Rage and the Crown of Fire, until a desperate move got him to be sealed for all eternity... or so it seemed, until Vlad reawakened Pariah Dark. Danny afterwards tries to get all the ghosts to ally with him and fight Pariah, but they all merely laugh and leave, causing Danny to go at it alone.

Later near his house, Danny requests for Vlad and confronts him asking for the ring back, leading the two to fight each other again (going back to the football field from earlier) while Vlad continues to manipulate Danny, stating he is more like him than he knows. Vlad's mocking frustrates Danny, causing him to pull Fright Knight's sword.

This activates Pariah's decree, pulling the entire town into the Ghost Zone. The invading ghosts resume their march, and Fright Knight and Pariah arrive. Pariah easily defeats Vlad and Danny. Jack and Maddie announce to the town to hide under the Fenton Ghost Shield, which Damon increases the size of as well as sends out a Ghost Probe.

Pariah Dark would have destroyed Danny and Vlad if not for Valerie, who comes and rescues the two while sending the ring flying away on a missile. Pariah heads for the ring while Fright Knight gives chase until she manages to get over to the other side of the Fenton Ghost Shield. She then takes the two to Danny's room, where she rests herself from her own injuries. Pariah captures the missile and puts on the ring, regaining his full powers.

Vlad leaves, using his intangibility, by the time Jack and Maddie come to check up on Danny and Valerie, assuming they're just hanging out. After leaving, Danny wakes up and is reunited with Tucker and Sam, where he shares his guilt for not fixing this problem sooner.

Seeing it as his responsibility, he heads to the basement with Sam and Tucker, watching from above as his parents and the other adults discuss the Ecto-Skeleton.

### The Third Hokage vs. Orochimaru

With the invasion of Konoha's start, Suna and Oto ninja pour into Konoha, using giant snakes to topple the village's protective wall. As this goes on, the Fourth Kazekage holds a kunai to the Third Hokage's neck, holding him hostage and allowing them both to get to the roof of their sitting area without confrontation. As Anbu members try to come to the Third's rescue, the Kazekage's minions erect the Four Violet Flames Formation, preventing anyone from getting in or out. As the Kazekage begins to mock the Third for getting so old and even going so far as to call him "sensei", the Third realises that the Kazekage is actually Orochimaru in disguise, who sheds his disguise so that he can face his former master face to face.

The Third Hokage, knowing that Orochimaru has come to kill him, removes his Hokage outfit, revealing his fighting gear underneath. Orochimaru comments that the Third came prepared for their battle, and the two stare each other down. When one of the tiles on the roof cracks, they begin their battle. The Third starts by sending hundreds of shuriken at Orochimaru, who blocks the attack by summoning three coffins to shield himself. The Third, recognising the coffins, deduces what Orochimaru is trying to do and attempts to stop the coffins summonings, though only two coffins open, and the reanimated corpses of the First Hokage and Second Hokage step out. The two deceased Hokages greet the Third and comment on the impressiveness of Orochimaru being able to summon them. In response, the Third states that he regrets having to see the two again as opponents and tells them to prepare for defeat.

Orochimaru prepares the two Hokages for battle, removing the effects that death has had on their bodies and erasing their personality. Angered by Orochimaru's use of his former teachers, the Third attacks the group, though his efforts are neutralised and he is thrown back and restrained by the First Hokage's ability to summon trees. Realising he's outnumbered, the Third summons Enma to help him in battle, who transforms into a large staff to give the Third a weapon. With Enma in hand, the Third tries to attack Orochimaru though he is again repelled by the other two Hokages. Using his failure as an opportunity, the Third plants explosive tags on the two Hokages, taking away each of their legs. The legs, however, regenerate, showing the Third that conventional attacks are useless.

Out of options, the Third prepares to use the only jutsu that will work, though Orochimaru first decides to show him something. Removing the mask he had been wearing, Orochimaru reveals his "true" face, that of a young woman, whose body Orochimaru had stolen and begun to occupy. Recognising this as Orochimaru's success in finally achieving a path to immortality, the search for which he had been expelled from Konoha for, the Third begins to understand why Orochimaru has come to Konoha: to take the body of Sasuke Uchiha. Determined to not let this happen and to rectify his mistake of allowing Orochimaru to escape years earlier, the Third creates two shadow clones, and all of the Thirds prepare to use Dead Demon Consuming Seal, a technique the Third claims Orochimaru, despite his extensive knowledge of jutsus, has never seen before.

As the demon called forth by the seal, only able to be seen by the Third, readies itself, the Third is forced to endure the other two Hokages' blows, weakening his old body even more. As soon as the seal is ready for use, the Third's shadow clones each grab hold of a Hokage and the demon plunges its hands into each. Momentarily regaining their senses, the Hokages all apologise to each other, the First and Second for the trouble they've caused the Third, and the Third for the fate he has sentenced them to. The demon pulls the souls of the First and Second from their bodies and seals them within the bodies of the Third's shadow clones, causing the clones to disappear in a puff of smoke.

No longer inhabited, the First and Second's bodies dissolve, revealing themselves to in actuality be the bodies of Zaku Abumi and Kin Tsuchi, two Genin Orochimaru had entered into the Chunin Exams and had now sacrificed for his means. Angered by Orochimaru's careless use of his subordinates, the Third grabs Enma and exchanges blows with Orochimaru and his Kusanagi Sword. Throwing the Kusanagi and Enma aside, the Third grabs onto Orochimaru and the demon of the seal plunges its hand into Orochimaru. Sensing that his soul is being removed from his body, Orochimaru calls his Kusanagi to him, stabbing the Third in the back.

This turn of events forces the Third to halt the removal of Orochimaru's soul, the latter of which questions why he didn't block the attack. The Third explains that in exchange for using the sealing technique, the user is sentenced to death, as was demonstrated by its use by the Fourth Hokage on the demon fox years earlier. Due to large amount of his soul that has been removed, Orochimaru is now able to see the demon of the seal, just in time to witness the consumption of the Hokage souls affected by it. Once eaten by the demon the souls are trapped in its belly, forced to spend eternity in a constant battle of hate with one another. This revelation brings fear to Orochimaru's eyes, who tries to ensure the Third dies before he can be given that same future.

### Pursuing Gaara

As the Hokage battle goes on, the Jonin in the audience that had managed to repel out Kabuto's genjutsu begin to confront the invading ninja, determined to protect the audience from stray attacks. Meanwhile, Baki informs Kankurō and Temari to take Gaara elsewhere, his injury making him useless for the planned invasion. Sasuke, confused about what is going on, follows the three, wanting to finish his fight with Gaara. Kakashi watches Sasuke go off, unable to leave his current duty of protection. He does, however, notice that Sakura too has managed to shake the genjutsu, and tells her to wake Naruto and Shikamaru so that they can follow Sasuke. She does so, though she finds that Shikamaru was also unaffected by the genjutsu, choosing to pretend like he had so that he could avoid being drawn into battle. To help in their pursuit of Sasuke, Kakashi summons Pakkun to guide them, and the four set off.

As the group leaves the stadium and enters the forest, Pakkun senses that they are being followed by nine Oto ninja. To act as a distraction and buy the others some time, Shikamaru stays behind to slow down the ninja. After altering his surroundings to give the impression that the group went in a different direction, Shikamaru lies in wait for the following invaders. Once they catch up and take notice of the apparent change in course, Shikamaru traps the group with his Shadow Imitation Technique. Shikamaru notices, however, that he has only managed to catch eight of the nine, indicating that one ninja had been following behind to protect the others.

Running low on chakra and therefore running out of time that he can restrain the ninja with, Shikamaru throws shuriken at the group so that he can find out the location of the ninth. The shuriken are all stopped by the free ninja's needles, and Shikamaru tries to extend his shadow to the ninja's location, though he doesn't have enough shadow to work with. After keeping the eight at bay for a while longer, Shikamaru's chakra runs out, and he is forced to release the group. Freed, the group encourages the ninth ninja to be the one to kill their captive, and in response a ninja appears behind Shikamaru. The ninja, however, catches everyone by surprise, as it is revealed to be Asuma Sarutobi with the ninth ninja in tow. In a flash, Asuma takes out the other eight, and he tells Shikamaru to take a rest. Every parent, as well as Jazz, argue over who gets the suit, knocking each other senseless. Danny then heads over to get the suit, only for Valerie to block his path. When Damon comes downstairs, Danny takes advantage of this and removes her mask, thus buying him enough time to go intangible and grab the Ecto-Skeleton while Damon berates his daughter for her current dangerous job as a ghost hunter.

Danny prepares for battle atop the Fenton roof, while Tucker and Sam watch emotionally, afraid for him due to the suit's unreliability. Danny tries to reassure them, but asks if they have anything to say. Sam tries to express her feelings, but Pariah appears, giving a message to the humans.

Danny then goes off to fight as he goes ghost, giving the Ecto-Skeleton a touch of his own personality as well. He then gets Tucker to prepare to lower and raise the ghost shield as he leaves. Everyone cheers on *Inviso-Bill*, to which Danny corrects as "Danny Phantom" before heading off to fight Pariah.

Sasuke eventually manages to catch up to Gaara, Kankurō, and Temari. As Kankurō prepares to fight Sasuke in the hopes of giving Temari and Gaara time to escape, Shino Aburame arrives to fight Kankurō in Sasuke's stead, wanting to have the fight he had been denied during the finals. As Sasuke goes off to continue his pursuit of Gaara, Kankurō unveils his puppet, Karasu, and Shino readies his bugs for battle. Kankurō uses Karasu's new arsenal of weapons to try and poison Shino, though Shino's bugs allow him to make a number of otherwise impossible evasions. As Kankurō continues to direct Karasu, Shino is able to navigate his bugs in secret to Kankurō's location, which consume his chakra and prevent him from moving. With Kankurō no longer able to move, Shino collapses, Karasu's one successful strike finally taking effect.

As Kankurō and Shino's fight draws to a close, Sasuke again manages to catch up to Gaara, who having sensed Sasuke's arrival, swipes Temari out of the way. As Gaara's contemplations of killing Sasuke increase, his "transformation" begins with his sand forming a new monstrous arm. With the arm, Gaara is given increased speed and strength, forcing Sasuke to begin his assault with another Chidori, a technique he is only capable of using a twice a day. As Gaara charges at Sasuke, Sasuke unleashes his jutsu, slicing Gaara's arm in two. Though the technique is successful in injuring Gaara, it does nothing but increase his desire to fight, causing him to spout a tail of the same nature as the arm. As Gaara charges again, his speed once again increased, Sasuke is forced to use Chidori a third time, pushing him to his limits and forcing him to activate the curse seal given to him by Orochimaru. Though Sasuke's attack once again slices Gaara's arm in two, Sasuke's use of the curse mark drains his remaining energy and causes him to collapse. As Gaara makes for the finishing blow, Naruto arrives and kicks Gaara away.

As Sakura and Pakkun start to tend to Sasuke, Naruto attempts to figure out who Gaara is, his face now partially transformed as well. Upon learning that the beast is Gaara and remembering Gaara's vow to kill to prove his existence, Naruto yells to the others to run away. Gaara, however, has already made his move and charges at the downed Sasuke. Sakura, her willingness to help others strengthened during the Chūnin Exams, shields Sasuke and prepares to attack Gaara if necessary. Due to the look in Sakura's eyes, Gaara is unable to bring himself to harm her, instead using his arm to pin her to a nearby tree. To save Sakura, Naruto charges at Gaara though only manages to get himself swatted aside. To help him in his battle, Naruto attempts to summon Gamabunta, though is only able to summon Gamakichi, a considerably smaller toad that does nothing but taunt Naruto.

Unimpressed by Naruto's attempt at a summon, Gaara gives the battle a stipulation: using his sand to keep Sakura pinned to the tree, Gaara causes the sand to slowly form a tighter hold on her, forcing Naruto to defeat him before Sakura suffocates. With the new incentive for battle made, Gaara hurls Sand Shuriken at Naruto, who grabs Gamakichi to shield him from the attack. This onslaught allows Gaara another chance to further his transformation, now having two beastly arms and his face being that of his final transformation. His attacks ineffective against this new form, Naruto decides that, to save Sasuke and Sakura, he will battle with his life, and pulls out all of the stops for the battle.

After creating a number of shadow clones, Naruto uses the clones to launch himself at Gaara. Though Gaara swats him aside once again, Naruto manage to plant an explosive kunai under Gaara's tail, something that just so happens to be Gaara's weak spot. Before Naruto can collide with the surrounding trees, Sasuke catches him and tells him to save Sakura and run. Naruto, remembering the time Sasuke risked his life to save him, says that he will be the one to fight Gaara, since the two are so much alike. Repeating his promise to protect those precious to him, Naruto taps into the demon fox's chakra, enabling him to create 1,999 shadow clones.

With his army of shadow clones, Naruto uses his Uzumaki Naruto Two Thousand Combo, sending wave after wave of attacks at Gaara and pushing Gaara to his limits of endurable damage. Not wanting to lose, Gaara completes his transformation, destroying all of Naruto's shadow clones and transforming into a tanuki that stands many times higher than the tallest tree. Determined to make Naruto pay for forcing him into his final form, Gaara begins to encase Naruto in his Sand Binding Coffin. Before the compacting effects of the technique can begin, Naruto again taps into the power of the demon fox, and again attempts the Summoning Technique. Finally successful, Gaara's coffin expands and bursts, with Naruto riding upon Gamabunta's head ready for battle.

Gamabunta, having yet to find Naruto worthy of commanding him, is reluctant to fight for Naruto. Gamakichi, revealed to be Gamabunta's son, encourages the giant toad to accept Naruto due to Naruto's earlier protection of him from Gaara. Upon learning that Naruto helped his son and that Gaara had picked on a member of the Gama family, Gamabunta decides to help Naruto and unsheathes his equally giant sword. Pariah's castle is guarded by a seemingly infinite number of ghosts, and Danny uses a lot of energy trying to destroy them, though when it appeared he had no chance, Sam and Tucker arrive in the Specter Speeder, where they drop off many of Danny's ghost enemies, all who help Danny fight off the army and get him into the castle. Charging at Gaara, Gamabunta puts all of his might into his sword swing, though is just barely successful at cutting off Gaara's arm. Impressed with Naruto's display of abilities, Gaara emerges from the sand tanuki's forehead and puts himself to sleep, awakening the personality of the One-Tailed Shukaku sealed within Gaara.

Now freed from the restraints imposed upon it by Gaara's consciousness, Shukaku is able to use its more devastating abilities, each of which Gamabunta is unable to counter completely. Because toads lack natural weapons such as fangs or claws, Gamabunta asks Naruto to help him transform into something more capable of close combat. Choosing the first animal that comes to mind, Naruto transforms Gamabunta into a giant fox, allowing the latter to bite and tear at Shukaku. With Gamabunta locked in combat with Shukaku, Naruto leaps from Gamabunta's head to that of Shukaku, punching Gaara and waking him up, forcing Shukaku back into submission.

With Gaara awake again, his first priority becomes protecting himself from Naruto. As Gaara's sand tries to again encase Naruto, a now untransformed Gamabunta uses his tongue to shield Naruto. Naruto, determined to now defeat Gaara and save a Sakura who is running out of time, taps into the demon fox's power for one more attack. With chakra radiating from him, Naruto breaks free of Gaara's shackles and charges at Gaara, who manages to use his sand to restrain Naruto's hands and legs. Using the only weapon he has left, Naruto puts all of his energy into a headbutt. Naruto's last desperate attack being right on the mark, Gaara's strength is sapped and the giant tanuki disintegrates. Gamabunta, worn out by the battle, returns home with Gamakichi, though not before complementing Naruto's outstanding fighting abilities. As the two Genin fall through the air, each manages to land on neighbouring treetops and each prepares for what will be their last exchange of blows. Once each is ready, the two leap at one another, their destinies about to be decided.

### Finale

Back at the stadium, the Jōnin of Konoha observe their field of victory, the bodies of Oto and Suna ninja strewn across the arena. The battle between the Third Hokage and Orochimaru has, over the past hour, not changed, as each is still locked in place; the Kusanagi in the Third's back and the soul partially removed from Orochimaru's body. The Third, wise as he is, has used this time to come to the conclusion that he no longer has the strength needed to completely remove Orochimaru's soul, and decides instead to make this Orochimaru's last battle. Having the demon of the seal turn its attention to Orochimaru's arms, the Third prepares to complete the only seal he can now make.

Hoping to break the Third's will to go on, Orochimaru reminds his former master of the casualties Konoha has suffered at the hands of his invasion, saying that Konoha will crumble. Disheartened that Orochimaru would so quickly forget the abilities of Konoha's ninja, the Third reminds his former student of the Konoha ninja's desire to protect their village. All throughout the village, battles between Konoha's elite and the invading forces rage on, and despite the overwhelming forces united against them, the fighting few of the village utterly defeat the enemy. Determined to prove his point and to finally prove to Orochimaru that power does not lie within knowledge of techniques, the Third seals Orochimaru's arms, taking away his ability forevermore of using jutsu. Once inside, Danny finds Pariah, where he begins to battle him as the suit slowly drains away his life force. While Pariah puts up a good fight, Danny duplicates himself for the first time (thanks to the suit extending his power), to easily outmatch him.

When Pariah regains the upper hand, Danny removes his crown and stuffs Pariah back in the sarcophagus. As Pariah fights to get out, Danny struggles to keep him in, the suit nearly draining away his life as he does so. Just as Danny's strength runs out, Vlad locks Pariah inside, putting him back to sleep and returning Amity Park to Earth. Afterwards, Danny passes out.

When Danny wakes up in his room, he finds himself surrounded by his family, Sam, Tucker, Valerie, Damon, and Vlad. Maddie expresses how Vlad rescued him, no longer hating him for doing such a kind thing. As Orochimaru's arms fall useless to his sides, the Third bids his final farewells, in unison with Naruto's defeat of Gaara.

Naruto and Gaara fall to the earth, and the Third Hokage falls over dead with a grin on his face. Enraged that, even in death, the old man could manage to smile, Orochimaru calls for assistance, and Enma, now free, honours his old friend by removing the blade from his back before disappearing. As Orochimaru's subordinates gather their leader and flee, the Jōnin in the stadium confront the only two remaining invaders. With Kakashi's encouragement, Kabuto removes his Anbu disguise and whispers to Baki that they should retreat. As the two disappear, other battles conclude: Temari picks up a defeated Kankurō, Sakura is freed from Gaara's sand, and Naruto approaches a defeated Gaara.

Fearing that Naruto means to do him more harm, Gaara beckons him to stay away. Upon getting close enough, instead of harming Gaara, Naruto displays pity, stating that he too knows the pain of being alone. Naruto, however, was able to find people to nurture his pain and bring him hope, and states that if Gaara ever again tries to hurt those people that have brought him happiness, he will again be forced to again take action. Gaara, in disbelief, realises that Naruto's strength comes not from his desire to help himself, but to help those that are dear to him, which begins to change Gaara's outlook on life. Sasuke gathers up Naruto, extremely impressed and jealous of Naruto's display of strength. Likewise, Temari and Kankurō retrieve a beaten Gaara, who, for the first time ever, apologises to them. As the last of the invading Oto and Suna ninja flee the village, the elite of Konoha gather upon the resting spot of their Hokage's body. During the Hokage's funeral a few days later, the ninja of Konoha vow to remember his sacrifice forever. Later on, the news states the current recovering of Amity Park as well as Inviso-Bill, now understood to be Danny Phantom, to be a hero to the majority of Amity Park (with the majority of his supporters up to 64%).

The next day at school, feeling guilty for abusing his powers, Danny goes to apologize to Dash, who then hangs him to the flag pole by his underwear as Dash's own way of accepting said apology. Meanwhile, Valerie goes to Tucker and Sam, stating she is starting to like Danny, something neither Sam and Tucker enjoys. As a result, they send Nathan after her.