Chuunin Exams
The Chuunin Exam occur two times a year. Gennin-level students who enter the Chuunin Exams have a chance to increase there rank from a Gennin to a Chuunin. High ranked ninja called Jounins act as proctors for the exam. They watch not only for a Gennin's physical power, but their will and mind power as well. That's why there are typically three stages in the Chuunin examination. In NARUTO, we only had a chance to see one Chuunin Exam in place. This Chuunin exam included a preliminary round before stage 3 to lower the amount of participants because it was being watched by different nations in the world of NARUTO.
Chuunin Exam Stage One: The Written Test
The first part of the Chuunin Exam was a written test, that tested the Gennins intellectual skills.
In NARUTO, the exam we saw was proctored 
by a man named Ibiki Morino, who is a Jounin
with a very interrogating personality. The tests which he gives are impossible to pass
by a normal Gennin. Ibiki's rules include that there is no cheating allowed, and
if they even try to cheat they will be caught by his assistants who have an
excellent eye to notice suspicious activity. If he or any of his
assistants (whom are watching the exam from round the room) catch a test taker
they will get thrown out with
his team mates.
The written test consists of ten questions. Participants will be graded as a
team. So the grades will be based on for Naruto's 
team, for example, on the
collective scores of Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke. Ibiki hands out to the test to
the participants, and said that there are only nine questions written on the
test. The tenth question will be asked verbally at the very end of the exam and
at least one
of the ten questions must be anwsered correctly by every team
member, or else the whole team fails. When the test begins the participants are
surprised by the difficulty of the exam. There are things on there that they
have never seen before. Eventually some of the participants begin to cheat with
some being caught. The ones that were not caught realized they had to cheat by
using there special abilities. Sasuke, for example, used his Sharingan to view
the pencil movements of a fellow test taker in order to get the answers.
Naruto
is become angry, frustrated, and scared because he is about to fail the
exam and make his team mates fail with him. Hinata who sits next
to him, offers
Naruto her test paper, but Naruto in fear, does not copy it. He only needs to get only one question write to get to the
second stage of the exams. Because Naruto can not answer any of the questions
and is afraid to cheat, he decides he'll wait for the 10th question and get that
one right. Naruto thinks he can get it right and pass,
but when Ibiki explains later 
on that if the person stays after being given the
10th and final question, and gets the question wrong, that person
will remain a Gennin forever. Fortunately, for Naruto, the tenth question was to
choose whether or not to leave the examination to avoid being a Gennin forever.
Ibiki explains after the test that this part of the test was to determine ones
will and mental strength in pressure situations and that the written test itself
is not graded. The choice to continue on to take the test after being threatened
that they will never rise in rank if they answer the tenth question incorrectly
was the only question that attributed to the passing of the exam.
Chuunin Exam Stage Two: The Forest of Death
The second part of this exam is a test to survive in harsh conditions
and is proctored by Anko Matarshi. Gennins who
passed Ibiki's test can now enter
The Forest of Death They call it the Forest of Death because of all the dangers
that lye in it. Each team of three are given either a Heaven or Earth scroll. To
pass this stage, they must get both scrolls. So, for example, if one team had
the Earth scroll, they must fight another team that has a Heaven scroll in an
attempt to take there scroll. After they have both scrolls, the team must report
to the main tower in the middle of the forest by one week. Only 13 teams at most
can pass this exam because there are a total of 26 scrolls with 13 Heaven
scrolls and 13 Earth scrolls. Gaara and his teammates reach the tower in record time with both scrolls.
During this exam a new villain by the name of Orochimaru appears. He eats the
scroll given to Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke thus allowing for only 12 teams at
most to pass. During the process Orochimaru bites Sasuke, giving him a cursed
seal which gives Orochimaru the ability to control Sasuke.
Chuunin Exam Stage Three Preliminaries
Many students passed the Death Forest test, and since there were too many Gennins
left it was decided that a preliminary round must be held. The preliminaries
were held right after the completion of stage two without a break in between. A
Jounin by the name of Hayate Gekko announced that there would be one on one
fights, in which the winner of those fights gets to advance to the third and final
stage. The rules were that the fight goes on until someone gives up, dies, or is
unable to battle as decided by the proctor, Hayate Gekko. Each Gennin wanted needed to win no matter
what, however, one by one people got eliminated and there were only 9 Gennins
left at the end. The results are as follows:
- Fight 01: Sasuke Uchiha defeats Yoroi Akado
- Fight 02: Shino Aburame defeats Zaku Abumi
- Fight 03: Kankuro defeats Tsurugu Misumi
- Fight 04: Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka knock each other and both do not advance to Stage 3.
- Fight 05: Temari defeats Tenten
- Fight 06: Shikamaru Nara defeats Kin Tsuchi
- Fight 07: Naruto Uzumaku defeats Kiba Inuzuka
- Fight 08: Neji Hyuuga defeats Hinata Hyuuga
- Fight 09: Gaara defeats Rock Lee
- Fight 10: Dosu Kinuta defeats Choji Akimichi
Chuunin Exam Stage Three: The Final Exam
This final exam is a tournament where Gennins fight one one one with their opponents,
in an arena full of thousands of people. They got a one months heads up after the preliminaries on who they are suppose to fight.
There were suppose to be
nine participants, however Dosu Kinuta did not show up
and was, as a result, disqualified. The most awaited fight was Sasuke vs. Gaara due to all the
fuedal lords, Kage's, and other people of power who came to see it. This exam had the becoming a Chuunin.
If you win, however, it does not mean that you will be a Chuunin. It was to be
decided by a committee of people in power who would be given the rank of a
Chuunin. Because of Orochimaru, this Chuunin exam was never completed. During
the fight between Sasuke and Gaara, Orochimaru began his terror. Gaara ran away
and Sasuke ran after him. At the end, only Shikamaru Nara became a Chuunin
because he was designated to not only be a great fighter, but an excellent strategist.
