Chūnin Exams

The are a type of test to test the abilities of the genin. If the genin perform well, they will be considered for promotion to chūnin.

History
To become a chūnin, a genin participates in a wide-scale examination, known as the Chūnin Exams, with their team. Despite Kakashi Hatake claiming earlier that all three members of a cell is required to participate together, it may be assumed that a genin does not necessarily have to undertake the exam along with their team-mates since Sakura Haruno succeeded in becoming a chūnin during the time-skip with Naruto and Sasuke both being absent during the period, and because Shikamaru Nara was already a chūnin when Chōji and Ino took the exam during the time-skip. The only exam seen in the series is a three-stage exam held in Konohagakure:

The Stages
At least in Konoha, the Chūnin Exams take part in three different stages, all means of testing genin in having the necessary skills and judgment required to become a chūnin and thinning out those who aren't skilled enough. The test can differ from year to year, so the specific details for each may differ.


 * The first stage is a written test, which includes difficult questions related to different ninja subjects. It checks information gathering and decision-making abilities, because, to pass, the participants must find a reliable source of information, then discreetly cheat off them without getting caught by the watchful instructors. As such, the instructors place chūnins within the mass to provide a reliable source to cheat off of. However, extremely intelligent ninjas can solve such questions without resorting to such, the prominent example being Sakura Haruno. All three members of a team must pass this section of the exam in order to advance.
 * The second stage tests the abilities of accomplishing a mission and real life survival skills without a sensei, as the participants are locked within a dangerous training area and asked to survive 5 days without outside help. They are also required to obtain 2 different scrolls: and  in order to move on to the 3rd stage, forcing them to fight one another and hold on to their own. Kabuto also mentioned that it is possible for teams to gather multiple copies of scrolls for future exams. All three members of a team must pass this section of the exam in order to advance.
 * The third and final stage consists of tournament-like fights between those remainders who passed the previous two stages, observed by a council of daimyō and village ninja that decides who becomes a Chūnin and who does not. This exam takes place one month after the second phase, to allow the participants to prepare themselves.

While the winners are able to proceed to fight the next opponent, aptitude, rather than winning, is evaluated to determine whether a candidate is promoted; for example, Shikamaru Nara forfeits his first match but is still promoted because of his strategic aptitude. This way, anyone who makes it to the third stage of the Exams has a chance to become chūnin. However, it is also possible for none of the candidates to become chūnin if the judges believe that they do not have appropriate qualifications.

Preliminaries may also be held if too many ninja teams reach the end. In the Chūnin Exam Arc, seven teams, an unusually high number, completed the second phase of the test. The losers in this extra round cannot participate in the final tournament and thus cannot be considered for promotion to chūnin. From this point on, team members no longer need to all pass their respective battles in order for their comrades to advance.

During the examinations, death may be involved. As such, participants are required to sign a release form to acknowledge and accept such risks. Examples are when Gaara massacred Team Shigure.

In the past, each village held their own chūnin exam. After the Third Ninja World War, allied ninja villages agreed to hold the exams together at the selected village that would host the exam. This was done to improve relations between the villages and prevent war between them. Another advantage is that ninja that took the exam might attract clients who are interested in hiring them. Because of the growing number of ninja in each village, the exams are hosted twice every year. The exams are also used as a gambling device and during the Invasion of Konoha, Sunagakure and Otogakure used the exam to their advantage to declare war against Konohagakure.

Trivia

 * According to Kabuto, during the first chūnin exams seen in the anime and manga, the number of participants from different village were as follows:
 * Konohagakure - 87 participants
 * Sunagakure - 30 participants
 * Amegakure - 21 participants
 * Kusagakure - 6 participants
 * Takigakure - 6 participants
 * Otogakure - 3 participants
 * Total - 153
 * In the first Naruto OVA, Kakashi mentioned that in the past, genin went to Akagahara with the dream to become the best ninja and those who returned safely were accepted as chūnin.
 * Interestingly enough, though there are Getsugakure and Kumogakure ninja shown in the first stage, they are not mentioned.