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.

Background
To become a chūnin, a genin participates in a wide-scale examination, known as the Chūnin Selection 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 under circumstances since Sakura Haruno succeeded in becoming a chūnin during the time-skip with her teammates Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha both being absent during the period, and because Shikamaru Nara was already a chūnin when Chōji Akimichi and Ino Yamanaka 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 Selection 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 task may differ.


 * The first stage is a written test, which includes difficult questions related to different ninja subjects, and it is designed to be too difficult to be answered by a normal genin. 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. During the first stage in the tenth and final question, the genin are told that if they fail the question they'll be forbidden to enter the exam again, but they can leave now and try another year. It test their resolve and willingness to take risks, and if they decide to stay, they immediatly pass. All three members of a team must pass this section of the exam in order to advance. Over the years, Ibiki Morino has selected different scenarios for the tenth question, with different solutions, such as giving the choice of either quitting and having the whole squad fail or continuing and having the lowest scoring member of the squad be forced to remain a genin forever (solution is to quit, rather than sacrifice squad members for personal gain).
 * 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 to trade for information from other teams about the strength and abilities of other villages, and also to give to other ninja from their own village. 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. An example is 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 villages 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.
 * Although there are Getsugakure and Kumogakure ninja shown in the first stage, they are not mentioned.