Still in the thick of the Journeyman Ninja Selection Exams, the student ninja unleash their signature techniques as they spar in a series of one-on-one elimination matches.

"Now preparing for the finals of the Chunin Selection Exams, Naruto studies with naughty new mentor Jiraiya and struggles to harness the power of the Nine-Tailed Fox chakra locked within him. Meanwhile, other ninja villages are forming secret alliances against Konohagakure"--Cover.

Through Naruto's pluck and a healthy dose of luck, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura passed the written portion of their Journeyman Ninja Selection Exams ... but that was only the beginning. They're now in the thick of the exam's second portion, help in the aptly named Forest of Death, and instructor Mitarashi Anko has promisd to cut the number of advancing teams by half! Each team is turned against the others, using stealth and cunning to purloin the scrolls...

"With only a few matches left to be fought in the preliminaries to the third portion of the Journeyman Ninja Selection Exams, the highly anticipated bout between mysterious Sand ninja Gaara and intense, earnest Konoha ninja Rock Lee begins. Will Gaara's bloodlust and his strange powers of sand manipulation be too much for Lee to handle? Or could Lee prove that dedication and an amazing work ethic are enough to make him a splendid ninja?"--Publisher's...