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Worldbuilding is one of the most interesting concepts a creator can do to their series. By fleshing out more of their world, it makes it feel alive with so many details and concepts that can be explored throughout the series. Anime is a prime example of how worldbuilding creates interest in a show. Shows like Darling In The Franxx (2018) or One Piece (1999-) all created an interesting world that is explored throughout the course of the story. An anime that does this very early on in their show is Naruto (2002-2007).
After the first season, the show went immediately into the Chunin Exams arc, a season where the characters have to compete against one another in order to move on in a competition. The audience watched as Team 7 faced new characters and developed the story further. The second season of Naruto (2002-2007) further fleshes out the existing world the series started with. Its one of the best examples of worldbuilding in all of anime by introducing new characters from different villages, creating plot elements that echo throughout the series, and further developing it’s already existing characters.
What Are The Chunin Exams?
The Chunin Exams are designed to test genin, low ranking ninjas, on their combat abilities and their survival skills. Genins from altering villages gather together at The Hidden Leaf Village to participate in the exams. There are four phase to the exams; the first phase is a written test where the genin need to pass in order to move on. The second phase is a survival exams where teams of three must survive the hostile environment of the Forty-Fourth Training Ground.
After that, the ninjas are pit up against each other in one-on-one matches in the third phase preliminaries. The winners of the preliminaries match then get to move on to the final round where there could only be one victor. The phase takes place within the second and third seasons of the anime: Season 2, Episode 20: “A New Chapter Begins: The Chunin Exams!” until Season 3 Episode 67 “Late For The Show, But Ready To Go! The Ultimate Secret Technique Is Born.”
The Ninja Of The Hidden Leaf Village
In Team 7’s first mission where they fought two mercenary ninjas Haku and Zabuza, the ninjas: Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno, learned the basics of being a ninja and how different abilities and techniques can decide the outcome of a battle as well as how deadly their enemies will become.
Naruto and Sasuke also learned to fight together, combining their strengths in order to take down the two mercenaries. Team 7 is then thrown into another dangerous situation where they face new and powerful adversaries. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all have significant character development during this arc; building upon the once established lore in the first season.
The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki
During the Chunin Exams, Naruto strengthens his resolve into becoming a Hokage despite him not being able to answer any of the questions in the first phase of the exam. Even with the new characters introduced, Naruto still had the determination to continue fighting all the way to the final phase of the exam. However, he’s able to reach new limits due to the beast spirit that is contained within him. It transforms Naruto into a more aggressive and powerful fighter; creating a danger to not only his foes but also to himself. This is what is known as a jinchuriki.
On top of that, the audience gets to see how much he cares about his other team members: Sasuke and Sakura. In the episode “Naruto’s Counter Attack: Never Give In!” he comes back to help his team even though he is severely overmatched by the opponent Orochimaru. It is at this point that Naruto begins to see the evil forces plotting against his village. He starts to show great concern for his friends and the people within the village, especially with Sasuke when he becomes obsessed with Orochimaru, who had ties with his older brother Itachi Uchiha.
The Last Of the Uchiha Clan
As previously mentioned, Sasuke meets and fights Orochimaru, a powerful ninja disguised as a chunin with ulterior motives who holds ties with the Village Hidden in the Sand, who reveals that he once worked alongside his brother Itachi. Sasuke and Itachi were part of a family known as the Uchiha Clan who have a special ability known as the Sharingan. At a young age, Sasuke witness his whole family murdered by his brother and swore to kill him when he got older. Later in the season, it is revealed that Orochimaru wants to take Sasuke’s body and his Sharingan to achieve his quest of learning every jutsu. Sasuke continues to seek out Orochimaru, one of the Leaf’s three legendary Sannin, on the whereabouts of Itachi throughout the seasons following the exams.
This obsession leads Sasuke to gain higher power in order to get answers from Orochimaru. Sasuke also makes it to the final phase of the exam where he learns the Chidori, a sword-like ability made up of lighting taught to him by Kakashi Hatake. The way he reacts throughout the Chunin Exams arc is an indicator of Sasuke’s developing story within the show.
The Pink-Haired Kunoichi
In the second phase of the exam, episode “Sakura Blossoms!,” Naruto and Sasuke are both unconscious due to their fight against Orochimaru and are being taken care of by Sakura. Another team of ninjas decides to attack Team 7, where Sakura is helpless and begging for one of her teammates to awaken. It’s when she is being held captive by her hair by one of the enemy ninjas does she realizes how pathetic she is. She realizes that she relayed on both Naruto and Sasuke to save the day while she stood on the sidelines complementing the two of them.
She never had the chance to improve her skills due to relying on her teammates’ skills. Ever since the beginning of the anime, Sakura believed that being at the top of the class and book smart was enough to keep her alive, but it’s not. She had to learn to rely on her comrades, but because Naruto and Sasuke didn’t rely on her, during the first season, she felt useless. She cuts her with a kunai freeing herself from the enemy symbolizing she will continue to improve as a ninja. She fights the enemy team long enough to have another team of ninjas scare them off who happen to be from the Hidden Leaf Village as well.
The Ninjas Outside Of The Leaf Village
The Chunin Exams not only develop the already existing characters of the show, but also introduce brand new ones. Most of the characters seen in this season are generally important to the whole series.
The One-Tailed Jinchuriki
Gaara is one of the first genin that are introduced in the episode “A New Chapter Begins: The Chunin Exams!” Team 7 sees Gaara’s teammates bullying the younger ninjas. Gaara is then introduced by sneaking on the main characters displaying skills higher than Naruto has seen thus far. During the preliminaries of the exam, we just how powerful he really is when he begins brutally beating his opponents without remorse.
On top of being a threat to the main characters, Gaara is also a jinchuriki similar to Naruto. In the series, a jinchuriki are humans that contain one of the nine-tailed beast spirits. They exhibit great power due to the beasts being pure concentrated forms of power, also known as chakra. During this season of the anime, the audience had no idea that they were characters that were like Naruto, having a beast sealed within them. Naruto was shocked to find out that there was someone else who had a tailed beast seal within them.
The Taijutsu Master
Rock Lee is another genin introduced during the second season of the anime. Although he does reside living in the Hidden Leaf Village, he isn’t introduced until the second season. Rock Lee showed a unique character trait that was not shown thus far. Many ninjas in the series are able to use what is known as chakra, a source of power that many people can wield; chakra is used for many different abilities and forms of fighting known as jutsu. Typically, wielding chakra is one of the most basics things a ninja can do except for Rock Lee who is unable to use it at all.
Despite this setback, Rock Lee still wanted to become a ninja so he decided he would focus on taijutsu. Taijutsu is a fighting style that mainly relies on the wielder’s stamina and strength. He is actively showing that there is a wide range of fighting styles present in the Naruto (2002-2007) world. Although Rock Lee isn’t an antagonist, he displayed an overwhelming set of skills to the other ninjas while fighting Gaara in the second phase of the exam.
The Legendary Sannin And His Apprentice
As previously mentioned, one of the most feared antagonists in the whole anime is introduced, Orochimaru. He is what is known as a Sannin, three ninjas from the Hidden Leaf Village known for being the greatest of their time. Orochimaru is a powerful ninja that quickly becomes the antagonist of the show for the rest of the series seeking to destroy the Hidden Leaf Village and take Sasuke’s body.
Orochimaru has an apprentice, Kabuto Yakushi, who is also introduced during the Chunin Exams; posing as a spy to gather information. At first, he seems like an ally to Team 7, giving them a bit of information on what to expect during the first couple of phases of the exam. Then after Orochimaru revealed himself to the ninjas overlooking the exams, Kabuto also reveals he’s working alongside Orochimaru and the two of them escape the trials. Although it may not seem like it, Kabuto is another main villain that has his time to shine later in the series.
The Echoing Plot Threads
With so many new characters introduced, many of the plot elements developed in this season begin to take shape and guide where the plot will go next. Orochimaru is the character with the most plot threads during the Chunin Exams mainly because he is the main villain of the anime. During the final phase of the Chunin Exams, he succeeds in his goal of destroying the Hidden Leaf Village. Even going as far as to kill the leader, also known as the Hokage, and his former teacher Hiruzen Sarutobi. This storyline leads to another of Naruto and his teacher, Jiraiya, seeking a replacement Hokage. Later on in the series, Sasuke leaves and betrays the Hidden Leaf Village in order to seek greater power from Orochimaru, which is the main conflict of the sequel series Naruto Shippuden (2007-2017).
Another element that was introduced in the arc was Jiraiya, another Sannin like Orochimaru. During the preliminaries of the exams, Naruto seeks greater power in order to compete with the other opponents. When he sees that Jiraiya is a powerful ninja he asks if he can be trained by him. Throughout the series, Jiraiya teaches Naruto more techniques, like the Rasengan, and becomes almost like a father to him. Jiraiya becomes of the most important characters in Naruto (2002-2007) and Naruto Shippuden (2007-2012), having knowledge and abilities that far succeeded others.
The Best Tournament Arc Out There
The second season of Naruto (2002-2007) throws our main character into an all-out brawl with many dangerous foes. Essentially, the Chunin Exams arc is what is known in the anime fandom as a “tournament arc.” It is a series of episodes that pins the characters against one another to achieve a certain goal and be victorious.
Typically, this trope in anime is monotonous as we see two characters battle against each other while the rest of the cast critiques what is transpiring, but in Naruto (2002-2007) it is distinct. We see the main characters and some side characters already introduced go through some development; how their desires and goals start to take shape in this season. We also get to see new characters introduced that are all unique and plot elements that are first developed here. The Chunin Exams builds on the world the show introduced in the first season and is one of the better tournament arcs out there.