Volume 7

By: Nerezza from leafninja.com

Chapter 55: "All-out War" – Introduces Chouji and Shikamaru. Ino and her team occupy the Sound Trio, losing the advantage only at the last second. Reinforcements arrive in the form of Lee’s team. However, Sasuke awakens with a terrifying appearance and staring directly at the Sound Trio…

Chapter 56: "Granted Power" – Back from the brink of death, Sasuke totally outclasses the Sound Trio and even goes as far as wrenching Zaku’s arms from their sockets with his bare hands. Sakura stops Sasuke before he kills someone, allowing their retreat. However, all agree that Sasuke is not the same person he was prior to Orochimaru’s “Cursed seal”.

Chapter 57: "Ten Hours Earlier" – Introduces Tenten. The Leaf genins pick up the pieces after the attack of the Sound Trio and recover. Elsewhere, Anko returns to alert the Third Hokage of Orochimaru’s presence. While behind the scenes, she is shocked to see a genin team from Hidden Sand had completed the second test in a record time of 97 minutes without even a scratch.

Chapter 58: "Witnesses" – Introduces Shino, Hinata, Kiba and Akamaru. Picking up a strange lead, Akamaru leads his team to see the events that spooked the examiners. Three Hidden Rain ninjas meet up with the Hidden Sand genins. After a failed attempt at killing Gaara with a rain of needles, Gaara promises to make the sky rain blood...

Chapter 59: "Tragedy of Sand" – With his “Desert Funeral” move, Gaara instantly crushes the Rain ninjas to death. Even though he hasn’t killed enough people to satisfy himself, Gaara reluctantly agrees to simply proceed with the test. The team hidden and watching them, particularly Akamaru, are chilled to the bone by him...

Chapter 60: "Last Chance" – While camping, Naruto feels the temptation to cheat the test and make a replica of the scrolls. Another team nearby is shown paying the price for doing so, now in a coma. Before Naruto ends up suffering the same fate, Kabuto steps in and prevents him opening it. But the four are being watched by an earlier adversary.

Chapter 61: "The Path You Should Take" – Kabuto convinces Sasuke he has no malicious intent and as a Chuunin exam veteran, gives them pointers on how to survive and what may give them away. After the team encounter deja-vu, Kabuto realises they are in a trap, as enemies appear from all sides.

Chapter 62: "Trapped Rats" – Introduces the Hidden Rain trio of Oboro, Mubi and Kagari. Confusion spreads as the enemy assault blurs reality. Sasuke’s Sharingan has no effect in sniffing the true ninjas from the fakes. After wearing the team down and finally revealing themselves, Naruto’s trickery lures them into the open for attack.

Chapter 63: "The Other Face" – Despite Oboro’s Mist Clones, Naruto manages to defeat the opposing team and claim their scroll, allowing them to pass. Kabuto rejoins his team and passes on information to none other than Orochimaru, being his secret spy unknown to anyone other than themselves. Meanwhile, Naruto's team uncover a riddle that risks opening the scrolls to solve...