Being one of the most popular arcs in the Naruto franchise , the Chunin Exam is a true milestone in the story told by Masashi Kishimoto , with many considering that the work really only begins after that part.
However, this arc ends up being a little atypical, since the Chunin Exam is interrupted by the Orochimaru invasion, starting the events of the Konoha Crush arc . Thus, as the Exams were not completed, only one Genin was chosen to be promoted to Chunin, and he was Shikamaru .
The reason for this choice may not seem so obvious right away, but it was basically a matter of elimination. In the final stage of the Exam we had five ninjas from Vila da Folha: Neji , Naruto , Sasuke , Shikamaru and Shino .
Starting with Neji , although he is treated as a true prodigy of the Hyuga clan, he showed a great emotional imbalance in his fight against Naruto, taking the fight even more personally and consequently not doing a good analysis of the situation, resulting in his defeat .
Shino and Sasuke had similar situations, since the outcome of their respective fights ended when the Exam had already been interrupted, so they simply did not have enough material to analyze them. Furthermore, in the case of Sasuke, Kakashi was already aware that the young Uchiha could also be a little unstable.
Finally, Naruto demonstrated an unshakable willpower in his fight against Neji, but the big problem is that the boy’s power was still in a very raw state and he didn’t use many techniques or strategies.
Thus, the last Folha Ninja left was Shikamaru , who although he officially “lost” the fight against Temari, he demonstrated an incredible ability to adapt to the combat, managing to quickly plan the best way to attack his opponent with the weapons that he had. These qualities were decisive for his choice as Chunin, as he would now lead the teams.
Naruto Shippuden was originally shown between 2007 and 2017, adapting the second part of the work Masashi Kishimoto. In it, Naruto returns after two years of training with the mission to fight Akatsuki and rescue Sasuke from the clutches of Orochimaru.
Altogether, the anime has 500 episodes (including the Naruto Shippuden fillers ), ending the story of Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi and setting the stage for the direct continuation of the story.
The anime can be followed in full on Crunchyroll , along with classic Naruto and Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, its direct sequel.