Naruto reluctantly agrees to train under Ebisu, and Ebisu tries to teach Naruto how to walk on water. As Naruto practices, Ebisu catches an old man (later revealed to be Jiraiya) spying on a women’s bathhouse. As Ebisu rushes to apprehend him, Jiraiya knocks him out with a single hit, leaving Naruto without a tutor.

Despite having formulated a strategy beforehand, Choji quickly loses to Dosu, concluding the preliminaries. The nine qualifying Genin are assigned opponents, and they are all allowed to leave for a month of training before the finals. Elsewhere, Kabuto prepares to kidnap Sasuke under Orochimaru’s orders, but he is stopped by Kakashi and is forced to [...]

Lee’s increased speed overwhelms Gaara’s sand defenses. Lee opens the Fifth Gate and uses his most powerful attack, Hidden Lotus. Unfortunately for Lee, Gaara survives by softening his fall with sand and uses his sand coffin to crush Lee’s left arm and leg. Gaara moves his sand to finish Lee, but Guy blocks the final [...]

Gaara reappears and attacks Lee, who is weakened from using his Primary Lotus again. Lee recovers by opening the Second Gate, shocking the Jonin observers in the audience. He then proceeds to open the third and fourth gates, shocking Gaara.

The next set of matchups is Rock Lee against Gaara. At first, Lee’s Strong Fist taijutsu is ineffective against Gaara’s wall of sand that automatically rises to protect him. Lee then removes the heavy leg weights he was wearing, drastically increasing his speed and allowing him to bypass Gaara’s defense. Lee then uses his Primary [...]

Neji reveals that he had been toying with Hinata, and he disables her ability to use chakra with the Gentle Fist style. Hinata, inspired by Naruto, refuses to give up She tells Neji that she believes that he is suffering more from fighting his destiny. Angered, Neji attempts a fatal blow, but four observing Jonin [...]

The next match is Hinata Hyuga against Neji Hyuga, her cousin from the branch house of the the Hyuga clan. Neji intimidates and berates his cousin, and she seems ready to forfeit. Tired of his taunts, Naruto cheers Hinata on, giving her the strength to fight back. Hinata and Neji fight each other using Gentle [...]

the Transformation Technique, Naruto tricks Kiba and manages to knock Akamaru unconscious. Naruto, however, is still at a disadvantage due to Kiba’s pill-enhanced chakra and superior speed. Kiba’s onslaught ends when Naruto accidentally farts in Kiba’s face, stunning him due to his enhanced sense of smell. Naruto then finishes the battle with barrage of shadow [...]

Due to Kiba fighting with his dog, Akamaru, Naruto is at a disadvantage. Although he takes advantage of Kiba’s overconfidence, Kiba and Akamaru consume special pills that double their chakra. With a combination of efforts, they overwhelm Naruto.

The next match is between Temari and Tenten. Tenten’s weapon summonings are negated by Temari’s wind-based attacks, and she is defeated. Shikamaru Nara and Kin Tsuchi are chosen for the next match. Although Kin ensnares Shikamaru in a genjutsu, he captures her in his Shadow Imitation Technique. He forces her to knock herself unconscious. [...]