Does Naruto Become a Chunin or Jonin?

From the very beginning of the series, Naruto Uzumaki had been declaring his wish to be the Hokage. At one point, at the end of the original series, author Masashi Kishimoto actually granted him that wish, and Naruto became the 7th Hokage. But, while that is a well-known fact and was something expected, Naruto’s history within the shinobi hierarchy is somewhat special, as Naruto actually became Hokage before ever becoming a Jonin or, for that matter, even a Chunin. Yes, you’ve read it correctly – despite all of his achievements, Naruto Uzumaki never became a Chunin in the series. In this article, we will reveal the details about this issue.

Naruto was a Chunin- and Jonin-level shinobi, but he was never officially promoted

It might be strange that Naruto Uzumaki, the guy who became Hokage, is still just a genin in Naruto, but as it happens – he is. Although he did take the Chunin Exams and passed it, he was never promoted. Allows us to tell you what happened.

The first part of the Chunin exam took place in a room at the Ninja Academy. Ibiki Morino led this part of the exam. Team 7 passed this part of the exam because they were ready to hear the tenth question even though Naruto hadn’t answered any questions.

Anko Mitarashi led the second part of the exam. This took place on the 44th training ground of Konoha, the so-called Forest of Death. The task was to reach the Chunin Tower in the middle of the forest within three days with a Sky Scroll and an Earth Scroll. Team 7 started from Entrance 12 with an Earth Scroll. Naruto was separated from the others by the jutsu Fuuton: Daitoppa. He was attacked by a large snake, which he was able to defeat.

When he met his team, he supported them in the fight against Orochimaru and gave Sasuke new strength. Naruto fell unconscious when Orochimaru used Gogyou Fuuin. After he woke up, Team 7 encountered Kabuto. Together, they fought against Oboro’s team. Finally, they reached the Chunin Tower. Because too many teams had completed the second part of the test, there were elimination battles in the tower. Naruto was able to prevail against Kiba.

In the subsequent draw, Naruto got Neji as the first opponent in the third part of the exam. Naruto asked Kakashi if he would train him, but he refused and said Ebisu would train him. Naruto should now learn how to walk on water at the hot springs. Ebisu caught Jiraiya watching women bathing and attacked him because of it. Jiraiya easily repelled Ebisu’s attack by using Kuchiyose no Jutsu to summon a toad, which grabbed Ebisu by the legs and slammed him to the ground.

Impressed by this attack, Naruto immediately decided that Jiraiya should supervise his training. However, he initially didn’t have the slightest desire to do it. It wasn’t until Naruto used his Oiroke no Jutsu that he convinced Jiraiya to oversee his training. During training, Jiraiya noticed that the seal that regulated Naruto’s chakra and the Kyuubi’s chakra had changed.

As a result, Naruto could not access Kyuubi’s chakra or build up the chakra properly himself, but Jiraiya reversed the change. This allowed Naruto to better control the Kyuubi’s chakra and his own. After a few tries, Naruto got the hang of it and could finally walk on water. Jiraiya taught Naruto how to use the Kuchiyose no Jutsu and harness the Kyuubi’s chakra as the training continued. But even with this training, he hardly gave Naruto any help.

Because of this, Naruto was able to use the Kyuubi’s chakra for the first time and use it to summon Gamabunta when Jiraiya threw him down a cliff, forcing Naruto to use the Kyuubi’s chakra since his own was not enough. In the third part of the exam, there is a showdown between Neji and Naruto. During the fight, Neji closes 64 of Naruto’s chakra points. By using the Kyuubi chakra, Naruto finally managed to defeat Neji.

And that was it. Naruto passed the exam, but… he never became a Chunin. How is that possible? Well, the Konoha Crush mini-arc soon took place, and Naruto Uzumaki was never officially promoted to the rank. At the same time, later, since he was the most powerful shinobi alive, there was no need for him to prove himself. And that’s it. The circumstances are a bit silly, but this is why Naruto never became a Chunin or a Jonin.

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