Episode Summaries

The final match begins, pitting Chōji Akimichi against Dosu Kinuta. Chōji recalls how Dosu's Resonating Echo Speaker works, having witnessed it during their skirmish in the Forest of Death. To counter it, Chōji uses the Multi-Size Technique since his ears are covered and begins rolling around to strike his foe. Dosu is easily able to evade Chōji's strikes, and when Chōji hits the wall and becomes stuck, Dosu uses his Resonating Echo Drill directly onto Chōji's body, which dispels the Multi-Size Technique and renders Chōji unable to battle. Dosu then explains that while Chōji did have his ears covered, the human body is comprised of 70% water; since water can transmit sound waves, striking a foe directly can allow them to be incapacitated by his sound techniques even if their ears are covered. Hayate Gekkō declares that Dosu is the winner and the preliminary matches come to an end.

Outside, Orochimaru meets with his spy Kabuto Yakushi and muses how peaceful Konohagakure has become, remarking that they are idly moving by while the other villages work to strengthen their military. Kabuto brings up how each ninja village, including Otogakure, must work to fortify themselves, and wonders if they could not just go after the Third Hokage at the present moment, although Orochimaru declines. Kabuto is upset that despite being Orochimaru's trusted right-hand man, Orochimaru did not inform him that Dosu, Zaku and Kin were working for him, and regrets having injured himself challenging them. Orochimaru reaffirms that he does trust Kabuto and asks Kabuto to abduct Sasuke Uchiha, believing that Naruto Uzumaki might influence him away from the lust for power that Orochimaru wishes to exploit. Kabuto seemingly agrees, although Orochimaru begins to wonder whether Kabuto might kill Sasuke to stop his plans.

Kakashi asks Sakura to notify him of how the finals will proceed as he leaves to check up on Sasuke. In a hospital room, Sasuke is connected to a respirator with the bodies of several Anbu members on the floor, having been incapacitated by Kabuto, who pulls out a scalpel. As he moves the scalpel towards Sasuke, he is stopped by Kakashi, who recognizes Kabuto as the adopted son a Konoha Medic Corps captain. Kakashi attempts to apprehend Kabuto, although Kabuto manages to escape, having disguised himself as one of the dead Anbu corpses. Kakashi identifies Kabuto's actions as the Dead Soul Technique and worries about someone with this level of skill being affiliated with Orochimaru.

In the arena, the Third Hokage addresses the participants who have passed the preliminaries and informs them that the next and final stage would be a tournament, scheduled to take place in a month, giving each genin ample time to hone their skills and learn new abilities since they have already showcased their current abilities to their foes. The pairings for the first match of the finals consist of Naruto fighting Neji Hyūga, Gaara facing off against Sasuke, Kankurō against Shino, and Dosu against Shikamaru, with the winner of the latter fight being the one to fight Temari. Shikamaru grumbles about having to fight two matches and asks the Hokage if only the winner of the tournament can become a chūnin. The Hokage informs them that even a loser of a fight can become a chūnin, and that the promotion depends on how the judges rank their fights; even if a participant loses, if they exemplify the traits desired in a chūnin, they may still pass. With that, the Third Hokage dismisses the challengers.

Naruto heads to the Konoha Hospital to find Sasuke's room, intending to speak with Kakashi. Naruto tells Kakashi that they need to begin their training right away, but Kakashi instead tells Naruto that he will be focusing on teaching someone else. Naruto becomes irate when he realizes Kakashi will be spending the next month solely training Sasuke, although Kakashi quickly notifies Naruto that he has found another instructor for him; as Naruto turns around, he realizes that the instructor is none other than Ebisu.