Naruto‘s Chunin Exams arc dominates the early part of the series, with the cast of young ninja being evaluated on their readiness for the next rank. Although the Forest of Death and one-on-one fight are more action-oriented, the first component of the Chunin Exams contains one of the arc’s most interesting twists and a fascinating historical parallel. Although the written test only lasts two episodes, they are among the most memorable early episodes of the series.
Before any of Naruto’s Chunin Exam fights take place, two episodes are devoted to the written test. It’s quickly established that the exam room is surrounded by sentinels, senior ninja watching the candidates for any sign of cheating. The sentinels will take away two of a candidate’s possible ten points on the exam every time the candidate is caught cheating and any team of candidates where one member gets a score of zero will be failed as a team. The candidates soon realize the questions on the test are deliberately written to be next to impossible to answer, forcing them to cheat despite the risk of being caught and failed by the Sentinels. This aspect of the Chunin Exams creates a fascinating parallel between the world of Naruto and real-world ancient history.
Naruto’s Chunin Exams Take Inspiration From Sparta
The lesson the Chunin Exam candidates are being forced to learn by a deliberately impossible test parallels the actual training methods used in the historical Spartan military academy, known in Greek as the agoge. Ancient Greek historian Xenophon explains:
It was not on account of a difficulty in providing for them that [Lycurgus, the founder of the Spartan training system] encouraged them to get their food by their own cunning. No one, I suppose, can fail to see that. Obviously a man who intends to take to thieving must spend sleepless nights and play the deceiver and lie in ambush by day, and moreover, if he means to make a capture, he must have spies ready. There can be no doubt then, that all this education was planned by him in order to make the boys more resourceful in getting supplies, and better fighting men.
Someone may ask: But why, if he believed stealing to be a fine thing, did he have the boy who was caught beaten with many stripes? I reply: Because in all cases men punish a learner for not carrying out properly whatever he is taught to do. So the Spartans chastise those who get caught for stealing badly.
To summarize, both the Ancient Spartan recruits and the Chunin candidates are being forced by their teachers into situtations where they must cheat to get ahead. At the same time, both are being severely punished for getting caught. The lesson in both cases is not that cheating is wrong, but instead that cheating is useful if done without detection. Fundamentally, both the Chunin Exams and the agoge are teaching a lesson in fighting smarter, not harder. Hilariously, Naruto himself stumbles upon the whole point of the test without realizing it, deciding in a panic he has no choice but to cheat and not get caught, but never cluing in on the real nature of the test.
In the end, the other major twist of the written component of the Chunin Exams is that none of it actually mattered. The first nine questions weren’t a test of the candidates’ book smarts but a test of their ability to subtly acquire and share the necessary information with their team while avoiding detection by using their jutsu and other ninja abilities. These are, of course, valuable skills for ninja teams. The tenth question of the exam, only revealed at the very end, which an entire team would fail if one member didn’t answer, is a test of resolve, essentially amounting to whether or not each team wishes to continue the Chunin Exams. It’s a brilliant twist in the story arc and a great way to play with the idea of the characters taking a test.
As a concept, the written test component of the Chunin Exams should be infinitely more boring than the Forest of Death or the one-on-one fights. However, thanks to some brilliant narrative twists, it becomes the best part of the arc. These twists, combined with a fascinating parallel to historical Spartan training make the written test of the Chunin Exams one of the best parts of Naruto’s early arcs.
