Naruto and Sakura open the heaven and earth scrolls. Naruto and Sakura wonder what the scrolls are trying to say. Smoke appears out of the scrolls and Sasuke tells them to toss the scrolls because they’re part of a summoning jutsu. The scrolls land and out of the smoke, Iruka sensei appears. Naruto and co. are shocked to see Iruka and Naruto asks why he appeared. Iruka explains that at the end of the second test the chunin get to welcome the test takers back and it is just by luck he gets to be their messenger. Iruka pulls out a stop watch and tells them they made it just in time. Iruka tells them they passed the second exam and that he would like to treat them to some ramen. Naruto goes crazy because he is happy about the ramen and then hugs Iruka. Sakura and Sasuke sit down and wonder where Naruto gets all his energy. Sasuke asks Iruka what he would’ve done had they opened the scrolls during the exams. Iruka explains about how ninja must carry secret documents during their missions and that if during the test a team opened up the scrolls then they were ordered to knock them out. Sasuke tells Naruto and Sakura it is a good thing they didn’t open their scrolls. Sakura asks Iruka what the writing on the wall means and Naruto tells her it doesn’t matter now because they passed. Iruka tells them that the writing is important and that one of his duties is to explain it to the passing teams. Iruka says the writing are instructions the third hokage wrote as principles chunin are required to follow. Iruka explains that heaven stands for your mind and earth for your body. He goes on to read to read part of the writing.

“If qualities of heaven are your desire, acquire wisdom to take your mind higher. If earthly qualities are what you lack, train your body and prepare to attack. When heaven and earth are opened together, the perilous path will become righteous forever. This >blank< is the secret way that guides us from this place today.”-Scroll on the wall

Naruto doesn’t understand so Iruka says if you’re weakness is your intellect then you ought to work twice as hard to make sure you gain knowledge (he’s saying this to Naruto). Iruka then says to Sakura that if you’re not physically strong then you have to work twice as hard to get strong. Iruka then explains the last part and says if your body and mind are working together then a mission will become easier. Sakura asks about the missing portion of the writing and Iruka says that is meant for them to fill in. Iruka shows a character on the earth scroll and tells them it is a symbol for person, a reference to chunin. Iruka explains the last five days were to see if they could be any good as chunin and then tells them they did well. Iruka goes on to explain that a chunin is a leader whose job it is to be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of those serving under him and to know what skills and training they will need to know in order to succeed on a mission. Iruka tells them they did an excellent job and need to remember these instructions. Iruka tells them that is all he has to say and Naruto tells him he’s got it. Iruka gives Naruto a weird look and then tells the three not to push it too far, and then tells Naruto not to push it too far. Naruto cuts him off and tells him that when he got his headband he stopped being a student so he doesn’t need to worry anymore. Naruto says that he (Iruka) gave him this headband so he no longer a kid but a ninja. Iruka says Naruto is right and then we see a flashback of Iruka asking Anko to break the news to Naruto’s team (Iruka was expecting them to fail the second part of the exam, so he wanted to break it to them). Anko tells Iruka fine and then says they she would’ve thought Iruka would’ve had more confidence in them. Anko notices Naruto and co. are Kakashi’s students and then tells him that if Kakashi has faith in them then he should too. We then see Kakashi telling Iruka that Naruto and co. are his students now. Iruka thinks to himself that Kakashi might very well understand Naruto and co. the best now.

At the top of the tower, Anko is touching her curse mark. The hokage asks if it is still hurting her and Anko says it isn’t. One of the sentinels says they need to get back to business and brings up Orochimaru. The two sentinels talk about how strong Orochimaru is and then wonder why he would come to the village. Anko thinks back to what Orochimaru said about giving the curse to an Uchiha. The third hokage asks if he is after Sasuke which shocks Anko because she had never said anything about it. A sentinel interrupts and says 21 ninja have finished and because of that they will have to hold a round of preliminaries for the first time in five years (too many ninja so they need to thin them out). The third hokage tells Anko that for now they will continue the exams but they need to keep an eye on Orochimaru’s movements.

Later that day in a battle room inside the tower, all of the finishing teams, their senseis, the proctors, and the hokage gather. Anko congratulates the genin on finishing and thinks to herself about how she never expected 21 ninja out of 78 to pass. Chouji says he is hungry and Shikamaru thinks it is a drag because there are so many ninja still left. Ino is happy to see Sasuke passed. Gai tells Kakashi that his team must’ve gotten lucky but with his own team still around they’re doomed to fail. Gai goes on to say that the next test tests ability and his team has Kakashi’s outmatched and part of growing up is dealing with heartbreak. Kakashi looks at Gai and asks him if he said something. Gai clenches his fist and his body erupts into flames. He thinks to himself that Kakashi has won this round and how much Kakashi drives him nuts when he acts so cool. Tenten realizes that Kakashi is Gai’s old rival and thinks if the two were to be judged on looks then Gai would lose.

“Gai sensei is just the coolest teacher ever. I mean he is so cool he practically glows with cool.”

Lee’s eyes catch on fire and Lee thinks to himself that Gai sensei should watch because some day he will make him proud. Lee thinks back to what happened in the forest with Sakura and makes a promise to never lose again.

Around the room we hear different ninja’s thoughts. Neji looks around to see that all the best are here. Zaku makes a promise to get back at Sasuke for what he did no matter what. A sound ninja sensei gives Kabuto a look. Temari thinks about how many teams are left. The sand ninja sensei notices that Gaara doesn’t have a single scratch. Kurenai notices that one of her student’s dog, Akamaru (Kiba’s) is acting funny. Hinata is happy to see Naruto passed. Sakura points out to her team that all of the rookie nine are there. Sasuke has a bad feeling about the next part of the exam. The hokage is surprised that all of the rookie genin are left but now understands why their sensei’s fought so hard to get them into the exam.