The Genins listen as the Hokage explains the true purpose of the Chuunin Exam. They then move on to the rules. Gekkou Hayate, the judge, steps forward to explain that there are too many examinees left and they must hold a preliminary one on one matches to see who advances to the Third Exam. He then asks for volunteers to quit as the prelimilaries will begin immediately.
Sakura notices Sasuke is clutching his shoulder in pain where the seal is. She begs him to withdraw. The Hokage and Anko also notice Sasuke’s pain. Anko thinks they should take him out of the exams and isolate him with ANBU escorts. Kakashi assures her that Sasuke is stubborn and won’t quit easily. Meanwhile, Sakura again begs Sasuke to withdraw or she’ll tell the instructors.
Suddenly, Konoha’s Yakushi Kabuto raises his hand and is dismissed. Naruto asks why he’s quitting. He replies that his body is completely worn out. He can’t fight right away. The Hokage remembers that he retired during the Main Exam last time. Anko looks him up to find that he has failed six times in a row. The Hokage grows suspicious and asks about his background. He didn’t stand out at the academy, but his grades were normal. He passed the graduation exam on his third try. After that, he did two C-rank missions and 14 D-rank ones. Nothing spectacular, however before he entered the academy, he was brought back from the Kikyo Pass battle. A Jounin from the medic squad took custody of an enemy’s boy that was left on the battlefield. Meanwhile, Kabuto’s teammates tell him to remember Orochimaru’s orders. He assures them that he will leave everything up to them, especially Yoroi. He then walks away. He can’t let them know that he’s a spy just yet.
Sakura attempts to put up her hand, but Sasuke slaps it down. He asks why she cares so much. It’s none of her business. He’s an avenger. This isn’t an exam to him and he doesn’t care bout being Chuunin. He needs to know if he’s strong, so he must fight the strong guys: Gaara, Neji, Lee, Dosu. He won’t allow her to choose his path. When Naruto interjects, Sasuke tells him he’d like to fight him as well. The Hokage agrees to let him continue in the prelims despite Anko’s concerns. If his seal opens up, they are to stop him.
The prelims start. There will be 10 matches of one on one. There are no rules. They will fight until the other person dies, is knocked out, or admits defeat. If they don’t wish to die, they should give up. However, if Hayate senses that the match is over, he will declare it so to prevent any unnecessary deaths. The winners will advance to the Third Exam.
The first match is Akadou Yoroi vs Uchiha Sasuke. Sakura watches concerned. Kakashi walks over to Sasuke and warns him not to use his Sharingan. If the seal on his neck becomes uncontrollable, it may kill him. Kakashi will stop the match if he does use it.
Sasuke is at a disadvantage as he can’t even use normal techniques since his seal reacts to his chakra levels. The match starts and both begin hand to hand combat. Sasuke capture Yoroi in a lock, but Yoroi uses his ability to drain Sasuke’s strength. Yoroi then attacks, absorbing Sasuke’s chakra.