The thing about the Chunin exams is that we're first introduced to them through the idea that these are potentially career-ending and extremely dangerous and the entire team mutually needs to agree to do it because it's such a risky thing
And then we actually get to the exams and this is reaffirmed by the fact that most of the competitors there are much older than the Rookie 9, and in fact many of them have taken and failed the test before, further driving home the fact that 1) it is extremely weird for first-year genin to take the test to begin with 2) it is very normal and expected for people to fail this test even if they survive it and 3) many of the competitors will be older teens or above, who are presumably more skilled and experienced than the 9 or even Team Guy
Then the Forest Of Death really works to drive this home. We see Shino casually dropping leeches on people, there's that team from grass (?? was it grass?) that was ruthlessly harassing team 7, those Rain guys that Gaara turned into jelly were absolutely trying to kill him first. The forest is lethal and genin killing each other is normal and expected. Only the very absolute best of the best can pass the test and make it out. And then Team 7 needs Kabuto to rescue them, and they only pass the test because they're The Main Characters and The Plot Says So, but whatever, I'll give them a pass because of the Orochimaru situation, it's fine.
Then the Hokage stands right up and explicitly states that this exam is a simulated war, meaning other villages would absolutely only send genin they were 100% sure of and confident in, and the ruthlessness is an intentional part of the exams, and again -- getting out of the forest means you're the top percentile. Even before the final round, just getting here at all out of hundreds of chunin hopefuls should by all means mark you as exceptional.
And then. The actual fights start. And the rookie 9 all look fucking pathetic. All of them. Hinata getting spanked by Neji had like underlying plot implications so fine we'll accept that (not that the Hyuga plot was ever actually explored or resolved in any way but still.) Kiba lost to a fart. Sakura and Ino's fight was such an absolute joke it's almost not worth mentioning. Choji vs Dosu was equally underwhelming. Shino put in a good show against Zaku, and Shikamaru won against Kin through the power of misogyny and Sasuke had his cursed mark crashout against Yoroi but that's it. Those are the only three fights that felt like they belonged here, at the end of The Forest Of Death, after teams and teams of older, stronger, more ruthless, more capable shinobi were picked off.
And then we get to the final test, and like okay, at least these fights did feel a little more grounded in the expectations set by the test, sure. We've got Shikamaru out-thinking Temari and Naruto going sicko mode against Neji and then the whole Situation with Gaara and Sasuke, sure, that all tracks.
But it doesn't undo the fact that we're told the 9 have to be exceptional to get as far as they did, and then we're shown that the 9 are pathetic weakling underdogs who can't box. And I think that's such a fantastic example of everything about this series that pisses me off.
