Masashi Kishimoto

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura have passed the final test to become junior ninja, but now the real challenge begins. Weary of menial tasks, they request a tougher assignment and find themselves--along with their teacher, Kakashi--bodyguarding a cranky client who winds up the target of elite assassins.

There comes a time in every ninja's training when he must put aside his morals and face the truth: ninjas are tools for killing. With the death of a friend, Naruto finds that time is now.

Naruto will have to summon all of his Nine Tails power if he hopes to stand up against the devastating team of Obito and Madara. Luckily for the Allied Shinobi Forces, the greatest help they could ever wish for is on the way. And when Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura are finally reunited, the whole direction of the war may change dramatically!

Now the school is literally a battlefield! Deep within the Forest of Death, our heroes are still reeling from Orochimaru's attack, and must now battle this unrelenting monster's minions known as the mysterious Sound Ninja. Worse, time is running out for the students to collect the scrolls they need to pass the test.

As he now prepares for the finals of his exams, Naruto studies with naughty new mentor Jiraiya and struggles to harness the special power locked within. Meanwhile, other ninja villages are forming secret alliances.

After doing battle with deadly assassins, learning incredible feats of magic, and dancing along the brink of death, now our heroes face the most terrifying challenge of all--exams!

They are classmates: Sakura, her secret crush Sasuke, and the attention-seeking orphan Naruto. As ninjas-in-training, they learn the arts of shadow, swiftness and illusion under their master teacher Kakashi.

Book reads from right to left.