Naruto's Chunin Exams arc is the second major story arc in the story that takes place right after the events of the Land of Waves. It involves most of the new generation of Genin taking part in an exam that could potentially lead to a promotion. If they are able to impress those in charge, they will achieve the rank of a Chunin.
The story arc sees a lot of strong characters gather in Konohagakure and show what they're capable of. Some dangerous new villains also emerge and attack the village, which makes the events even more gripping. Here are the strongest known characters in the Chunin Exams arc from Naruto.
10 Sasuke Uchiha
The Uchiha prodigy of Team 7, Sasuke was certainly among the strongest known characters in the Chunin Exams arc of the story. Thanks to his training under Kakashi Hatake, he managed to gain a tremendous amount of power that allowed him to match Gaara in a tough fight and even overwhelm him.
Sasuke also learned his special technique, Chidori, in this arc to make him even stronger than he originally was.
9 Gaara
The Jinchūriki of the One-Tailed Beast, Gaara was sent to Konoha to destroy the village. Towards the end of the exam, he nearly managed to pull it off. Gaara was strong enough to crush Rock Lee in their fight despite the latter opening up five of the Eight Inner Gates.
Later on, the sand ninja unleashed his full power and caused great destruction in the village. He was, however, eventually stopped by Naruto Uzumaki.
8 Naruto Uzumaki
Naruto was certainly the strongest character from his generation during this arc. After having passed the preliminaries of the Chunin Exams, Naruto was trained by none other than Jiraiya. Thanks to that, he could control the power of the Nine-Tails slightly better.
Furthermore, Naruto also learned how to summon the giant toad chief, Gamabunta, and combined with its powers, he was able to fight and defeat Gaara. His display throughout this arc was highly impressive, and it was great enough for him to take a spot over both Sasuke and Gaara.
7 Kakashi Hatake
Kakashi Hatake, being a Jonin, was one of the strongest characters in the Chunin Exams arc. Although he didn't take part in the exam itself, he was pivotal during the later part of the arc when Orochimaru's attack began.
Kakashi was able to stop countless sand ninjas and protected the village in a desperate time. He also came face-to-face with Orochimaru, but his skills were far inferior to that of the Sannin.
6 Might Guy
Might Guy led Team Guy into the Chunin Exams and had respectable strength going into the arc. Although his skills with ninjutsu and genjutsu were lacking, he proved to be a master of taijutsu, a physical combat skill he used to defeat countless invading shinobi, just like Kakashi.
Thanks to having the power of the Eight Inner Gates up his sleeve, Guy was stronger than Kakashi. For this arc, however, he chose not to display that power. Nonetheless, he was certainly one of the characters who made a huge first impression during the Chunin Exams arc.
5 Edo Tobirama
Summoned from death by Orochimaru using the Edo Tensei Jutsu, Tobirama Senju was brought back to attack Konoha, though he was far from his full strength. Even then, he was quite powerful and a menace to deal with for the aging Third Hokage.
Tobirama's prowess with water release ninjutsu was seen during this arc and needless to say, he proved to be a master of it. Ultimately, he was defeated by Hiruzen Sarutobi, thanks to his years of experience as a shinobi.
4 Edo Hashirama
Just like Tobirama Senju, Hashirama was also brought back by Orochimaru using the Edo Tensei Jutsu. Although far from his full strength, Hashirama's raw power and ability to use the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai were incredible threats for the Third Hokage to deal with.
Furthermore, he also caused great problems for him by using his genjutsu skills and was certainly more impressive than Tobirama Senju in the fight. However, just like his brother, he ended up getting sealed by Hiruzen Sarutobi using the Shiki Fujin.
3 Jiraiya
One of the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya played a short role in the Chunin Exams arc. Most of his time in the arc was spent training Naruto Uzumaki. However, towards the end when Konoha Crush began, Jiraiya got involved in some intense action sequences where he took down the giant snake summoned by Orochimaru.
As one of the Sannin, Jiraiya was inevitably among the strongest characters in the arc. He was widely considered to be on the same level as Orochimaru.
2 Orochimaru
The main antagonist of the arc, Orochimaru came to the exams in order to find a perfect body for him to take over. He also planned to use Sunagakure to attack Konoha, a scheme that he almost succeeded in. Orochimaru was able to show off most of his techniques during this arc as he went head-to-head against the Third Hokage.
His usage of ninjutsu was impeccable and although he didn't succeed in taking down Konoha, he was quite impressive, nonetheless.
1 Hiruzen Sarutobi
The Third Hokage of Konohagakure, Hiruzen was the strongest known character in the arc, even though he was quite old. He was able to fight against Orochimaru, the First Hokage, and the Second Hokage, all at once which just goes to show that his skill was on a whole new level.
Even at his age, he was called the strongest among the Five Kage by Orochimaru. The Sannin failed to destroy Konoha all thanks to him, and although he did manage to kill him, he gave up his arms in the process.