After many years (and knowing the practices of Sannin - murderous) training Zaku, along with Dosu Kinuta and Kin Tsuchi, took part in the chūnin exams, but not to get a higher ninja rank, but to test Uchiha Sasuke - the genina from Konoha, whom he identified a serpent, as a container for your soul. He went through the first stage without a problem, but the second in the forest of death was to be decisive. There he also found his goal, but, together with his comrades, he also encountered some obstacles in the form of Sakura, in which the fighting spirit awakened, as well as in team 8, which from the beginning watched the fight. After the fight with Chōji, he decided to eliminate all Leaf genin, when Sasuke interrupted him by damaging both his hands.