Naruto Chapter 482

[Uchiha Barles]

You know what the problem is? The argument can be made that we didn't get to see every little thing that happened during the forest of death portion of the test. I have zero interest in going back and seeing if there was any wiggle room for that karin flashback scene to occur, but it's not beyond reason to assume it's possible if you choose not to check. So, assuming we did not see every little thing that happened in the forest of death part of the chuunin exam, it's possible that Sasuke had opportunity to test out Lee's move, which goes a long way to explain why he could pull it off so effectively during the preliminaries.

[Assertn]

I don't really care about Sasuke doing a lion combo in the forest, but that giant fuckin bear seemed like less of a threat for Sasuke than the regular sized tigers that surrounded Anko during that same time.

[Death BOO Z]

You know what the problem is? The argument can be made that we didn't get to see every little thing that happened during the forest of death portion of the test. I have zero interest in going back and seeing if there was any wiggle room for that karin flashback scene to occur, but it's not beyond reason to assume it's possible if you choose not to check. So, assuming we did not see every little thing that happened in the forest of death part of the chuunin exam, it's possible that Sasuke had opportunity to test out Lee's move, which goes a long way to explain why he could pull it off so effectively during the preliminaries.

that's not the problem.
it's just jarring, that we've seen Karin for about two years now (or something?) and we never even heard about something to suggest this connection between them.

it's like we get to see some 3rd rate ninja of Konoha dying, and then in his flashback he'll suddenly turn out to be Kakashi's best friend. or Naruto's other father figure.

expecting Karin to match to one of the contenders in the chunin exam is far above what I expect from Kishimonto (it's not like he's god, or Oda). but come on, this is the first time we hear about Karin's past, and suddenly there's a connection between them?

[Assertn]

It would be a miracle to expect that much forethought from Kishimoto.

Hell, if you read the first chapters of the manga, you won't even see the Kiba or Shikamaru's team among Naruto's classmates like you do in the anime. They were basically last-minute additions.