8/10 stars
A solid volume, with a heartfelt, sombre conclusion to Zabuza and Haku storyline. Naruto, driven to the very edge, shows his true nature, and these panels are absolutely the best. Love to see the fox looking out from the boy's eyes ;). Also, Naruto's easy relationship with those younger than him is a big source of enjoyment for me. He's such a child it's a delight to see him engage with others just like him.
Sakura keeps to be a problematic character for Kishimoto, he simply doesn't seem to have an idea what to do with her. Here. she basically stands on the side-lines for the whole volume. I know Kishimoto's treatment of female characters in Naruto will get better, eventually, but it takes away a huge chunk of the enjoyment.
Kakashi's art of summoning is pretty funny, TBH. All those doggies hanging around with sheepish expressions manage to show the lighter side of this rather tragic character ;).
The rest of the volume is a forgettable setup for the chunin exams. Konohamaru is just a smaller version of Naruto, and he's quite adorable (only on the page, though, I suspect ;)).