chuunin exam wasnt fillerChunin exam arc, we were introduced to new characters etc. And the Ame orphans arc, it was pretty solid.
Naruto shippuden, sand chunin exam, Foo was there, Gaara almost lost Shukaku? It was definitely filler, I think it starts around episode 390+ and goes to around 414ish. Heck Hinata, Kiba and Choji getting promoted to chunin rank makes even the manga seems fillerish. They clearly can't lead ninja squads at this point in time and was kind of forced.chuunin exam wasnt filler