I suspect that this is probably a result of Kishimoto not really
thinking these matters through, but that gives us fanficers
something to
do, no?  :)

Agreed

I believe the answer lies in the roughly eighteen genin per
year who do
not pass the "bell test" or other equivalent tests.  We're told that
they go back to the academy, but its worth noting that none
of the genin
seemed to know of that.  Obviously, they should have (well, the
non-Naruto ones should have) if the failed genin returned to the same
academy and pool of potential students that the 9 per year come from.
It's also worth noting that these genin are indeed given
their forehead
protectors and told that they're genin, which seems odd indeed if they
go back to the same academy or retire to civilian life.

That's certainly my view of the picture.  It's also possible they have more
graduations per year, prefering to keep the ceremonies down to a level where
it can feel individually special to each student.  It'd fit in with the idea
of having primarily one teacher per class.

Then you have Chunin exams which are only held every so many years, but it
looks to me as though they might be more a shortcut for potential 'elite'
ninja rather than the more ordinary levels.  You might be able to make
Chunin without passing the trials, but only after 10 years experience,
review, etc...

To become a genin is easy, Chunin is more difficult.  Jonin is extremely
tough, and probably awarded by board review.  ANBU and such are specialized
fields.

When you see 50 ninja from a single village running around, they're probably
mostly Genin.  Works well when you're occupying a country where the other
ninja have been neutralized, as even a Genin can take on multiple normal,
non-ninja people.




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