Genin

Genin (下忍; Literally meaning "junior ninja") are the lowest ranking shinobi recognized as ninja. Genin also display the most difference in power. When they become genin, ninja start to do their bit for their village's economy – being sent on missions that the village gets paid for. They are typically sent either on D-rank missions, which are almost entirely risk-free jobs of manual labour, or, rarely, on C-rank missions, which are a cut above that and begin to verge on real "ninja" work that have a very low possibility of risk to the ninja involved. Exceptionally skilled Genin can occasional be assigned to higher ranking missions depending on their mission success rate.

Genin are put in four-man cells or squad, consisting of three genin and a Jōnin-sensei, in order to learn teamwork and experience true ninja life under the supervision and protection of an elite shinobi. The make-up of these teams is based on the individual skills of the genin, so that there will be a balance between the teams. Teams are occasionally organized into groups with two boys and one girl, and are also balanced depending on Academy scores and general skill levels.

Due to the fact that genin are the lowest level ninja, they normally provide limited use during dangerous missions (B-rank or higher), and are usually only capable of successfully completing E-rank or D-rank techniques. However, it should be noted that genin is simply a rank, and is not always an accurate representation of a ninja's skill level. Some Genin choose to remain at their rank due to past mistakes that prevent them from moving forward, while others simply do not possess the level of maturity or tactical prowess required for promotion.

Promotions
Academy Students are promoted to Genin after participating in the Genin Exam and passing. The Genin Exam is a relatively simply process and only requires for the students to take a written exam, following by a set of tests to see if they are capable of producing successful jutsu. Though genin are relatively low-levelled ninja, they can progress to become a Chūnin by successfully completing the chūnin exams, a set of difficult tasks made to test the skills of genin to see whether or not they should be Chūnin.