i think that was when they were still hiding there fact that there were only about 7 viable ninjas in the village before narutos generation came a long, the rest of them were just faceless ANBU clowns.
I was always disappointed to learn that after the people that teach the current generation you basically have a couple of there fathers, some easy come easy go sannin and ibiki.... it makes you wonder where the last people to sit the exams went...