As more and more examinees entered, the empty seats in the room grew fewer and fewer. Not only Neji, but Hinata and the others also filed into the exam hall.
Watching people who had once only existed on a screen appear vividly before him, Moriyue always felt as though it was unreal, as if everything were nothing more than a dream.
Hey, why am I thinking about this? Since I'm here, I might as well make the best of it. Now that I'm standing in this exam hall, everyone else is my enemy.
Moriyue shook his head, casting aside those irrelevant thoughts. Focusing on the exam was what mattered most.
"Bzzzt, bzzzt~" Static crackled from the small television. Shikamaru's figure warped and distorted through the signal, as though the machine had malfunctioned.
Neither Sunagakure nor Shikamaru's side seemed to have expected this problem. The room had been completely sealed the moment the last examinee entered, and they had never expected the signal to cut out.
The atmosphere became extremely awkward for a moment. Moriyue felt that he ought to do something, or it would be bad if Shikamaru suddenly had a brain lapse and changed the questions.
While everyone else stood frozen in place, Moriyue rose and pushed back his chair. Its legs scraped across the floor with a faint grinding sound.
Everyone's attention was drawn to Moriyue as he stood. Looking at the small television, then considering his identity as a Kumogakure ninja, they roughly guessed what he intended to do.
"Since it's Kumogakure technology, this guy's Lightning Release must be pretty good. Is he planning to use an electric current to stimulate the signal?"
"They're all heretical tricks. If you ask me, ninjutsu is more convenient."
"A Kumogakure brat? Is he going to show off their crude Lightning Release again? What an attention-seeker."
Amid everyone's chatter, Moriyue calmly walked to the front. Shikamaru's face had already distorted into bizarre stripes, and the examinees all struggled to hold back their laughter, though not a single one dared to speak.
Taking a deep breath, Moriyue raised one hand high, seemingly gathering some mysterious power. Then his large hand dropped sharply, his palm landing on top of the small television.
"Thump, thump~" After a brief bout of distortion, the image on the small television returned to normal. Moriyue calmly returned to his seat.
It was Universal Ninjutsu! He had used Universal Ninjutsu, the Pat-Pat Technique! There was a chance it could directly smack electronic devices back into working order!
Once Shikamaru was no longer glitching, he saw that all the examinees had returned to their seats and did not waste any words. It was fine as long as the equipment had recovered; they could continue the exam. He only wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.
"Ahem. Examinees, without further nonsense, the first Written Exam of the Chunin Exams begins now. The test papers are beneath the podium. Just come up and take one."
With Shikamaru's signal, the examinees stepped forward to collect their papers. As Neji passed Moriyue, he gave him two extra glances. He always felt that this guy was up to no good.
"Though it may seem unnecessary, I still have to explain. As you can see, I am the chief examiner for this test. The paper in your hands contains only three questions, worth 30, 40, and 50 points respectively."
"Each examinee may answer only one question. A wrong answer earns zero points. Your teammates are in separate exam rooms. As long as your final combined score exceeds the average score, you will pass the exam..."
Before Shikamaru could finish speaking, some of the examinees had already started snickering.
"Great! Our team may not be good at much, but when it comes to knowledge, we've got it locked down. We know astronomy above and geography below. Everyone, we'll graciously accept this victory. See you at the next exam..."
Shikamaru could obviously hear the voices within the exam hall. Hearing someone pop the champagne at halftime, a wicked smile appeared at the corner of his mouth as he continued where he had left off.
"However, the total score of the three examinees cannot exceed 100. If it does, you will be eliminated immediately."
Hearing Shikamaru's addition, the smug examinee's face instantly fell. This test not only examined how well the examinees had mastered their knowledge, but also tested the teamwork between squad members.
Each member had to choose a question they could answer with absolute certainty, while ensuring their combined score totaled exactly 100 in order to guarantee advancement.
"30, 30, 40. Or 50, 50, 0. Are those the only two combinations? And everyone has to choose differently. Even if we pick the right strategy, it won't work if each person chooses the wrong question..." The examinees all began to look troubled, though most of those troubled people were honest types.
The true veterans had known from the start that the Written Exam portion of the Chunin Exams was not really testing writing. It was testing cheating. Especially veterans like Sakura, who had gone through the first Chunin Exams before—they had their cheating methods fully prepared.
"The Parasitic Insects can't get out. The entire room is sealed..." Shino recalled his Kikaichū. They were currently inside a sealed chamber.
An examinee from Sunagakure walked over to the wall. Knowing his partner was next door, he knocked on it and shouted loudly, then pressed his ear against the wall, but he heard nothing.
"The soundproofing is excellent too, and the glass outside the windows has been reinforced..."
They tried every method they could think of, yet failed to find any channel capable of transmitting messages effectively.
But that was only true for most people. Not everyone present was an ordinary ninja.
Kaede, with her short teal-blue hair and wheat-colored skin, closed her eyes. A ripple that only she could sense spread outward, breaking through layer after layer of obstruction and reaching directly into her teammates' minds.
Ajisai held up four fingers high. His two teammates were also powerful sensory-type ninja, and using Amegakure's ninjutsu, they sensed the signal Ajisai had sent as well.
The Sunagakure ninja who had knocked on the wall earlier also used the dust outside the window to transmit information. It could only be said that, in this seemingly ordinary Written Exam, everyone displayed their own abilities. There were all kinds of ways to pass, except honestly answering the questions.
This was not limited to Moriyue's exam hall. The same thing was happening in Kazeki and Ando's exam hall as well.
As everyone knew, Kumogakure generally gave people the impression of being muscle-headed, combat-oriented brutes. In past Chunin Exams, quite a few had fallen at the first hurdle. To outsiders, Kumogakure, which supposedly had few sensory ninjutsu, certainly had no way of passing this exam.
But that was not the case. Both Ando and Kazeki were writing furiously on their papers. Kazeki's eyes held an indescribable excitement and delight. She had guessed right! Captain Moriyue had guessed right! The format really was almost exactly as he had predicted!
She knew this one! Captain Moriyue had said that he would choose the zero-point question, while she and Ando would each do the fifty-point question. Back then, he had even joked that whatever he did would have to be worth zero points.
As for Ando, he scratched his head with a look of utter disbelief while concentrating on the questions. What was going on? Was the captain really that lucky? He had actually guessed the questions right?
"So that's why the captain is so pale. Turns out he's a lucky bastard..."
Before you continue