Written Exam and Rules

"Hiss!" Many candidates sitting in the front third of the exam room suddenly felt a chill run down their spines, because they remembered that they had almost been eliminated because they turned around.

"Tsk tsk, as expected, this is an exam for elite Genin from various ninja villages. The difficulty is completely different from the original story. If this were held a decade or two later, it would probably eliminate a large number of people." Shuichi was somewhat amazed by the difficulty of the exam.

The reason this Takigakure team was eliminated was simple: the Takigakure Genin the front row disobeyed the examiner's requirements.

Before the candidates received their seat numbers, Yamanaka Yuichi implied in his words that once they were seated, they were not allowed to look around. He further emphasized that those who violated this rule would be eliminated.

This hidden test was specifically designed for the Genin hadn't done enough prior intelligence preparation, increasing the difficulty of their first test.

Shuichi observed very carefully; the seats for each team of three were separated, located at the front, middle, and back of the examination room.

At this point, the Genin in the front row and middle would naturally want to observe the positions of their remaining teammates, since everyone had more or less guessed that the written test would involve intelligence gathering, which would likely require them to pass information to their teammates.

With the seating arrangement in the exam room disrupted, Yamanaka Yuichi used this opportunity to test the intelligence exchange between each team before the exam papers were distributed.

The three small boxes were designed so that the candidates in the first third of the area all came from different teams, and the three people from each team were located in the front, middle, and back areas, separated from each other.

Now, almost all the candidates sitting in the front row have realized that the shuffled seat numbers, the front-to-back seating arrangement, and the rule against looking around and hoping for something mean that those who sit down first in each line can no longer determine the positions of their remaining teammates.

Therefore, those Genin in the front and middle areas can only determine their teammates' current locations by remembering both their seat numbers and their teammates' numbers.

Genin can no longer determine the location of their teammates can only passively wait for messages from their teammates behind them.

For lucky groups, if the person with the strongest intelligence among the three sits at the back, the pressure is much less.

If someone is sitting at the front and doesn't know their teammates' locations, then the first test will be difficult. Everyone can imagine that the written test will require teammates to pass information to each other.

Several genin sitting Genin the front row have already realized this. They are the team's most intelligent and resourceful members, and right now they can only pray that their teammates will step up, or it will all be over.

Seeing that everyone's eyes were fixed on the front, Yamanaka Yuichi knew that no one would make a mistake and be eliminated.

"Ah, that's a bit of a pity. My expectation was to eliminate three teams, but since some of you haven't completely turned your heads, I'll let you off this time." Yamanaka Yuichi smile, his eyes looking at the few Genin below.

Those low- Genin were cursing under their breath, never expecting the examiner to be so cunning. Luckily, they didn't turn their heads 90 degrees, or they would have been eliminated immediately.

"Now, we will be distributing the written test papers. Please keep them face down. Do not move until the timer starts."

Several of the Assistant Examiner stood up and distributed the exam papers to each Genin's desk, along with a pen.

After the exam papers were distributed, Yamanaka Yuichi began to explain the requirements for passing the written exam.

"Let me explain the exam rules. The exam lasts 45 minutes. Each person has 10 questions on their paper, each question is worth 1 point, for a total of 10 points."

One point is awarded for each correct answer, and no points are deducted for incorrect answers.

"Listen carefully to what I'm about to say. I haven't decided yet how many people will pass or what score is needed to pass. The only hint I can give you is that the higher your team's total score, the better."

Many test takers began to speculate that the rule mentioned by the examiner was to encourage everyone to do everything possible to improve their team's total score, since each team did not know how many questions their opponents would answer correctly.

In this situation, even if one person can achieve a high score, if the other two teammates score lower, the probability of the entire team being eliminated is very high, especially since the pre-assigned positions increase the difficulty of communication between teammates.

"At the same time, there is another important rule, please listen carefully, I will only say it once." Yamanaka Yuichi's expression became serious.

"The proctors next to each of your rows will observe your behavior during the exam. If any blatant cheating is detected, it will be recorded as a violation. Each person is allowed a maximum of 3 violations. Once more than 3 violations are committed, the entire row will be eliminated."

Upon hearing this, many Genin understood Yamanaka Yuichi's underlying meaning: allowing each person three clumsy attempts at cheating would make the exam much easier.

"Of course, don't get too excited yet. I need to add something: after the exam, the proctors will count the total number of fouls committed by each team. If the total number of fouls exceeds 5, that team will be eliminated."

"This..." Many people's excitement immediately vanished upon hearing this rule, because during the exam, they had no idea how many times their teammates would foul. If one person fouled three times in an attempt to score points, it meant that the other two only had one chance to foul. Any more than that, and even if they had a high score, they would be eliminated.

"It seems the challenge won't be easy," Shuichi thought to himself. "This rule tests one's trust and understanding of their teammates. Three fouls seem like a lot, but many people will definitely worry about their teammates committing too many fouls, and when they need to foul themselves, they'll become hesitant."

"Using a more rational approach, each person can only commit one safety foul; a second foul significantly increases the risk of the entire team being eliminated."

"But for someone with even a little intelligence, clumsy cheating still makes this exam seem not too difficult." Shuichi felt the difficulty was a bit too low. "Could it be that there are other tests in the exam?"

After explaining the rules, Yamanaka Yuichi took out a small timer from his vest. "Now I will start calculating 45 minutes, and I will give a reminder at 30 minutes. When 45 minutes are up, everyone must stop writing immediately."

"The exam begins now!"

As the examiner pressed the timer, all the Genin flipped through the exam papers at top speed and began quickly scanning the questions.

Shuichi was no exception. Knowing the plot of the Chunin Ninja Exams the original work, he could roughly judge the strategy for this exam from the difficulty of the questions.