There were eighty Konoha Genin who passed the first written test. Compared with the lack of freedom in the first exam, the second exam seemed almost too free.
Early the next morning.
Before the exam began, Yuhara arrived at the assembly point on time. He found that the place was already "fully prepared."
The examiners were in position, and most of the examinees had also arrived. They stood in groups of two or three, constantly discussing something.
Yuhara did not know a single person, so he silently stood in a corner.
"The time has come. We will now announce the detailed rules for the second exam."
After a little while longer, the chief examiner announced that the exam was about to begin.
The person presiding over the exam had wrapped himself up completely. Barely any skin was exposed, and judging from his voice, clothing, and other details, he seemed to be around twenty-five or twenty-six years old.
That age meant he should be a new-generation ninja who had grown up during the Third Ninja World War. Combined with his familiar clothing style and the special-looking gourd on his back, Yuhara felt that this examiner, who had even skipped introducing himself, was very likely Shibi Aburame of the Aburame Clan.
His age matched as well.
If this really was him, then the examiner's strength was at the standard Elite Jonin level, and it made sense for him to be presiding over an exam like this... Besides his strength, Shibi Aburame was also a close subordinate of the Fourth Hokage.
In theory, all Konoha Ninja were subordinates of the Fourth Hokage. This even included the retired Third Hokage. However, subordinates were not all the same.
"First, the examination area is the forested mountain ahead. The area is relatively broad, so once you enter, you do not need to worry about crossing the boundary.
Second, the exam will last one week, and you may carry sufficient supplies.
Third, the exam will involve identifying and capturing special targets, as well as obtaining and verifying codes. The details are as follows:
Before the exam began, we released one hundred enemies into the examination area. Most of these enemies are ninja from various enemy nations captured by our side during the Ninja World War, so they pose a significant threat to you.
Each enemy carries a segment of ciphertext, but only the ciphertext carried by fifty of them is genuine. The rest is false.
Each examinee will also carry a ciphertext. Half of these ciphertexts are genuine and half are false. However, when you possess your own initial ciphertext, it will be considered genuine regardless of whether it is actually true or false. Ciphertexts taken from others must be verified.
Before the exam ends, any examinee who arrives at the designated location carrying two genuine ciphertexts will be considered to have passed. The inspection location is shown in the diagram.
Whether examinees form alliances or oppose one another is permitted, but killing anyone within the examination area is strictly forbidden... Information must be obtained by subduing the other party and leaving them alive, not through wanton slaughter.
Next, we will announce the method for deciphering the ciphertext and the correct ciphertext. However, examinees may only memorize them on-site and may not make any copies.
If an examinee understands the deciphering method and memorizes the correct ciphertext, they may claim their own ciphertext and then enter the examination area on their own... Those are all the rules. Does anyone have any questions?"
"Does that mean dealing with the enemies is also forbidden?"
As soon as the rules had been explained, someone immediately asked this question, which was something many people were concerned about.
"It is not permitted during this exam."
The examiner gave that answer, and the examinees immediately began discussing it among themselves.
Judging by the rules alone, this exam was extremely harsh. There were eighty Konoha Ninja taking part, while there were one hundred enemies inside the examination area. Setting aside the difference in numbers, the problem was that the enemies would definitely try to kill the Konoha Ninja, while the Konoha Ninja could not launch lethal attacks if they wanted to pass.
The examinees wanted to pass the exam. Under these rules, they could theoretically regard everyone except themselves as an enemy, because every person carried a ciphertext. The ciphertext on an enemy could allow a ninja to pass, and the ciphertext carried by a Konoha Genin could do the same.
Although, mathematically, as many as sixty-five people could pass, the actual situation could never be so optimistic.
Next, a very large curtain was hung up. The upper half displayed the rules for decrypting a certain kind of ciphertext, while the lower half contained passage after passage of correct ciphertext that had already been decrypted.
When he saw the densely packed writing, Yuhara immediately understood one thing—the first exam of this Chunin Ninja Exams had not really been a written exam. The second exam's battle royale was the real written exam.
Who could memorize such a huge amount of information? They also had to remember the method for deciphering the ciphertext. To be honest, this was asking far too much of Yuhara.
Then he saw the other examinees begin searching for people they knew and forming teams.
Considering that there were so many enemies in the examination area, moving in teams was the best choice. At the same time, once a team was formed, they could divide the work... One person could memorize the deciphering method, while the others each memorized several segments of genuine ciphertext.
As expected of ninja who had experienced war, their abilities were quite impressive... even though they were only Genin.
What about Yuhara?
He did not know anyone, so he could only form a team with the air.
Thus, he merely glanced at the curtain, then went straight to claim his ciphertext. Under the astonished gazes of everyone present, he stepped into the dense forest.
The malicious ones thought Yuhara was looking for death, and that he deserved whatever happened to him. The kinder ones wanted very much to call out and stop such reckless behavior... Shinobi, give it up. The forest is full of monsters.
Yuhara naturally sensed none of that malice or goodwill. Giving up on deciphering and memorizing the ciphertext did not mean he had abandoned himself. On the contrary, he planned to pass this exam using his own method.
"So... let's guess how many of the so-called one hundred enemies are actually disguised Konoha Ninja. No matter what, this is a truly massive undertaking."
Yuhara thought this as he walked.
To be honest, he absolutely did not believe that the "enemies" in the examination area were prisoners from enemy nations. It made no sense. After finally surviving the battlefield, the Genin would turn around and die in their own village's ninja exam? That would be absurd.
So Yuhara felt that at least most of the one hundred enemies were disguised Konoha Ninja, or perhaps all of them were... It was clear that Konoha had invested an enormous amount of manpower and resources into this Chunin Ninja Exams.
However, such an investment was understandable. After all, this was the first village-wide public event presided over by the Fourth Hokage since he took office, so its symbolic importance was immense.
In fact, Konoha's investment was even more excessive than Yuhara imagined. At this moment, the entire examination area had already been covered by a barrier. The examiners were not afraid that the examinees would run around wildly after entering the area, because the examinees had no way to run around freely.
As for Yuhara, who had ignored the method for deciphering the ciphertext yet still intended to pass the exam, his approach was actually very simple... Make practical use of probability.
On average, every two "enemies" would carry one genuine ciphertext. So Yuhara planned to deal with ten people and seize ten ciphertexts.
There was no way that ten ciphertexts would not contain even one genuine one, right? Had they never played a gacha game? Did they understand the pity system? With a fifty percent acquisition rate, a ten-pull that yielded nothing? You could uninstall the game.
If ten were not enough, then he would go for twenty. In any case, the passing requirement was to obtain another genuine ciphertext while retaining his own. In other words, the ciphertext only needed to be genuine; he did not need to care whether it had been correctly deciphered.
If Yuhara brought out ten or twenty ciphertexts, he would definitely pass.
This method could be called an essential trick for travel and everyday life. Aside from being rather unfriendly to the other examinees, showing insufficient respect for the examiners who designed the test, and completely ignoring the purpose of the exam, it had no other flaws.
Before you continue