Ibiki's presence held everyone in place.
Neji seized the chance to pull Rock Lee along, and entered the exam room with Tenten.
"Don't try to cut corners. Everyone must sit in their assigned seats, and members of the same team will be seated far apart!"
At Ibiki's command, all the Genin began taking their seats.
Watching the crowd around her, Tenten asked anxiously, "What do we do? I thought we could help each other during the written test, but who knew..."
Neji just smiled. "Don't worry. I'm here."
"You?"
Tenten looked doubtful.
The first round was a written test. It was incredibly boring.
For Neji, who could already use the Byakugan freely, finding the answers was a piece of cake.
Once he had worked out the correct answers, Neji completed the test's nine long questions.
He wrote out two copies of the answers on scrap paper, crumpled them into balls, and placed them at the corner of his desk.
"Byakugan!"
Through the Byakugan's vision, not only was his perception sharp, but his ability to judge things like distance and angles was incredibly precise.
"Nine o'clock, 3.7 meters away. And Rock Lee is... behind me at six o'clock, 6.6 meters away?"
"That's close enough." Neji took a deep breath.
Then he closed his eyes and began to mold chakra.
Releasing chakra was easy. True control meant extracting a precise amount...
"Rotation!"
Since he used only a tiny amount of chakra, Rotation's power was reduced to almost nothing. But the Wind Style chakra nature transformation still set the paper balls in motion...
After spinning halfway around, they landed precisely on Rock Lee and Tenten's desks!
Neji's getting smarter and smarter! Rock Lee thought happily.
The minutes ticked by, and most of the Genin found ways to get the correct answers.
"What about the last question?"
At last, someone asked. The rules on the test paper were clear: the first written round had ten questions, worth a total of one hundred points.
"The last question?"
Ibiki stood up and chuckled. "Listen carefully. Here's the last question."
"To answer it, you'll have to follow one rule. You must choose whether to stay or give up..."
"If you stay, and anyone on your team gets this last question wrong, the whole team will be eliminated, and every member will be a Genin for life! If you get it right, you'll advance. But you can also choose to give up now. Your whole team will be eliminated, but you can still take the exam again next year..."
"What?"
"What kind of ridiculous rule is that?"
Someone complained. Ibiki slapped the desk. "I made the rules! If you can't get past this, you'll never become Chunin!"
"Sorry, I'm giving up."
Slowly, people began to leave.
"I..."
"I'm giving up too!"
One team after another withdrew. Neji watched them go.
This couldn't go on. The more people who made it to the second round, the more chances Neji would have to fight. They were all stepping-stones for him, so the more who stayed, the better.
"Wait!"
Neji stood up. Tenten and Rock Lee immediately panicked. Was he about to give up?
They exchanged a glance. Neither wanted Neji to doubt himself. Tenten especially sighed; in her eyes, a Genin of Neji's caliber shouldn't have entered the Chunin Ninja Exams at all!
But when Neji stood, the corners of his mouth lifted, and confidence shone in his eyes.
"Examiner, this multiple-choice question is the answer to question ten, isn't it? And it's only meant to test our resolve. It isn't an actual rule, because it appeared as a question and wasn't written on the test paper."
Neji spoke calmly, but he drew everyone's attention.
"Oh? Why?"
Ibiki tilted his head. He'd never seen a candidate so bold as to openly challenge him.
Neji chuckled. "You're testing everyone's ability to withstand psychological pressure! Saying that we won't become Chunin because we aren't good enough is a way to provoke us. It can only scare off cowards. But putting the punishment on our teammates scares off those with weak nerves."
"Companions are important in the Shinobi World. But sometimes, to complete a mission, we can't let ourselves be fooled by an enemy's provocations. That's the real answer to this question, isn't it?"
The whole room fell silent!
Neji's answer made everyone see the situation clearly in an instant.
"Did this guy see the exam answers beforehand?"
The assistant examiners stared at him in disbelief.
Answers? I saw the script ahead of time, damn it!
Ibiki hadn't expected someone like this to appear in the exam room. Looking closely, he saw that the boy was an unknown Genin. Judging by his eyes, he was from the Hyuga Clan—but the Hyuga Clan hadn't produced any particularly talented ninja in recent years.
What bothered Ibiki most was that not only had this kid figured out his intentions, he'd also dared to announce the answer to everyone.
After all, most people would have hunched over like the others, hoping the test would eliminate one more rival. But this one...
"Impressive. I admire your courage, not your cleverness."
Ibiki finally stood up, still regarding Neji with scorn and contempt.
"You just spoke about rules. Do you understand the rules of the Shinobi World?"
Neji didn't answer.
Then Ibiki took off his hat. Dozens of scars, some large and some small, covered his head!
His gaze was terrifying!
"Ninja sometimes have to face even more difficult choices."
"Sometimes you have to abandon your comrades. Sometimes you even have to sacrifice yourself to complete a mission. When that time comes, will you still have the resolve to do it?"
"Your answer is completely correct. But you can't read the situation. You gave the answer to your future enemies. The Shinobi World's cruel truth is that the mission comes first. This defeatist attitude of yours is the act of a fool!"
"By giving the answer away, you're simply giving up on the mission!"
Ibiki still sneered at Neji. "As a ninja, you can't always take the safest path. You'll always need the courage to take risks!"
Sure enough, things had taken an unexpected turn.
But at that moment, a blazing fire rose within Neji, too!
He lowered his chin slightly, his gaze even more resolute.
"This is the first written round of a Chunin exam. It should test our courage to accept a mission and our resolve to face it."
"The next round is a practical test. That will test our ability to complete a mission."
Neji's words grew more forceful, his gaze unwavering.
"And you keep asking what we'll do when we can't complete a mission. Isn't that giving up before the fight even begins?"
Everyone was astonished. A Genin had such a clear understanding of things, while so many other Genin in the room were only hoping to become Chunin so they could take on more lucrative missions.
But Neji was already standing here, speaking loudly with the head examiner!
Then Neji laughed aloud. "You say I can't read the situation and am taking a risk by giving the answer to my enemies. But in my eyes, this is actually the path I can take with the greatest confidence!"
At that moment, Neji's gaze even made Ibiki falter.
He abruptly stumbled backward, taking a step back!
Before you continue