"Monkey, why did you change my exam questions without permission?"
In the Hokage's office, Danzo, who was watching the exam through a Crystal Ball alongside the Third, demanded an explanation.
"I didn't change that much, Danzo." The Third took a drag on his pipe, perfectly calm.
"What kind of intelligence is a name and blood type? You also cut the total score in half!"
Danzo furrowed his brow. "And what about the points deducted for revealing intelligence? Why didn't you add those in?"
"This is the Chunin Exam, Danzo." The Third was getting a little annoyed, too. "Your standards are far too strict. They're not fair to candidates from the major clans, either."
"That's a risk clan shinobi have to bear!" Danzo insisted.
"Fine, fine... I'm not going to argue with you." The Third waved a hand. "I shortened the exam time, didn't I? The effect is about the same."
"Hmph! This exam is meaningless. I say we might as well cancel it outright!"
"..."
The Third didn't respond. He kept smoking as he watched the live feed.
Danzo glared coldly at the Third for a while, then gave a cold snort and fell silent.
A minute passed.
"You didn't remove the rule that allows candidates to interrogate others for intelligence on the spot, did you?" Danzo asked coldly.
"There's a rule like that!?" Now it was the Third's turn to lose his composure. "How come I didn't see it?"
"Hah! Did it really need to be written down? Under extreme conditions, torturing someone for intelligence is perfectly normal, isn't it?"
"You've gone too far, Danzo... They're all children of Konoha, and you want them to interrogate their own teammates!?"
"You're the one who's too soft, Monkey! This is the world of shinobi. There are no teammates, only missions!"
"I'm the Hokage, Danzo! I won't allow it!"
"Hmph! You'll regret this someday, Monkey!"
"..."
After a heated clash, the two glared at each other for thirty seconds, then sat back down in unspoken agreement and turned their attention to the Crystal Ball again.
Fortunately, no candidates were interrogating one another in the exam room shown in the Crystal Ball.
And to the Third's relief, a few candidates had even started handing in their papers early.
"These kids understand how important intelligence is. Very good, very good..." The Third happily took a puff on his pipe, as if the unpleasantness from earlier had never happened.
"Hmph!" Danzo snorted.
The Third switched the feed to another exam room.
The situation there, however... was a little unusual.
"Hm? Little Ruohuo?" The Third looked at the figure in front of the lectern, with a bad feeling creeping over him.
"Hm? Uchiha?" Danzo stared at the same figure, recalling what he knew about the Uchiha brat.
In the exam room, Ruohuo was staring sternly at the examiner. Every hair on his close-cropped head seemed to bristle with defiance.
"What gives you the right to give me zero points!?"
"Because I'm the examiner!" the burly examiner bellowed. "You wrote down twenty Konoha Ninja on your paper. What kind of intelligence is that!?"
"Why doesn't that count as intelligence!?" Ruohuo raised his voice just as loudly. "Aren't they Konoha Ninja? Could they be shinobi from some other village!?"
Ruohuo argued his case. "On the battlefield, isn't that kind of intelligence important? Don't you need to identify the enemy before you attack!?"
"You should give me twenty points!"
"I suggest you go back and rewrite your answers right now. Otherwise, your entire team will be disqualified!"
Ruohuo's voice was loud, but his childish tone against the examiner somehow made the scene rather comical.
"This little guy..." The Third shook with laughter, his wrinkled face resembling an old chrysanthemum.
It seemed Orochimaru was destined to be disappointed...
There was no way an answer like that could pass the first stage of the exam.
Still, that was fine.
The fighting was tense, but Konoha was nowhere near desperate enough to send children to the battlefield.
Keeping a little guy like him in the village for a few more years couldn't hurt.
And yet...
"I think this Uchiha brat is right, Monkey," Danzo suddenly said.
"Hm?" The Third paused, looking at Danzo in confusion. His gaze gradually sharpened, and his expression turned serious.
"He's still a child, Danzo," the Third said gravely. "You'd better not be entertaining any dangerous ideas."
They'd been old friends for years. Each knew the other inside and out.
The Third had a pretty good idea what Danzo was thinking, so he warned him at once.
"And he's Orochimaru's disciple. It's not your place to meddle."
"I'm merely judging the matter on its merits, Monkey." Danzo's expression was indifferent, nothing like the irritable old man from earlier.
"This Uchiha brat is right. Before taking any action against an enemy on the battlefield, the very least you must do is confirm their identity."
"His answer really should earn points..." Danzo narrowed his single eye. "This oversight is yours, too, Monkey."
"Under my rules, any candidate whose intelligence was written down would lose points. So even if every candidate gave the same answer, they wouldn't earn a single extra point."
"You changed my rules without permission, creating this loophole. You're entirely to blame."
Danzo's argument was sound, and his logic was perfectly clear.
But the Third remained unmoved.
He fixed Danzo with a sharp gaze, pitting his two eyes against Danzo's one and putting pressure on him without pause.
"I'll say it again. He's still a child, and he's Orochimaru's disciple, Danzo..."
"You'd better not lay a hand on him."
"These are the rules." Danzo was just as unmoved, firing back, "Monkey, what exactly are you afraid of? Me, or the Uchiha?"
"You're too soft, Monkey..." Danzo shook his head.
"I'm the Hokage, Danzo!" The Third raised his voice.
Danzo stood up. "You'll regret this, Monkey!"
"There, is that good enough!?"
Ruohuo's childish voice rang out again from the Crystal Ball.
The two old men on either side of the desk paused and looked over together. The examiner's face was full of astonishment.
"If you know so much... then why did you answer the questions that way just now?"
As soon as the examiner said it, he realized what had happened. "You only saw it on the lectern just now, didn't you?"
"You left the roster lying around. How is that my fault?"
Ruohuo tilted his nose toward the ceiling. "You said it yourself: all the information is in the examiner's hands. If I'm looking for intelligence, who else am I supposed to ask?"
The roster was quite thorough. It listed names, blood types, zodiac signs, and shinobi numbers. It even included the names of their instructors.
"Hah! Not bad... You even managed to fool me."
The examiner gave a cold laugh and handed Ruohuo's paper back.
"Congratulations, kid. You passed..."
Ruohuo straightened his Headband and ignored him, striding out coolly.
The examiner watched Ruohuo's retreating figure with a snort, then glanced at the time and gave the candidates in the room a menacing grin.
"Only one minute left, candidates..."
Before you continue