The Chunin Exams Begin

"Morino Takuma! Get up already, or you'll be late for the exam!"

Takuma crawled out of bed and opened the window. Tenten was standing downstairs, her hands cupped around her mouth as she shouted up at him.

By the time they reached the school gates, Yakumo and Tetsu had already arrived.

Tenten waved goodbye and went to look for the other two members of Team Guy.

Takuma walked up to the two of them, glanced around, and lowered his voice. "Once we're inside, remember one thing: whether you know the answers or not, don't panic. Just scribble something down for the first few questions. The important thing is to stall for time."

Yakumo frowned. "Stall for time? Why?"

"My guess is that the real test isn't the written exam." Takuma chose his words carefully. He knew what the exam was really testing, but couldn't explain how he knew, so he could only reason from common sense. "Think about it. The Chunin Exams are held once every three years, and the elite from every village are here. If the standard is academic knowledge, then shinobi who specialize in taijutsu wouldn't even be able to participate. Konoha isn't that stupid. The real test might be a pressure test, or it might be something else. Whatever it is, the ones who panic will be eliminated first."

Yakumo thought it over and decided his analysis made sense. Tetsu rasped out two words: "Sounds reasonable."

Yakumo looked at him. "You don't seem nervous at all."

"I'm nervous too. I just have a naturally calm-looking face."

Yakumo's mouth twitched. She didn't say anything more.

The exam was being held in a large classroom on the third floor, and the hallway was already packed.

Takuma's gaze paused for a moment on a white-haired young man wearing round glasses and a mild smile.

"Coming through, coming through..."

Naruto waved his arms as he squeezed through the crowd, with a completely exasperated Sasuke and Sakura following behind him.

"Hey! Takuma! You're taking the Chunin Exams too?"

Takuma kept a straight face.

Naruto came over excitedly and slung an arm around his shoulders, only for Sakura to grab him by the collar and drag him away.

Tetsu stared at Kabuto's back and said in a low voice, "Something's off about that white-haired guy."

"Good that you noticed. Don't worry about it. Let's go in."

Takuma found a seat near the middle, and the examinees gradually took their places.

The instant Takuma saw the man at the front of the classroom, he relaxed. Sure enough, it was Morino Ibiki, captain of Konoha's Torture and Interrogation Force.

Everything matched what he remembered from the story. Ibiki was the one who had come up with the trick involving the tenth question.

"Welcome to the first round of the Chunin Exams." Ibiki's voice wasn't loud. "I'll explain the rules once. First, no fighting, leaving your seat, or harming other examinees during the exam. Anyone who breaks these rules will cause their entire team to be disqualified. Second, cheating is allowed, as long as the proctors don't catch you. The proctors in the room are watching you. Get caught once, and you lose two points. The test is worth ten points in total; anyone who loses all their points is disqualified. If even one member of a team fails, the entire team is disqualified."

"The exam begins now."

Takuma glanced over the test. There were ten questions. The first nine were all standard, professional questions at the level of a Chunin. The tenth was blank, with a note saying, "To be announced in forty-five minutes."

Just as he expected. There was no need to take the first eight questions seriously. Ibiki had never intended to use them to test the examinees. The real test was the last question.

Time passed minute by minute. Examinees caught cheating were continually escorted out of the room, and each time, three chairs were left empty.

With every round of removals, the remaining examinees grew more nervous. Takuma didn't react, continuing to "answer" the questions at a leisurely pace and occasionally glancing up at the ceiling.

At the forty-five-minute mark, Ibiki stepped up to the front of the classroom again.

"I'm going to announce the tenth question now. Before I do, there's one additional rule... You may choose whether or not to answer the tenth question. If you choose not to answer, you'll be disqualified on the spot, and your entire team will be disqualified. If you choose to answer but get it wrong, you'll be permanently barred from taking the Chunin Exams. You'll be a Genin for the rest of your life."

The classroom fell silent.

Takuma secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Sure enough, everything was exactly the same.

"What's the matter? No one raising a hand?" Ibiki's voice scraped across everyone's nerves like a dull blade. "Anyone who chooses not to answer can raise their hand now. You and your teammates will leave the exam room immediately, and you can try again next year. If you choose to answer and get it wrong, you'll never become a Chunin. Think about your teachers and your families. Now, choose."

More and more hands went up, and the number of people in the room rapidly dwindled.

Naruto suddenly stood up and raised his right hand, then brought it down hard on the desk, making the test papers jump.

"Don't underestimate me! I'll never run away from a challenge! Even if I'm a Genin for the rest of my life, I'll still become Hokage!"

The entire room froze.

The people with their hands raised stopped moving, and every proctor's gaze snapped toward Naruto.

Ibiki stared at him for a full five seconds. For the first time, a smile appeared on his fierce face.

"Then I hereby announce that everyone who remains here has passed the first round."

A system notification rang out in Takuma's mind: [Witnessed the completion of "Chunin Exams: First Written Test." Received one draw.]

[Draw result: One Transformers Energon Cube, which can rapidly replenish chakra. Single-use.]

[System notice: Drawn items can be stored in the system's built-in space. The host may also place previously drawn items in the space.]

A fist-sized cube glowing a faint blue appeared in the system space. Takuma was a little confused. Why had the system skipped him and drawn a prize directly this time? Still, at least he no longer had to hide it.

How come I never noticed this function before? Takuma asked silently.

[The space storage function unlocks automatically after the host's first non-consumable item draw. The Energon Cube is a consumable item, but its crystalline energy structure was classified by the system as a "storable physical object," which triggered the unlocking condition.]

Takuma thought it over for a couple of seconds and more or less understood. Everything he'd drawn before had either been an ability that merged directly into his body or a consumable item.

He withdrew his consciousness from the space, feeling pretty good.

The system had managed to do three decent things in a row this time: it gave him a useful prize, unlocked space storage, and even explained what had triggered the unlock.

The condition sounded like something the system had made up on the spot, but he decided not to argue over logic with a mysterious cheat.

As soon as Ibiki finished speaking, the classroom windows shattered with a crash.

A figure flipped through the air and landed neatly in front of the podium.

Konoha's Special Jonin, Mitaraishi Anko, had a dango skewer in her mouth and wore an outfit that was a little hard on the eyes.

"This is no time to celebrate!"

Anko planted one hand on her hip and swept her gaze over the remaining examinees. "I'm Mitaraishi Anko, the proctor for the second exam. Get yourselves ready. The fun is just getting started!"

The classroom was silent.

The examinees had just been through a mental ordeal and were still dazed with relief at having survived. The broken glass scattered across the floor and the kunoichi who had burst in through the window startled them all over again.

"More people left than I expected. Looks like you went easy on them this time?"

Ibiki pushed up the Forehead Protector on his brow. "It wasn't my fault. We had a few interesting ones this year."

Anko followed his gaze across the classroom. Her eyes paused briefly on Naruto, then lingered on Takuma before she looked away and turned to all the examinees.

"There are still too many of you. I'll eliminate at least half in the second exam."

"Good luck." Ibiki and the other proctors stepped aside.

Anko strode to the center of the classroom. "The second exam is an outdoor survival exercise. If you don't understand what that means, ask your team's Jonin instructor. Dismissed!"