Passing the First Round

Ibiki Morino's scarred face twitched. He raised his eyes toward Tianming in the corner and said flatly, "Are you sure what you said is true?"

A perfect score on the Chunin Exams written test? That was like dreaming. Ever since the Chunin Exams had been established, no one had ever gotten a perfect score on the written portion.

Even now, none of those famous names had ever achieved a perfect score.

"You're pretty arrogant, kid, but you can't even recognize a futile effort." Ibiki Morino shook his head. "Confidence is a good thing, but you can't be blindly overconfident."

Tianming lowered his hand. He knew Ibiki Morino probably didn't believe him. No one would believe something like this in the first place.

"Tianming, do you want to copy mine?" Hinata Hyuga's soft, timid voice sounded beside him.

She thought Tianming probably couldn't answer the questions but still insisted on showing off.

"I can do it myself." Tianming smiled, then began writing furiously.

The scratching of his pen sounded especially harsh in the silent classroom.

Tianming's writing seemed to be a signal. The others immediately began showing off their own methods.

Sasuke Uchiha crossed his hands beneath his chin. He closed his eyes, then opened them again. His Sharingan had activated!

Through the Sharingan's vision, he could see not only what answers the person in front of him was writing, but practically their internal organs as well.

Gaara, by the window, merely waved a hand. A wisp of sand circled the examination room once before landing on his desk and automatically arranging itself into answers.

The three Sound ninja in the corner simply closed their eyes. They could hear the answers.

Just as everyone was displaying their abilities, Tianming raised his hand again.

Ibiki Morino's expression at the podium turned a little ugly. "If you're raising your hand this time to say you got a perfect score, I'll declare you eliminated."

"Tianming." Sakura Haruno looked equally confused. Was he trying to force himself into the spotlight too?

"I'm done. Can't I turn it in early?" Tianming took his paper to the podium and slapped it down.

Ibiki Morino gave a light chuckle. "There are ten questions in total. You only answered nine, and you say you're done?"

It's over! Sakura Haruno's heart sank to the bottom. She truly hadn't expected Tianming to be this strange.

Was Team 7 going to be eliminated now?

Tianming looked calmly at Ibiki Morino and said slowly, "Doesn't the tenth question need to be set by you?"

As soon as he said that, Ibiki Morino's expression changed from calm to astonished. This kid had actually seen through the first test?

Gasp, gasp!

The ninja nearby all sucked in sharp breaths. This year's Chunin Exams written test was exceptionally strict. Ibiki Morino was unlike ordinary jonin; his cautious nature meant that the final answer for the first test had only been decided before they entered the classroom.

Delight appeared on Ibiki Morino's face. "Very good! Since you've seen through it, let's get to the point."

The other ninja still answering questions stopped writing, their faces full of confusion.

"Wow! What did Tianming see through? Does any of you know?" Naruto Uzumaki turned into a machine gun of questions, asking nonstop.

"The test paper only requires you to answer nine questions, because the tenth question isn't on the paper at all." Ibiki Morino's gaze swept across the ninja in the room as he continued.

"The tenth question is a special one. As long as you answer it correctly, you can enter the next round even if you got zero points before. But if you answer it wrong, you will lose your eligibility for the Chunin Exams forever and remain genin forever!"

"This... being a genin forever? That's terrifying!"

"As long as we answer the tenth question correctly, it doesn't matter if the earlier ones were wrong? Then it must be really difficult, right?"

"If we get it wrong, we'll lose our eligibility forever..."

Discussion erupted throughout the classroom.

Ibiki Morino did not urge them. Instead, he generously gave everyone time to think it over.

"Teacher, I choose to give up!"

One ninja raised a hand and withdrew. After thinking it over, more ninja followed suit and left the examination room.

"What did you see through?" Naruto Uzumaki asked quietly when Tianming returned to his seat.

"Naruto, you could pass this first round just by sitting still." Tianming smiled.

"I don't have to do anything?" Naruto Uzumaki's mouth fell open, and he failed to process it at all.

While everyone held their breath and waited for the question to be announced—

Ibiki Morino suddenly laughed. "Congratulations. You have all passed the first round."

"Damn! We really passed?" Naruto Uzumaki stared at Tianming, completely unable to understand it. They were in the same classroom, so how had Tianming seen through it?

As all the ninja stood there full of question marks, Ibiki Morino removed his head covering, revealing a head riddled with scars.

"The first nine questions tested your ability to gather intelligence, while the tenth question was the most important part!" Ibiki Morino pointed to his head.

"After obtaining intelligence, you must also face the consequences of failure. If you are captured, how will you pass the intelligence along? That requires unwavering conviction. Without conviction, how can you even speak of gathering intelligence?"

After speaking, Ibiki Morino put his head covering back on. "Anko Mitarashi, the first round is over."

As his words fell, several figures crashed through the windows. The newcomer was a valiant-looking female ninja: Anko Mitarashi!

"Another jonin." For those taking the exam, today might have been the day they saw the most jonin in their lives.