Written Exam

After entering Room 301, Ibiki Morino soon walked in with the other examiners.

The noise in the classroom quickly died down.

Chiya sat in his seat, looking at the scar-faced man at the front of the room. He had already figured it out.

The first stage really was a written exam. But this test was not actually about the questions—it was testing their intelligence-gathering abilities. In other words, cheating.

Ibiki did not waste words and directly explained the rules. Everyone started with ten points and had ten questions. Every time they were caught cheating, they lost two points. If their score fell to zero, their entire group would be eliminated.

The moment Naruto heard the words "written exam," his face turned green.

"W-Written exam?"

Sakura whispered, "Naruto, keep your voice down!"

After receiving his paper, Sasuke gave it a glance and frowned slightly. Chiya opened his own paper and looked over several questions.

Code analysis, ninja tool trajectory calculations, chakra flow, terrain assessment.

It really was beyond the curriculum.

Chiya spun his pen.

At a normal genin's level, there was no way to answer these questions. But he had spent quite a bit of time buried in books lately. Ninja Academy fundamentals, mission records, ninja tool usage, chakra control—he had gone through nearly everything he could find.

I'll give it a try. I'll answer what I can first, then figure out how to copy the rest.

He lowered his head and began writing.

He quickly finished the first question.

The trajectory calculation in the second question was a little convoluted. Chiya drew two lines beside it and soon worked it out as well. For the third question, concerning chakra flow, he stared at the prompt for a few seconds. His pen paused, then continued moving.

The examination room was terribly quiet, with only the sound of pen tips scraping across paper.

Before long, someone began making their move.

Kiba lowered his head. Akamaru was tucked inside his clothes, secretly looking toward the front row.

A few tiny insects crawled out from beside Shino and quietly scattered along the table legs.

Hinata's eyes changed slightly before she quickly lowered her head again.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan as well, glanced toward the front, and then began writing.

Sakura barely paused. Though the questions were difficult, she wrote steadily. Naruto, on the other hand, was having a miserable time. He hunched over his desk and stared at the paper, unable to squeeze out a single word. His pen had nearly poked the paper black.

Chiya glanced over and almost laughed.

Still, there was no need to worry about him. When it came to the final question, Naruto would pass even if he turned in a blank sheet.

He withdrew his gaze and continued writing.

The sixth question was a bit troublesome, stuffed with a pile of useless information. Chiya bit the end of his pen for a while, crossed out the unnecessary parts, and the rest immediately became clear. The seventh question was terrain assessment. He had just reviewed similar material a few days ago, so it was much easier to answer.

He wrote so quickly that someone soon noticed him.

Ino sat diagonally behind him, originally frowning at her test paper. She had stared at it for a long time and only grew more irritated. Just as she was looking for a suitable target, she looked up and saw Chiya writing nonstop.

He was not pretending.

He was actually writing.

Ino's eyes immediately lit up.

She looked at the unanswered questions on her own paper, bit her lip, and slowly formed hand seals.

"Mind Body Switch Technique."

With a soft whoosh,

In the next instant, he felt as though something had lightly bumped into his body. The test paper was still before his eyes, but his fingers were no longer under his control.

Ino's voice suddenly rang out in Chiya's mind.

"Sorry, Chiya-kun. Let me borrow your eyes for a moment."

The next second, he felt as though there was another person in his field of vision.

Ino did not move his body around. She merely used his eyes to quickly scan the test paper.

"Wow, you really know all of this."

Chiya replied inwardly, "Hurry up."

Ino gave a soft snort.

"Got it, cheapskate."

Chiya ignored her. Ino used his vision to look over two more questions, then muttered, "Your handwriting is pretty nice too. You always have such a cold face, so I thought your writing would look cold too."

Chiya could not help saying, "Didn't you say I was very gentle?"

"You still remember that?" Ino sounded a little embarrassed. "But Chiya-kun is gentle even when he has a cold face."

She memorized the answers quickly. When she reached the last question, she did not forget to add,

"After the exam, I'm treating you to a meal. No running away."

Chiya said, "Pass the exam first."

"Then it's a deal."

With that, she swiftly withdrew before Chiya could reply.

Then, on the other side, Ino abruptly lowered her head and began scribbling answers onto her paper.

One after another, people were caught and dragged out of the examination room.

"You. Caught cheating five times. Eliminated."

"Your entire group, get out."

The people called out turned pale. Some tried to explain, but the examiners directly dragged them away. Chairs scraped against the floor again and again. There were far fewer people in the classroom now, and those remaining became increasingly quiet.

Naruto's forehead was covered in sweat.

After Sakura finished writing, she secretly looked at him. Her expression immediately changed.

There was not a single word on his paper.

Chiya finished the final question and put down his pen.

Sure enough, Ibiki soon spoke.

"Now, I will announce the rules for the tenth question."

Everyone looked up.

Naruto's eyes lit up, as though he had finally found something that could save him.

Ibiki said coldly, "For the tenth question, you may choose to answer or choose not to answer. Those who choose not to answer will be eliminated along with their teammates. Those who choose to answer but get it wrong will permanently lose their eligibility to take the Chunin Exams."

The classroom instantly erupted.

"What kind of joke is this?!"

"Permanently lose our eligibility?"

"Then what are we even taking the exam for?!"

Ibiki looked at them.

"Anyone who wants to withdraw, raise your hand now."

Hands soon rose.

One, two, three.

Group after group left, leaving many empty seats in the classroom. Some lowered their heads, some gritted their teeth, and some turned at the door to glare fiercely at Ibiki.

Sakura turned to look at Naruto.

Naruto looked awful. He was gripping his pen so tightly that it seemed about to snap.

Sakura slowly raised her hand.

Chiya sat behind them without making a sound.

If Naruto could not stand up now, then he would not be Naruto.

Just as Sakura was about to raise her hand fully, Naruto suddenly stood up.

Bang!

He slapped the desk with his palm.

"Don't look down on me!"

Everyone looked at him.

Naruto pointed at Ibiki and shouted, "I won't run away! Even if I'm a genin for the rest of my life, I'll still become Hokage!"

Sakura froze.

The corner of Sasuke's mouth twitched before he quickly suppressed it.

Chiya leaned back in his chair and laughed.

Ibiki stared at Naruto for several seconds.

Then he smiled as well.

"Very good."

Naruto froze.

"Huh?"

Ibiki looked over the entire room.

"Now, I announce that everyone who remains has passed the first stage of the exam."

The classroom fell silent for a moment.

The next second, the room instantly erupted.

"What? We passed? I passed!"

Sakura let out a long breath and nearly collapsed onto her desk.

Ino also sighed in relief. She turned toward Chiya and secretly winked at him.

Before everyone could recover, a loud crash suddenly came from outside the window.

Bang!

The glass instantly shattered, and a dark figure burst in while unfurling a banner.

"It's too early to celebrate!"

Mitaraishi Anko stood at the front of the classroom, her cloak snapping open.

"I am the chief examiner for the second stage, Mitaraishi Anko."

She grinned and slapped a stack of papers onto the desk.

"Next, every one of you will sign a consent form for death."

"What?"

"A consent form for death?"