Written Exam

Not long after they entered Room 301, Ibiki Morino arrived with the proctors.

The chatter in the classroom quickly died down.

Seated at his desk, Chiya looked at the scarred man standing before the podium. He had already known what was coming.

The first round was indeed a written exam. But this test was not really about the questions—it was about 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. Each time they were caught cheating, they would lose two points. If their score dropped to zero, their entire team would be eliminated.

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

"A-a written exam?"

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

After receiving his paper, Sasuke gave it a glance and frowned slightly. Chiya opened his as well and looked over a few questions.

Code analysis, ninja tool trajectories, Chakra flow, terrain assessment.

They were definitely beyond the curriculum.

Chiya spun his pen.

At the level of an ordinary genin, there was no way they could answer these questions normally. But he had spent plenty of time burying himself in books lately. Ninja Academy basic theory, 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 myself first, and figure out how to copy the rest if I have to.

He lowered his head and began writing.

He finished the first question quickly.

The trajectory calculation in the second question was a little convoluted. Chiya drew two lines beside it and quickly worked out the answer. For the third question, concerning Chakra flow, he stared at the prompt for a few seconds. His pen paused briefly before continuing.

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

Before long, people started making their moves.

Kiba kept his head lowered while Akamaru, curled up inside his clothes, secretly looked toward the front row.

Several tiny insects crawled out from beside Shino and quietly spread out along the table legs.

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

Sasuke activated his Sharingan as well. He looked up at the people in front of him once, then began writing.

Sakura barely paused. Although the questions were difficult, she wrote steadily. Naruto, on the other hand, was having a miserable time. He lay sprawled over his desk, staring at the paper, unable to squeeze out a single word for ages. His pen tip had nearly poked the paper black.

Chiya glanced over and almost laughed.

Still, there was no need to worry about Naruto. When it came to the final question, he could pass even if he handed in a blank paper.

Chiya withdrew his gaze and continued with his own work.

The sixth question was a little troublesome, crammed with a pile of useless information. Chiya bit his pen for a while, crossed out the unnecessary parts, and the remaining information immediately became clearer. The seventh question concerned terrain assessment. He had just read something similar a few days ago, so it was much easier.

He was writing too quickly, and before long, someone noticed.

Ino sat diagonally behind him, originally frowning at her paper. The longer she looked, the more annoyed she became. Just as she was searching for a suitable target, she looked up and saw Chiya writing nonstop.

He was not pretending.

He was genuinely writing.

Ino's eyes lit up at once.

She looked at the several 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 someone had lightly bumped into him. 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. I'm borrowing your eyes for a bit."

The next second, he felt as if someone else had appeared within his field of vision.

Ino did not mess with his body. She merely used his eyes to swiftly scan the test paper.

"Wow, you really know all of this."

Chiya replied in his mind, Hurry up.

Ino gave a soft huff.

"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 look so cold, so I thought your writing would be 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 looks cold."

She memorized the answers quickly, and when she reached the final question, she did not forget to add one more thing.

"After the exam, I'm treating you to a meal. Don't run away."

Chiya said, "Pass the exam first."

"Then it's a deal."

With that, she quickly withdrew before Chiya could respond.

On the other side, Ino abruptly lowered her head and began scribbling away on her paper.

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

"You cheated five times. Eliminated."

"Your entire team, out."

The people called out turned pale. Some tried to explain, only to be dragged away by the proctors. The scraping of chairs against the floor rang out again and again. There were noticeably fewer people in the classroom, and those remaining grew quieter and quieter.

Naruto's forehead was covered in sweat.

After finishing her paper, Sakura secretly glanced at him, and her expression immediately changed.

There was not a single word on his paper.

Chiya finished the last question and set down his pen.

Sure enough, Ibiki spoke soon after.

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

Everyone looked up.

Naruto's eyes lit up, as if he had finally found something to save him.

Ibiki said coldly, "For the tenth question, you may choose to answer or not 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 qualification to participate in the Chunin Exams."

The classroom instantly erupted.

"What kind of joke is this?!"

"Permanently lose our qualification?"

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

Ibiki looked at them.

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

Hands soon went up.

One, two, three.

Team after team left, leaving many empty seats behind. Some kept their heads lowered, some gritted their teeth, and some turned at the door to glare fiercely at Ibiki.

Sakura turned to look at Naruto.

Naruto looked terrible. He was gripping his pen so tightly that he was nearly snapping it in half.

Sakura's hand slowly rose.

Chiya sat behind them without saying a word.

If Naruto could not rise to his feet now, then he would not be Naruto.

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

Bang!

He slammed a hand down on the desk.

"Stop looking down on me!"

Everyone looked at him.

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

Sakura froze.

Sasuke's lips twitched before he quickly suppressed it.

Leaning back in his chair, Chiya chuckled.

Ibiki stared at Naruto for several seconds.

Then he smiled too.

"Very good."

Naruto was stunned.

"Huh?"

Ibiki looked across the room.

"Now, I announce that everyone remaining has passed the first round of the exam!"

The classroom fell silent for a moment.

The next second, it instantly exploded into chaos.

"What? I passed? I passed!"

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

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

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

Bang!

The glass instantly shattered as a black figure burst in, wrapped in a banner.

"It's too early to celebrate!"

Mitaraishi Anko stood before the podium, her cloak snapping open.

"I am the chief proctor for the second round, Mitaraishi Anko."

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

"Next, everyone will sign a Death Waiver."

"What?"

"A Death Waiver?"