The Ball Arrived Before the Person

Naruto slightly raised his head and watched the examiner's gaze.

Then he rolled his eyes as far to the side as they could go, almost flipping them over, before finally feeling safe.

"Heh heh, even if he's an examiner, he can't say I'm peeking like this."

He faced forward, yet his eyes could see Hinata's test paper!

W-What?!

Naruto nearly rolled his eyes all the way over. He hurriedly rubbed his aching eyes.

He had actually seen that Hinata's paper was completely blank, without a single answer.

I must have seen it wrong!

Naruto sneaked another glance. Once, twice, three times...

A blank paper?!

"Could it be that Hinata can't answer them either?"

Naruto immediately fell into despair and slammed his head onto the desk.

The sound startled those who were cheating, and they glared viciously at Naruto.

When Hinata received her test paper, she had looked it over. Although the questions were difficult, she had encountered this kind of problem at home and had some ideas for solving them.

But she only had a ninety-nine percent chance of getting them right. It was not one hundred percent, so it was too risky.

Then she remembered what Kanami had told everyone the day before.

"If you aren't sure, don't answer. If you don't get it wrong, you won't lose points."

She nodded and chose not to answer. What if she got something wrong?

A blank paper was still the safest choice.

When the exam reached its latter half, Ibiki Morino stood up.

"Now, there is a tenth question. You must choose whether to answer it. If you choose not to answer, you will receive zero points, and the other two members of your team will also be eliminated."

"If you choose to answer but get it wrong, you will forever lose the right to participate in the Chunin Ninja Exams!"

Everyone's expressions turned grim at those words.

Under the immense pressure, people gradually gave up on this exam and left regretfully.

Hinata's heart began to race as well.

If Kanami had not explained the rules to her beforehand, she would most likely have chosen to give up at this point.

Before knowing the question, no one could be certain whether they could answer it correctly. The psychological pressure brought by the unknown was the greatest of all.

As Naruto watched more and more people leave, his legs trembled without stopping.

Seeing Naruto barely holding himself back, Kanami slowly covered his ears.

He knew Naruto was about to use his ultimate Senjutsu: Talk no Jutsu.

After Naruto unleashed a barrage of Talk no Jutsu, everyone who had not left was deeply encouraged. Their butts rose from their seats, then sat back down again.

Ibiki Morino gave the blond Naruto a long, deep look.

Then he checked the time and nodded to the proctors around him.

"Congratulations, everyone present. You have successfully passed the first written test!"

Ibiki Morino broke into a friendly grin.

Just as everyone felt like they were dreaming, Kanami's eyes widened as he stared fixedly at the window beside him.

It was coming! He did not want to miss a single instant of the beautiful details that had not been shown before!

With a bang, the window shattered. The Kunai flying in drew everyone's attention—except Kanami's.

He knew the big moment was still to come.

He held his breath, his eyes wide and unblinking.

A woman leaped in through the window, and before she arrived, her balls appeared first.

Mitaraishi Anko wore only a brown cloak, with black fishnet underwear beneath it.

The two soft, snow-white masses before her far surpassed even Kurenai Yuhi's.

Kanami could not help but sigh.

Anko was the clearest view of the Northern Hemisphere he had seen so far.

Everyone else's gazes were drawn to her as well.

But only Kanami had seen that instant of ultra-clear, 4K, lifelike fleshiness. Everyone else could only imagine the Northern Hemisphere beneath her cloak.

As a curtain trailing behind the Kunai fell, it revealed the large words: Mitaraishi Anko Has Arrived.

Anko loudly introduced herself. "Hello, everyone! I'm Mitaraishi Anko, examiner for the second test! Follow me!"

At her thunderous roar, many who had been staring in a daze gave Anko resentful looks.

Why did it suddenly feel so different once she spoke?

Seeing that she seemed to have ruined the mood, Anko gave a light cough.

"Go back and get some proper rest! Gather at the designated location for the second test tomorrow!"

As the examinees dispersed, Kanami and Hinata gathered with Yuzuki and the others.

Everyone discussed how the exam had gone, only to discover that all of them had handed in blank papers.

Kanami said somewhat weakly, "You all handed in blank papers too?"

"Huh?"

"Weren't you the one who told us to hand in blank papers?"

"Forget it. It should be fine... right?"

Kanami felt uneasy at the thought of six or seven people handing in blank papers when the tests were collected. If their scores did not count, they would be finished.

Fūka pressed him angrily. "Say something! Is it fine or not?"

"The chief examiner already announced that we passed. It's fine."

Even though Kanami said that, no one would sleep well that night.

Elsewhere, Ibiki Morino collected the test papers and found one blank paper with only a name written on it.

"Uzumaki Naruto?"

"That blond brat from earlier, right? He actually passed after handing in a blank paper... Had he already seen through the fact that this exam was meant to test a ninja's resolve?"

Then he saw another blank paper beside it.

"It seems there are many outstanding ninjas this time who are skilled at observation."

Yet as he continued collecting papers, his expression grew darker and darker.

He saw the third blank paper, the fourth blank paper, the fifth blank paper...

He could no longer remain calm, and his hands moved faster and faster as he collected the papers.

Then he slumped into his seat, staring at the seven blank papers in his hands as he began to doubt himself.

He muttered to himself.

"Th-There are that many genius ninjas this time? Or are my questions simply too lacking in quality..."

The next day, far fewer ninjas had gathered at the Forest of Death than on the first day.

Anko stood before the crowd and began to speak.

"This is the Forest of Death. You will soon understand why it is called the Forest of Death."

"Bleh bleh bleh..."

Naruto mimicked Anko's tone in a smug, irritating voice.

Whoosh!

A Kunai thrown by Anko flew past Naruto's cheek, cutting off a Grass Ninja's long hair at the same time.

A second later, blood began to flow down Naruto's face.

He stood frozen, cold sweat breaking out all over him.

Anko instantly appeared behind him and wiped the blood from his face.

At that moment, the Grass Ninja also came up behind Anko, wrapping his long tongue around the Kunai and spitting it back to her.

Kanami recognized him at a glance as Orochimaru.

But Anko had failed to recognize him, which left him thoroughly puzzled.

That tongue was so long, and she still could not remember him?

Anko then began explaining the content and rules of the second test.

Each team would receive either a Heaven Scroll or an Earth Scroll. They had to seize the scroll they did not possess and gather both a Heaven Scroll and an Earth Scroll to meet the passing condition.

Afterward, they only needed to proceed to the central tower and hand in their mission to pass. Losing a teammate or having the team become unable to act meant elimination.

Compared to the first written test, the second test was far more dangerous. They even had to sign waivers of liability for death.

Soon, every team received its respective scroll.

Before entering the Forest of Death, Kanami reminded everyone.

"If you see that Grass Ninja from earlier, or Gaara, the Sunagakure ninja with the character for 'love' carved on his forehead, avoid them."

Because they had passed the first test so effortlessly, everyone completely trusted Kanami's warning this time.

They nodded and committed it firmly to memory.

"Kanami must have his reasons for saying that."