First Exam

At the other end of the crowd, Kabuto Yakushi, wearing round-framed glasses, pushed up his spectacles with a finger.

Behind the lenses, a glint of extreme excitement and curiosity flickered.

On the intelligence scroll in his arms, a new line of text was swiftly recorded and marked with a special symbol as top priority.

[Naruto, in possession of an unknown mechanical destructive weapon, confirmed capable of directly breaching Gaara's "Absolute Defense."]

"What a surprise."

He murmured to himself, lightly running his tongue over his dry lips.

"Besides Sasuke Uchiha, the perfect vessel, Konoha is hiding such an unexpected delight."

"It seems Lord Orochimaru is destined to reap a rich harvest this time."

The frozen air was shattered by a series of heavy footsteps.

Examiner Ibiki Morino appeared at the stairway with a squad of stern-faced Chunin.

The crisscrossing scars on his face made the surrounding examinees instinctively clear a path.

"What is going on?"

Ibiki's voice was low, carrying the oppressive force of an interrogation.

"The Chunin Ninja Exams venue is not a place for you to settle private grudges."

Kakashi appeared before Ibiki like a ghost, still speaking in that lazy tone. One hand was tucked into his pocket while the other rose in greeting.

"Hey, Ibiki. Long time no see. Don't be so serious."

"It was just a little friction between examinees. Young people have hot blood. Perfectly normal."

Ibiki's brow furrowed tightly. He had received a report that Sunagakure's jinchuriki was showing signs of losing control, so he had come specifically to suppress the situation and protect Konoha's examinees.

Yet the scene before him was completely the opposite.

The Sunagakure trio looked worse than the next.

That boy called Gaara instead looked like the one who had been badly frightened, his head lowered as he reined in his sand.

Meanwhile, on Konoha's side, the blond boy looked utterly calm, as if the potentially fatal clash from moments ago had been nothing more than a breeze brushing his cheek.

Ibiki could not help giving Naruto a few extra looks.

Kakashi took the opportunity to pat Ibiki on the shoulder and guide him toward the classroom.

"Alright, alright. It's getting late. Let them go in and take the exam."

"If there are any problems, we can talk them over after the exam."

Ibiki gave Kakashi a long look, then swept his gaze over the silent Team 7. In the end, he did not pursue the matter further.

"All examinees, enter the classroom immediately and find your seats!"

Amid countless gazes filled with awe, fear, and curiosity, the three members of Team 7 entered the classroom.

Sakura walked last, feeling as though her entire back had gone stiff.

Without saying a word, Sasuke sat down at his desk with his arms folded across his chest. He looked cold, but the tension in his shoulders betrayed his inner unrest.

When Naruto passed by him and took a nearby seat, Sasuke finally could not hold back any longer.

He turned his head and asked in an extremely low yet intensely serious voice.

"What was that?"

Naruto was checking whether the desk and chair were sturdy. He did not even raise his head at the question.

"A tool for judging heretics."

That answer was like an icy key, opening a door Sasuke could not understand at all.

Heretics?

Judgment?

Those words simply did not belong in the world of ninja.

An inexplicable irritation and tightness rose in Sasuke's chest. He realized he understood Naruto less and less.

"Quiet!"

Ibiki walked to the podium and slammed a stack of test papers onto the desk.

"Now, the first exam begins: the written test."

"The exam will last one hour. The rules are simple. There are ten questions, worth ten points each. Deductions are calculated by team. If anyone in a team scores zero, the entire team will be eliminated."

He bared his teeth in a cruel grin.

"Also, if any cheating is discovered during the exam, being caught five times means elimination. That team will immediately lose its qualification, and you will never be allowed to take the Chunin Ninja Exams again!"

This threat stirred a suppressed commotion through the classroom, and the examinees' breathing grew heavier.

Naruto felt no ripples in his heart.

His brain automatically deconstructed Ibiki's words into a complete logical model.

[Basic psychological screening model: Tests examinees' stress resistance, intelligence-gathering ability, and teamwork through rule pressure and intensive surveillance.]

[Assessment: The methods are crude, and the proportion of threatening rhetoric is too high, but it possesses basic functionality and is suitable for young people.]

The test papers were handed out.

Naruto glanced over the questions.

Sure enough, they involved cryptography, ballistic calculations, and advanced sealing theory. Their difficulty far exceeded the knowledge reserves of ordinary Genin.

This was an exam designed to force people to cheat.

"These questions really are too difficult for ninja academy graduates," he thought calmly.

"But for graduates of the Imperial Schola Progenium, they are far too simple."

He could pass without cheating at all, so he did not rush to write.

His gaze slowly moved across the classroom, taking in every corner.

[Examiner A, Aoba Yamashiro, disguised as an examinee, located at row three, seat five. Breathing steady, heart rate seventy-two, currently observing.]

[Examiner B, Namiashi Raidō, disguised as an examinee, located at row seven, seat two. His left hand bears calluses from prolonged weapon use. His gaze lingered on Sasuke and Neji for more than three seconds.]

[There are eight Chunin-level undercover operatives in the examination room, positioned in visual blind spots and advantageous surveillance locations.]

Analysis complete.

Naruto picked up his pen.

He did not answer those questions, which seemed excessively basic to him.

On the blank answer sheet, he swiftly began writing in a cipher that looked like incomprehensible scribbles to outsiders, a mixture of Gothic letters and mechanical symbols.

They were not answers, but a report—and an exercise in his habitual way of thinking.

A report analyzing the design flaws and security vulnerabilities of this exam itself.

[First Written Exam Security System Assessment Report]

[Analysis of proctor deployment: Eight undercover operatives, unevenly distributed. The rear-left area contains a 2.7-second surveillance gap, enough to complete three high-level intelligence transfer actions. Recommend adding one patrol officer or adjusting the observation sector of the operative at position C-4.]

[Test design flaws: The difficulty gradient is poorly structured, lacking a tiered stress test for examinees' adaptability and psychological resilience. Recommend introducing variables such as an "intelligence leak" or "rule changes" to assess the examinees' true level of adaptability.]

[Conclusion: This screening process contains 23 percent redundant procedures and 17 percent potential risk.]

[Optimization recommendation: Pending.]

After writing the final symbol, Naruto spent five minutes filling in the test answers. Then he set down his pen and quietly closed his eyes to rest.

He made no further unnecessary movements. He merely sat there silently, like a statue blended into the background.

Second by second, time passed.

Around the classroom, all sorts of secret cheating methods began to unfold. Kiba Inuzuka pretended to yawn, letting Akamaru on his head peek at answers; Shino Aburame's Kikaichū silently scattered through the room; Ino Yamanaka was already preparing to use the Mind Body Switch Technique.

Sasuke's Sharingan slowly turned, like the most advanced camera, precisely capturing the writing movements of an examinee in disguise.

Meanwhile, Sakura relied on her solid theoretical knowledge and wrote furiously, though fine sweat had already appeared on her forehead.

"Hm?" Naruto noticed an eye formed from sand hovering above the classroom, furtively staring at him.

Gaara was observing him with fear and curiosity.

Naruto coldly glared toward the Eye of Sand, and it quickly dispersed into sand and fled.

A cruel smile hung on Ibiki's face as he picked out cheating examinees one after another and expelled them along with their teams.

"Number fifty-seven, eliminated!"

"Number twenty-three, eliminated!"

"Number one hundred and one, eliminated!"

Every declaration made the atmosphere in the classroom even heavier.

At last, only fifteen minutes remained in the exam.

Ibiki straightened up, his scarred face looking increasingly savage beneath the lights.

"Alright, now I will announce the tenth question."

Everyone stopped writing and looked at him nervously.

"For the tenth question, you may choose to answer or not answer."

"Those who choose not to answer will personally receive zero points, and their teams will be eliminated immediately."

"Those who choose to answer—if they get it wrong, they will permanently lose the right to participate in the Chunin Ninja Exams!"