The Theory Exam

The teams taking part in this round of the Chunin Exams numbered nearly a hundred people, including Konoha's seven squads.

For the theory test in the first round, everyone was divided into three classrooms.

After receiving his test paper, Liumu began writing away.

In his previous life, Liumu had not stuck it out through graduate school, but he at least had a bachelor's degree. Learning the knowledge of this ninja world had therefore been like a fish taking to water.

"When did the First Shinobi World War break out?"

"Year 17."

"Which ninjutsu uses the hand seal sequence Tiger-Snake-Tiger-Snake-Tiger-Snake?"

"Water Release: Water Formation Wall."

"Describe in detail the relationships of advantage and disadvantage among the five attributes: fire, water, earth, lightning, and wind."

Reading the final question, Liumu shook his head, speechless.

The last major question of the Chunin Exams actually tested the five elements.

Liumu sighed and picked up his pen to answer.

Less than half an hour had passed.

Having finished every question, Liumu gave his paper a satisfied look and stretched languidly.

Just then...

"What the fuck?"

Liumu stared at the classroom, where all hell had broken loose, utterly stunned.

There were no proctors for the first round's theory exam, and not every candidate knew the answers to every question as Liumu did.

Yet, to get satisfactory scores, everyone was brazenly using ninjutsu to cheat right in front of the classroom's surveillance cameras.

Beside Liumu, a lean man wearing a Sunagakure forehead protector had his eyes half-closed and his hands forming seals. A moment later, a barely perceptible stream of fine sand slowly flew out of the cloth pouch at his waist. Right before Liumu's eyes, it skirted the cameras and appeared in midair outside the classroom.

Surprised, Liumu looked closely and discovered that, under the man's control, the fine sand gradually formed words-the precise date of the First Shinobi World War.

"Creak, creak, creak..."

Just then, the sound of wood rubbing together suddenly reached Liumu's ears. He looked toward it and discovered a small humanoid puppet hovering right behind his ear.

"Motherfucker..."

The puppet's sudden appearance startled Liumu. Almost instinctively, as though swatting a fly, he caught it in his palm and crushed it.

"You dare steal my answers!"

"Wait..." At that thought, an idea flashed through Liumu's mind, and a mischievous grin immediately curled his lips.

"You dare copy my answers... hehehe." As he spoke, Liumu picked up his pen again...

A few minutes later, as though finally freed of a burden, Liumu announced confidently in the quiet classroom, "That'll do. I'll settle for full marks. Questions this easy are an insult to my intelligence!"

With that, Liumu pushed his paper forward, pillowed his head on his arms, and blithely went straight to sleep.

Nearly every candidate in Liumu's classroom heard his arrogant declaration. Seeing him fall asleep and even begin to snore, quite a few immediately turned their eyes to his paper.

"Ring, ring, ring..."

The bell signaling the end of the exam rang. Just as Liumu reached the classroom door, the Sunagakure man who had been sitting beside him suddenly appeared in front of him with a smile.

The man smiled and patted Liumu's shoulder. "You got the first question wrong. The First Shinobi World War was in year seventeen, not nineteen."

Liumu: ???

Seeing Liumu's expression of sudden realization, the man's smile grew even more obvious, as though he could not contain it. He continued, "Still, I have to thank you. If not for you, I might really not have been sure of the answer to the last question."

"Oh?"

At those words, the corners of Liumu's mouth lifted slightly, but he forcibly suppressed his secret delight in front of the man. Putting on a look of regret, he stamped his feet and beat his chest in anger. "Copying my answers was bad enough, but if you spotted my mistake, why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you?"

The Sunagakure man looked at Liumu mockingly. "Why should I tell you? And let me tell you something else: it wasn't just me. My teammates, and even more than half the people in our exam room, copied practically everything off your paper."

Having said his piece, the Sunagakure youth looked at Liumu's "blank" expression and left in satisfaction.

"Pfft..."

Only after all the candidates had left did Liumu burst out laughing. Raising his eyebrows, he mimicked the Sunagakure ninja. "'Why should I tell you?' Oh dear, I regret it so much! What a shame... Hahaha, idiot!"

After discovering that most people were cheating, Liumu had made small changes to nearly all the originally correct answers on his paper.

For instance, he had changed the date of the First Shinobi World War from year seventeen to year nineteen, and the ninjutsu represented by Tiger-Snake-Tiger-Snake-Tiger-Snake from Water Release: Water Formation Wall to Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet. Even on the final major question about the relationships between attributes, Liumu had exaggerated Lightning Release's abilities without limit, making it not only counter Earth Release but even forcibly break through genjutsu.

After doing all that, Liumu had deliberately said those things to let everyone know he was a top student, then taken no precautions at all, letting them copy his answers to their hearts' content.

As for Liumu himself, he had quietly changed his answers back in the final few minutes before the exam ended.

"Those guys didn't even stop to think. One's ninjutsu and the other's genjutsu. Aside from both needing chakra to cast, what the hell do they have to do with each other?"

Muttering, Liumu walked out of the classroom.

When he reached the school square and saw Suiguang and Kakashi waiting for him at the school gates, Liumu burst into another fit of uncontrollable laughter.

Suiguang: ???

Kakashi: ???

Has this kid's brain short-circuited? Sure, the questions were easy, but was that any reason to laugh like this?

"All right, stop laughing. We need to hurry to Thunder Warrior Valley. That's where we're taking the second exam."

With that, Kakashi set off first with Suiguang.

Seeing this, Liumu only started after them once he had laughed so hard that he began coughing.

Thunder Warrior Valley lay less than five hundred meters outside Kumogakure. It was a vast mountain range surrounding the village, formed by dozens of connected peaks.

Thunder Warrior Valley was Kumogakure's natural barrier. Although it did not offer the advantage of being able to attack when advancing and defend when retreating, sentry posts had been stationed in almost every inconspicuous spot there. Whenever foreign enemies invaded, the vast, barren mountains could perfectly conceal these sentries' movements, thus serving as an excellent early-warning system for the village.

By the time Liumu and the other two reached the foot of the mountains, a dark-skinned Kumogakure ninja was explaining the contents of the second exam to everyone.