Classroom 301.
The room was packed with ninja of all kinds, most of them adults. All of them turned in unison to look at the nine people at the door, their eyes full of malice.
Naruto trembled in fright. Shinsei patted his shoulder and whispered in his ear:
"Be bolder. Don't let them look down on Konoha Ninja."
Spurred on by Shinsei's words, Naruto immediately jumped out in front.
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, the future Hokage! I'm not losing to any of you!"
Uh, you didn't have to be that cocky...
"Naruto Uzumaki. I know you." A white-haired young man wearing glasses walked over. "Konoha's biggest troublemaker."
"Hey, hey, hey! Who are you?" Naruto protested loudly. "Why call me the biggest troublemaker? I don't want that weird nickname!"
"Idiot!" Sasuke snorted.
"Sasuke! You wanna fight?"
"Keep your voice down!" Sakura quickly grabbed Naruto.
"What adorable juniors. Well, I'll share a little information with you. I'm Kabuto Yakushi, and I'm dedicated to collecting information on ninja." The white-haired young man adjusted his glasses and took a stack of cards from his pocket.
"These Ninja Info Cards contain the information I've collected on ninja over the past four years." He pulled out a blank card.
"Why is it blank?"
"You can see it once I channel my chakra into it."
"Do you have anything on Gaara from Sunagakure?" Sasuke asked.
"Yes. I'll give you this information for free." The white-haired young man slid out a blank card and channeled chakra into it. Information immediately appeared on its surface.
"Gaara of the Sand Waterfall. Eight C-rank missions, one B-Rank Mission. An impressive ninja-he already has experience with B-Rank Missions as a Genin." The white-haired young man pushed up his slipping glasses. "Since he's a ninja from another country, that's all the information I have."
"Do you have information on me?" Shinsei leaned over. He wanted to know how accurate Kabuto Yakushi's information was.
"Oh, Shinsei." Kabuto nodded. "You're one of my key intelligence targets!"
Kabuto took out a Ninja Info Card and channeled chakra into it.
Shinsei swiftly snatched the card away.
So fast. Kabuto broke into a cold sweat. If he wanted to kill me at that speed, I'd probably already be dead.
The card showed Shinsei's portrait and name.
Number of missions unknown. Suspected to have joined a special department in Konoha. The ninja's physical, mental, and technique ratings were all maxed out.
"I'll keep this one." Shinsei slipped the card into his pocket and tossed Kabuto Yakushi a thousand-ryo bill. "Don't sell it again."
"Oh, all right." Kabuto wiped away his cold sweat.
Bang! The door was suddenly pushed open.
A middle-aged ninja wearing a Konoha forehead protector walked into the classroom.
"Sorry for the wait, everyone. I'm your head examiner, Ibiki Morino!"
The exam began.
There were four exam rules.
First, one point would be deducted for each incorrect answer.
Second, scores would be calculated using the combined total of each three-person team.
Third, two points would be deducted each time someone was caught cheating.
Fourth, if anyone scored zero, their entire team would be eliminated.
Shinsei looked at the nine questions on the paper. He could answer most of them, but some were clearly beyond the syllabus. These weren't questions meant for ninja at all.
Fortunately, this exam wasn't really asking them to answer questions, but testing their intelligence-gathering abilities. Getting caught cheating only cost two points instead of having their papers confiscated. Wasn't that encouraging cheating? Besides, scores were calculated by the three-person team's total, so it didn't matter even if one person only scored a single point.
As a transmigrator, Shinsei still remembered this exam. For all the rules laid out earlier, the tenth question announced later would overturn them entirely. Naruto had turned things around with that tenth question.
Still, Shinsei chose to answer the questions. He had nothing else to do anyway, and with his personality, he would never gamble on whether something in the future would happen.
There should have been people in the room specifically assigned to answer the questions. Shinsei glanced around and, sure enough, spotted ninja in three corners who seemed to be designated answerers. They were answering at tremendous speed.
When it came to intelligence gathering, it really was his weak point. His physique gave him clear vision, but he had no special reconnaissance ninjutsu.
Still, it didn't matter. He would pass this exam either way.
The others quickly caught on too, each bringing out their own cheating methods.
Shinsei answered everything he could without copying anyone else's work, completing eight questions. All that remained was to wait for the new exam rules to be announced.
"I will now announce the new exam rules!" Ibiki Morino said. "And the tenth question. Before I announce the tenth question, you may withdraw from the exam. If you don't withdraw and answer the tenth question incorrectly, you will be barred from taking the Chunin Ninja Exams for life! Furthermore, if you withdraw, your remaining teammates will also receive zero points!"
Those were just words. Ultimately, a ninja's strength spoke for itself. Besides, Konoha wasn't the only village with an exam. Whether people from other villages took the Chunin Ninja Exams wasn't up to Konoha, nor was Konoha the only village that held them.
Some couldn't withstand the pressure and left. Little by little, half the candidates departed. Shinsei saw Naruto trembling all over. What an idiot. Still, it didn't matter whether Naruto took the exam. He would be a Genin anyway, or at most go straight to Hokage.
No one else left.
Naruto slammed his palm on the desk and shouted:
"Don't underestimate me! I'm going to be Hokage! I'm not running away!"
Ibiki Morino looked left and right.
"Then I hereby announce that everyone still in this classroom has passed!"
Bang!
The classroom door was yanked open, and a woman wearing a trench coat over fishnet clothing darted inside.
"I'm the head examiner for the second stage, Mitarashi Anko! Follow me! On to the next exam!"