Chapter 16: The Chunin Exam [2]
They smiled at Kakashi's words and entered the room. As the door closed behind them, Kakashi couldn't help but smile at their retreating figures.
"Hmm... It seems like there's quite a crowd gathered for the Chuunin exams, huh?" Naruto observed, taking in the room jam-packed with individuals.
Sasuke, full of anticipation, gripped his fist tightly, eager for the opportunity to engage in battle.
A blonde girl waved at Naruto "Naruto-kun!! You're late!! how are you ?"
Naruto responded with a smile that pierced Ino's heart like a dart, "Ino, it's been a while."
Ino blushed attempting to calm her racing heart.
"Ah... What a hassle..." Shikamaru remarked, noticing Naruto and then yawning.
"Shikamaru, you're as laid-back as ever," Naruto said, noticing Shikamaru's nonchalant expression.
"I wish I could just go home..."
As their conversation continued, Naruto saw Hinata who was walking in with her teammates, Kiba & Shino.
Naruto waved at Hinata and Hinata though at first blushed a little but waved back to , Naruto walked up to Hinata and her teammates.
"Hey ! You're here Hinata , That's good, best of luck for the exam." Naruto said.
"Best of luck too you Naruto?" Hinata replied.
Naruto looked waved to Kiba and Shino , Kiba waved back and Shino just nodded.
As Naruto continued speaking with Hinata a ninja with pair of circle eye glasses came in front "Hello there, I'm Kabuto."
Naruto and Hinata both looked at the direction the voice came from they saw a Ninja a little older and taller than them standing in front of them, the man had ash-grey hair which is normally kept in a ponytail with a pair of onyx eyes.
"Hello , I'm Naruto Uzumaki, Nice to meet you." Naruto replied.
"Well , I saw you from far and I kinda noticed you're wearing a blindfold, so I was curious about it ." Kabuto said.
"Well, these blindfolds are just for style , I like to wear them." Naruto replied with a smile.
"oh, That's good, I thought something else." Kabuto replied.
As they Continued their conversation Naruto, puzzled, queried, "This isn't your debut, is it?" looking at how expertly and with experience Kabuto was talking about The exam.
"No, I'm weak you see... This is my seventh go."
"Seventh? What's the reason behind that?"
Kabuto, equally puzzled, responded, "I am not strong."
"Really? I sensed everyone in this room when I walked in, except for you...You only came into my notice when you made your presence known." Naruto thought and said.
Kabuto felt a shiver run down his spine; despite being an experienced secret agent, Naruto's level of perception was unknown to him. With a rueful smile, Kabuto simply said, "My health is not robust, you see... that might be why you failed to notice me."
Naruto chuckled in response, "Is that so? Well, we'll let it slide then."
Kabuto breathed out in relief, thankful that Naruto didn't probe further and stated, "Regardless, as your senpai I will give you guidance without any charge."
Naruto nodded in agreement, "Alright, I won't reject anything that's free."
Kabuto gave another nod and displayed his personal ninja cards, answering the queries of those around, and the Chuunin exam proceeded.
Finished with the explanation, Kabuto's eyes momentarily flickered towards a group of guys within the crowd of genin. Naruto, who noticed the glance, smiled and casually asked, "What was that about?"
Taken aback by Naruto's insight, Kabuto responded with the practiced ease of a seasoned spy, his voice taking on a puzzled tone, "What do you mean?"
Naruto brushed it off with a shrug and said, "Alright, I'll play along with your little show."
Kabuto clicked his tongue almost inaudibly, just as he was ambushed by genins adorned with Hidden Sound forehead protectors.
Naruto, having already caught their movement, completed his hand seals. As the ninjas neared Kabuto, Naruto didn't wait for Kabuto to respond but instead, he used [Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!] "Haaaa!"
A gust of wind sent the ninjas crashing into a wall.
Kabuto was once again taken aback by Naruto, not having any prior knowledge of this skill. Naruto merely smiled at him and mouthed, "You're welcome."
Kabuto was mildly irritated; Naruto was clearly toying with him.
The genins turned their heads, shocked at Naruto's display of power.
The commotion stirred Shikamaru from his sleep. He yawned, "Ahhh... Hm? Naruto again? He sure loves to cause a scene.
Rock Lee, who had witnessed the event, had fire in his eyes, "Naruto-kun is so strong! Yoshhhh! I won't lose!"
Suddenly, a massive cloud of smoke appeared near the blackboard. A voice boomed, "Quiet down, you worthless bastards!"
"Hm?" Naruto turned towards the source of the sound, drawing the attention of all the genins.
A group of examiners, led by a man in a black coat, appeared before them.
The man in the black coat introduced himself, "Thanks for your patience. I am Morino Ibiki, the examiner for the first test of the Chunin Selection Exam."
He pointed at Naruto, "You! The blond guy, stop causing a scene before the exam. Do you want to fail already?"
Naruto answered, "Ehhh... but it was self-defense. They tried to attack my senpai, Kabuto."
"Bah... There will be no fighting without the examiner's permission. Even if permission is given, killing your opponent is not allowed. Those who disobey me will fail immediately. Is that clear?"
Naruto sighed and took a seat, pouting slightly, "I wasn't even the one who attacked first."
Ibiki raised his voice, "Is that clear?!"
Naruto responded nonchalantly, "Yes, yes. You're the examiner, your word is law."
Ibiki nodded, removing a stone tab from his pocket, "You will pick one of these tabs and sit in the assigned seat. We will hand out the exams."
Naruto received a tag and sat at his assigned area. As he took his seat, He saw Hinata sitting in his side "Hey ! Hinata, we're sitting together huh , that's good." Naruto said excitingly.
Hinata blushed a little and only nodded.
"Do your best Hinata." Naruto said.
"You too, Naruto-kun."
Each novice ninja was now presented with a test paper on a table, faced down. Ibiki commanded, "Don't flip over your paper yet, and pay close attention to what I'm going to say. There are many crucial regulations to the first test. I'll write them on the board while I explain, but no questions will be permitted, so listen carefully."
Naruto cheekily responded, "Yes-"
Ibiki quickly became irritated and launched a piece of chalk at Naruto, which never reached Naruto and stopped before him and Naruto handed it over to ibiki.
"Don't speak unless given the go-ahead to do so! Got it?" Naruto, simply nodded in agreement.
Ibiki thought to himself, "This kid sure is unusual."
Ibiki began to write on the blackboard and explained, "The first rule. Each of you will start with 10 points. The test consists of 10 questions, each worth a single point. However, this test uses a deduction system. Answer all questions right, and you keep your 10 points. Miss three questions, and you lose 3 points. Fall below 6 points, and you're out."
Naruto, who was paying attention, frowned as if he just heard something revolutionary. He thought, 'Isn't that the standard rule for written exams? Is this guy playing games?'
"The second rule: This is a team test. Your pass or fail status will be determined by your team's collective scores. So each team will compete to retain as many points as possible from the initial team total of 30."
"Now, the most critical rule. The third rule of the exam: anyone caught cheating by the proctors will lose 2 points for each offense." Ibiki grinned ominously.
Naruto's eyes twitched as he smirked , 'Ah... There they go again with the hidden meanings... The test is about one's information gathering skills..'
Naruto glanced at Sasuke and Sakura, who returned his glance. They nodded at each other, as if they understood each other's silent communication.
Learning from Kakashi's first lesson, they had become adept at reading between the lines and comprehending the mission's purpose.
"Some of you will lose all your points during the exam and will be asked to leave." The proctors, seated to one side, commented, "We'll be watching you all."
The young ninjas flinched, and Ibiki continued with a smile that terrified them. "Understand that the sorry individual who gets caught cheating will be their own downfall. As ninjas striving to reach Chuunin level, be proud."
He continued, "The final rule: those who lose all their initial points during the test and those who don't answer any questions correctly will fail, along with their two teammates."
"The test will last one hour. Begin!" Ibiki announced. Naruto unfolded the test papers, which were mostly cryptograms.
He smiled, having recently learned Fuinjutsu, which was far more complex than this. He didn't need to gather information if he already knew the answer. He answered everything correctly and turned his paper over.
A kunai whizzed past him, but Naruto simply ducked, judging by the direction of the kunai, it wasn't meant for him but for the person behind him.
The guy behind Naruto had his paper hit and asked, "What was that for?"
The proctor replied, "You've been caught cheating five times. You're out. Your teammates, too." The three left the room, dejected, making the atmosphere even tenser.
Naruto simply ignored it and dozed off.
Sasuke and Sakura glanced at Naruto to find him sleeping. They thought with surprise, 'So quick? He gathered all the information in just 5 minutes?'
Sasuke activated his Sharingan to locate the person he needed to mimic and started copying his movements after finding him.
Meanwhile, Sakura didn't cheat; she could also answer the questions correctly like Naruto, albeit not as efficiently.
The remaining young ninjas also began to cheat.
40 minutes passed...
"Okay, we will now proceed with the 10th question."
Naruto yawned at the same time as Shikamaru, causing him to chuckle.
"I'll now explain... these are the rules of desperation."
"First, for this 10th question, you must decide whether you take it or not. If you choose not to, your points will be reduced to zero. You and your two teammates fail. And now... The other rule. If you choose to take it and answer incorrectly, you will lose the right to ever take the Chuunin exam again."
The young ninjas were in an uproar, and Kiba complained, "What kind of ridiculous rule is that? Some of us have taken the exam before!"
Chuckling softly, Ibiki addressed the room, "You're all out of luck this year, because it's my turn to run things. But don't worry, I'm not completely heartless. If you're not sure you can handle it, you're free to opt out and come back next year."
A palpable wave of fear swept through the room as some of the younger ninjas left, their dreams of becoming Chuunin seemingly put on hold.
Naruto noticed Sakura's indecisiveness and, despite his best efforts to appear tough, he couldn't help but feel concern.
Without warning, Naruto slammed his hand on the table, instantly capturing everyone's attention. "I'm in," he announced confidently, a mischievous grin on his face.
Ibiki's lips twitched into a brief smile before he resumed his solemn demeanor. "I'll ask you one more time," he cautioned, "Your life is at stake here, Naruto. This is your last chance to back out."
Naruto responded with a bright smile, "This might just be about a ninja title right now, but what will I do when I face life-threatening situations in the future? Or if my friends are in danger? Will I turn my back and run because it's my life on the line? No way! Just like my sensei taught me..."I'll believe in my comrades and never let them die" !"
Inspired by Naruto's words, the remaining genins found renewed strength. They realized that they would have to face such risks in the future, and backing down now was not an option.
Ibiki couldn't help but smile at the bravery of the young ninjas. "Well done, everyone. Now, for those who are still here..."
As they braced themselves for the tenth question, Ibiki's next words left them stunned. "Congratulations! You've passed the first test!"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
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