บท 28: Personal Chunin Exam (1)
A/N: Triple Release (2/3)! Get the Story to 600 powerstones by Sunday, for a double release. This story's continuation depends on your support—so don't forget to give the story powerstones! New Goal: 600 Powerstones!
Waking up and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Goro prepared himself for the day to come. However, something had been bugging him—he felt unprepared for the espionage mission that Danzo had assigned him. What he needed was a jutsu that would assist him specifically in the task of sneaking around and gaining intel.
'Jutsus like Transparent Escape or Hiding in Camouflage all have one common issue: they're still detectable. I want something that allows me to stay in place for long periods of time, something that could let me hide in the Raikage's office without being discovered...'
Pacing around his room, Goro began to ponder what sort of jutsu would give him the highest level of undetectability—a jutsu that would prevent him from being caught even by the most skilled sensors.
After dedicating a decent chunk of his morning to devising a new jutsu, Goro's mind finally conjured up one in particular, one that would give him the stealth he needed.
'The Hiding in Water Technique practically allows the user to fuse with even a small puddle on the ground. If I can create a similar jutsu but for Earth Release, where I can merge with walls and floors, that'd enable me to keep an eye on the Raikage's office and eavesdrop at all times. I'll be in the Raikage's walls, watching him.'
[That is a good idea. Would you like to confirm the jutsu?]
'Yes.'
[What would you like to name it?]
'I prefer something simple that isn't too lengthy. How about Earth Merger? I like the sound of that. System, I'd like to confirm the jutsu, Earth Merger.'
[Finalizing jutsu selection... Estimated time of completion: 1 week.]
Goro sat down, crossing his legs, and massaged his soles, trying to soothe the hours of labor they had undergone from all the pacing around the room.
'I shouldn't waste too much time; Lord Third should be waiting for me in his office.'
Giving the soles of his feet one last rub, Goro stood up and got dressed in his usual attire. As he put on his shirt, he noticed that his muscles had slowly begun to fill it out.
'More growth... I wonder when it'll stop. I don't want to be walking around like a large bodybuilder... Bodybuilders don't really make good ninja. They aren't very stealthy.'
With those last thoughts, Goro flickered out of his room, appearing just outside of the Hokage's office. "Lord Third, I've arrived," Goro informed, knocking on the door.
Hearing Goro's voice, Hiruzen gave him permission to enter. Goro stood in the middle of the room, looking at Hiruzen with anticipation.
"Lord Third, could I now know the contents of the exam?" Goro questioned.
Hiruzen shook his head and took a puff of his pipe, blowing smoke into the air. Focusing his gaze back on Goro, Hiruzen revealed, "My personal Chunin Exams aren't much different from the official ones that the village hosts. My personal exam is just a little harder, is all."
'Harder? Hm... I don't think it's anything I can't handle. I mean, how hard could it be?'
"So we will be beginning with a written exam?" Goro asked, intrigued.
Taking another puff, Hiruzen nodded and replied, "You'll be taking the exam paper I took when I was aiming to become a Chunin. Unfortunately for you, that means you'll have to answer a lot more questions with less time. I'm sure you can handle it, however."
'Only having 10 questions in the first stage of the Chunin Exams did feel fairly low. So it seems that in the past, the written exams were actually about knowledge and not just your ability to cheat.'
Placing his pipe down, Hiruzen reached under his desk and pulled out 10 pieces of paper, filled to the brim with questions.
"What's all that?" Goro wondered as he watched Hiruzen order the papers chronologically.
Hiruzen, having ordered the papers, stacked them on top of one another and placed them down. "I'm sure by now you've realized things are different from your previous exam. In this exam, you will be purely relying on your knowledge. The questions are a little easier than the ones on current-day papers, to ensure individuals can still pass based on knowledge alone," Hiruzen explained.
Once he had finished his explanation, an Anbu ninja flickered into the room, picked up the papers, and opened the office door.
"Follow him; he'll be your personal exam proctor," Hiruzen instructed.
Following orders, Goro trailed behind the Anbu ninja. The Anbu stopped when they reached a room with a yellow door and opened it wide for Goro to walk in first. The Anbu walked in behind Goro and shut the door.
There was only one chair in the room and a large table that took up far too much space.
'I wonder what this room is used for.'
Sitting down at the only seat available, Goro waited for the proctor to hand over the test paper. Placing the papers in front of Goro, the Anbu set up a 2-hour timer, then started to read out the rules of the exam. One thing that stood out in particular to Goro was the pass mark.
'80% is required to pass? I won't have any trouble since I have the system, but how did people even pass in the past?'
Once the Anbu had finished reading the rules, he commenced the timer and stood in wait for Goro to finish.
Within 45 minutes, Goro had finished the exam. Turning to the Anbu, Goro said, "I'm done."
The proctor didn't budge and simply ignored Goro, commenting, "If you are not able to complete the exam, wait until the time is up, then you can leave."
'He thinks I'm lying. Is this really that amazing of a feat that he doesn't believe me?'
"I'm seriously done," Goro said, waving his papers at the Anbu.
Tired of hearing what he believed to be lies, the proctor took Goro's paper and flicked through each, analyzing them one by one.
The Anbu looked at Goro, and behind his mask was an expression of disbelief. Gesturing for Goro to get up, the Anbu led the way back to the Hokage's office and put the papers on Hiruzen's desk.
"You're back so soon? What's the meaning of this?" Hiruzen questioned as he flicked through Goro's papers.
Hiruzen's eyes widened, struggling to keep himself from gasping. 'But how? How did he go from the worst in his class to such a talent? Seeing this further reminds me of the absurdity of his growth,' Hiruzen pondered.
Clearing his throat, Hiruzen continued, "It seems you've managed to not only get 80%, but 100% of the answers correct."
'100%? I could've sworn I only got 95%. He must've skimmed over it.'
"Lord Third, what's next?" Goro asked.
Grinning, Hiruzen responded, "For this part, we need to relocate to the training grounds."
'He's getting excited. This will definitely be a fight. I wonder who he'll pit me up against.'
Reminder: Get the Story to 600 powerstones by Sunday, for a double release. This story's continuation depends on your support—so don't forget to give the story powerstones! New Goal: 600 Powerstones!
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