After entering the examination hall and finding his seat,
Naruto was still waffling on whether to cheat when the proctor on stage suddenly spoke, "I know some of you are thinking about cheating, but I advise you to abandon such thoughts immediately. This exam differs from previous ones that tested your information-gathering abilities. This time, the evaluation of a ninja's character is something a leader values greatly!"
"This examination has one hundred jonin supervisors monitoring the process, and each room is equipped with all-round, no-blind-spot surveillance equipment. If you can still manage to cheat under these conditions, I'll have to take my hat off to you then! Let me make one thing perfectly clear — examinees caught cheating will be banned from reapplying for the exam for five years! That's all I have to say. Think carefully about your decisions."
When he finished speaking, many examinees immediately looked anxious and distressed.
Naruto simply flopped onto the desk, already plotting how to take on Sasuke and Neji after the exam.
When the exam bell rang, the proctor didn't distribute any papers but instead gave everyone a "wooden board."
As he demonstrated its use, the proctor explained, "This is the Alliance's newly developed tablet computer. Everyone will answer questions on this device. Behind each question there's a confirmation box, and once checked you can instantly see the correct answer, allowing you to understand where you went wrong! Of course, examinees who think their mentality might be somewhat fragile should probably wait until finishing all questions before checking their answers!"
Naruto's brief mood dip only lasted a few seconds before he quickly regained his determination, picking up the tablet and starting to work on it. "I'm gonna be a jonin one day — what's this little test gonna do, scare me? Bring it on!"
After starting the exam, Naruto muttered with half surprise and half delight, "It's not that difficult, huh!"
Of course, this wasn't to say the questions were actually that easy. The exam was simply much less difficult than he had initially imagined!
After completing several questions, Naruto gained significant confidence and happily thought to himself, "Wow, my knowledge has become so extensive! Just wait until I outperform Sasuke and those guys!"
Looking at the joyful examinees below, Ibiki Morino secretly chuckled inwardly.
In this exam, aside from the Academy trainees, many chunin from the age of the ninja villages were also participating. Naturally, they couldn't make the culture exam too difficult. At least 80% of the questions were easy points to secure!
The real bookworms wouldn't be at a disadvantage either — the extra points they gained in the first part would help them progress further in the second section!
The preliminary exam allocated sixty points for cultural knowledge and forty points for moral character. For most examinees, it was precisely this Ethics section that would create the significant differences in scores.
Ibiki thoroughly agreed with Seiki's words — character comes before talent. Before talent, there must be integrity! If one lacked even the most basic moral foundation, what they produced would be nothing more than scum!
After completing the cultural section, Naruto confidently turned to the second part of the tablet.
"Ethics? I'm such a good kid who helps old ladies cross the street every day — I should definitely score thirty points!"
Question 1: If you encounter a danger beyond your capabilities during a mission, what should you do?
a. Immediately abort the mission and report to your superior.
b. Prioritize the mission and charge straight in.
c. Carefully follow the target while simultaneously reporting to your superior.
Naruto scratched his chin, thinking, "Sure, I *feel* like B is right, but logically, this's definitely a trap. Should've gone with C. Remember, at the Academy, the test rules said, 'When in doubt, pick C'? Yeah, I can't be wrong. Answer's gotta be C!"
With that thought, Naruto clicked confirm confidently—only to freeze moments later. The correct answer was A!
"How could it be A? The answer key must be messed up!"
Grumbling, Naruto clicked the explanation: Powerful ninja usually have strong anti-tracking techniques. Don't gamble with your life!
Naruto scratched his head. It made sense, didn't it? This wasn't the old days anymore when completing the mission was everything!
Question Two: If the person who took hostages is your mission target, what should you do?
A. Immediately kill the hostages to psychologically shock the criminal and then capture him.
B. Weigh the importance of the hostages against the mission. If the mission is more important, proceed. If the hostages are more important, retreat temporarily.
C. Prioritize rescuing the hostages, promptly report to your superiors, and organize a rescue plan.
D. Offer yourself as a hostage and seize the opportunity to kill the criminal.
Seeing this question, Naruto hesitated again. "First, eliminate the clearly wrong options A and B. Between C and D, sure, my gut says C, but the test creator's the kind who thinks outside the box. Maybe I should go with D instead?"
With his eyes shut tight, Naruto clicked confirm. Then, a bright red "×" appeared before him.
The correct answer was C!
Naruto's face twisted in agony, like someone wearing a mask of pain. "Ah! So it really was C! I had already eliminated two wrong answers and was about to pick C. Why did I end up choosing D at the last second?!"
Frustrated, Naruto clicked the explanation: Any criminal with even a shred of common sense would refuse, and you'd only end up tipping your hand!
Naruto's lips twitched slightly, as if trying to suppress an emotional reaction. Was he being mocked?
As he continued, Naruto struggled painfully through the sea of questions.
Finally, he reached the last question.
Staring at the red "59" displayed prominently in the total score column, Naruto's fingers trembled.
How could he be stuck with such an in-between score!
One step away from glory or ruin!
Naruto took a deep breath and locked in on the final question.
Question Forty: If an overwhelmingly powerful being, one surpassing all others, were to appear in the world and offer peace to the shinobi no sekai in exchange for you killing all your fellow villagers, what would you do?
A. Rise above narrow nationalism. Sacrifice a few to secure peace.
B. Rather than submit, choose to fight to the death. Peace is not begged for—it's fought for.
C. Pretend to submit while secretly gathering strength.
D. Commit suicide and leave the decision to others.
Naruto stared at the question, his palms sweating.
The most difficult part about this question was that the enemy was stronger than anyone else—meaning resistance might be meaningless, just a futile sacrifice!
As for option C, deception might work for ordinary people, but we are ninja. To submit would mean becoming the enemy's executioner!
And just like in the first question about anti-tracking techniques, could such a powerful enemy really be fooled by a disguise?
In a world where true power lies within oneself, pretending to submit is just a lie you tell yourself!
"A or B?"
This question didn't linger in Naruto's mind for long. Recalling the scene of the Alliance's formation he'd witnessed as a child, he already had his answer.
"Peace was fought for by our predecessors! I choose B!" Naruto decisively checked the confirm box.
Then, a bright "√" popped up on the screen!
To his own surprise, Naruto felt strangely calm, as if he'd just gone through a spiritual cleansing.
"I've really grown a lot. The me now is totally different from who I was two hours ago..." Naruto murmured inwardly. But the moment he saw the giant "Passed" flash on the screen, all that calm flew out the window. He let out a wild monkey-like roar of joy, shouting, "Yes! I did it! I passed!"
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