"My name is Ebizō. I am the proctor for the first exam of the Chunin Selection Exam."
The middle-aged man slowly took his seat.
After a few seconds of silence and scanning the room, he allowed himself a faint smile and calmly said, "Now I will explain the exam rules. The first test is written, consisting of ten questions total."
Anyone scoring below five points will be disqualified. Getting caught cheating also results in disqualification.
A team's combined score must reach at least eighteen points to advance to the next round.
Straightforward and ruthless!
Akaba hesitated momentarily. Under such rules, this probably wasn't going to be a psychological battle like Ibiki's style—but an actual examination.
However, if one could avoid getting caught, cheating was technically permitted.
"Now distributing the exams."
After Ebizō spoke, he nodded at the Chunin present, signaling them to hand out the papers.
Before long, everyone in the examination hall had received one sheet.
After glancing through it briefly, Akaba saw:
On the paper were questions like:
"During wartime, you receive the following note. Please decode the hidden information within this intelligence report and identify any useful intelligence."
"Use the provided diagram to illustrate the correct way to throw a kunai."
Despite being a written test, the questions were clearly crafted by someone who valued battlefield practicality.
Considering the recent war had just ended,
Akaba sighed inwardly. These types of problems that combined theory with real-world application were actually much harder than simple calculation or theoretical memorization tests.
Still, as he looked again, Orochimaru—two seats away from him—picked up his pen immediately and started writing.
Seeing that, Akaba felt reassured. There was no need to bother identifying which surrounding figures were Chunin or observe carefully for intelligence gathering anymore.
With a genius like Orochimaru handling all the tough questions, what was there to worry about?
He slumped forward onto his desk, preparing for a quick nap.
Ebizō calmly watched from above. His eyes seemingly aimless and not focused downward.
But shortly afterward, his voice came from up front: "Row three, seat number four—caught cheating."
"What?"
Number four in row three was a ninja from Taki village. He stared upward in confusion, barely able to believe it.
"Even if you thought I'd turn a blind eye, I still clearly saw your head turning around."
Ebizō sighed, "You're eliminated."
One member gone, the other two teammates instantly fell into despair.
Although losing one teammate didn't automatically disqualify the whole team, with only two members remaining, they still had to achieve a total score of at least eighteen points to proceed.
That meant nine points per person—minimum!
This is a death sentence!
It wasn't just them—everyone else in the examination hall also tensed up inside.
This guy appeared completely unaware of the exam room, yet his eyesight seemed incredible. It felt like he wasn't leaving anyone any breathing space.
With one expelled, others quickly became cautious.
Yet many of these questions required abilities even average Chunin might struggle with. Most of the examinees couldn't solve them independently anyway, leaving no option but trying to peek sideways.
But now arose a problem.
How much observation could they actually do without being noticed?
This exam wasn't merely testing intelligence-gathering ability—it tested how well each ninja could gather intelligence while staying concealed.
A ninja incapable of concealment would die quickly on the battlefield.
Supported by the proctoring Chunin below, Ebizō kept a sharp watch in every direction—he caught another dozen cheaters.
But all the while, he kept paying particular attention to Akaba sitting right in the very first row before him.
Ebizō himself had arranged the seating assignments. He knew everyone's abilities better than anyone else did.
The boy named Akaba seemed unremarkable at first glance, but he was actually a Bloodline Limit Awakener from the Sakuma clan—someone whose abilities couldn't be underestimated.
Half the exam time had passed, and Ebizō started feeling something off.
Why haven't they started writing yet?
As he puzzled over this, he noticed Akaba slipping his hands beneath the table.
Has it begun?
Ebizō focused intently, watching Akaba closely.
Yet Akaba hadn't even opened his eyes. He seemed to have simply placed his hands down casually.
"This isn't right. Those guys from Konoha…"
Ebizō felt surprised. Even more shocking was the fact that quite a few Konoha shinobi—including Orochimaru—were now napping with their heads on the desks like Akaba.
Coincidence?
Too many coincidences stop being coincidences.
With years of experience in intelligence work, Ebizō knew this well.
He looked again at Akaba, recalling the moment Akaba put his hands under the table. It seemed everyone else fell asleep exactly then.
Genjutsu!
Blatant cheating.
He sighed inwardly.
However, such a large-scale group genjutsu required an extremely high level of skill if used for cheating.
This kid was far more dangerous than previously reported—an enemy not to be taken lightly.
Realizing this, Ebizō took a deep breath.
Stopping Akaba from advancing into the third round would require Sunagakure to invest significant manpower. But replacing too many participants could end up costing Sunagakure more than it gained.
Moreover, Akaba's teammates were no weaklings either.
Ebizō immediately began strategizing for the third round based on available intelligence reports.
Of course, he didn't stop observing or gathering further information.
This exam had prompted many to reveal their abilities, and collecting data on those skills would give his village a crucial advantage in future battles.
Before long, the Konoha participants woke up.
Ebizō watched quietly. As expected, the first thing each of them did upon waking was grab their pen and start answering questions.
They'd been so lazy before—like they were dead to the world—but now every single one worked diligently.
Though he couldn't keep track of everyone clearly, checking Akaba's test paper wasn't difficult.
However,
this kid answered several problems, then set his pen down.
Ebizō glanced over—exactly five correct answers.
According to Ebizō's rules, anyone scoring below five points would be disqualified.
In other words…
he was confident all his answers were correct!
Ebizō's expression darkened. He scanned around until finally settling on Orochimaru.
Out of the nine, only Orochimaru remained completely still.
He must've been the one who wrote the answers!
Actually, Ebizō wasn't particularly surprised. The Third had the nickname "Ninja Professor." As the Third's disciple and a genius known throughout Konoha, possessing such ability wasn't unexpected.
In the end, though, it still came back to how impressive that Sakuma boy was.
Watching Akaba nap again, Ebizō silently fumed but could do nothing.
After all, judging by Orochimaru's answer accuracy, these guys probably scored high marks—even full scores.
Even if Akaba earned just five points, his two teammates likely scored at least eight each.
That totaled over twenty points—a near certainty for qualification.
"This group from Konoha is truly remarkable,"
Ebizō mused inwardly, feeling somewhat relieved at the same time.
Thankfully, the Second Kazekage of Sunagakure was still alive. With the Second Kazekage researching and improving the Puppet Technique and Magnet Release Jutsu, the future of Sunagakure Village also looked bright.
Moments later, the sound of metal clinking echoed from outside.
Ebizō stood up and called out, "Alright, time's up for the exam!"
"Huh? Is it already over?" Akaba mumbled, rubbing his eyes sleepily.
"Collect the papers."
Ignoring him, Ebizō waved his hand to signal the other chunin to start gathering the test sheets.
By this stage of the exam, clumsy cheating techniques had mostly disappeared, meaning fewer candidates were caught cheating and eliminated.
However, those eliminated for cheating would cause their entire squad to fail to advance.
Ebizō did a rough calculation and estimated that at least half the participants wouldn't make it past the first round.
Considering the score requirements, even more would be cut.
That figure seemed right on target.
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