After discussing the test content, Ino released the Mind Transfer Jutsu. The group chatted for a while to ease their initial tension, then a proctor wearing a Chunin vest began checking each candidate's admission slip, verifying identities, and directing them into the examination room.
The Konoha genin exchanged a few words of encouragement before following the crowd inside.
Seats appeared to be assigned at random.
When Naruto found his number and sat down, he looked up and discovered Hinata right next to him.
She was nervously arranging her stationery, fair cheeks tinged pink, clearly flustered by the coincidence.
"Don't be nervous."
Naruto leaned closer, lowered his voice, and gave her a relaxed, reassuring smile.
"Just do your best. I'm right here; it'll be fine."
His words were a warm breeze, sweeping away some of her anxiety.
She gave a soft "Mm," nodding, feeling her heartbeat steady.
Watching her, Naruto rolled his eyes and inched nearer, voice bright with hope: "Say, Hinata, if we both pass the Chunin Exams… I'd love to eat your cooking. Can I?"
"Eh?"
The sudden request turned her face scarlet; she waved her hands frantically, voice barely a whisper.
"N-Naruto-kun's cooking… tastes better…"
Naruto shook his head.
"But I want to eat your food, Hinata."
He propped his left arm on the desk, leaning slightly toward her, blue eyes reflecting her flushed face.
"If… Hinata wants to taste my cooking…"
He drew the words out, grinning slyly: "Then Hinata has to cook first."
Looking at Naruto's teasing smile, Hinata felt her heart race.
Her cheeks burned; mind blank, she answered almost inaudibly: "O-okay…"
Just then—
Smack!
A firm hand landed unceremoniously on Naruto's shoulder, jolting the pair from their moment.
Without turning, Naruto's Chakra told him who it was.
He glanced sideways: Hyuga Neji stood in the aisle, face calm but veins bulging around pale eyes—Byakugan active.
The foreign genin who'd been on Naruto's other side now lay in the aisle, gently put to sleep by a Gentle Fist strike.
"The exam is starting."
Neji's tone was flat, but his Byakugan carried unmistakable warning as it swept over Naruto and the crimson-faced Hinata.
"Show some restraint."
The hall buzzed with whispers, shuffling, and the rustle of stationery.
Neji's high-handed move drew nearby stares; a few foreign candidates eyed the scene warily.
What's going on?
Wow, drama before the test even starts?
Before the mood could escalate—
"You there!"
A deep, steely voice rang from the doorway.
"Back to your seat!"
Head proctor Morino Ibiki strode in, black trench-coat flapping, scarred face sharp as a hawk's.
He spotted the boy on the floor and Neji beside Naruto; his brows snapped together and he barked the order.
At his commanding roar the room fell silent.
You could've heard a pin drop.
Every candidate straightened, eyes wary or respectful, fixed on the formidable examiner.
A suffocating tension filled the air.
Thus, after a dramatic little interlude, the first stage of the Chunin Exams—the written test—began.
Neji silently returned to his seat.
"I step in two minutes late to size you up, and you fools still can't keep quiet.
Where's the discipline of Ninja?"
Foreign candidates decided being called "fools" was better than disqualification.
Konoha genin weren't about to argue in front of outsiders.
Seeing no challengers, Ibiki wasn't surprised.
At least no idiots this year.
He introduced himself.
"I'm Morino Ibiki, your first examiner. Sorry to keep you waiting."
From the podium his gaze swept the room.
"Several vital rules for this stage. I'll say them once and take no questions—listen carefully."
"One: each of you starts with ten points. Ten questions, one point each. Wrong answer loses a point."
"Two: final scores will be judged by the total of all three teammates."
"Three—most important. If a proctor catches you cheating or even suspects it, you lose two points per offense; hit zero and you're out. If any member of a three-man squad scores zero, the entire team fails. The tenth question will be given forty-five minutes in. You have one hour. Begin!"
At his word, papers flipped open.
The unlucky boy beside Naruto shot Neji a resentful glance, flexed his numb left hand, and started the test.
The instant the clock started, Ino linked twelve minds with Mind Transfer Jutsu.
'Listen, just as I thought—it's an intel-gathering test.'
Naruto spoke first in the mental link.
'Second row center, second seat from the right: he flipped the page and wrote non-stop without thinking. Hinata, Neji, use Byakugan to check if his answers are right. He's probably the plant.'
A moment later Neji replied.
'He's already on question seven—impossible speed. And his answers to the cipher and the long parabola look correct.'
'Then it's every man for himself—copy away.'