Thud, thud, thud!!
Smack, smack, smack!!
In a clearing, two figures, one in orange and one in green, were engaged in a fierce exchange. After some time, the two separated, one of them panting heavily.
"Hah! Goku, every time I spar with you, I always learn something new. I really don't know how you developed such incredible skills."
"Haha, by fighting a lot of strong opponents, of course."
"I'm really curious about the place you come from, to have so many powerhouses as strong as you." The two were, of course, Son Goku and Might Guy.
Ever since his defeat at Goku's hands, Guy would come to spar with him from time to time, claiming it was to improve himself so that one day he could finally defeat him.
Goku was more than happy with this arrangement; he was eager for someone to help him stretch his muscles every day to keep from getting rusty.
As a result, the scene of the two of them fighting had become a common sight.
"Speaking of which, the Chunin Exams should have started by now. I wonder how Lee and the others are doing?" Might Guy said casually, glancing at the sun.
At that moment, in the classroom for the Chunin Exams.
After Ibiki Morino and a group of proctors had appeared, all the candidates fell silent, quietly watching the fierce-looking man with several scars on his face.
"Fighting during the exam is strictly prohibited. Anyone found doing so will be immediately disqualified!"
"Is that clear? Especially you two from the Village Hidden in the Rain." Ibiki's gaze swept across the room before landing on the two who had tried to attack Naruto and Sasuke earlier.
"Hehe, our apologies. We lost control of our emotions for a moment," the two fodder Rain ninja said, feigning an apology while secretly thinking about how they would get their revenge on Naruto's group later.
Ibiki didn't press the matter further. He introduced himself and announced the start of the exam.
"My name is Ibiki Morino, and I am the proctor for the first stage of the Chunin Exams. I now declare the first test officially open."
"Everyone, hand in your application forms, and then... once that is done, the test papers will be distributed. Is that clear? If it is, then get to it!"
Hearing his words, all the candidates began to move, except for Naruto, who was frozen in place as if he had been turned to stone.
"A... a written test?!!"
Just like in the original story, he had no idea that a written test was part of the exam, and he was now completely panicking.
'This is going to be a headache. Naruto used to get zeroes all the time on written exams,' Sakura thought with a wry smile as she handed in her application.
All three of them had thought the Chunin Exams would be a test of their combat abilities, which was why they had been so confident.
They never expected there to be a written portion.
After everyone had completed the procedures and was seated, Ibiki spoke again. "Now, I will announce the rules of the exam."
"First, there are ten questions on the test paper. You will receive one point for each correct answer."
"Second, if you are caught cheating, two points will be deducted for each offence. If you lose all ten points, you will be removed from the examination hall."
"Third, the final score will be the sum of the scores of all three members of each squad. The team with the highest total score wins!"
"And one final rule!"
"Anyone who scores a zero or is removed from the examination hall will cause every member of their squad to be disqualified!"
When she heard the third rule, Sakura's heart was already in her throat.
She was confident she could get a high score, and Sasuke could get a few points, but Naruto was a huge liability.
If the total score were calculated this way, their team's chances of passing would be slim.
But when she heard the final rule, her mind went completely blank, as if she had been struck by lightning.
If one person gets a zero, the entire team fails?
Didn't that mean their team was doomed? The probability of Naruto getting a zero was 99.999 percent!
At that moment, Naruto was also dumbstruck, unable to believe the rules he had just heard. He grabbed his hair, a tiny version of himself screaming in his mind.
'It's over, it's over, it's over! It's really over this time! If I get a zero and cause Sasuke and Sakura to fail, they're going to kill me! Damn it!
I was talking about getting first place! If I fail the very first test, everyone's going to laugh their heads off!'
The more he thought about it, the more panicked he became.
A short while later, the test papers were distributed. Ibiki looked at the candidates and said with a meaningful tone,
"Remember, if you want to become a chunin, you need to act like a true ninja. Don't embarrass yourselves with clumsy cheating techniques. I now declare the start of the test. You have one hour!"
'These questions are way too hard. Even I'm not sure I can answer all of them.' After getting the test paper, Sakura's expression turned grave.
At first glance, she realised that the questions were far beyond their curriculum; they were so hard that even their teachers might not be able to answer all of them.
'Now Naruto really won't be able to get any points,' she thought, glancing at him sitting to her front-left and sighing internally.
'Whatever, I'll just focus on my own paper first.' With that, she pushed all other thoughts from her mind and began to focus on the test.
Not far away, Sasuke's mouth twitched as he looked at the questions. 'Heh, I thought I'd at least be able to answer a few, but I don't know a single one.'
He had been worried about Naruto getting a zero, but now it seemed he had to worry about himself as well.
'It looks like these questions aren't a problem for Sakura,' he thought, glancing at her sitting in front of him to the right, her pen flying across the paper.
'There's no way this exam would be this difficult.' He scanned the room and saw that most of the other candidates were also scratching their heads, completely stumped.
'In that case, this exam must have a deeper meaning.' At this thought, he closed his eyes and replayed every word Ibiki had said.
'A true ninja?'
'Don't embarrass yourselves with clumsy cheating techniques?!'
Remembering these two phrases, a flash of insight struck him, and he figured out the secret of the exam.
'So this test is about how to use advanced cheating techniques to steal the correct answers without being caught by the proctors! Heh, interesting.
In that case, I'll use my Sharingan to copy Sakura's movements. As for you, Naruto... you'd better figure this out quickly.
For you, there's only one way to cheat.' He glanced at Naruto, who was sitting directly in front of him, and thought to himself.
At that moment, Naruto was staring wide-eyed at the test, reading the questions word by word.
'Damn it! I refuse to believe I can't answer a single one!' he thought fiercely.
But after reading through all the questions, except for the final one, which hadn't been given yet, he realised he couldn't understand any of them!
'Aaargh! What am I going to do now?' He grabbed his hair, his mind in a tangled mess. He didn't want to fail the very first test!
'Cheating! I have to cheat!' After a moment, he calmed himself and made a decision.
Ibiki had said that getting caught cheating once would result in a two-point deduction, and he would only be disqualified after losing all ten points.
That meant he had four chances to make a mistake!
'If I use that technique, they probably won't be able to find out I'm cheating. Even if they figure out later that I used it, it'll count as at most one offence. That shouldn't be a problem!'