Everyone was already seated in their assigned seats. The written exam for the Chunin Exams was about to begin.
"Now listen up, brats."
Ibiki began writing something on the blackboard before looking at all the participants.
"Before we begin the exam, there are a few rules I need to mention."
With a sharp gaze, Ibiki explained as he continued writing on the board.
The rules were as follows.
First: Participants enter the exam with ten points, and the test consists of ten questions. The exam is based on a point deduction system. If you make a mistake, one point will be deducted.
For example: if all the questions are answered correctly, the participant will have ten points. If they get three wrong, then they will have seven points. The team's success or failure will be determined by the number of points they have.
Second: If an examiner notices that one of the participants is cheating, two points will be deducted from their score for every attempt.
Third: If one member of the team gets a zero, the entire team will fail.
Ibiki finished speaking.
At that moment, Naruto had buried his face in the desk. If he got a zero, his entire team would fail.
Sakura and Sasuke looked at Naruto with blank expressions. They were almost certain that Naruto would get a zero on the exam. It wasn't just Sasuke and Sakura who thought that, but almost everyone who knew Naruto.
Meanwhile, Toru looked at the sensei with a poker face.
"By the way, I'll give you the final question fifteen minutes before the exam ends," Ibiki said, crossing his arms with a sadistic smile. "And remember, the sentries are watching your every move. Anyone dumb enough to get caught cheating will be penalized. So, prove your worth as shinobi."
The exam began.
Toru looked at the sheet of paper on his desk and sighed.
'These... are very advanced questions for the shinobi here. Even for me...'
Toru held the pencil between his fingers and analyzed the questions.
'I think I can solve them.'
He moved the pencil across the paper and began solving the questions that seemed the most difficult.
Five minutes later, he had managed to solve three questions. Only six remained, but there was something strange.
Toru raised his gaze and looked at the others. Everyone was having trouble solving the questions.
At that moment, after recalling the rules and observing the layout of the room for a few seconds, an idea suddenly clicked in his mind.
'Oh... That's why the test is so difficult and has those rules. It's designed for us to cheat without getting caught!'
It was so obvious that he found it amusing.
'Ibiki-sensei said that anyone dumb enough to get caught cheating would be penalized, so we had to prove that we were shinobi.'
Shinobi didn't just fight. They were also trained to be stealthy and, more importantly, to gather information without getting caught. This test was exactly about that!
Toru was sure he could solve the exam on his own without needing to cheat, but what about his teammates?
Toru looked at Hinata and then at Ino.
'Hinata doesn't seem to be having any problems, but Ino...'
Ino was very worried. Every question was extremely difficult for someone at her level, but as she lamented, her eyes suddenly widened in surprise.
'She figured it out...'
Toru showed a faint smile. This was a little exciting, to be honest. Ino had a perfect ability for gathering information, so she raised her hands and formed a triangle. Aiming at Sakura, Ino transferred her mind into her target's body.
'Sorry, Sakura, but this is necessary,' Ino thought with a smile from inside Sakura's body. She took the opportunity to memorize all the answers.
While this was happening, Naruto scratched his head, desperately looking for a solution to his own problem.
'What do I do?!'
Naruto was suffering because he didn't understand anything written on the sheet. Looking in every direction, he tried to see someone else's exam, but the gazes of the sentries stopped him.
'Why is this happening to me?! I thought I wouldn't have to do this again after graduating!'
After seeing Naruto's pathetic state, Toru let out a sigh.
Meanwhile, Hakuto was feeling nervous, as people's eyes were focused on her exam sheet.
'They're copying me... What should I do?'
Hakuto moved closer to her exam so the others wouldn't be able to copy from her.
'That should be enough...'
The timid Hakuto continued writing while her teammates suffered.
As time passed, the others gradually began to realize what was happening and used their various abilities to cheat.
Toru was so entertained watching them that he almost forgot he was part of this as well, so he continued writing on his paper while keeping an eye on his teammates. However, someone else caught his attention.
It was Sasuke, with his Sharingan activated.
'This is perfect...' Sasuke thought.
The Sharingan could copy an opponent's movements, and Sasuke used that to his advantage to copy the hand movements of different people.
'Having the Sharingan is an obvious advantage. Although, I wonder when he awakened it...'
The minutes continued to pass.
Many used their abilities: Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Dojutsu, even Taijutsu. It was a spectacle of extreme stealth.
Toru's eyes moved elsewhere.
'Gaara...'
Gaara had created a small floating eye that rose into the air. This caused the boy to begin writing quickly on his sheet.
Toru was slightly surprised when he saw that ninjutsu, but he immediately returned to his exam and continued writing.
More minutes passed, and Toru had already finished solving all the questions, but it seemed that most of the others were still having trouble.
'Thirty minutes... In fifteen minutes, they'll announce the tenth question.'
Once again, something around him caught his attention.
'The guy carrying the mummy on his back...'
That boy was accompanied by one of the sentries, which was strange, but any method of cheating was valid in this exam, as long as you didn't get caught.
'I'm almost done. I only have one question left,' Ino thought, looking for someone else to use her ninjutsu on.
'You're the chosen one!'
A second later, Ino transferred her mind into Hakuto's body.
'Yes... Here it is.'
Ino made sure to memorize the answer from beginning to end so she wouldn't make any mistakes. Having finished copying, Ino left Hakuto's body and, seconds later, continued writing on her sheet.
Meanwhile, Hinata felt guilty. Right next to her was Naruto, on the verge of tears. She had offered him help, but Naruto simply couldn't bring himself to take advantage of someone as kind as Hinata.
Naruto was a good guy... or a complete idiot?
'I wonder if Toru-kun is doing okay.'
Hinata looked at her exam sheet while thinking about Toru.
She couldn't see him because Toru was sitting in the farthest seat, but she was sure he wouldn't have any problems. Even so, she couldn't stop worrying.
'All I can do now is wait until they announce the tenth question.'
Hinata closed her eyes and let out a sigh.
"Tell me number four, Akamaru," Kiba whispered to his canine companion, who was lying on top of his head.
Immediately, the puppy began looking at the different exam sheets, comparing the answers to make sure he didn't give Kiba the wrong information.
"Good boy."
The puppy growled quietly so he wouldn't be heard. A smile immediately formed on Kiba's face before he continued writing.
'Let's see... I need to find a way to cheat, but I can't summon Kumagoro here. If I do, I'll get caught,' Enko thought.
Then she looked at her hand.
'Hmm... This is going to hurt, and I might get anemia, but...'
Enko bit her finger, causing a small drop of blood to emerge.
'I'll only have a few seconds. I have to be fast, and my cute eyes are fast too!' Enko thought as she flicked the small drop of blood into the air. 'Great! It worked!'
Although it was brief, she could see the reflection of the words in the blood. It wasn't the most efficient method, but it worked. She had excellent eyesight, like that of a hawk, even if everything she did was based around bears.
'It looks like most of them are finishing up,' Toru thought as he noticed that most of the ninja were no longer moving their pencils across the paper. 'I have to admit, this is a very creative way to measure our ability to gather information.'
After a while, there were only five minutes left before the tenth question would be revealed.
'Tick, tock. Tick, tock. I'm sick of this already! Why the hell don't they put up a digital clock?!' Naruto screamed internally.
Naruto's exam was still blank.
'Damn it! I'm going to fail! Then Sasuke and Sakura will kill me!'
Naruto scratched his head desperately.
'Not much longer...' Toru thought as he looked at the wall clock.
There were three minutes left before the tenth question would be revealed. Toru was ready.
'What kind of question will it be? It can't be worse than the ones they've already given us...'
Almost everyone had finished cheating, but...
Everyone looked in one direction, toward the seat directly behind Naruto.
A kunai embedded itself in the desk.
"Hey! What the hell?!"
The purple-haired boy jumped out of his seat, completely terrified.
"You and your team, get out of here," one of the sentries said.
"Why?!" the boy asked.
The sentry smiled.
"I saw you cheating more than five times. You know what that means, don't you?"
The boy knew he had been caught, but he didn't want to admit it. However, when he saw his teammates leaving with disappointed expressions, he gave up and left the room as well.
Everyone was surprised, but that was only the beginning.
One by one, more than fifteen people were caught cheating. Many refused to leave, but the sentries showed no mercy and used force.
"I didn't cheat! Damn it! I didn't cheat!" one of those who had been caught shouted as he was dragged outside alongside his teammates.
So many empty seats. Toru was already getting bored of waiting.
'Only half of us are left...'
This proved that the exam was serious.
'Alright. It's time,' Toru thought, keeping his eyes on the clock.
Everyone remained silent. No one wanted to be expelled, but what they were about to hear would ruin everyone's morale.
"Alright, get ready for the tenth question," Ibiki said. He stood at the front of the room and, with a serious expression, continued, "First of all, you'll decide whether you want to answer this question or not."
"What do you mean, sensei?" Sakura asked.
That made Ibiki smile.
"I'll explain it in a way everyone can understand."
Ibiki placed his hands behind his back and, with a sinister gaze, said:
"The tenth question works like this. If you choose to withdraw, you'll get a zero even if you answered everything perfectly, and your entire team will be eliminated. However, you'll be able to try again next time."
At that moment, Kiba stood up from his seat and protested.
"Huh? What kind of bullshit is that? That's way too unfair."
"Hm. You should know that I didn't use to make the rules, but now I do..."
Smiling, Ibiki looked at Kiba, sending a chill down the boy's spine.
"Now, if you choose to answer the question and get it wrong, you'll automatically receive a zero, and your entire team will never be allowed to take the Chunin Exams again."
"What?!"
"Is that even possible?"
"That's unfair, sensei!"
Everyone began protesting, but the desperate words of those shinobi were music to Ibiki's ears.
"So basically, if you withdraw now, you can take the exam again in six months. But if you choose to answer the question and fail, you'll lose your chance to become a Chunin forever."
Everyone was terrified and didn't know what to do. Ibiki was serious about this...
Little by little, the ninja began losing their fighting spirit. They went from protesting to thinking, and then...
"If that's how it's going to be, then I... withdraw," one of the shinobi in the back said. "I don't want to lose my chance to become a Chunin."
After that, many of the other shinobi began leaving the room. This only caused those who still wanted to answer the question to lose their motivation.
'Now there are very few of us left...' Toru thought, but his eyes widened in surprise when he saw Naruto raise his hand.
'Naruto? Seriously?'
Even Toru couldn't believe it. Someone like Naruto giving up was... interesting. However, his thoughts were instantly pushed to the deepest part of his mind when Naruto slammed his hand against the desk before speaking.
"I'm not giving up!" he declared. "Someday, I'm going to become Hokage, and this is a challenge I'm willing to overcome!"
There was a long silence, but then Ibiki began laughing, startling everyone. However...
"All of you passed," the sensei said.
At that moment, Naruto could feel his soul leaving his body from the sheer combination of surprise and relief.
'I definitely didn't see that coming...' Toru sighed in relief.