⁴Emiyo's P.O.V

Chills ran through the entire crowd, our eyes glued on the tower man in front of us. "First! You candidates from the Village Hidden in the sound! Knock it off, who told you could fight?! You wanna be failed before we've even begun?!"

"Sorry it our first time, we're a little jumpy sir."

"I'll say this once, so listen up! There will be no combat between candidates, no attacking each other without permission of your protector! And even then, the use of fatal force is strictly prohibited! Anyone who even thinks of messing with me will be disqualified immediately. Got it?"

"Hmph. No fatal force? That's no fun." The spiky-haired sound ninja said, earning chuckles from the moderators.

"Now, if we're ready," Ibiki continued, "We'll proceed to the first stage of the Chunin Exam. Hand over your paperwork. In return, you'll each be given a number. This number determines where you will sit. We'll start the written test once you're all seated."

"The what...?" Naruto asked, confused, Did he say...Written?"

Kotetsu held up the test papers.

"Nooooooo!" Naruto dropped to his hands and knees, wailing in despair."NOT A WRITTEN TEST, NO WAAAAAAY!"

**

We were all sitting in different locations. Kiba and Shino we're sitting farther behind me. While Hinata was in a row ahead next to Naruto.

While I was sitting next to the red hair sand ninja who I was getting a scent of blood from. The other person was a girl from the Hidden Rain.

'There something about this guy.' I thought.

Ibiki made a loud chalk sound.

"There are several important rules for the first test. I will take no questions so listen well a

"There are several important rules for the first test. I will take no questions so listen well accordingly." He started to write on the board. "First off is the first rule. You are given ten points each from the start. The written test has ten problems in all. Each problem is one point. And this test is a point deduction system. You are deducted one point for each problem you get wrong. If you have three wrong, you'll have seven points, second rule. Pass or failure is determined by the total of each three-person or four-person teams."

I shrugged not really worried about this exam. I read books and study all the time plus my IQ is pretty high.

"Second rule. Those who are deemed by sentinels as having committed an act of cheating or anything similar to that... Will have two points deducted from each act. In other words... There may be some who will be dismissed during the test without waiting for the test grading. Knowing that those who commit awkward cheating will bring ruin upon yourselves."

"Also, in the case or any person of the team gets zero points..." He narrowed his eyes. "Everyone on the team will fail. The test over in one hour. Now... Begin!"

I looked at the test and noticed that the questions were advance, but they won't hard to figure out so I picked up my pen started writing.

I then noticed the guy next to me create some eyeball then crushed it turning it into sand.

'There something about that guy. Something doesn't smell right about him,' I thought as I looked around and saw that my teammates figure out the point of this test. It was to cheat but not get caught.

I heard numbers being called because they cheated. I shook my head at how terrible ninja they will make if they can't be stealth when it comes to gathering information. I lay my head on the table waiting for the tenth question.

"Alright, listen up! Here's the tenth and final question!" I then lifted my head and looked at him. "But, before I give you the question, there are some more rules that you need to be aware of." He paused as a sand ninja entered the room, "Ah, made it just in time. I hope you found your trip to the bathroom enlightening."

As the guy returned to his seat, Ibiki continued, "These rules are unique to question ten. Listen carefully, and try not to let them frighten you." He paused again to let his words sink in. "Very well, then. Rule Number One. Each of you is free to choose not to be given the final question. It's your decision."

"Whoa!" A girl with blonde ponytails spoke up, "So what's the catch?! Let's say we decide we don't wanna do it, what happens then?"

"If you choose not to take the tenth question, regardless of your answers to the other nine, you'll get a zero. In other words, you fail. And that means, of course, both your teammates fail as well." Murmurs of confusion filled the room as he continued to explain, "Not so fast. You didn't let me finish. If you do accept the question, but answer it incorrectly, you will not only fail... You will be barred from taking the Chunin Exam ever again!"

I narrowed my eyes thinking about what the catch was.

Kiba jumped up, "Hey, that's bull, man! That's ridiculous! What kind of bogus rule is that?! There are lots of people here who have taken the test before!" Akamaru barked in agreement.

"There has to be more to this," Kimi said to me and I nodded.

Ibiki began to laugh. "I guess you're just... unlucky. I wasn't making the rules before, but I am now. Of course, if you don't wanna take it, you don't have to. If you're not feeling confident, then, by all means, skip it. You can come back and try again next year. Now then, if you're ready. The tenth and final question. Those who don't want to take it, raise your hand! Your number will be recorded, and then you're free to go."

As people began to filter out could see Naruto starting to raise his hand, and I raise an eyebrow not expecting him to quit.

Suddenly, he slammed his hand down on his desk, standing up, "Don't underestimate me! I don't quit and I don't run!"

"You can act tough all you want, you guys aren't gonna scare me off! No way! I don't care if I do get stuck as a Genin for the rest of my life! I'll still be Hokage someday

'He loud but has confidence I can see Hinata likes him.' I thought.

"You can act tough all you want, you guys aren't gonna scare me off! No way! I don't care if I do get stuck as a Genin for the rest of my life! I'll still be Hokage someday!"

"This decision is one that could change your life. If for any reason you would rather quit, now is your last chance."

"No way, I never go back on my word. That's the way of the ninja!"

Ibiki scanned the Genin, waiting to see if anyone else backed out, but no one did. The sentinels all nodded in silent agreement to continue. "Well then, I admire your determination, if nothing else. For those of you remaining, there's only one thing left to do. And that's for me to tell you... That you've all passed the first exam!"

Silence filled the room until...

Sakura stood up. "H-Hold on what, just happened? Where the tenth question!?"

"Wait for a second!" The blonde hair cut in. "So the nine questions you gave us were just a waste of time?"

'So they haven't completely figured out the whole point of this exam.'

"No, no, not at all! Quite the opposite. The first nine questions had an overriding purpose. To test your abilities to surreptitiously gather strategic intelligence under the most adverse circumstances."

"Oh, well that clears up everything," The blonde girl said sarcastically.

"Let me explain. You see, my objective was to test you not only as individuals but as a team. And on how well you function as a part of that team. That's why the test was scored on a team basis. So you'd know that everything you did or failed to do, would directly affect your teammates. I wanted to see how you'd handle the pressure."

Naruto nodded, looking smug. "Mmhm! Yeah, I figured it was something like that, that's why I kept my cool."

"That's a complete lie," I muttered.

"The first nine questions on the test were difficult. In fact, as you may have realized, too difficult for any Genin to be expected to solve. I imagine that most of you quickly came to that conclusion that you'd have to cheat if you had any chance of passing. The fact is, the test was designed to encourage cheating. It almost demanded it."

'True they were advanced but to me, it was a piece a cake. It easy if you train your brain just as much as you train your body,'

"Of course, it would have done you little good unless you had someone to cheat from, so I disguised two Chunin who already knew the answers and had them sit in with you."

Naruto laughed, "Oh, c'mon! I wasn't fooled for a second! You had to be a complete doofus not to see it!" He turned to Hinata, grinning, "Isn't that right, Hinata?" I watched with a smile on my face at how cute they would look like a couple.

"Those who were caught at it failed. Better not to cheat, than to cheat clumsily." Ibiki continued, reaching up to untie his forehead protector. He pulled it off of his head, and everyone stared in silent horror at the sight of him, "Information. It can be the most valuable weapon in battle. How well you gather intelligence can determine whether a mission is a failure or a success. There'll be times you have to risk your life to get it!"

"Man, what a mess..." Sasuke said, "Scars and puncture wounds... Burn marks... What he must've endured..." I nodded agreeing with him.

"Of course, you must always consider the source of your information." Ibiki resecured his forehead protector. "Intelligence gathered from an enemy is not necessarily accurate. Always bear this in mind." As he continued his lecture, I kept my full attention on him. "There will be many missions that will seem almost suicidal if you think about it. But you do not think about it. You think only of the goal, achieving it through courage and discipline. These are the qualities required of a Chunin squad leader. Those who choose the safer of two paths, those whose determination falters in the face of adversity, those who would put their comrades' lives in jeopardy by worrying about their own. Those who would save their own necks at the price of sacred honor will never be able to call themselves Chunin! At least as long as I'm here. As for the rest of you, you have successfully answered the ten questions I put to you. You have earned the right to continue on to the next step. You have passed through the first gate. I hereby declare this part of the Chunin Selection Exam completed. There's nothing left but to wish you all good luck."

Someone then smashed through a window. It was a woman but I could feel a strange dark powerful aura coming from her and the odd smell was coming from her shoulder and neck it smells almost like poison but at the same time it hard to describe the smell.

I snapped out of my thoughts on this strange aura and smell when she spoke up.

"Heads up, boys and girls!" She said holding a large banner completely blocking Ibiki from view behind her. "This is no time to be celebrating! I'll be your next proctor! Anko Mitarashi! Are you ready for the second test? Good! Then let's go, follow me!"

Ibiki poked his head around the side of the banner, "You're early. Again." Anko blushed in embarrassment.

She looked around the room, frowning. "How many are there? Ibiki, you let all these guys pass? Your test was too easy. You must be getting soft."

"Or it could be a stronger crop of candidates this year."

Anko 'hmmed, "They sure don't look it... Trust me, before I'm done with them, more than half will be eliminated."

"Huh?!" Sakura exclaimed in surprise, "More than half, really?!"

Anko chuckled, "This is gonna be fun... You maggots have had it easy so far, but things are gonna be different starting first thing in the morning! I'll let your squad leaders know where to meet me. Dismissed!"

🐕🐕🐕

Hey lovely readers!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Also, don't forget to comment, and vote.

Q: What was your favorite part of this chapter?

Q: Who rather dor the Forest of Death?

Q: Who do you think Emiyo should face in the Preliminaries?

Thank you for reading 🧡🧡🧡