Step, step!
A large number of ninja walked into the classroom that was temporarily converted into the examination room.
There were chunin, special jonin, and jonin present.
Among them were people from the three major ninja villages, though Konoha had the most.
At the front were three jonin — one each from Suna, Iwa, and Konoha — who were clearly the chief examiners.
Keeping things balanced!
If you let just one village take charge of the exam, the others would never feel at ease.
At the very least, each needed to send someone to keep an eye on things.
That's why, in the future, when Konoha alone ran the exams, it was either unreasonable or there were special circumstances behind it.
"I am Morino Yagawa, the chief examiner for the first round!"
"No cheating is allowed in this test — if you're caught, it's an automatic zero!"
"I now declare the start of the exam!"
The Konoha jonin, wearing a black headwrap, radiated a fierce, oppressive aura.
Morino!
While not one of the great ninja clans, it was still considered a minor ninja clan.
In Konoha, there were countless such minor clans — for example, the Morino, Shingetsu, Kamizuki, and so on.
Konoha itself was made up of both major and minor clans, so even though the Second and Third Hokage worked hard to support civilian ninja, the strongest and most elite ninja still typically came from the clans.
The other proctors began handing out the exam papers.
Rustle!
Akira Sato looked at the test paper in front of him, a flash of dread flickering in his eyes.
[First Question: Standing on top of a tree 10 meters high, with a target 32 meters away, and wind speed at level 3, how much force is needed to throw a kunai to…]
The questions were insane!
Honestly, just looking at the questions gave Akira a headache.
Sure, the school had technically taught this stuff —
but for ninja, their bodies were often more reliable than their brains.
While they could easily perform the actions in practice, solving them through theoretical calculation was much harder.
Theory vs. Practical!
Ninja were much more skilled at the latter, and few excelled at the former.
Luckily, before transmigrating here, Akira had been a programmer, so these calculation questions weren't a big problem for him — just annoying.
But for the other examinees, this was the moment to show off all kinds of methods.
Bloodline abilities, secret techniques, ninjutsu, puppet techniques…
They all displayed what you might call a cheating showcase.
After all, the chief examiner wasn't hinting — he was explicitly saying:
as long as you're not caught cheating, it's fine.
Because the first round wasn't really testing theoretical knowledge —
it was testing intelligence-gathering ability.
Ninja!
By nature, they are a profession built on espionage and assassination.
Of course their information-gathering skills had to be tested.
That said, candidates like Akira, who could simply solve the questions outright, were given some leeway.
In the end, you had to pass at least one of the two: intelligence-gathering or theory.
"You, out!"
"You think we're blind?"
"Exam disqualified — leave immediately!"
…
The proctors stationed along both sides of the room called out constantly, dragging out those with clumsy cheating attempts.
Cheating was allowed — but sloppy cheating wasn't.
Very quickly, the number of remaining examinees dropped to under a hundred.
Even including the examinees in other classrooms, the total wouldn't be too high.
Under normal circumstances, the exams wouldn't be this strict.
But the Joint Chunin Exams, which were open to the entire ninja world, naturally set much harsher standards.
The advantage, though, was that passing the chunin exam on such a stage practically guaranteed a limitless future.
Because the benefits were so great, every time the exam was held, large numbers of ninja from every village came to participate.
In any case, the various methods on display were dazzling, offering a major learning experience.
Maybe that was part of why the five great ninja villages allowed outside participants in the first place —
to let the new generation see and learn from diverse techniques.
Yamakami Koji and Kakashi both handled themselves well.
Forget being caught — even if the proctors did see them, they'd turn a blind eye.
Against these experienced chunin and special jonin, very few tricks could truly go unnoticed.
That's why they only eliminated the ones whose skills weren't up to par.
After a long while…
"Alright, the exam is over!"
Morino Yagawa announced the end of the answer period.
The proctors immediately stepped forward to collect the papers and grade them on the spot.
An hour-long exam with only a dozen or so questions — it was clearly designed for them to cheat.
If you could actually answer the questions, you didn't need that much time.
And even if you avoided being caught cheating, if your final score was still a failing grade, you weren't moving on to the second round.
The reason there were over a dozen proctors was also to ensure they could issue grades quickly.
"Horiuchi Takashi, fail!"
"Kitani Haru, pass!"
"Yamakami Koji, pass!"
…
Names were called out one by one.
The ones who made it through were either like Akira, with strong theoretical skills, or those with other exceptional abilities —
overall, the pass rate was quite high.
The first written round wasn't actually that important;
it was mainly to weed out the ones who didn't belong.
If you let those people proceed to the next stage, it wouldn't just lower the entertainment value of the chunin exams —
it would also unnecessarily increase the workload for the proctors.
Handling a few hundred candidates took far fewer resources and energy than dealing with over a thousand.
There were no scores, only "pass" or "fail."
Once the names were finished, Morino Yagawa looked at them and gave a reminder:
"Congratulations on earning the right to enter the second exam, but be warned — the next stage is extremely dangerous.
I hope you will carefully consider whether you want to continue!"
The first test carried no risk,
but the second round was a whole different matter.
Unfortunately, no one wanted to back out.
As ninja, they had long understood the brutal nature of this world,
and none of them would quit just because it was dangerous.
Just then,
a pineapple-haired male Konoha jonin walked into the classroom from outside.
"Kawatani, these examinees have given everything for this chunin exam —
you really think a few words from you will make them drop out? Not a chance!"
Before the examinees could even wonder who he was,
the man introduced himself.
"Alright, brats, my name is Mitarashi Shisou, and I'm the chief examiner for the second round.
I hope you manage to stay alive.
Now, follow me."
With that, he turned and walked away.
Inside the classroom, the examinees began standing up and following him.
Yamakami Koji and Kakashi came over to Akira.
Their three-man squad had gotten lucky, being placed in the same classroom,
so naturally, they gathered up first.
"Let's go!"
Akira led the way out of the classroom.
As they exited, they merged with the other examinees from the neighboring classrooms.
A crowd of genin, each wearing their ninja headbands, gathered together —
it felt like stepping into a jungle filled with dangerous wild beasts.
And in a sense, that was the reality.
For the next stage,
everyone here would be mortal enemies,
and among them were specialized killing machines, sent by various villages to target the geniuses of their rivals.
So even though the number of examinees seemed large now,
by the time they reached the third test,
probably less than a third would remain.
The Forest of Death lay at the edge of the village,
so it took a little time to reach.
By the time they arrived, it was noon.
And only then did Akira Sato get his first glimpse
of the legendary Forest of Death.
(End of Chapter)