Chapter 207: Glory in Cheating
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Thud!
"Lee, that's a fake classroom. Stop fighting."
Just as Lee and the two gatekeepers were in the heat of combat, Neji and Tenten walked out.
Shish!
Lee repelled the two guards and retreated to Neji's side, spreading his hands in confusion. "Eh? Fake?"
Sasuke stepped forward. "The number on that classroom was placed under a Genjutsu. The actual testing site is on the other side."
His words left the surrounding ninjas stunned. Looking back at the two "gatekeepers," they transformed back to their original forms with a poof.
They were indeed Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane, once again guest-starring as proctors. Looking at Sasuke, Neji, and the others, they laughed. "Seems the Genin this year are quite strong to have seen through that."
This was a test of a ninja's ability to detect traps. Now that they had been exposed, they stopped the act.
"Boring."
At the corner, Gaara appeared with Kankuro and Temari, turning away to head toward the real testing site.
"Hey! If you noticed, why didn't you tell me?!" Only Naruto felt victimized, shouting at Sasuke.
"Idiot." Sasuke kept his hands in his pockets and turned to walk away.
"Damn it, don't you run away!" Naruto and Sakura immediately chased after him.
"Seems there's still an influence. Sigh, no drama to watch, so boring."
Hidden in the shadows, Tonbo Tobitake was disappointed that he hadn't seen the famous scene—the fight between Sasuke and Lee—before the written exam started. He had really wanted to see Sasuke get thrashed by Lee!
For some reason, the ripple effect of his presence had prevented the fight. There wasn't even much interaction; Sasuke was simply noticed because of his fame.
Crunch. He tossed a special food pill into his mouth and chewed slowly. At this stage, Sasuke would definitely have been beaten one-sidedly. He wouldn't have had any chance to fight back.
Lee's team had been trained by Tonbo using battlefield simulations for a month. Even at once a week, that was four sessions. Their combat experience was not something Sasuke could currently match, not to mention they had graduated a year earlier and accumulated more mental energy. In Tonbo's view, the gap would only start to close as they got older and their bodies matured.
Unless, of course, Tonbo gave Team 7 a private special training session.
"But a guy like Kakashi probably won't come to me for special training, right?" Unlike Guy, Kakashi was a "six-tool" ninja who could teach almost anything himself. He likely wouldn't ask for help. Besides, Kakashi was probably sick of Tonbo nagging him to get married; teasing him every time they met meant he'd avoid Tonbo if he could.
Tonbo then arrived at the written exam classroom.
Whoosh!
He arrived just in time to see the confrontation between Naruto's group and the Sound ninjas, and the scene where Kabuto stepped in. Mhm, another famous scene. The arrogant attitude of the Sound ninjas was practically designed to start conflicts. Kabuto was busy showing off his ninja info cards to Naruto and the others, introducing candidate data to earn their trust.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The proctor team appeared, led by Ibiki Morino. In the original story, Tonbo was one of the proctors, but this time he was hiding in the shadows for fun, so someone else had taken his spot.
"Quiet."
One word from Ibiki Morino silenced everyone. The entire proctor team radiated a terrifying pressure. Credit where it's due—it was a convincing performance. Most candidates didn't dare speak a word. Aside from a few fearless individuals, most were trembling, intimidated by the sudden aura.
"Eh? Mibu Shinobu actually made it to the proctor team too?"
Tonbo was quite interested to see his disciple among the group. It had been a while; it seemed Mibu was doing well under Ibiki. You could tell by his eyes—he didn't look as dim-witted as before. Other members of the Analytical Team were also guest-starring as proctors, such as Shimon.
"As expected, the people from my Analytical Team are the pillars of Konoha," Tonbo thought to himself.
The exam began.
It was the same routine Tonbo remembered. As soon as Ibiki's rules were announced, the students broke into cold sweats. Everyone looked at their teammates with deep concern. Most knew their teammates' capabilities well and felt these rules were a death sentence.
However, there were those with no self-awareness—like Naruto, who picked up his test paper with total confidence. Because Kiba had been so competitive at the Academy, Naruto had actually studied a bit—though it was the "fishing for three days and drying the nets for two" kind of effort.
When Naruto looked at the first question, he was speechless. He... didn't know it. He tried to look at others and found that many looked just as confused as he was, which instantly put his mind at ease.
"Seems everyone is in the same boat!"
But he soon noticed something was wrong. Kiba Inuzuka had scanned the paper and was now writing without hesitation. The smile on Kiba's face showed total confidence. Akamaru, sitting on his head, occasionally signaled key points to him.
"Damn it, Kiba is cheating..." Naruto gritted his teeth. Am I going to be outdone by Kiba again? He knew Akamaru's theoretical grades were better than his own. How sly. He wanted to lean over and copy an answer, but seeing the rows of proctors, he could only stare back at his paper.
The teachers always said that when people are pushed to the limit, they can do anything. If you don't push yourself, you'll never know your potential. But... this was math... Naruto scratched his head in frustration.
Beside him, Hinata was steadily writing down answers. Further away, Shikamaru seemed to be in a rush, his pen flying across the paper.
"..."
Seeing Naruto's shifty-eyed behavior, Sasuke and Sakura both sighed. They felt their team was going to be disqualified in the first round! They knew Naruto's situation all too well and were desperately hoping he'd figure it out.
When Ibiki had introduced the rules, both Sasuke and Sakura understood that while the goal was to answer the questions, that was only for the "top students." For everyone else, it was a test of high-level cheating.
Inside the room, strange techniques were everywhere. Many candidates were scratching their heads in despair.
"Ibiki, you sly dog," Tonbo praised the proctor's testing philosophy. The collective responsibility system was truly sinister. Moreover, those questions were honestly not something a standard Ninja Academy graduate could solve. Only theoretical geniuses or those who could apply and extend their knowledge during Genin work could solve them. Everyone else had to cheat honestly.
Even someone as strong as Gaara had to use his sand to spy on the "plants" Ibiki had placed in the room. Even Neji had to use his Byakugan to peek. Don't be fooled by his genius; his class didn't have the "catfish effect" of someone like Kiba, so he hadn't put much effort into theoretical studies. He had to copy.
"However, in Naruto's year, because of the butterfly effect, only Naruto and Choji are truly struggling. Compared to the original where even Sasuke had to use his Sharingan to cheat, the level here is much higher!"
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