After discussing the content of the exam, Ino Yamanaka released the Mind Transfer Jutsu. After chatting for a while to ease their initial tension, proctors wearing Chunin vests began checking the examinees' admission documents one by one, verifying their identities, and guiding them into the exam hall.
The group from Konoha exchanged a few words of encouragement before following the crowd into the written exam hall one after another.
The seating in the exam hall appeared to be randomly assigned.
When Naruto found his seat number and sat down, he looked up and discovered that the person sitting next to him was actually Hinata.
She was nervously tidying up the paper and pens on her desk, her fair cheeks slightly flushed, clearly having noticed the coincidence as well.
"Don't be nervous."
Naruto turned to his side, lowered his voice, and smiled at the visibly nervous Hinata, his tone relaxed and reassuring.
"Just perform as you normally would. I'm right beside you, it'll be fine."
His words were like a warm breeze, brushing away some of the anxiety in Hinata's heart.
She gave a soft "Mm," nodded, and felt her heartbeat steadying a little.
Naruto looked at her, his eyes darting, and suddenly leaned in closer, saying with a hint of anticipation, "By the way, Hinata, if we can both pass the Chunin Exams this time... I want to eat the food you make, is that okay?"
"Eh?"
Hinata hadn't expected Naruto to suddenly make such a request. Her face turned even redder in a flash, and she hurriedly waved her hands, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz.
"N-Naruto-kun's cooking... is probably better..."
Naruto shook his head.
"But I just want to eat the food you make, Hinata."
He emphasized, then rested his left arm casually on the table, leaning slightly towards Hinata. He tilted his head to look at her, his blue eyes reflecting her flushed face.
"If... Hinata also wants to eat my cooking..."
He deliberately drew out his tone and smiled slyly, "Then Hinata has to cook first."
Watching the smiling Naruto, Hinata felt her heart beating so fast.
She felt her cheeks burning as if they were on fire. Her mind went blank, and she could only subconsciously reply in a nearly inaudible voice, "O-okay..."
Just then. Slap!
A powerful palm landed firmly on Naruto's shoulder, the force not light, breaking the subtle atmosphere between him and Hinata.
Naruto didn't need to turn around; he knew who it was just by sensing the Chakra.
He glanced to the side and saw Hyuga Neji standing in the aisle next to his seat. His expression was calm, but the veins around his pure white eyes were bulging—clearly, he had activated his Byakugan.
The strange examinee from another Village who had originally been sitting on Naruto's other side was now lying in the aisle, clearly having been lulled to sleep by Neji's Gentle Fist.
"The exam is about to start."
Neji's tone was flat and waveless, devoid of emotion, but his Byakugan-activated eyes carried an unquestionable warning as they swept over Naruto and Hinata, who was blushing so hard she looked like she might bleed.
"Pay attention."
The exam hall was already a bit noisy, with various sounds of hushed conversations, people adjusting their seats, and flipping through stationery rising one after another.
Neji's slightly overbearing move immediately drew the attention of the small area nearby, with several examinees from other Villages casting suspicious and uncertain glances.
What's going on? Oh my, can we get some drama while taking an exam?
However, before the atmosphere could ferment further—
"That examinee!" A deep, serious, and oppressive voice rang out at the entrance of the exam hall.
"Sit back in your seat!"
It was the proctor, Mori Ibi-ki, wearing his signature black trench coat, his face covered in scars, his eyes sharp as a hawk's, striding into the exam hall.
He saw the person lying in the aisle and Neji standing by Naruto's seat at the first glance. His brows knitted instantly, and he barked a reprimand without hesitation.
With his authoritative shout, the previously noisy exam hall fell silent instantly. You could hear a pin drop.
All the examinees, regardless of what they were doing before, subconsciously straightened their backs, casting gazes of awe or vigilance toward this proctor with such a powerful aura.
A suffocating tension filled the air.
The first round of the Chunin Exams, the written exam, officially began after this dramatic little interlude.
Neji obediently sat back in his seat.
"I only came in two minutes late on purpose to observe you all. I didn't expect that even after entering the exam hall, you bunch of trash still couldn't quiet down. Noisy and rowdy, where is there even a shred of a Shinobi's demeanor?"
The examinees from other Villages reasoned that being called trash was fine; it would be worse to be disqualified for talking back.
The examinees from Konoha were even less likely to talk back to their own Village's proctor in front of people from other Villages and make a fool of themselves.
Seeing that not a single troublemaker among the examinees below stood up, Ibiki was not surprised. At least this year's batch didn't have any idiots.
Only then did Mori Ibi-ki begin his self-introduction. "Sorry to keep you waiting, I am your proctor for the first round of the exam, Mori Ibi-ki."
Ibiki stood on the platform and swept his gaze over all the examinees.
"There are several crucial rules for the first round of selection. I will only say them once, and after I finish, I will not answer any of your questions, so you all better listen up."
"First rule: Each examinee starts with ten points. There are ten questions in the written exam, each worth one point. This exam uses a point-deduction system; for every wrong answer, one point is deducted."
"Second rule: The exam results will be judged based on the total score of the three members of each team."
"Third rule, and the most important one: If, during the course of the exam, you are determined by a proctor to be cheating, or if there is suspicion of cheating, two points will be deducted for every instance discovered on the spot. Once all points are deducted, you are eliminated."
"If any one of the three members of a Shinobi squad scores zero, then all three are eliminated together. The final tenth question will be announced forty-five minutes after the exam begins. The exam duration is one hour. Now, the exam begins!"
As Mori Ibi-ki finished speaking, the examinees one after another flipped open the test papers on their desks.
The unlucky guy next to Naruto gave Neji a resentful look, then endured the numbness in his left hand to flip open the test paper and start answering the questions.
The moment the exam started, Ino Yamanaka connected to the other eleven people using the Mind Transfer Jutsu.
"Listen to me first. This time, it really is a test of intelligence-gathering ability, just as I guessed."
Naruto spoke up in the mental link first.
"The second person in the middle row, counting from right to left, started writing furiously without even thinking the moment the paper was flipped over. Hinata and Neji, you can use your Byakugan to see if what he's writing is correct. If I'm not mistaken, he should be the one who infiltrated the examinees."
After waiting for a moment, Neji responded first.
"He has already written up to the seventh question. This speed is completely abnormal. Furthermore, looking at the answers for the first code question and the second question with the long prompt about the parabola, they seem to be correct."
"Then, from now on, it's every man for himself to copy the answers."