Shiro did not deign to answer the other's question.
In a word? He simply felt like it.
He just wanted to experience firsthand what level of durability Dosu, the 'Six Paths Sage' of internet memes, actually possessed in this timeline.
At this moment, Zaku, who had been the one voicing his doubts just seconds ago, was shaking so violently he could barely stand. He looked from his groaning leader to the calm monster in front of him, realizing he had narrowly escaped a broken neck.
"Alright, that's enough! The first round of the Chunin Exams will begin immediately! Any candidate who continues to cause trouble in the courtyard will be instantly disqualified and removed!"
Right at that critical moment, a scar-faced proctor arrived very promptly and barked his orders.
His timing was impeccable. Any earlier, and Shiro might have ignored him, making the situation awkward for the proctor's authority. Any later, and blood would likely have been spilled on the paving stones.
Seeing the proctors arrive, the crowd quickly dispersed, grateful for the distraction.
But everyone present would forever remember the terror Shiro had instilled in them. They were already fervently hoping they wouldn't encounter him in the later combat rounds. Otherwise, what difference would it make from losing outright?
Oh, right. If you surrendered immediately, you wouldn't have to spend six months in the hospital eating through a straw.
"Sorry for the wait, you maggots. I am your head proctor for the first exam, Ibiki Morino!"
Just as the crowd quieted down, a towering man with horrific burn scars covering his face walked to the front, flanked by a squad of stern-looking Chunin sentinels.
"File in and take your assigned seats! Silence!"
The first round of the Chunin Exam was the infamous written test.
Shiro, who was intimately familiar with the plot, naturally knew exactly what this exam was really testing: information gathering skills.
However, it didn't really matter. He knew he would pass even if he handed in a blank paper, thanks to the final psychological question.
But thinking of this, Shiro suddenly had an idea.
A very, very entertaining idea.
---
Perhaps out of sheer boredom with the academic setting, Shiro decided to mess with the other candidates.
The core essence of this exam was to force a room full of Genin to use their unique ninjutsu to cheat and steal answers without getting caught by the sentinels. Theoretically, the actual answers didn't matter as much as the method of obtaining them.
So, when the sentinels distributed the test papers, Shiro immediately acted with supreme confidence. He sat up straight, cracked his knuckles audibly, and began writing answers rapidly the moment the paper hit his desk.
"As expected of Konoha's Number One Genius," Gaara observed from across the room, his sand eye watching. "Not only is he powerful, but he's effortlessly handling these impossible theoretical questions."
In fact, many people, seeing Shiro scribbling so confidently, started having sneaky thoughts.
It really wasn't their fault; it was simply that these damn questions weren't meant for human Genin to solve.
Let's look at Question Two: *"The parabola B in the diagram represents the trajectory range of a shuriken thrown by Ninja A from a tree 7 meters high against a crosswind of 5 m/s. Please predict the maximum range distance when this shuriken lands, accounting for air resistance, and state your reasoning."*
Just reading this one question left many battle-hardened Genin completely baffled. Was advanced physics really a necessary path to becoming a ninja?
So, when everyone saw Shiro confidently blasting through the questions, they couldn't help but begin using their little tricks to target him as the "source."
Kankuro used his puppet, Crow, disguised as a proctor to peek at Shiro's "correct" answers.
Inuzuka Kiba used his beloved dog, Akamaru, sitting on his head to steal a look.
Shino used his insects. Neji used his Byakugan. Sasuke used his Sharingan.
In short, it was like the Eight Immortals crossing the sea—each showing their unique divine powers! But without exception, almost every capable cheat in the room chose to copy from Shiro.
Because the persona Shiro had displayed when he first entered the examination hall—arrogant, powerful, and terrifying—had already convinced everyone he was a complete, flawless genius. Moreover, he was writing so confidently. Who else would they copy from if not him?
After finishing his "answers" in a flurry of pencil strokes, Shiro set his pencil down and sat calmly like an angler waiting for fish.
Actually, every single answer he wrote was completely made up nonsense.
Because the test paper was so absurd it even brought in complex scientific theories, Shiro decided to fight fire with fire.
*Trajectory of a shuriken?* Shiro wrote a dissertation on how the shuriken's flight path was influenced by the gravitational pull of the moon relative to the user's emotional state.
*Cipher decoding?* He wrote a recipe for spicy curry.
The key point was, a large number of examinees actually believed Shiro's answers were profound and correct. Because they didn't understand the questions either, even if they copied a recipe, they couldn't judge whether it was right or wrong.
The head proctor sitting at the front, Ibiki Morino, was already starting to lose his composure as he watched the room.
*This group of examinees is truly the worst batch I've ever had,* Ibiki cursed inwardly.
Because regardless of how far they sat from Shiro, the vast majority of successful cheaters were all copying his paper. This led to a cascading failure where even the people cheating off the cheaters were getting Shiro's nonsense.
"Captain," a sentinel whispered, walking over to Ibiki's desk. "Should we... intervene? The number of people caught cheating off candidate 72 has exceeded expectations. If we disqualify them all for invalid answers later..."
"Turn a blind eye for now," Ibiki grunted, rubbing his scarred temple. "We can't have 90% of the students eliminated in the first ten minutes."
If he disqualified everyone who copied Shiro's gibberish, there wouldn't be enough teams left for the second round.
"Whew!"
Just as the exam time was nearing its end, Shiro stretched lazily in his seat.
"Proctor!" Shiro suddenly raised his hand, his voice cutting through the silent room. "My test paper accidentally got wet from my water bottle. I request a replacement!"
At this moment, Ibiki felt a vein throb in his forehead. Why was this kid causing trouble now?
"Time is almost up. You've filled out nearly the entire sheet. It's better not to change papers now," Ibiki warned sternly.
But he never expected Shiro's next words would stun everyone present.
"It's fine, Proctor. I just wrote a bunch of random nonsense and doodles anyway. I figure I should probably try to answer at least one question seriously before the end."
With that casual admission, the hearts of everyone in the entire examination hall who had spent the last hour meticulously copying Shiro sank into their stomachs.
*What?!*
*Nonsense?!*
*Doodles?!*
The room erupted into silent, panicked chaos. The examinees looked at their own papers—filled with Shiro's "answers" about moon gravity and curry recipes—and felt a cold dread wash over them.
Ibiki had to fight the urge to laugh. This kid... he had single-handedly sabotaged the entire room without lifting a finger.
"Silence!" Ibiki roared, slamming his hand on the desk. "The exam is over! Pencils down!"
"Damn it!"
"What the hell kind of answers did I just copy?!"
"Lenz's Law?! Why did I write about curry?!"
Quite a few people wanted to rush over and curse at Shiro. But after thinking about what happened to the Sound Village guy earlier, they swallowed their anger and sat back down, trembling.
Ibiki cleared his throat. He knew he couldn't fail them all based on the written portion alone, or the Chunin Exams would be a farce. He proceeded to the final stage: the psychological pressure test.
"Now, for the Tenth Question..."
Ibiki delivered his famous ultimatum: take the tenth question and risk being a Genin forever if you fail, or forfeit now and try again next year.
After Naruto's inspiring outburst gave everyone courage, Ibiki smiled.
"You pass! All of you remaining in this room!"
"What? You mean... we passed?"
Many examinees slumped in their chairs, nearly weeping with relief. They had never experienced such a nerve-wracking mental torture session.
"However, I must tell all of you present," Ibiki added, his gaze sweeping over the room and lingering on the pale-faced cheaters. "You passed this round because of your resolve. But if one day, as team leaders, you obtain faulty intelligence because you blindly copied a 'reliable' source without verifying it... you will regret what you did today!"
After delivering this stinging lesson, Ibiki turned and left the hall.
Once again, this was the worst batch of examinees he had ever dealt with. Shiro alone had completely destabilized the entire intelligence gathering phase. Although Shiro played the trickster, the fact that all these so-called elite Genin fell for it without any suspicion was entirely their own failing!
---
Thankfully, Ibiki's nightmare was over.
During the break after the first exam ended, the candidates dispersed to rest before the second stage.
Shiro chose to grab a snack at Ichiraku Ramen again, but there he unexpectedly encountered a legendary figure.
"You must be Shiro. I've heard a lot about you from the old man."
A tall, imposing man with a long mane of white spiky hair and red markings under his eyes sat down on the stool beside him.
Naruto was right there too, stuffing his face with noodles.
"Wow, Shiro! I can't believe we ran into you here too!" Naruto shouted, spraying broth. "This is Pervy Sage! He's actually super strong!"
"No introduction needed, Naruto," the man laughed heartily. "I've heard of this young man—Konoha's Number One Genius!"
Jiraiya looked at Shiro with a burning, analytical gaze.
To be honest, most of the rumors he had heard since returning to Konoha were about how amazing Shiro was. Even Hiruzen, who rarely gave out such high praise, considered Shiro a once-in-a-generation talent that rivaled the Fourth Hokage.
"Jiraiya of the Sannin," Shiro acknowledged, nodding politely as he ate his noodles. "It's an honor."
"Hahaha! Polite too! Much better than this brat!" Jiraiya ruffled Naruto's hair, earning a squawk of protest.
"So, Shiro," Jiraiya's tone turned slightly more serious. "I heard you've been dabbling in some interesting jutsu development. The old man tells me you're looking into the Eight Gates?"
"Just a hobby," Shiro replied vaguely.
"A hobby, huh?" Jiraiya grinned. "Well, if you ever get tired of playing with taijutsu, maybe I could teach you a thing or two about Sage Mode. I hear your chakra reserves are... abnormal."
Shiro paused. Being taught Sage Mode by Jiraiya was a tempting offer, but he had his own path.
"I'll keep that in mind."
Before the conversation could go further, the break ended. It was time for the second stage: The Forest of Death.
---
The candidates gathered in front of the looming, fenced-off forest known as Training Ground 44. The proctor, Anko Mitarashi, briefed them on the rules of the scroll survival game.
"Alright maggots! Sign these consent forms and get your scrolls!" Anko shouted, eating dango.
As the teams lined up to exchange their forms for Heaven or Earth scrolls, the atmosphere grew tense.
Shiro, standing alone as a one-man team, naturally drew a lot of attention.
"Hey, genius," a slithering voice whispered near his ear.
Shiro didn't flinch. He turned to see a Grass Ninja with a long tongue and unnerving golden eyes standing too close.
"Do you need something?" Shiro asked, staring directly into the eyes of Orochimaru in disguise.
"I just wanted to see..." the Grass Ninja licked his lips, "...if the rumors were true. A solo Genin in the Forest of Death? Isn't that a bit... arrogant?"
"It's not arrogance if you can back it up," Shiro replied calmly. "Besides, I hear there are snakes in this forest. I'm quite good at skinning snakes."
The Grass Ninja's eyes narrowed slightly, a flicker of killing intent leaking out. "Is that so? Then I look forward to our... encounter."
Shiro watched the 'Grass Ninja' walk away.
*So, he's here,* Shiro thought, a cold smile touching his lips. *Perfect. I was running low on test subjects.*
__________________________
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