Chapter 49: The Test
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Nowadays, the Ninja Academy's Graduation Exam is divided into three main categories: Written Exam, Ninjutsu, and Practical Exam.
The Written Exam, as expected, tests the basic knowledge of a ninja. It includes Hand Signs, Secret Codes, some ninja insights, Tactical Formations, and also mixes in some History, Cultural Knowledge, Physics, and Mathematics, though the score for these latter subjects is not very high.
With Teacher Aoyama leading the way, they entered the building specifically prepared for the ninja Graduation Exam. They found the teacher responsible for the test and received a Number Plate.
"Follow the number on the Number Plate to find your classroom and seat upstairs, and prepare to take the Written Exam!"
The teacher responsible for distributing the Number Plates gave Fuyu Shirou a wooden Number Plate about 2.5 inches wide and 6 inches long. He glanced at Fuyu Shirou expressionlessly and then ignored him.
It was Teacher Aoyama, who had brought him there, who looked at his student about to enter the exam room and couldn't help but say, "Fuyu Shirou, good luck! The teacher and the classmates all believe you will succeed!"
"Thank you, Teacher Aoyama! No problem!"
As he spoke, he gave him an OK Hand Sign.
[Teacher Aoyama never paid this much attention to me before. I didn't expect him to do this just before graduation...]
While thinking about this, he walked toward the stairs at the corner and glanced at the Number Plate in his hand.
"This is..."
Just a quick glance made Fuyu Shirou slightly dazed. There were two rows of numbers on the Number Plate: 201 on the top row and 12 on the bottom row. It should be Room 201 on the second floor, seat number 12. But something was off...
Just a quick glance, and Fuyu Shirou noticed the trick. The wooden Number Plate had been set with a simple Genjutsu to mislead.
This Genjutsu was extremely simple.
So simple that it couldn't even be called a Genjutsu; it only had a certain misleading effect. Even the students of the Ninja Academy, as long as they paid a little attention, could see through it.
This was also one of the questions the Ninja Academy had prepared for them. If they couldn't even see through such a simple misleading Genjutsu, becoming a ninja would be no different from signing their own death warrant.
[I didn't expect the Ninja Academy's Graduation Exam to give me such a pleasant surprise!]
[It's somewhat similar to the Chūnin Exam in the original story!]
After going upstairs, he found that Room 201 was directly to the left, while Rooms 202, 203, and so on were to the right. Room 201 was already quite crowded, and a few people were arguing over seats.
[It looks like these fools are going to be eliminated. They didn't even notice the obvious flaw of duplicate seat numbers. Their IQs are really questionable!]
He didn't go to Room 201 on the left but turned right and entered Room 202. Upon entering the classroom, he found that quite a few people were already there, about 40 or so.
Finding the corresponding seat number 21, he saw that a white paper and a pencil were already on the desk, presumably prepared for the exam.
The seat to his left was against the wall, and to his right sat a familiar-looking white-haired, masked kid.
"Hey! Kakashi, long time no see! Didn't expect to run into you here!"
"..."
Hearing someone call his name, Kakashi Hatake turned around indifferently, didn't say a word, and gave Fuyu Shirou a glance with his deadpan eyes.
That was his way of greeting.
He had a vague memory of the person next to him. They had met a few times on the street, but so what? Just a familiar stranger...
[Does this guy always have this expression?]
[It must be the influence of Sakumo Hatake's death. It's even more serious than I imagined!]
Fuyu Shirou didn't get angry at Kakashi's cold expression. After all, this kid was also a pitiful soul. He lost his parents at a young age.
He started his ninja career at the age of five or six, found a good friend, and then lost that friend who died saving him.
Later, he even killed the companion he had promised to protect for life. Even his teacher, known as the Yellow Flash and the fastest ninja, died during the Nine-Tails' attack.
One could say that all the death, killing, pain, and tears a ninja experiences, he went through in his childhood.
It didn't take long, just about ten minutes, before five people entered the classroom. Four of them sat in the four corners, each holding a clipboard, ready to proctor the exam.
"Alright, I'll now explain the exam rules. Anyone caught cheating will be immediately disqualified!"
"Now, let's start distributing the exam papers. Pass them around."
The remaining teacher didn't waste any words. After a brief introduction of the exam rules, he began distributing the exam papers.
[The exam rules are really simple and brutal. If you're caught cheating, you're immediately disqualified. Hmm! Now, letting everyone pass the exam papers around, is this giving them a chance to cheat?]
Looking at the students in the classroom, some pretending to be calm, some looking worried, and some with a relaxed expression, Fuyu Shirou couldn't help but think, [Ninjas are really a profession that produces a lot of slackers!]
Seeing the large blank spaces on the exam paper, Fuyu Shirou sighed. There were quite a few points to test.
First, he quickly scanned both sides of the exam paper to get an idea of the questions. Then, he picked up the pencil and started answering.
Given a certain momentum and angle, and ignoring wind speed, calculate the trajectory of a shuriken?
List the vital parts of the human body?
Indicate the temperature of the following colored flames?
Looking at the various questions on the exam paper, Fuyu Shirou felt a sense of familiarity, as if he were back in his high school days, diligently writing in the exam room.
Thinking about those dark days, even separated by a world and a lifetime, he could still deeply feel that torment.
It took him less than 30 minutes to fill in all the blanks on both sides of the exam paper. After checking his name and answers again, Fuyu Shirou got up and submitted his paper early.
At this point, the exam was only halfway through. Very few students had completed even half of the questions. His ability to finish the exam paper so quickly drew a lot of attention.
Some students who had only filled in a few answers glared at him with gritted teeth.
He didn't pay attention to the slacker students' gazes. What surprised him was that just a minute after he left the classroom, another figure completed the exam paper and submitted it early, also leaving the classroom.
It was Kakashi Hatake, who was taking the ninja exam at the age of less than six.
(End of Chapter)