Written Exam (5)

[Quest Alert!]

[Chuunin Exams 1]

Pass the the first stage of the Chuunin Exams

(Bonus) Answer all 'ten' questions correctly

[Rewards:]

+5000 EXP

(Bonus) +5 INT

[Failure:]

REP lowered with 'Rookie Nine'

Disqualification from Chuunin Exams

[Accept? (Y/N)]

This was the system notification that appeared for Shinji the moment Ibiki announced the rules of the exam. Naturally he had no reason not to accept the quest, and the exam proceeded soon after.

The classroom in which the first stage of the Chuunin Exams was taking place was completely silent with the exception of faint scribbles of pencil on paper. Along the sides of the classroom were various chuunin-level proctors invigilating their exam. Though invigilation really just meant watching out for cheaters.

Ibiki in the front of the room was similarly glowering at the many chuunin hopefuls - some looking in distress at the ridiculously difficult exam questions while others engaged in varying subterfuge.

On the wall, the clock tick-tocked incessantly, serving as a constant reminder to the examinees that their time was slowly but surely running out.

Shinji was similarly in his seat, though the one difference as compared to the rest of the genin in the room was that he had already completed the exam questions. His pencil rested on the paper while he glanced at the other participants with his eyes.

Although he was fully aware that this stage of the Chuunin Exam was meant to test gather information from the embedded chuunin in disguise, Shinji actually did not need to cheat in order to answer the questions.

The first few years since he had transmigrated to this world, he had spent hours in the library. Reading and learning. Mostly it was for grinding his INT stat by reading books, but partly it was for him to get acquainted with the common sense of this reality he lived in. And he did so by reading history texts, biographies of famous individuals, some philosophical treatises and various non-fiction manuals.

The accumulated knowledge from this period of consuming books added on to his high INT stat which holistically improved his memory and cognitive ability meant that he was able to easily breeze through the difficult exam questions as though he was Haruno Sakura.

These questions might have posed a considerable challenge to most genin, but Shinji hardly broke a sweat.

As he was able to quickly fill in the answers, he took his time to observe the surroundings around him. Shinji observed that much of what actually happened in the room corresponded to what he remembered from the anime. While people were daunted at the start, they quickly realized the true purpose of this exam.

Several of the notable characters repeated their techniques to cheat off of the embedded chuunin proctors disguising as participating genin. Neji and Hinata with their Byakugan, Shino with his kikaichu, Sasuke and his Sharingan, etc. The only difference being Naruto, who now had a reliable teammate in Shikamaru to help him cheat.

Shinji was able to notice a thin, black shadow elongating from Shikamaru's own and connecting to Naruto's. What followed was the two of them filling in the answer sheet with the exact same tempo and handwriting, although the blonde's dumb expression betrayed the ruse entirely.

Truth be told, Shikamaru would not normally have been able to connect his shadow to Naruto using his Shadow Possession technique. That was because Naruto's chakra capacity was just too massive because of obvious reasons for a typical shadow possession to succeed normally.

Shikamaru had on more than one occasion tried to merge his shadow with Naruto's in the months they trained together after graduation, but it had always failed. He could only hold on the connection for a couple seconds before Naruto's naturally astronomical chakra reserves broke the restraints.

Afterwards, it was easy for the Nara to figure out how Naruto had such large chakra capacity for his age and apparent lack of training though he never brought up the issue with the blonde. Instead, he told Naruto that if he ever felt Shikamaru trying to merge his shadow with his own, he should not resist and let it happen. Naruto agreed, because he figured that if his teammate was ever trying to do something like that, then he probably had a good reason.

So Naruto instead of panicking, similarly easily breezed through the first half of the exam without exerting any effort thanks to his teammate helping him cheat.

Shinji glanced at the clock, noting that there was only 15 minutes left until Ibiki announced the last question. He inwardly mused that without Naruto's outburst, would as many teams still remain to take part in the second stage of the Chuunin Exam.

That was when Shinji felt a sudden spike of pure will attempting to smash through the defenses of his psyche.

[Alert! Mental corrosion detected!]

[Source: Mind Body Switch Technique, Yamanaka Ino.]

[Gamer's Mind activated... Mental corrosion negated.]

Shinji sharply inhaled, holding back his surprise, 'This cheeky little… Did she just try to Shintenshin me? I guess without Sakura participating in the exams, the smartest person she knows is me, since I always had high grades during the Academy.'

He subtly turned back, flashing a knowing smirk at the Yamanaka.

Ino looked shocked that her jutsu had failed. More accurately, what shocked her most was not that it failed, but that it failed from Shinji's resistance. Yamanaka clan techniques primarily utilized Spiritual Energy or more commonly known as Yin Release. This made their clan techniques difficult to resist because there were only two ways to resist their mind-based jutsu.

The target was either more proficient than the user in manipulating Spiritual Energy, or they had immensely strong mental willpower. The former usually indicated a more experienced member of the Yamanaka clan, since not many outside their family even knew about Yin Release, while the latter exclusively belonged to high level shinobi who had decades of experience sharpening their mind and tempering their will.

Yet Shinji belonged to neither of these two groups. That was what baffled Ino so much.

The exam proceeded without further disturbances, at least for Shinji. The others were busily working on gathering the answers while he basically had the time to relax and steady himself mentally for what was to come following the first stage.

As the clock continued ticking, it was soon time for the final question.

Ibiki surveyed the room, his grim countenance as though carved from granite, unchanging and not betraying any of his thoughts. "I think we're about done shaking off the losers, those not qualified to continue in the chuunin exams. Then I suppose I'll move on to the final question. It has been 45 minutes, so I'll start. All right! Here is the tenth question!"

Most of the occupants in the room eyes hardened at the announcement, some unconsciously leaning forward so that they could hear better while others had their leg involuntarily shaking nervously. A silence washed over the room, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"I'm going to add some rules for the last question. I call it the rules of despair… First, you guys have to choose whether or not you will take this tenth question."

Shinji could hear several loud gulps taken at that statement.

"What, choose!? What happens if you choose not to take the tenth question?" One of the examinees asked.

"If you choose not to take the tenth question then your score will be a zero. Naturally, that means you automatically fail, as well as your teammates."

"What? Then why would anyone refuse to take the tenth question?" The examinee responded.

Ibiki smiled faintly, "Well, there is one more rule… If you choose not to take it and is unable to answer it correctly… then you will be disqualified from ever entering the chuunin exams ever again!"

That declaration swept through the room like an explosion, turning almost all of the examinee's faces pale.

"H-how unreasonable!"

The proctor chuckled lowly, "Unreasonable? What a foolish notion. Hmph, I supposed you can just consider yourselves… unlucky. I am the proctor, these are my rules. If you have a problem with it, feel free to walk out those doors!"

The ones who had shouted previously quietly gritted their teeth and sat back down, unable to refute such twisted logic.

Shinji glanced at the rest of the examinees. He could see the inner dilemma playing out on the faces of all these chuunin hopefuls. He mentally wondered if Naruto would stand up and give that speech of his and inspire those who would have given up otherwise.

As the seconds ticked by, the silence amidst the room grew heavier in its tension until it was broken by an abrupt yell.

"I-I'm quitting! I won't take it!" One of the Konoha genins declared, standing up with his fists clenched and eyes closed in fear.

And once the first dam broke, the rest crumbled without further waiting as more and more raised up their stands to give up.

'If I didn't have the Gamer's Mind skill would I also be as flustered as these people?' Shinji wondered. He had to admit that the psychological pressure was honestly pretty impressive. He could sense the killing intent blended into the faint aura Ibiki was putting out. And not just from him either, even the other chuunin proctors were subtly projecting faint amounts of killing intent to heighten the pressure.

With the threat of remaining an eternal genin looming over their heads combined with a not insignificant amount of killing intent being projected by the invigilators, these genin who would be better of remaining in the genin corp folded like a wet blanket.

From the corner of his eye, Shinji observed Naruto, waiting to see if the blonde would explode into a shounen-protagonist speech. Contrary to his expectations however, the jinchuuriki did not remain silent.

Naruto slammed a fist on the desk and stood up, "Hurry up with this already! Something like trying to get us to give up? Don't underestimate me! I won't run! And neither would any true shinobi! If anyone is doubting themselves at this point, then there's no point for them to even take the chuunin exam in the first place!"

Shinji widened his eyes at the proclamation, letting out a breath in surprise, but his shock morphed into amusement. 'Naruto is still Naruto, huh? I thought that after improving so much, his confidence would similarly rise as well, so he would have no cause to give a speech like that. But… it seems like I did underestimate Naruto after all.'

The previous tension the proctors and invigilators had worked so hard to build disappeared in an instant as the rest of the examinees notably leaned back in their seats with a more relaxed demeanour and renewed vigor.

Even the chuunin invigilators let up on the killing intent after Naruto's speech, a mixture of respect for the boy and relenting that any further intimidation would prove useless after the atmosphere was flipped so drastically.

Ibiki eyed the genin, his gaze still stone cold and expression unreadable, "I'll ask again. It is a choice that will change your life. This is your last chance to quit before you regret it!"

"Only a coward will run away, and Uzumaki Naruto ain't no coward!" Naruto defiantly shot back.

With their anxieties brushed away, the other genin mumbled agreement in their own way.

"Hmph, Naruto may usually be an idiot, but in this instance he's not wrong. Proctor, those who are not qualified to continue have already left the room. Shall we carry on?" Sasuke spoke up with folded arms and a trademarked arrogance on his face.

"Yeah, that's right! ...Wait, what?"

'Roughly a hundred left huh? More than I thought it would be…' Ibiki thought to himself, scanning the room only to find the anxiety that had been built up washed away by one boy's words.

"I respect your determination! In that case, for those who still remain… you have passed the first exam!"

[Quest [Chuunin Exams 1] Completed!]

[Pass the the first stage of the Chuunin Exams (√)

(Hidden) Answer all ten questions correctly (√)

[Rewards:]

+5000 EXP

(Hidden) +5 INT