Chapter 201: Display of Muscle
Nearly three hundred candidates were led by the examiners to the Konoha Ninja Academy and divided into 10 classrooms. Before long, the written exam papers were distributed.
The moment most people received their papers, they bowed their heads to look at them, and then after a while, looked up with a bewildered expression.
The first question was relatively normal.
First question: Shuriken trajectory analysis. Given a shuriken launched at an initial velocity of v0=20 m/s at a 45° angle, assuming air resistance F=kv2 (where k=0.1), find the precise landing position of the shuriken.
This question was a simple physics problem taught in the ninja academies of basically every village. Essentially, anyone who had earned a forehead protector and become a ninja, except for someone like Naruto who never studied in class and relied entirely on practical combat scores to get by, could solve it easily.
But starting from the second question, some candidates began to break out in a sweat.
Second question: You discover a ninja exhibiting symptoms of pupil contraction and muscle spasms, suspected poisoning. Based on the following clues, deduce the type of poison:
Poison onset time: 5 minutes after contact
Environment: Swamp battlefield
Known enemy ninja specializes in using biotoxins.
If the antidote requires the following three medicinal herbs:
Corydalis (inhibits neurotoxins)
Centipede Grass (neutralizes blood toxicity)
Moon Dew (stabilizes chakra disorder)
Please design a chakra application plan for rapidly extracting the effective components of these medicinal herbs in the wild.
Although this question belonged to the realm of medical ninjutsu, its difficulty was extremely low. Candidates who had basic exposure to medical ninjutsu could answer it. However, currently, apart from Konoha, other ninja villages had not included medical ninjutsu in their systematic curriculum.
So, most candidates, after solving the first question, showed a troubled expression upon seeing this one.
However, the first two questions posed no difficulty for some. Haruno Sakura solved them quickly and then turned her gaze to the third question:
Then, even her face showed a look of bewilderment.
Third question: A natural number greater than 1, which cannot be divided by any natural number other than 1 and itself, is called a prime number. Please prove that any even number greater than 2 can be expressed as the sum of two prime numbers.
From this question onwards, the style of the entire exam paper could be said to have changed drastically. The subsequent questions, let alone solving them, even a top student like Sakura found it difficult to even understand the questions. Clearly, every word was from the ninja world's script, but why did they become so unfamiliar when combined?
It wasn't just Sakura; others in the examination hall also showed hesitation. Some ninjas with family knowledge began to ponder.
"Could this exam be testing a ninja's intelligence gathering ability?" Shikamaru, after solving the first two questions, looked at the third question and remained silent for a while, trying to understand the examiner's intention from a ninja's perspective.
[But, if that's the case, examiners who know the answers should have been arranged in the exam hall beforehand.] Shikamaru, without changing his expression, used his peripheral vision to observe the others in his exam hall. He found that, let alone anyone knowing all the answers, there was no one else in the entire room, besides himself, who had even solved the second question.
Just then, Shikamaru suddenly felt a wave of Yin Release chakra. He was extremely familiar with this chakra; it was from the Yamanaka clan's secret jutsu used by his teammate Ino to connect minds.
Shikamaru relaxed his resistance and entered the mental space constructed by Ino. At this moment, within the mental space, most members of the Ninja Academy's "One Heart Association" were present.
After entering, Shikamaru didn't say much and directly began sharing information with everyone.
"Where's Naruto?" Kiba Inuzuka asked, noticing that almost all members of the One Heart Association were present except for Naruto.
"Don't you know what my idiot clan leader is like during theory lessons? He's probably already asleep by now," Karin said helplessly, then turned her gaze to Sasuke, Neji, Shikamaru, Shino, and Haruno Sakura from her temporary squad, who were all the "brains" of their respective teams.
"What we can confirm now is that the remaining eight questions are the type that likely have no answer. Even if they do, if even Sakura can't solve them, then they are definitely not something we genin can answer," Shikamaru calmly analyzed the information. "Neji, can your Byakugan confirm that there are no examiners in the exam hall who were arranged beforehand and know the information?"
"Yes, there are none," Neji confirmed. He had initially thought the same as Shikamaru and had repeatedly checked the situation in his exam hall with his Byakugan.
"Then, what this exam is testing is how a ninja deals with problems beyond their cognition during a mission," Sasuke said at this point.
For Sasuke, the most important thing he learned from Uchiha Douhuan was perhaps a way of thinking that saw through phenomena to the essence of a problem.
"So, what should we do?" Shino asked.
"Stay calm, and sit until this exam ends," Sasuke said.
"Just like that?" Ino showed an incredulous expression upon hearing Sasuke's words.
"Just like that," Sasuke nodded and said. "When ninjas encounter unexpected situations beyond their cognition and abilities during a mission, acting rashly will only make things worse. If I'm not mistaken, someone will come to put pressure on us in the exam hall later."
Not long after Sasuke finished speaking, the doors of every exam hall were pushed open. After the examiners walked in, they began to emphasize the importance of this written test, implying that if even one person failed, the entire squad would be disqualified from the Chunin Exam.
Hearing this, several Cloud ninjas suddenly slammed their desks and stood up.
"Are you Konoha people playing with us? I don't believe any of your Konoha ninjas can solve the later questions!"
Similar situations occurred in various exam halls. The examiners in charge, faced with the questioning, said nothing but simply took away those who made a move.
Among those taken away, besides ninjas from small villages, the Cloud ninjas were the most numerous.
"Heh heh, Lord Raikage, are the ninjas from your esteemed village so impatient?" In the VIP room observing the exam, Uchiha Douhuan said with a chuckle.
"Hmph, so what? I don't think this kind of assessment is useful for genin," A's face twitched slightly after seeing nearly half of his village's ninjas being taken away and disqualified, but for the sake of face, he still stubbornly retorted.
"So that's what Lord Raikage thinks? No wonder your Cloud Village's mission completion rate has always been at the bottom among the Five Great Shinobi Villages. Even the Sand and Mist can surpass your Cloud Village in the completion rate of C-rank and lower missions," Onoki interjected with subtle sarcasm. "The strength of your village's ninjas is naturally unquestionable, but their ninja discipline is truly hard to compliment."
"Lord Tsuchikage's words are reasonable. Ninjas from our Mist Village, for example, when faced with complex situations beyond their cognition, will at least calmly analyze the existing situation before making a decision. This is a responsible attitude towards both the ninja themselves and the clients who issue the missions, unlike some ninja villages," Takagi Shōban said from the side. A had made him lose face at the banquet earlier, so now that he had the chance, he naturally wouldn't miss the opportunity to throw some shade back.
"What did you say?" A snorted coldly. In A's eyes, Takagi Shōban wasn't even qualified to sit with him, and now the other party dared to jump out and act up. A immediately wanted to teach him a lesson.
"Hey, hey, hey, Lord Raikage, please calm down. Do me a favor, have a piece of watermelon, and let's continue watching the assessment. Your village's seeded contestant is still in the exam hall," Uchiha Douhuan picked a piece of watermelon from the fruit platter in front of him, handed it to A, and then pointed to the fifth surveillance screen. On this screen, a red-haired, dark-skinned girl sat calmly in her seat, impassively watching those making a commotion being taken away.
This person was Karui, Choji's future wife and Killer Bee's sword disciple, a rising star of this generation in the Cloud Village. Compared to other Cloud genin, she appeared exceptionally calm when facing this kind of problem.
Of course, it wasn't just her. In the seventh exam hall, a dark-skinned boy sucking on a lollipop was also sitting at his desk, though he was currently holding his head and muttering something.
Everyone present was mostly the leader of their respective ninja villages and possessed basic lip-reading skills. Soon, they deciphered what the other person was muttering:
"It's over, I can't write anything at all. It looks like my promotion to Chunin is going down the drain this time. I hope Lord Raikage doesn't blame me..."
A's face twitched slightly. In this first test, their Cloud Village had lost a lot of face.
Not long after the first round of pressure, the second round quickly began. The bell in the exam hall rang, and an announcement started reminding everyone that only twenty minutes were left, urging candidates to speed up.
The candidates still in the exam hall began to get anxious, racking their brains. However, although people can unleash unimaginable potential when facing difficulties and achieve things they normally couldn't, mathematics was definitely not among them. If you don't know it, you just don't know it.
Subsequently, announcements made every five minutes began to constantly chip away at the candidates' composure. When only 5 minutes of exam time remained, the announcements came once every minute.
Under this accumulating pressure, some who had initially managed to stay calm couldn't hold it together anymore. People continuously stood up to question the exam, and the Konoha examiners, with unchanging expressions, directly removed them.
In the second exam hall, the surrounding commotion finally woke Naruto up before the exam ended. Naruto looked around in confusion, then noticed the blank exam paper in front of him.
"What were we doing again?" Naruto scratched his head in a daze. He quickly realized this was the Chunin Exam.
"I'm doomed!" Naruto clutched his head. How could his habit of falling asleep whenever he saw an exam paper act up at a time like this?
However, this kid was no ordinary person. After a brief moment of panic, he calmed down.
After all, he also knew that he probably couldn't solve a single question on this paper even if he tried seriously. He, Uzumaki Naruto, was illiterately and justifiably proud of it!
Soon, the exam time ended. All those who remained in the exam hall and maintained a full three-person squad passed the assessment. Out of nearly three hundred participants, only 84 people, or 28 squads, remained to enter the second round.
However, Konoha didn't give them much opportunity to interact. After collecting the papers, they immediately gave each remaining candidate a wristband marked with the Konoha Scientific Ninja Tool Research Institute logo.
Facing the candidates' puzzled gazes, Mitarashi Anko, the examiner for the second stage, unhurriedly explained the rules of the exam.
"Your twenty-eight squads will be randomly deployed into a 10-square-kilometer forest in the southwest corner of Konoha. You will survive there for three days. During this period, every 3 hours, your activity area will shrink. The last 9 squads to survive will qualify to pass the exam. Inside the forest, all the living supplies and combat consumables you will need for these three days have already been prepared for you. Therefore, in a moment, you will need to hand over all your ninja tools and food, which will be sealed and managed by Konoha, and returned to you after the exam ends."
"As for the function of this wristband," Anko took out a wristband and began to introduce it, "Besides providing you with real-time information about the shrinking survival area, its main function is to monitor your vital signs. Once the wristband detects that your vital signs are insufficient to continue participating in this exam, the summoning jutsu formula inside the wristband will activate, teleporting you out of the exam area to receive treatment from medical ninjas."
"Of course, this wristband also has the function of monitoring your location. If you stay outside the shrinking safe zone for too long, the summoning jutsu formula inside this wristband will also activate, directly eliminating you."
After Anko finished speaking, the candidates present reacted calmly. However, in the VIP room, Onoki and A simultaneously showed grave expressions.
"Just this one wristband can do such things?" Onoki looked at the sample wristband in Anko's hand on the screen, his expression appearing somewhat solemn as he spoke.
"Of course," Uchiha Douhuan said with a light laugh. "This is a research achievement from our Konoha's Scientific Ninja Tool Research Institute from some time ago. Out of consideration for the safety of the candidates participating in the exam, we in Konoha have brought it out. It's also to test the functionality of this wristband. I trust none of you will mind."
"Of course, Lord Hokage being so considerate towards the genin participating in the exam is truly moving," Takagi Shōban said.
However, while Takagi Shōban was flattering, A and Onoki simultaneously thought: "What if this thing were applied on the battlefield?"
(End of chapter)
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