Two days later, the Sand Siblings somberly headed towards the building where the first round of the Chunin Exams was to take place. After reuniting with Baki on the day of their arrival, they'd been housed in apartments set aside for foreign ninja coming into the village for the event, and they spent their two days before the Exam not training, but scoping out the Hidden Leaf for targets. They had yet to plant any bombs—if they failed the first part of the exams, they would have to be twice as careful in their mission, if they weren't booted from the village entirely.
It was obviously important that they pass the Exam's opening rounds. Baki had informed them that this section would most likely be a written test of some sort, but that the test itself was usually not important. According to him, the test was actually a screening factor used to weed out incompetent Genin early on, and that they would be wise to read between the lines.
In other words, the Sand Siblings already knew the test itself was not the important part; it was the skills somehow involved in passing that were being graded. Of course, that was only if the first part of this Exam really was a written test... Baki said it was the norm, but there was no rule saying the Hidden Leaf couldn't change the parameters however it wanted.
Ash and his siblings were silent as they entered the designated building. Knowing that passing the exam was paramount to completing their mission, they were taking it very seriously.
Having been told that the exam room was on the third floor, the trio of young agents wasted no time in heading directly there. However, they were surprised to find that there was a large number of Genin outside a room on the second floor, all vying for entry against two Leaf shinobi who were blocking the doorway. The sign above the door said 301, the number of the room the exam was supposed to take place in.
However, the three of them walked right past the commotion. None of them were fooled by the setup. Not because they saw through any genjutsu or anything, but because anyone could have figured out that this wasn't the third floor. They'd had only gone up one flight of stairs so far. It didn't even take a ninja to figure that out.
Completely skirting the diversion that lowered their faith in the competition, the Sand Siblings soon found their way to the real room 301, where they saw the same team they had encountered on the day of their arrival—Sasuke's team.
At least, that's how Temari and Kankuro labeled it. Ash preferred to think of it as Sakura and Narumi's team. He was perfectly fine with ignoring Sasuke's presence on it.
Aside from those three was a much older woman, clearly a more advanced ninja, and if Ash had to guess, their sensei. She had shoulder-length brown hair and purple markings on her cheeks somewhat similar to Maki's, though they were simply rectangles. Despite being an adult, her attractiveness maintained a strangely youthful cuteness. Maybe it was the round face.
This woman was busy telling her team something about how they wouldn't have been allowed to participate if they hadn't all shown up. Content that none of the Leaf ninja were going to say anything to them since they were already in conversation, the Sand Siblings passed them without a word, though Ash made sure to give a pleasant smile and a nod to Narumi and Sakura. Whether or not the latter noticed was impossible to tell, but Narumi waved to him as he passed. Awfully friendly, that one.
Turning away from them as Kankuro pushed the double doors open for his team, Ash noticed Temari was giving him a rather sour look. Despite knowing exactly what she was irritable about, Ash played innocent. "What?"
"You know what."
"Do I?"
Ash's reply earned an even more agitated expression from his sister, at which point he smiled cheekily at her before turning his gaze to the crowd of aspiring shinobi that occupied the testing room.
He was intrigued by the diversity of the test-takers. Aside from the obviously large number of Leaf shinobi, followed by exactly twenty-seven Sand ninja, there were also participants from small places like the Hidden Rain, Grass, and Waterfall. However, his gaze stopped on a particular trio of ninja, primarily because he didn't recognize their headbands at all. As he had started to take his ninja role more seriously over the years, Ash liked to stay informed, so he was immediately struck with insatiable curiosity. Besides, a bit of recon never hurt anyone.
"You guys think we have a few minutes before the test starts?"
Kankuro looked around the room as well, noting that, even though it was quite packed, the number of people didn't quite match the number of seats. "I think so. It doesn't look like everyone is here yet. But why? Got something planned?"
"Nope."
With that, Ash walked towards the group he wanted to investigate, leaving his confused siblings behind. Of course, if they looked confused, the trio of Sound ninja he approached were downright bewildered when they realized Ash was coming right for them.
Ash noted that, unlike his own team, the one he was about to talk to was much more fashion-coordinated. They all had the same gray and black camo pattern somewhere on their outfits, whether it was their leggings or the mummy guy's crazy long sleeves.
That was the only thing similar about any of them. The guy on the left had a pillar of spiky black hair framed by a happuri helmet, and a beige shirt with 'death' written on it three times. The guy in the middle had his face, save for one eye, completely wrapped in bandages, so it was impossible to tell what he looked like. Even so, his strange clothing was enough to draw attention in itself, from the ridiculously long sleeves to the weird hedgehog-like straw protruding from his scarf somewhere.
Ash happily noted that the only girl on this team was quite the looker, with a cute face and alluring eyes. Her raven hair was literally the longest he'd ever seen. It was hard to tell with her sitting as she was, but he honestly thought it would have brushed the floor even if she were standing.
Even though he'd been the first to approach, Ash didn't actually know what to say initially. Despite being good in conversation, it was difficult to think of an opener in a situation where, admittedly, approaching strangers was an odd move. In the end, he managed something sensible.
"Hi. This is going to sound like a very strange question to ask a competitor, but do you guys mind me asking where you're from? I've never seen the emblem on your headbands before."
Immediately, the guy with the spiky hair grabbed Ash by the scruff of his white jacket, though Ash didn't seem unnerved in the slightest. In fact, the easygoing smile never fell from his face.
"And let me guess, because you have no idea who we are, you think you're better than us, that right?! To answer your question, why don't I give you some firsthand experience?!"
Ash was certain that Kankuro and Temari would have come to his aid in the next few seconds, but thankfully, the girl with the long hair spoke up. "Calm down, Zaku, he didn't say anything like that..."
Though his scornful gaze remained, Zaku begrudgingly lowered Ash to the floor. Ash resisted the urge to straighten out his clothes. "Sorry, I didn't mean any offense."
Zaku grumbled something incoherent and vaguely hostile. His female teammate articulated her feelings more clearly. "Oh, don't bother apologizing to Zaku. That's beneath a nice kid like you."
Clearly, Zaku did not agree. "Hey, Kin, what the hell?!"
Kin shrugged, showing no remorse whatsoever. The final member of the mysterious team ignored both his comrades as he focused on Ash's presence. "While Zaku certainly overreacted to your question—"
"The hell, Dosu, you too?!"
"—you can't honestly expect us to divulge any information for you. As you said, we are competitors."
Ash briefly glanced back at his siblings, choosing to ignore Temari's questioning expression, silently wondering what the heck he was doing. "I'm not stupid enough to think you would tell me anything important that could give me an advantage in the test. I'm honestly just curious about your village—I've never seen a musical note on a headband before."
"Be that as it may, simply telling you the name of our village could give you some hint as to what type of jutsu we use."
Ash lamented this guy's wisdom. That was exactly what he was trying to discern, after all. Knowing what village a ninja came from could give you some idea of what they were capable of. Still, he could try to make his probing seem harmless.
Ash pointed at the Sand headband he had around his neck. "I see what you mean. I'll admit I'm still working on some kinks, but I do have this jutsu that throws sand in your eyes..."
This earned a slight chuckle from Kin, but only a raised eyebrow from Dosu. Yet, for some reason, his next words forewent secrecy. "Fair enough. We're from the Hidden Sound village. Very new. Little exposure. It's no surprise that you haven't heard of us."
Ash had no idea what it meant to hide in sound. "Now that sounds pretty cool. You guys don't, you know, actually fight with sound, do you?" Since Temari wasn't close enough to hear him say it, Ash followed up with, "Because that would be pretty badass."
As he expected, Ash did not receive an answer from any of the Sound ninja. "Right, right, not gonna answer that..."
The fact that they hadn't answered was an answer enough in itself. Before Ash could say anything else, a loud exclamation from the entrance echoed throughout the entire room. Ash recognized the boisterous voice as Narumi's.
"Holy crap! Those sand guys went on an A-rank mission?! Geez, Sasuke, good thing they didn't kick your ass the other day for being a prick—"
Kuito's voice was quickly followed by Sakura's. "Narumi, shut up! Are you trying to get everyone's attention, you idiot?!"
Seeing as how every shinobi in the room was staring at the commotion, which involved a large group of Leaf Genin looking at info cards, Ash shook his head as he muttered under his breath. "A little late for that..."
Now that he was facing that direction again, Ash saw his sister vehemently motioning for him to get back to them, mouthing his name in a quiet whisper. He decided to heed her wishes this time, and so turned back to the Sound team to say his goodbyes.
"Well, that's my cue to leave. Thanks for humoring me, even though I must have been a bother. Good luck with the Exam."
As Ash retreated from the trio of Orochimaru's underlings, Zaku gave silent thanks. "Finally. That brat was annoying..."
Kin countered without hesitation. "Aw, c'mon, he was cute. And much more polite than you'll ever be, you troll."
"The hell'd you call me?!"
Having grown used to his teammates' antics long ago, Dosu ignored them completely. "Just don't forget—that kid is on our side. And though that Leaf brat in the back could have been yelling about any of the Sand teams, I get the feeling..."
Zaku folded his arms as a look of blatant disbelief crossed his face. "C'mon, Dosu, that kid? An A-rank? Get real, man."
Kin rolled her eyes. "Zaku, if everyone judged on looks alone, no one would be afraid of you, now would they?"
Whatever retort the Sound ninja was about to give was lost in a burst of smoke at the front of the room, followed by the stern and gravely voice of a man. "Alright, you baby-faced degenerates, pipe down and listen up!"
Everyone did as they were told as the white smoke cleared, revealing over a dozen Leaf shinobi in gray uniforms, headed by a scar-faced man in a long black coat. Clearly the speaker.
"It's time to begin. I'm Ibiki Morino, your first proctor. And from this moment on, your worst enemy."
Ash and Kankuro shared doubtful glances, but the room remained silent, allowing Ibiki to continue.
"Before we begin, let me lay down some ground rules. I'm only going to say this once—there will be no combat between candidates, no attacking each other without the permission of your proctor, and even then, the use of fatal force is strictly prohibited. Any of you who even thinks of messing with me will be disqualified immediately. Got it?"
No one argued with him.
"Now, if we're ready, we'll proceed to the first stage of the Chunin Exam. Hand over your paperwork. In return, you'll each be given a number. This number determines where you will sit. We'll start the written test once you're all seated."
Temari muttered to her siblings. "Looks like Baki was right..."
At least glad that they had a preliminary grasp on the situation, the Sand Siblings followed everyone else to the proctors so they could get their seat numbers. As they'd expected, once all was said and done, they were nowhere near each other. Ash was smack dab in the middle of the room, coincidentally right behind Narumi, while Kankuro was in the back and Temari was near the front.
He wanted to get an idea of where everyone was, but before he could, Ash's attention was once again drawn towards the front by Ibiki's commanding voice. "Everyone, eyes front. There are a few rules you need to be aware of. And I won't be answering any questions, so you'd better pay attention the first time around. Alright, rule number one is this—the written part of the exam is conducted on a point reduction system. Contrary to what some of you may be used to, you will all begin the test with a perfect score of ten points. One point will be deducted for each answer you get wrong. So if you miss three, your final score will be seven."
As this was easy enough to understand, no one had anything to say.
"Rule number two—teams will pass or fail from the total score of all three members."
There were looks of surprise all around, but Ash honestly didn't know why anyone wouldn't have anticipated this. The Chunin Exams were a team effort, after all. A fair number of people looked like they wanted to say something about this, but Ibiki's ice-cold glare kept them silent.
"Rule number three—the sentinels you see positioned around the room are there to watch you carefully for any signs of cheating. And for every incident they spot, they will subtract two points from the culprit's score. Be warned, their eyes are extremely sharp, and if they catch you five times, you'll be dismissed before the tests are even scored. Anyone foolish enough to be caught cheating by the sentinels doesn't deserve to be here. If you want to be considered shinobi, then show us what exceptional shinobi you can be."
Ash couldn't help but roll his eyes at the looks of horror of the Genin around him. He supposed Ibiki's intimidating presence would addle a few brains, but he expected more people to notice that the man hadn't said they couldn't cheat. Only that it was bad to get caught.
His thoughts were quickly interrupted by Ibiki again. "One more thing. If any one candidate should get a zero and fail the test, then the entire team fails."
This earned some understandable reactions of fear from the shinobi in the room. Not everyone had smart teammates, or clever ones for that matter. Narumi slumped in her desk immediately, though whether or not it was because she lacked the smarts or one of her teammates did, Ash couldn't tell. As for himself, he wasn't worried. He had faith in his siblings' ability to figure this out. It wasn't hard to determine what the real objective of this test was.
Even so, Ibiki had one more thing to say. "The tenth question will not be given out until fifteen minutes before the end of the testing period. You'll have one hour total. Begin!"
The sound of pencils striking paper immediately filled the room—Ash tried to pinpoint those test-takers. Anyone who was already answering a question had confidence in their answer. They would be someone to cheat off of, if he could manage it somehow. Of course, he was very careful with his eyes. Any skilled shinobi, like the proctors watching them, would notice the blatant ogling of a Genin trying to get a look at someone's test. Ash's hair actually helped him here. It shielded one side of his face, so he only had to worry about the watchful gazes of proctors on one side of the room.
Then again, he actually doubted that he'd get away with anything. The proctors would probably notice every instance of cheating from every Genin. They were probably being graded on how well they cheated, instead of whether or not they knew the material.
Still, it would be best to avoid any risks if at all possible, so after locating the knowledgeable test-takers he could, Ash actually looked at the questions he had been presented. He was not surprised to see that they were all high-level, complex problems. Not that he couldn't answer a few of them with his own knowledge. These questions were difficult, but in the end, most of them were grounded in the basics he'd been taught by Baki. With a little work, Ash was sure he could answer at least five of them on his own.
He decided to start with the question regarding shuriken trajectories. It was simple math, and that was something he could manage.
As for the questions he couldn't answer... that was where the cheating came into play. The only question was how to go about it. Ash's skills revolved primarily around combat. He didn't have anything in particular that would help him steal answers from someone else in the room. However, Kankuro did. He had a trick or two he could use to help his team, as soon as he found the answers himself. Ash just had to wait patiently for his brother to come through for him.
---
In the back of the room, Kankuro knew he had to be careful about what he did. He was more likely to be caught since he was slightly more exposed than someone surrounded on all sides by other Genin. He was very careful to remain inconspicuous as he allowed a tiny, miniature puppet to slide out of his left sleeve. The contraption was barely an inch in length—a mechanical work of art that Sasori himself had helped with. Though he hated to admit it, Kankuro would have never been able to create such a small, working puppet on his own at this current level.
However, he did have the finesse to use it, and after a quick once-over of the room, he knew exactly where to send it. That pink-haired girl with the huge forehead was jotting down answers like lightning—she was completely confident in her answers.
Knowing he had just under an hour to work with, Kankuro took the process nice and slow. He took every precaution in making sure his beetle-like puppet was not seen. If any of the proctors even had an eye-twitch in his direction, Kankuro hid it immediately, whether it was next to an unsuspecting Genin's foot or in the shadow of the desks.
He also made doubly sure to make his movements as inconspicuous as possible. He had to use every finger of his left hand to control his puppet, but Kankuro made sure to look like he was doing nothing more than tapping his fingers on his desk. Since he was keeping the concentration of his chakra strings low, they weren't visible to the naked eye either, so he felt safe.
Nevertheless, as his beetle drew closer to Sakura, Kankuro knew he was going to have to take a risk. He had to get his puppet either on the desk or on Sakura's person to get a hold of her answers. Thanks to Sasori's inventive genius, this was the perfect puppet to relay answers to his siblings, though he was sure they'd be begging him for an explanation when it was all said and done. He couldn't wait to see the look on Temari's face as she was forced to admit that they would have failed without him.
Kankuro moved the beetle onto Sakura's person to get a clear view of her paper. Her head was the optimal choice since she was least likely to feel its feet there, but the brown contraption would stick out very clearly among her pink strands... usually. In the years since he'd made the discovery, Kankuro had personally hunted down over a dozen Moonglow flowers, and he cared for them all very patiently, as he used their extract to create the camouflage cloth he'd unwittingly invented four years ago.
With a small burst of chakra that lit up one of his strings for a split-second, Kankuro watched in satisfaction as his little spy changed to the exact shade of pink as its target's hair, and it was obvious no more. He could only hope that this had not been noticed, or that two points were all he had to sacrifice otherwise.
Once safely nestled in Sakura's hair, Kankuro slowly inched the beetle forward until the camera lens on its belly could be aimed at the girl's paper, which had answers for every question except for nine, twenty-five minutes into the exam. This lens did not actually connect to anything—it was merely a window for Kankuro to use.
Forming the necessary hand-seal under his desk, Kankuro whispered the words required as quietly as he could. "Ninja Art, Surrogate Sight jutsu..."
Upon this utterance, Kankuro lost all vision in his own eyes, and his sight was instead replaced by the view from his puppet's lens. Seeing that he'd been successful, the aspiring puppeteer couldn't keep a smile from his face. Apparently, that solid week of blindness he'd suffered when developing this justu with Sasori was going to pay off.
Memorization was an easy matter for a ninja of nearly any caliber, so Kankuro soon severed the connection and began jotting down answers on his own paper. After that was accomplished, he had to get the answers to his siblings. Unfortunately, they were both sitting much farther away from him than Sakura had been, and he wouldn't be able to be quite as cautious in getting to them if he wanted to make it within the time limit...
---
Ash glanced down at his paper in concern. Thirty-five minutes into the exam, he had found that he'd actually only been capable of answering four of the questions, and he still had no way to glean the answers for himself. If Kankuro was going to do something, he sure was taking his sweet time.
Before this line of thought could go any further, Ash heard the all too familiar sound of a kunai whizzing through the air, and it sounded like it was coming right in his direction. Every instinct in his body screamed to intercept or dodge the weapon, but through sheer force of will, Ash stayed motionless. He knew nobody would try to kill him in this room. There was a loud thunk and the splintering of wood, and Ash glanced at the Genin next to him: a kunai had pinned the boy's paper to his desk.
The proctor who'd thrown the kunai pointed at the kid who now had an impaled page. "Five strikes and you're out. You just failed the test. You and your teammates will leave the room immediately."
Too stunned to say anything, the failed Leaf Genin got up without a word and left the room with his teammates, leaving Ash to quietly thank his restraint. If he'd reacted too strongly to that kunai, he would have drawn attention to himself. That was the last thing he needed.
Doing his best to ignore the eyes of both proctors and Genin on his person, Ash realized he only had five minutes before the tenth question was revealed. He didn't know if he would be allowed to go back and answer the other nine at that point, and he still only had four of them answered... and the sound of proctors calling out candidates who'd been caught cheating one too many times did nothing to help calm his nerves.
Lost in thought, Ash almost didn't notice something crawl up his leg. He didn't react to this feeling in any way, mostly because he hoped it was somehow Kankuro's doing.
Using his peripheral vision alone, Ash was inwardly relieved to see that it was. Some sort of small beetle-like contraption...
The beetle stealthily climbed onto his desk. Ash made sure to hide it from the proctors with his arms. To his surprise, the beetle began nudging the edge of Ash's paper, a signal that he assumed meant he needed to flip it over. After doing so, Ash was pleasantly astounded to watch the beetle begin writing on the blank side of the paper with ink from a compartment on its belly. Since Kankuro obviously couldn't see from his position, the writing was sloppy, but nevertheless legible. When it was done with its work, Ash flipped his paper back over to signal his brother, at which point the beetle subtly crawled back down Ash's leg, to, he assumed, give Temari the same treatment.
Still, as he began copying the answers to their appropriate places on his test, Ash noted that there was no answer for nine, which was undoubtedly the most difficult of the current questions.
Ash was confident that, with eight out of ten for each of them, there was no need to worry about this ninth question about advanced sound-wave triangulation to pinpoint targets, but he still wanted to answer it. It was the principle of the thing, really.
But no matter how badly he wanted to, Ash knew there was no way he could. He was presented with an entire map of an area, and he had to put one X on it to mark the location of a hidden enemy. Trouble was, the only information he got to help him do this revolved completely around acoustics. Complex things he didn't understand about the pause between sound waves and reverberations of different magnitudes and whatnot. Only someone with very specialized knowledge in this field would have any hope of answering it.
Ash was about to completely give up on the ninth question when he felt a painful sting in his thigh. He gritted his teeth before he could help himself, but Ash managed to avoid flinching or otherwise outwardly reacting to the sensation. Ash glanced down to see that he now had a senbon needle stuck in his leg—with a small square of paper attached to it.
Beyond confused, Ash glanced in the direction the senbon had undoubtedly come from, only to see that female Sound ninja from earlier, Kin, smiling ever so slightly as she kept her eyes on her own paper.
She glanced at him for a brief moment to make sure he actually knew he was receiving aid, and Ash took that opportunity to make a subtle motion at the projectile stuck in his body. Was this really the best way she could think of to share information with him? Had she stabbed her own teammates, too?
The only response she gave was an even wider, more amused smile, so Ash took it to mean that she found his discomfort funny, and that, yes, this was the only way for her to help him cheat, though why she would was beyond him.
Then again, maybe it wasn't help, and the paper attached to the senbon he was now extracting from his leg said nothing at all. Thankfully, it didn't. The small square of paper had two numbers on it, with an X next to one and a Y next to the other. They were obviously map coordinates for the answer to the final question. Of course, she could have been giving him a wrong answer, but considering that he wouldn't have answered the question at all otherwise, Ash saw no harm in putting the coordinates down.
Unfortunately, he had no time to think of a way to get this info to his siblings, as the moment Ash was finished writing it, Ibiki Morino's voice broke the oppressive silence of the room.
"Well, now that we've weeded out most of the hopeless cases, fifteen minutes to go. Time for the main event... alright, listen up! Here's the tenth and final question."
Ash glanced around the room, realizing that, while the silence had been broken, the overbearing oppression had not. Everyone was still tense.
Now that he once again commanded everyone's attention, Ibiki proceeded with his show. "But, before I give you the question... there are some more rules you need to be aware of. These rules are unique to question ten. Listen carefully, and try not to let them frighten you. Rule number one—each of you may choose not to be given the tenth question. It's your decision."
Ash cocked an eyebrow, wondering if his instincts were on the money. With this setup, he was sure a do-or-die ultimatum was coming up.
"But, if you choose not to take the final question, regardless of your answers to the other nine, you'll get a zero. In other words, you fail. And that means, of course, both your teammates fail as well."
This earned a chorus of incredulity from most of the less disciplined Genin. After all, why refuse the tenth question if it would fail your team?
The squawking complaints elicited a grim smirk from Ibiki. "Not so fast. You didn't let me finish. If you do accept the question but answer incorrectly, you will not only fail... you will be barred from taking the Chunin Exam ever again!"
Some kid with a small white dog on his head proclaimed this rule to be a load of garbage, and that other people had taken multiple exams, to which Ibiki still had a reply. "I guess you're just unlucky. I wasn't the one making the rules before. But I am now. Of course, if you don't want to take it, you don't have to. If you're not feeling confident, then by all means, skip it. You can come back and try again next year."
Ash leaned back in his chair as he watched plenty of Genin around him freak out. He feared nothing about this situation: for one, he doubted that this guy really had the authority to make that decision even in the Hidden Leaf. Two, it wasn't like the Hidden Leaf could forever decide if someone from a foreign village was allowed to become a Chunin. Field promotions and Exams in other countries still existed.
Ibiki quickly commanded silence from the troubled test-takers. "Now then, if you're ready... the tenth and final question—those who don't want to take it, raise your hand. Your number will be recorded, and then you're free to go."
Ash watched in somewhat cruel amusement as Genin began to chicken out and skip the final question, bringing their whole team with them. He'd become a lot nicer over the years, but stupidity was still something he looked on with disdain. Anyone too stupid to realize that this final question was nothing more than an assessment of grit and trust in one's teammates deserved to fail. It was obvious that the proctors wanted to see if the Genin in this room valued their teams over themselves, and if they had the confidence to take risks.
To his surprise, it looked like Narumi was going to raise her hand. The orange-clad blonde was halfway through doing so, and Ash felt a little disappointed. He'd honestly possessed a better first impression of the girl, though he supposed energetic bravado wasn't the same as genuine confidence.
However, Narumi froze halfway through the motion and then folded her arms, quietly muttering to herself. "No... no! I'm not gonna quit. The Namikaze aren't quitters. Dad never quit, I'm sure as hell not going to..."
After a few minutes, everyone who was going to drop out of the Exam did, leaving only those determined to proceed. Seeing this, Ibiki nodded to his fellow proctors before facing the test-takers with some level of respect. "Well then, I admire your determination, if nothing else. For those of you remaining, there's only one thing left to do—and that's for me to tell you... that you've all passed the first exam!"
Ash cocked an eyebrow at the man. And he thought Baki was dramatic about this stuff.
Plenty of people in the room still didn't get the ruse, and more than one Genin asked what had just happened and what the tenth question was supposed to be.
Ibiki actually smiled as he told them that there never was one. Then he explained all the things Ash had already assumed. About how the tenth question was whether or not they would give up, and how the whole point of the test was to gather intel—to cheat. He then went on to explain how it was all a team effort and all that, and Ash tuned the man out because he knew it all already.
However, he did take interest in the mention of two Chunin disguised as test-takers providing the Genin with material to cheat from. Ash hadn't thought of that possibility, much to his own chagrin. But now that he was paying attention again, Ash was mildly interested in watching Ibiki remove his headband, which hid his entire head. The reason for this became obvious as every Genin in the room witnessed the man's horrible scars. Personally, Ash was not all that bothered, though not because he was more jaded than anyone else. It was just that he'd seen worse before when he blasted Raiga's face off as a kid.
Ibiki continued with his spiel. "Information—a valuable weapon in battle. How well you gather intelligence can determine whether a mission is a failure or a success. There'll be times you have to risk your life to get it."
There were a few moments of stunned silence as everyone gawked at Ibiki's horrendous scarring, after which the man tied his headband back on and continued. "Of course, you must always consider the source of your information. Intelligence gathered from an enemy is not always accurate. Always bear this in mind—disinformation can be worse than no information at all. It can lead to the death of comrades or the loss of a village. That's why I put you in the position to gather accurate intelligence. To cheat, in order to survive. And that's why those who weren't good enough at it were weeded out, leaving the rest of you."
At this point, Ash tuned the man out again because now he was rambling about the teamwork aspect of the test once more. That one he understood well enough. Ibiki's talk of hypothetical suicide missions didn't really strike a chord with Ash, because he'd dealt with that situation in reality four years ago. He and his siblings didn't need a lecture on teamwork. Their entire life as shinobi revolved around each other, not themselves, so this talk of camaraderie was a little pointless for them. They knew it all already, because unlike many of their counterparts, they'd been forced to put it all on the line for each other before.
It wasn't until a window to the exam room was shattered by some huge ball of black cloth that Ash paid attention again. This black cloth unfurled upon entry, revealing a woman with purple hair tied into a spiky tail, a long tan trench coat, and quite literally nothing else besides footwear, a leather skirt, and fishnet over tight-fitting black undergarments. Needless to say, there wasn't much modesty being preserved in this woman's getup.
"Heads-up, boys and girls, this is no time to be celebrating!"
As the woman flared her coat to the side, revealing virtually everything to the room's occupants, Ash smiled. Now this was a part of the Exam he could get behind.
He didn't dare turn back to see Temari's reaction. Honestly, he was proud that she had the restraint to not berate this well-endowed woman for showing the full shape of her body to a bunch of Genin.
He'd probably hear all about how degenerate it was later.