____________
At first, Naruto was staring at his exam paper with a smile, then his expression stiffened, then he started sweating a little… then he started sweating heavily.
In the end, he made a face that caused the readers across all seven art stores to burst out laughing.
[— Manga Scene —]
"Hmf…" Unlike Naruto, Sasuke displayed a confident expression as he looked at his exam paper.
'Heh… I see.'
'Well, well… I don't understand even one of these problems.'
"Sigh…" Sasuke sighed; it turned out he didn't understand any of it either.
'And what's the deal with question number ten?'
[Question number 10: This question will not be provided until forty-five minutes into the exam. At that time, please answer the proctor's question to the best of your ability.]
Meanwhile, Naruto was drowning in 'What should I do?!'
"Crap!" Naruto grabbed his head as he tried to think.
"Don't panic. For now, all there is to do is to be very, very cautious."
"…" Hinata, sitting beside him, felt a wave of worry.
'They're watching us. They are expecting us to cheat, bastards…'
Nearby, Sasuke noticed the proctors watching them from the sides with cold, expressionless eyes.
[— End Scene —]
…
In the art store of Konohagakure, Jiraiya burst out laughing while slapping his knee.
"Hahaha! That expression of Naruto's… nobody else could pull that off!"
"It seems the questions are difficult enough to throw off even Sasuke's calculations…" Orochimaru hissed with a dry smile.
He didn't know why, but he had found himself paying more attention to Sasuke's character ever since he first encountered this manga.
"Well, passing the written test of a Chunin exam isn't easy; a shinobi needs to be sufficiently knowledgeable."
Tsunade said, twirling a strand of her hair.
…
Hiruzen observed with a measured look. "It seems like nothing else really matters in comparison to that question."
"Interesting…" he added, his gaze fixed on the page.
"Question ten… that's not actually part of the exam itself, is it? It's the true heart of the entire test."
"Precisely, Hiruzen…" Danzo replied without lifting his eyes from the manga.
"Ibiki isn't testing knowledge. He's testing something far deeper than that."
The two fell silent for a moment, contemplating.
…
In the opposite corner, Uzumaki Mito was smiling quietly as she turned the page.
"This exam reminds me of a very distant time… when courage was tested far more than knowledge."
Hiruzen looked at her with a questioning expression. "Do you mean…?"
"No need to rush, let's keep reading." Mito smiled as she said it.
…
While the Morenos' small family sat, five-year-old Ibiki was still staring at the manga with wide eyes.
His father hadn't spoken for several minutes, simply watching his son watch himself in the future, a moment that was changing how he saw the world, profoundly.
On the page, Ibiki Morino, his older counterpart, stood at the front of the examination hall, coldly staring at the Genins sweating over their question sheets. With heavy, confident strides, his face scarred by two long marks that made his expression look more terrifying.
"Dad…" the little boy said in a serious tone that didn't match his age.
"Yes, son?"
"How did he get those scars?"
Father Moreno stopped speaking. That was a question he hadn't expected.
"I don't know… but I think he endured a great deal to become what he is."
Little Ibiki looked once more at the man on the page, then at himself, then back at his father.
"Alright. I'm ready for that."
Hearing those words, Father Moreno felt that his son's future wouldn't be limited to the heights shown in the manga; perhaps he would surpass them entirely.
…
Sunagakure:
In contrast to the noise of Konoha, the atmosphere in Suna's art store was more sparse and quiet, as was always the manner of the sand shinobi.
But the quiet was charged with many silent reactions.
Shazān, the Third Kazekage, sat in the front row among senior Sand shinobi, watching the exam scene with narrow eyes that gave nothing away.
"Question ten is withheld until the forty-fifth minute…" Ebisu murmured.
"A well-considered strategy," Shazān replied coolly. "Ibiki wants to see who holds together and who crumbles under pressure before they even know what's coming. This is why Konoha has always been the preferred host for joint Chunin exams."
"They know how to test young shinobi."
"Well, let's see what we have here. It seems the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki can't answer a single question…" someone noted in a tone that carried a hint of contempt.
Shazān didn't respond to that directly. He simply looked at Gaara on the page, sitting in perfect stillness with an expression no one could read, not sweating, not anxious.
"That boy from our village has no need to cheat." In his eyes there was something difficult to name, certainly not pride, but not complete indifference either.
"The problem isn't passing the exam…" This time it was Chiyo who spoke in a low voice.
"The problem comes later." No one quite understood what she meant, but no one dared to ask, afraid of having the story's events spoiled for them.
Chiyo had by now become well-known for her remarkable ability to predict the manga's upcoming events.
…
Amegakure:
Hanzo was reading in complete silence, which was unusual for him.
Since the written exam had begun in the manga, he hadn't asked a single question, hadn't offered a single comment.
His closest aide noticed this rare quiet. "Lord Hanzo?"
"Be quiet." Hanzo sat and studied Ibiki Moreno as he stood at the front of the examination hall staring at the testers with the confidence of a man who knew chaos was about to erupt, and was waiting for it patiently.
'This man… it seems he chose a role that only he could fulfill.' Hanzo thought.
'An intelligence operative wearing the mask of an official proctor. Gathering information on an entire generation of shinobi from every village, all in one room, seeing how they think, how they act under pressure, how they cheat, and who refuses to cheat…'
'What an ingeniously crafted intelligence apparatus.'
"This written exam…" Hanzo finally spoke in a low voice.
"Isn't an exam at all."
His aides looked at him.
"It's a disguised mass interview. Ibiki sees everything right now, and they don't even realize it."
At that very moment, three children entered the art store wearing wrinkled clothes, their faces bearing the marks of a life on the streets, looking around with wide eyes full of wonder.
A boy with orange hair in the lead, a girl with blue hair beside him, and a boy with red hair following behind at a slower pace, with one eye visible.
No one noticed them at first; everyone was absorbed in the manga.
But Hanzo noticed them and turned slowly to look at them with narrowed eyes.
The orange-haired boy walked boldly toward the nearest shelf and reached out to touch one of the volumes.
"Amazing… so this place is real," Yahiko whispered, eyes gleaming.
"Naruto manga…" Konan said softly, trying to take the volume.
Nagato didn't speak. He was staring at the shelves packed with volumes with an expression difficult to describe on a boy of eleven.
But the surprise was that no matter how they tried, they couldn't pull any volumes off the shelf.
"This… it looks like we need to pay 30 ryo."
Yahiko felt embarrassed by his own foolishness; only now could he see the ghostly display that asked for payment before a volume could be taken from the shelf.
"You three." The children froze at the sound of the heavy voice coming from the corner.
They turned slowly.
Hanzo was staring at them with eyes that revealed nothing.
"Where did you come from?"
Yahiko glanced back, then looked at Hanzo again. He lifted his chin with a boldness that didn't match his size.
"From the Rain Village." He said in a steady voice.
"Street children?"
"Yes. What of it?"
Hanzo was silent for a moment.
Then, for the first time in a long while, something resembling a smile appeared on his face.
"Nothing. Sit down."
He tossed some money toward them, which Yahiko caught eagerly.
And so they were able to buy their volumes and sit as proper customers of the art store for the first time in their lives.
Only then did they begin to grasp the true nature of the place they were in.
"So spacious… so comfortable… incredible… unbelievable…"
Rob's Ame Clone watched this scene from a distance and couldn't prevent a smile from forming on his face.
"In the end, the art store still draws to itself those who deserve to enter it…" Rob whispered.
…
Back in Konoha, the readers were enjoying watching each shinobi cheat in their own way.
"Sasuke is very clever in how he uses the Sharingan," Hugaku said with a satisfied tone. "Even though he only awakened it not so long ago."
"And the Hyuga boy is using Byakugan with far more restraint than I expected… Neji, was it? Interesting."
Fugaku noted from beside his father.
"Byakugan is an excellent tool for cheating in circumstances like these," Hugaku acknowledged.
"But the Sharingan is incomparable when it comes to reading information from a distance with precision."
"I wonder what Naruto is going to do…"
The silence that followed that question was answer enough for most of those present.
"Well, well, isn't the Hyuga girl sitting right beside him? Surely she'll help him…"
"Either way, I don't want him dragging Sasuke down; he has to pass somehow…"
…
Meanwhile, Kushina was holding the volume with tense hands.
"Naruto… think of something! Anything!" she whispered as though he could hear her.
"Kushina…" Minato said in a calm tone.
"I know I know, but I can't help worrying! I'm always like this, dattebane!"
Minato smiled warmly. "Naruto has proven time and again that he finds his way even in the most difficult situations. This time won't be any different."
"But it's the written exam, Minato! This isn't a fight he can solve with Multiple Clones Jutsu!"
"Maybe not…" Minato looked at the page thoughtfully.
"But even if he doesn't write a single thing, I trust he'll pass, because he doesn't give up."
…
In the quiet corner belonging to the Aburame clan, Shibi was staring at Shino, who sat in the exam hall in complete calm, not sweating, not anxious, looking at his paper with serene eyes behind his glasses.
"He doesn't look worried at all…" Shikuro murmured.
"Because he isn't worried," Shibi replied simply.
"Do you think he'll manage to cheat somehow?"
"Shino doesn't need to cheat."
Shibi looked at Shino's insects, barely visible in the manga, scattered around his body in a way that looked entirely natural.
"His insects are already deployed. He's gathering information right now in a way none of the proctors will ever detect."
Shikuro's eyes widened slightly.
"Clever… but doesn't that count as cheating?"
"No, his insects are an extension of his own body. This is the Aburame way." Shibi said, with that faint proud expression that only those who knew him well could ever see.
____________
Surprise for all of our readers!
April discount on Patreon!
50% off your first month!
⸱And for all tiers!
Promo code: 64E8D
Seize the opportunity; the offer ends on April 19.
____________
Upcoming chapter titles (spoilers):
____________
Chapter 127: Passing the Test with Courage!
Chapter 128: The Second Exam Begins!
Chapter 129: Many Battles in the Forest of Death!
Chapter 130: End of Volume Five!
____________
Support the journey and unlock advanced chapters!
If you're enjoying Rob's story, his journey of publishing the Naruto manga inside the Shinobi world, and the impact it has on the world, and you want to know what happens before everyone else… there's always a way to stay ahead.
I work every day on this novel, developing its world and chapters, and every bit of support helps me keep delivering more content with higher quality and faster releases.
By supporting me on Patreon, you'll get exclusive access to advanced chapters before they're released to the public. You can move ahead in the story and read up to 30 chapters in advance!
📚 Support Tiers:
$5 → Read 5 advanced chapters
$10 → Read 10 advanced chapters
$15 → Read 15 advanced chapters
$20 → Read 20 advanced chapters
$30 → Read 30 advanced chapters
Every bit of support, even a small one, makes a real difference and helps me continue writing this journey that we're experiencing together.
Join now and start reading the stacked chapters before everyone else:
Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/BlackStar_BH
You can also get the same benefits on Ko-fi:
https://www.ko-fi.com/blackstar_bh
Thank you to everyone who supports the story and believes in this world. You are the reason it continues. ❤️
____________