Chapter 203 Showing Off Muscles
Nearly three hundred examinees were taken to the Konoha Ninja Academy by the examiners and divided into 10 classrooms. Soon after, the written exam papers were distributed.
Most people, upon receiving their papers, immediately looked down at them, then looked up after a moment with blank expressions.
The first question was relatively normal.
The first question was about shuriken trajectory analysis: Given a shuriken thrown with an initial velocity V0 = 20 m/s at a 45° angle, assuming air resistance F = KvF = kv² (k = 0.1), find the precise position of the shuriken upon impact. This question
was a simple physics problem that almost every village teaches at the ninja academy. Basically, anyone who could obtain a headband and become a ninja, except for someone like Naruto who didn't study in class and relied entirely on brute force in combat, could easily solve it.
However, starting with the second question, some examinees began to sweat profusely.
Question 2: You discover a ninja exhibiting symptoms of pupil constriction and muscle spasms, suspected of poisoning. Based on the following clues, deduce the type of poison:
Time of onset: 5 minutes after contact;
Environment: Swamp battlefield;
Known enemy ninjas are skilled in using biological toxins.
If the antidote requires the following three herbs:
Corydalis (inhibits neurotoxins)
, Centipede (neutralizes blood toxicity),
and Moon Dew (stabilizes chakra imbalances)
, design a chakra manipulation plan for quickly extracting the effective components of the herbs in the wild.
Although this question falls under the category of medical ninja, its difficulty is extremely low; most candidates familiar with medical ninjutsu
could answer it. However, currently, apart from Konoha, other ninja villages do not include medical ninjutsu in their systematic curriculum. Therefore, most candidates, after solving the first question, looked troubled by this one.
However, the first two questions were not difficult for some; Sakura Haruno quickly solved them and then turned her attention to the third question:
Even she looked bewildered.
Question 3: A natural number greater than 1 that cannot be divided evenly by any other natural number except 1 and itself is called a prime number. Prove that any even number greater than 2 can be expressed as the sum of two prime numbers.
From this question onward, the entire exam paper took a dramatic turn. The following questions were so difficult that even a top student like Sakura struggled to understand them, let alone solve them. Each character was in ninja script, yet the combination of the characters felt completely unfamiliar.
Not only Sakura, but everyone else in the exam hall also looked hesitant. Some ninjas with family backgrounds in ninja studies began to ponder.
"Could this exam be testing the ninjas' intelligence-gathering abilities?" Shikamaru, after solving the first two questions, looked at the third question and remained silent for a while, trying to understand the examiner's intentions from a ninja's perspective.
[However, if that were the case, there should have been examiners who knew the answers beforehand.] Shikamaru, without changing his expression, glanced around the examination room and discovered that not only did no one know all the answers beforehand, but no one else in the entire room, besides himself, had even solved the second question.
Just then, Shikamaru suddenly sensed a fluctuation of Yin-attribute chakra. He recognized this chakra immediately; it was the secret technique of his teammate Ino's Yamanaka clan, a technique that connects minds.
Shikamaru lowered his resistance and entered the mental space constructed by Ino. Inside, the members of the Isshinkai, a ninja academy group, were almost all present.
After entering, Shikamaru didn't say much and immediately began sharing information with everyone.
"Where's Naruto?" Kiba Inuzuka asked, seeing that almost all the Isshinkai members were present except for Naruto.
"Don't you know what my idiot clan leader is like in theory class? He's probably already asleep," Karin said helplessly, then turned her gaze to Sasuke, Neji, Shikamaru, Shino, and Sakura Haruno, who was still silent. These were the brains of their respective teams.
"What we can confirm right now is that the last eight questions are all unanswerable. Even if they were, if Sakura couldn't solve them, then they're definitely not something we genin could answer," Shikamaru calmly analyzed the information. "Neji, can your Byakugan confirm that there aren't any people in the exam hall who have prior knowledge of the information?"
"Yes, no," Neji said definitively. He had initially thought the same as Shikamaru, so he had repeatedly confirmed the information in his exam hall with his Byakugan.
"So, what this exam tests is how ninjas handle unexpected challenges during missions," Sasuke said at this moment.
For Sasuke, the most important thing he learned from Uchiha Touko was probably a way of thinking that sees through appearances to the essence of problems.
"So, what should we do?" Shino asked at this moment.
"Stay calm and sit until the exam is over," Sasuke said.
"That's it?" Ino looked incredulous upon hearing Sasuke's words.
"That's it." Sasuke nodded and said, "In missions, when ninjas face unexpected situations beyond their knowledge and abilities, rashly intervening will only make things worse. If I'm not mistaken, someone else will come to the exam hall later to put pressure on us."
Not long after Sasuke finished speaking, the doors to each exam hall opened, and the examiners entered, emphasizing the importance of the written exam. Their words implied that if even one person failed, the entire team would be disqualified from the Chunin Exams.
Hearing this, several Kumogakure ninjas suddenly slammed their fists on the table and stood up.
"Is Konoha playing games with us? I don't believe any of your Konoha ninjas can answer the last few questions!"
The same situation occurred repeatedly in various examination halls. When questioned, the examiners said nothing, simply removing those who made a move from the examination hall.
Among those removed, besides the ninjas from smaller villages, the majority were from Kumogakure.
"Heh, Raikage, are your village's ninjas really that impatient?" In the VIP room watching the exam, Uchiha Touko chuckled.
"Hmph, so what? I don't think this kind of assessment is of any use to genin." A's face twitched slightly after seeing nearly half of his ninjas taken away and disqualified, but for the sake of face, he gritted his teeth and stubbornly insisted.
"So that's what the Raikage was thinking? No wonder your Kumogakure's mission completion rate is always at the bottom among the Five Great Ninja Villages. Even Sunagakure and Kirigakure have a higher completion rate for missions below C-rank." At this moment, Onoki said sarcastically. "Your village's ninja strength is undoubtedly excellent, but your ninja etiquette is truly disappointing." "
What the Tsuchikage said makes sense. When faced with complex situations beyond our comprehension, our Kirigakure ninjas at least calmly analyze the current situation before making a decision. This is a responsible attitude for both the ninja themselves and the employer who issued the mission, unlike some ninja villages." At this moment, Takagi Seiwan said from the side. A had embarrassed him at the banquet before, and now that he had the chance, he naturally wouldn't let go of the opportunity to sarcastically retort.
"What did you say?" A snorted coldly. In A's eyes, Takagi Seiwan was not qualified to sit with him. Now that the other party dared to jump out and cause trouble, A wanted to teach him a lesson.
"Hey, Raikage, please calm down. Give me some face, have a slice of watermelon, and continue watching the exam. Your village's top contender is still inside the exam hall." Uchiha Touko picked out a slice of watermelon from the fruit plate in front of him and handed it to A. Then he pointed to the fifth monitor screen and said, "On this screen, a red-haired, dark-skinned girl sat calmly in her seat, watching the people around her being taken away.
This girl is Choji's future wife, Killer Bee's swordsmanship disciple, and a rising star of the Kumogakure generation. Compared to other Kumogakure genin, she was remarkably calm in the face of this situation.
Of course, she wasn't the only one. In the seventh exam hall, a black boy with a lollipop was also sitting at his exam desk, but this time he was holding his head and muttering something."
Most of the people present were leaders of their respective ninja villages, possessing basic lip-reading abilities. They quickly deciphered what the other was saying:
"It's over, I can't write anything! Looks like my Chunin promotion is ruined. I hope Lord Raikage won't blame me."
A's face twitched slightly; in this first round of testing, Kumogakure had truly embarrassed themselves.
The first round of pressure hadn't been over long when the second round began. The bell rang in the examination hall, and the loudspeaker announced that only twenty minutes remained, urging candidates to hurry.
The remaining candidates started to panic, racking their brains. While it's true that people can unleash unimaginable potential when facing difficulties, achieving things they normally can't, mathematics was definitely not one of those things. If you don't know it, you just don't know it.
Then, the broadcasts every five minutes began to erode the candidates' composure, and with only five minutes left, the broadcasts became a one-minute broadcast.
Under the mounting pressure, even those who initially remained calm couldn't hold back any longer. Several began to question the exam, and the Konoha examiners, without batting an eye, simply took them away.
Inside the second examination hall, the surrounding noise finally woke Naruto before the exam ended. Naruto looked around blankly before noticing the empty exam paper in front of him.
"What's going on?" Naruto scratched his head groggily, quickly realizing he was in the Chunin Exams.
"I'm doomed!" Naruto clutched his head, his tendency to fall asleep at the sight of exam papers acting up again.
However, this kid wasn't ordinary. After a brief moment of panic, he calmed down.
He knew he probably wouldn't be able to answer a single question even if he tried hard. He, Uzumaki Naruto, was undeniably illiterate!
Soon, the exam ended. Those still remaining in the exam hall and maintaining a full squad of three all passed. Of the nearly three hundred participants, only 84 individuals, forming 28 teams, advanced to the second round.
However, Konoha didn't give them much opportunity to interact. Immediately after collecting the papers, each remaining examinee received a bracelet bearing the name of the Konoha Scientific Ninja Tool Research Institute.
Facing the examinees' puzzled looks, Mitarashi Anko, the second examiner, calmly explained the exam rules to everyone.
"Your twenty-eight squads will be randomly deployed to a 10-square-kilometer forest in the southwest corner of Konoha. You will survive there for three days. Every three hours, your activity area will shrink. The last nine squads to survive will qualify for the exam. All the living and combat supplies you need for these three days have been prepared in advance in the forest. Therefore, you will need to hand over all your ninja tools and food in a moment for Konoha to seal and manage. They will be returned to you after the exam."
"As for the function of this bracelet," Anko took out a bracelet and began to explain, "besides providing you with real-time information about the shrinking survival area, its biggest function is to monitor your vital signs. Once the bracelet detects that your vital signs are insufficient to continue participating in this exam, the summoning jutsu inside the bracelet will be activated to teleport you out of the examination area to receive treatment from medical ninjas."
"Of course, this bracelet also has the function of monitoring your location. If you stay outside the narrowed safe zone for too long, the summoning jutsu inside the bracelet will activate, eliminating you directly."
After Anko finished speaking, the candidates present reacted calmly, but Onoki and A in the VIP room simultaneously showed solemn expressions.
"Just this bracelet can do such a thing?" Onoki looked at the bracelet sample in Anko's hand on the screen and said with a somewhat serious expression.
"Of course." Uchiha Touko said with a light laugh, "This is the result of research conducted by our Konoha Scientific Ninja Tool Research Institute some time ago. Out of consideration for the safety of the candidates taking the exam, Konoha brought it out, and also to test the function of this bracelet. I believe you all won't mind." "
Of course, it's truly touching that the Hokage is so considerate of the genin taking the exam." Takagi Seiwan said.
However, while Takagi Seiwan was flattering him, A and Onoki simultaneously thought: "What if this thing were used on the battlefield?"
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(End of this chapter)