Confront them with annihilation, and they will then survive; plunge them into a deadly situation, and they will then live. When people fall into danger, they are then able to strive for victory. ~ Sun Tzu
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Room 301 was one of the larger rooms in the Academy. It was almost an auditorium and could sit almost three hundred people. It looked like it was almost full to capacity, too.
I cast an assessing glance around. There were Konoha headbands, unsurprisingly, which made up the majority of the candidates. There were Sand ninja, some from Rain, some from Grass and a few from Waterfall. And of course, Sound.
Some of the teams stood out. There was obviously Gaara's team, who though sitting quietly, had a large clear space around them. There was a team from Rain carrying heavy combat umbrellas. There was a Konoha team whose mean age seemed to be over thirty; they probably had experience but were either lacking in techniques or had come off long term injuries. It'd be a mixed bag whether they'd be difficult opponents or not.
Of course, most of them would drop out during the First Exam, so it wasn't really worth making a detailed list.
And there was of course, the rookies.
"Sasuke, where've you been?" Ino greeted, practically jumping on him.
Sasuke gave her his annoyed face. I noticed, though, that he didn't throw her off.
"Boy, you have no idea how much I was hoping you'd show up here. I've missed those broody good looks of yours." Sometimes… sometimes I had to wonder if Ino was just playing us all for fools. It was just something in the choice of words, in the tone of voice…
Or not. Maybe I was just being too paranoid.
"Took you guys long enough," Shikamaru drawled, off to the side. "I thought you were going to be late."
"Of all the habits I could pick up from Sensei, that's the one I want the least," I said, snorting. "We got waylaid on the way in."
"The genjutsu?" Shika asked with a modicum of surprise. There was no way I should have fallen for that.
"Nah," I replied. "One of the other teams. Year above us. Rock Lee, Neji Hyuuga and Tenten. Watch out for them."
He nodded, warning received.
"Well, well, whaddaya know? It looks like the whole gang's back together again." Kiba's grinning face was feral under the fur lining of his jacket hood. Akamaru barked happily, perched atop his head.
"You guys too huh? Man, everyone's here for this stupid thing," Shikamaru complained.
"Yup, here we all are. The Nine Rookies," Kiba laughed. That is how stupid names stick. Someone says something like that and years later you still get called the Rookie Nine. "This is going to be fun. At least… for those of us good enough to make the cut. Right, Sasuke?" His tone was teasing but not really challenging. He and Sasuke actually got on surprisingly well.
"Kiba. Careful you don't get overconfident." Sasuke smirked.
"Just you wait," Kiba boasted. "We're going to blow you guys away. We've been training like crazy."
"What do you think we've been doing?" Naruto retorted, pointing at him. "Sitting around picking daisies? You don't know what training means!"
"Uh, don't mind Kiba," Hinata tried to say, poking her fingers together. Poor Hinata, she disliked conflict even more than I did. Added to the fact that she lost what remained of her confidence around Naruto… "I'm sure he didn't really mean anything by it."
"Don't worry about it, Hinata," I smiled at her. "We're all going to do our best."
"Damn right we are," Ino said enthusiastically. She still hadn't let go of Sasuke. "I didn't come here to let some little test beat me."
"Sheesh, you guys sound confident," a voice interrupted us. One of the Genin had left the crowd and come over to talk to us. He was average looking, silver hair wasn't that unusual in Konoha, with glasses and a purple uniform. Something about him niggled the back of my mind. I didn't recognise him and he wasn't distinctive enough to ring any bells.
"I mean, no offence, but you're the nine rookies, right? Fresh out of the Academy. I wouldn't go making a spectacle of yourselves. You might wanna try keeping it down."
People who said 'no offence' generally meant every offence. There was a note of high handed arrogance in his voice too, under the condescension.
"Well who asked you?" Ino snapped. "Who are you?"
"I'm Kabuto Yakushi. But really-"
The rest of his speech faded out in a blur of white as I realised with a jolt of horror just who was standing there in front of me.
Kabuto.
That was Kabuto.
Orochimaru's spy. Madara's ally. The one responsible for the mass Edo Tensei.
Of course he was here.
I wanted to kill him.
I wanted to kill him.
I shuddered at the sheer vehemence of the emotion.
I'd never met him before, never seen him, never talked to him, but for what he was going to do, I wanted to kill him.
I wanted to kill him so badly it hurt… and I knew I wasn't going to get the opportunity.
He might have been playing the failed Genin but he was Jounin level. Able to stand off against Shizune and Tsunade and Jiraiya however weakened they might have been. He had some kind of automatic regeneration ability. Not to mention the level of sheer control that allowed him to use Chakra Scalpels in combat.
I wasn't that good.
Added to the fact that he was currently a Konoha shinobi, if I even attempted to attack him with the necessary force it would certainly cast question on me, even under the rules of the exam.
"Do those cards of yours have any info on the other candidates? Individually?" Sasuke asked, eyes narrowed.
I tuned back into the conversation, quickly, slightly disturbed at myself.
"Well, I can't promise my information is complete or perfect," Kabuto answered. "But I've got something on just about everyone. Including you guys, of course. So which one is it? Anything you know about them. A description, where they're from, whatever."
He wanted to ingrate himself with us, likely he had been told to keep an eye on us or at least Sasuke. That was the only reason I could think of that he was showing us this stuff. That and he was arrogant enough to think we wouldn't spot the irregularities. It was possible, possible that he might have got information on Konoha Genin legitimately, but other villages? Unlikely.
But we hadn't even known about the Exam till a week ago. Which meant that if Kabuto had info on us he probably had info on all of Konoha's forces. That was a little more terrifying.
"Rock Lee," Sasuke stated.
I hesitated. I didn't particularly want to ask Kabuto, but it would be a good way to alert the Rookies. "And the team from Sand with … Gaara." They had said his name, hadn't they? Probably.
"Aww, you even know their names, that's no fun," Kabuto complained with an easy going smile. "Let's see, Rock Lee first. Looks like he's about a year older than you guys. Mission experience; eleven C-ranks and twenty D-ranks. His squad leader is Maito Gai and in the last twelve months his Taijutsu had radically improved. But his other skills are pretty shaky. Last year, he got a lot of attention as a Genin but for some reason he chose not to participate in the Chunin Exams. This will be his first time as a candidate, same as you guys. His team mates are Tenten and Neji Hyuuga."
That was actually pretty detailed information. It made me narrow my eyes. Especially the spiel about Lee's skills improving; that implied Kabuto was keeping a close eye on the abilities of Konoha shinobi if he bothered to note that much about a Genin.
Not good.
"Okay, now for Gaara of the Desert. Mission experience, eight C-ranks and … get this, one B-rank as a Genin. But there is this… he's survived every mission without getting a scratch on him. There's not a lot more information on this guy. His team mates are Temari and Kankurou, who are also his siblings. All three of them are the children of the Fourth Kazekage. Temari is skilled with Suna Tessen and wind ninjutsu, while Kankurou is a noted member of the Suna Puppet Corps."
There was a stunned silence.
"From the looks of it, all the villages have sent exceptionally skilled Genin to the Exams this time around."
"Piece of cake," Naruto scoffed. "They'll be begging to know our names by the time this Exam is over."
Kiba laughed. "Damn right they will."
There was a hint of scorn in Kabuto's eyes as he pushed his glasses back up. Just for a second, but I saw it.
Yeah well, we'd show him.
"Well, at least you're confident," he said with a smile. "Maybe that will be enough, yeah? Well, I better get back to my team. The Exam will probably start soon."
"What a jerk," Ino huffed as he walked away.
"Hey. He was tryin' to help us," Naruto protested. "With those info cards and everything."
I shook my head minutely, making sure he was out of hearing range. "She's right, Naruto. Be careful around him," I looked over at the rookie group. "He shouldn't have had that information." There was a name for people that had information they shouldn't. Spies. Traitors.
In a social structure that demanded village loyalty, spies were abhorred.
"Perhaps we should inquire to our sensei later, when the Exam is over," Shino suggested, his voice monotone. "If it is suspicious, then our superior officers should be informed."
"Right," I said. "Who knows? He might be part of the Exam… but he might not." It was only a small thing, and I wasn't sure how much weight the suspicions of a few rookie Genin would have but it was a start.
There was an explosion of chakra, a huge surge in the air, as the Exam Officials all body flickered in. There was nearly twenty of them, all dressed in the grey Intelligence Division uniform.
"Alright you baby-faced degenerates, pipe down and listen up!" A voice bellowed. "It's time to begin. I'm Ibiki Morino, your protector and from this moment … your worst enemy."
There was a sort of stillness in the room for a split moment. Not quite fear but the acknowledgement that there was someone in the room who was far, far more dangerous than you.
Ibiki just radiated that kind of danger.
"Now if we're ready, we'll proceed to the first stage of the Chunin Exam. Hand over your paper work. In return you'll be given a number. This number determines where you will sit. We'll start the written test once you're all seated." He held up a pad of tear-off numbers to punctuate his statement.
"The what? Did he say… written?" Naruto's eyes were wide with horror.
"You'll do fine," I said reassuringly. "Just stay calm, stay quiet and listen to the instructions. You're a super ninja, remember?" I emphasised 'quiet' in hopes he wouldn't give the game away if I needed to use Shadow Possession on him.
It took almost half an hour to get everyone registered and seated. The Chunin were good at splitting up team mates. Sasuke was several rows behind Naruto but I was all the way across the classroom from them. Not good. The further the distance, the greater chance my shadow would be noticed.
"Everyone, eyes front." Ibiki barked, writing on the blackboard. "There are a few rules you need to be aware of. And I wont answer any questions so you better pay attention the first time around! Rule number one is this: The written part of the Exam is judged on a point reduction system. Contrary to what some of you may be used to, you all begin the Exam 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."
Ten points, but we were given only nine questions, which meant even if you got all nine wrong, you still had one point. Not that the points mattered, in the end.
"Rule number two. Teams will pass or fail on the total scores of all three members."
That was a pretty common Konoha concept. A few of the foreign shinobi looked put out, but teamwork was our guiding principle.
"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 culprits 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."
And there was the qualifier on the 'to be caught'. His intentions were pretty obvious.
"I've got my eye on you guys," one of the sentinels said mildly, smirking. I recognised him. He was one of the Chunin that were often on guard duty or working at the Hokage's Tower. So the others were probably Chunin or higher. Meaning, actually slipping things past them would be hard, especially in a constrained environment like this, but they probably had an acceptable level that they allowed to succeed.
"One more thing. If any candidate should get a zero and fail the test… then the entire team fails. The final question wont be given out until fifteen minutes before the end of the testing period. You'll have one hour total. Begin!"
I flipped over the test, casting an eye down the questions.
Code, looked like an intermediate level cipher…
Physics based mathematics, Line B in the diagram shows the trajectory of a shuriken thrown at enemy C by ninja A, seated atop a tree seven meters tall. Formulate and describe the trajectory required if C were positioned at points D, E and F. Also predict the furthers possible range of the shuriken and explain how you arrived at your answer…
History, In the Second Great Ninja War the battle of Mount Tokachi Pass had five major objectives, identify and describe the ways in which the combined ninja forces went about achieving these objectives and discuss their successes and failures…
Economics based mathematics, The supply train for a minor outpost normally carries twenty five crates of rice and twelve crates of assorted meats for an agreed upon price of 60,000ryo. However, due to a food shortage in nearby towns…
Politics and rules, Name and describe the seventh clause of the Convention of Humane Treatment regarding captured prisoners and the six major addendums and how these apply to both active duty shinobi and civilians…
Physiology, Name and describe the most likely injuries that would result, and grade them according to their Injury Severity Score, if a shinobi were a) crushed using a Doton Jutsu, b) stabbed with a…
Another mathematical calculation, a question on the shinobi rules of conduct, and a calculation to find the blast radius of an explosion that used a mix of explosive tags and nitroglycerin.
Oh, boy. Nope, there was no way in hell Naruto would be able to answer any of these. Sasuke wouldn't be able to answer any of these.
I glanced sideways surreptitiously. Naruto was tense and stiff but he didn't look like he was freaking out enough to do something stupid yet. Good. It had only been a few minutes.
Just don't panic, I pleaded in my head. Just don't panic, Naruto.
It didn't really matter if you answered the questions at all, as long as you didn't get caught cheating. So as long as Naruto could sit and wait it out…
I grimaced. He'd probably try something stupid. It was just his way.
Mentally, I crossed my fingers, and turned back to the test. The code was a piece of cake and the mathematical problems made me want to trade my soul for a calculator but they were doable. The history and rules questions were easy and I was pretty sure I got the physiology one.
It took me twenty minutes to do, and I doubled checked the answers and sighed in relief. Now to check up on my team mates.
Sasuke looked like he was writing and I could feel the agitation of his chakra that meant his Sharingan was active. Using his Sharingan to copy the movements of one of the Chunin plants, huh? Clever.
Naruto was still frozen. It was unlikely that he would work out the need to cheat. He was just too honest for that. Although, if he could produce Shadow Clones already transformed into something else, then he could probably do pretty well on his own here.
I tucked my hands in close to my chest and activated my shadow. It slunk across the floor, under the benches. There were two aisles that needed to be crossed, and I couldn't exactly see the floor in between them, but judging from the angle of the shadows I could see, I estimated a safe crossing point hidden in someone else's shadow.
Slowly, but surely, it made it's way to Naruto. It was hard to Possess someone when I couldn't see if my shadow was on them. I was forced to rely on my chakra sense. It was hard with some many people in one place, but Naruto was a burning ball of sunshine. Unmistakable. I just had to make sure I got only him.
Shadow Possession Complete.
I reached out and picked up my pencil. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Naruto doing the same. There was a tugging-pull on my muscles that made it feel like my pencil weighed twice as much as Naruto instinctually fought me.
Don't scream.
'Trust me', I wrote at the top of his page. And things became much easier as he stopped fighting the jutsu.
Then, carefully, I wrote overtop of the answers that I had already calculated, making sure my pencil followed the exact same lines and that I didn't miss anything. It didn't take all that long. There were only nine questions, and I had already done all the hard work of answering them.
Test complete, I put down the pencil, released my jutsu, lay my head down on the desk and went to sleep. Not that I actually slept, the atmosphere was too tense, but it was the principle of the thing. I watched the room through the bars of my eyelashes as it slowly emptied with every team caught cheating. Some of them were pretty blatant about it. I mean, five tries was fairly lenient.
I could hear Akamaru barking quietly, which gave me a pretty good idea on how Kiba was doing. This Exam would be a piece of cake for them, with Hinata's Byakugan and Shino's Kikai. They were more a tracking team, but it looked like they could probably double as a covert intelligence gathering team. Actually, the Exam was probably pretty easy for Team 10, too, since they were basically an intelligence gathering team. I could see Ino's slumped body, like she was taking a nap too, and was quietly glad that the angle was all wrong for her to target me. I'd never been on the receiving end of the Yamanaka Mind-Body Switch Jutsu and I didn't really want to. Tenten was using chakra strings to adjust the flaps on the lights and using them as a reflective surface. That was a pretty clever use of the environment. A Genin I didn't know had some kind of periscope poking out of his sleeve and was doing his best to keep it from the sentinels. There was a large amount of chakra imbued in one of the windows, distorting the reflection. Someone else was tapping fingers on the desk in a rhythm too blatant to be anything but a code.
The clock ticked on.
"Listen up! Here's the tenth and final question. But first, there are some things you need to know. These rules are unique to question 10, so listen carefully and try not to let them frighten you."
I didn't bother to lift my head off the desk. Around me, the room was thrumming with tension already. Ibiki really did know how to lay it on thick.
"Rule number one," Ibiki said slowly, making sure he had everyone's attention. "Each of you is free to chose not to be given the final question. It's your decision."
"Whoa, so what's the catch?" Temari nearly shouted. "What's say we decide we don't want to do it, what happens then?"
"If you chose not to take the tenth question, regardless of your answers to the other nine, you'll get a zero. In other words, you fail. And that means both your team mates fail as well. But… If you accept the question and get it wrong, not only will you fail, you will be bared from taking the Chunin Exam ever again!" He smirked at the gasps of outrage.
"Hey! That's bull! What kind of bogus rule is that? There's tons of people here who've taken the test before!" Kiba protested, standing up. Given that Kabuto had admitted to taking it seven times, that was a reasonable assumption.
"I guess you're just… unlucky. I wasn't making the rules before. But I am now," Ibiki said.
I could hear the sinking realisation of 'oh, shit. He's serious' all around the room. It wasn't quite there yet. He'd need to push just a little bit more.
"Of course," he added, almost kindly, "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."
He'd given everyone two clear paths to follow. Even if there had been other options, no one would be thinking of them now. By giving the impression that there was no stigma attached with leaving, it seemed the more attractive of the two choices.
"Now if you're ready, the tenth and final question. Those who don't want to take it, raise your hand."
No one wanted to be the first to leave. There was a building silence, almost panic ridden as everyone looked about, thoughts racing, trying to see what their team mates were going to do.
"That's it, I can't take it anymore, I'm out!" One of the Genin, said, slapping his hands down on his desk. His entire team was called out. I noted they were wearing uniforms and idly wondered if they were the Chunin plants. It was a good way to get the ball rolling because after that, it was like the dam had broken.
Teams bailed right and left.
I still didn't lift my head. I was pretty sure Sasuke wouldn't do anything, but Naruto was always a wild card, even to us. I vaguely remembered something about him causing a scene in this test. Of course, Naruto had changed from what he could have been, so even that was no real guide to his actions.
"The tenth question is the kind of thing that challenges you, mentally, emotionally, even spiritually… are you sure you're ready for it?" Ibiki asked, deceptively mild.
More teams bailed.
"This is a decision that could change your life. If you fail, you will never have the chance to become a Chunin."
It was like the entire room had stopped breathing.
"Don't underestimate me!" Naruto hollered, standing and pointing at Ibiki. It looked like the stress had got to him, though he attacked it rather than fleeing. "I don't quit and I don't run! You can act tough all you want, you guys aren't going to scare me off! No way. I don't care if I do get stuck as a Genin for the rest of my life. I'll still become Hokage someday!" He was fierce and blazing with conviction.
And just like that, no one would leave.
"Well, I admire your determination, if nothing else," Ibiki said wryly. "For those of you remaining there's just one thing left to do. That's for me to tell you… you've passed the First Exam."
Tension gave way to confusion.
"Hold on, what just happened?" Someone demanded. "What's going on? Where's the tenth question?"
"There never was one. Not a written one at least." Ibiki was grinning. Not a 'I'll eat you' grin, but … happily. It looked disturbing all the same, but it wasn't cruel. "Actually, you could say that your decision to stay was the answer to the tenth question."
"Wait a second, so the other nine questions you gave us were just a waste of time? Is that what you're saying?" Temari demanded, sounding pissed off.
"No. Not at all. Quite the opposite," Ibiki explained. "The first nine questions had an important overriding purpose. To test your abilities to surreptitiously gather strategic intelligence under the most adverse circumstances."
That was a long, fancy way to say 'cheat while being watched'.
"Let me explain," he continued. "You see, my objective was to test you not only as individuals but as a team, and as how well you function as a part of that team. That's why the test was scored on a team basis, so that you knew everything you did or failed to do would directly affect your team mates. I wanted to see how well you would handle the pressure."
That was probably why Temari was so pissed, actually. At this point I wouldn't want to be the one responsible for making Gaara fail, either. That would be a one way ticket to a shallow grave, if there was even enough of you left to bury.
Ibiki continued to explain the test. It was difficult in order to encourage cheating. Those who cheated badly failed. It was pretty straightforward.
"Information, it can be the most valuable weapon in battle. How well you gather information can determine whether a mission is a failure or a success. There'll be times you have to risk your life to get it."
He raised his hands and took of his bandanna. I straightened a bit, propping my chin in my hand. His skull was a mess but under the visceral horror it did make me wonder what the purpose of those marks had been. Burn marks, puncture wounds, cuts and slices… they told a horrible story but why the skull? It's not exactly the first thing you think of. Hands, eyes, even feet… they'd be more permanently damaging and therefore more terrifying as well as being incredibly sensitive.
He was wearing full gloves though, not the fingerless ones most shinobi wore. It was possible his scars weren't just limited to his head...
"Of course, you must always consider the source of your information. Intelligence gathered from an enemy is not necessarily 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 where you had to gather accurate intelligence. Cheat, in order to survive. Those who weren't good enough at it were weeded out. Leaving the rest of you."
He put his bandanna back on and scanned the room.
"The tenth question was the main point of the whole exam. The final question gave you two choices, both difficult. You could play it safe and chose to skip the question, though it meant that both you and your team mates would be failed. Or you could take the question, knowing if you got it wrong, you would lose your chance of ever being Chunin. It was a no-win situation. But just the sort Chunin have to face everyday. For example, let me give you a hypothetical mission. To steal a document from an enemy stronghold. You have no idea how many ninja the enemy has. Or how heavily armed they are. Further more, you have reason to believe that the enemy expects you. You might very well be walking blindly into a trap. Now do you have an option of taking a pass on this insane mission, of saying 'my comrades would rather live to fight another day'? Can you chose to avoid danger? No. There will be many missions that seem almost suicidal if you think about it. But you do not think about it. You think only of the goal achieving it through courage and discipline. These are the qualities required of a Chunin squad leader."
There will be many missions that seem almost suicidal if you think about it. But you do not think about it. You think only of the goal …
Almost suicidal? Like trying to save your team mate from an S-ranked missing nin?
It wasn't a mission, but it might as well have been. There was no option of avoiding it. It was something that would happen and something that would have to be dealt with. Just like Kabuto. Like Madara. Eventually.
So don't think about how impossible it is. Only think about how it can be done.
I breathed in. Breathed out.
It wasn't quite an epiphany. I'd already known this. But there was something about having someone else voice it… to have it put into words…
"You have earned the right to continue on to the next step. You have passed through the first gate. I hereby declare this stage of the Chunin Selection Examination completed. There's nothing left but to wish you all good luck."
There was a slow relaxation of tension as it sunk in that we had passed. A low mutter started as people shifted and shuffled and celebrated. Of course, Naruto didn't celebrate quietly.
My chakra sense pinged, and my hand dropped to my kunai holster even before the window shattered. Canvas fluttered, then unfurled as kunai unerringly pinned the corners to the roof and floor.
"Head's up, boys and girls, this is no time to be celebrating! I'll be your next proctor, Anko Mitarashi. You ready for the next test? Good! Then lets go, follow me!"
I relaxed, hand dropping away from my weapons as I saw who it was. Anko Mitarashi. Special Jounin. Once apprentice to Orochimaru. And, apparently, proctor for the Second Exam.
"How many are there, Ibiki?" Anko asked. "You let all these guys pass? Your test was too easy; you must be getting soft. Before I'm done with them, more than half will be eliminated," she said confidently before turning back to us.
By the very nature of the second test, only half the teams could pass, and even that wasn't guaranteed.
"Alright, you maggots have had it easy, but things will be different starting first thing in the morning. Meet me at Training Ground 44. Dismissed!"