Naruto leaned back in his chair, a calm smirk on his lips as his eyes scanned the question paper. His pencil rested lazily in his hand, untouched.
'What is this…?' He thought with a flick of amusement.
'The first question is too easy. I bet even the half-asleep ones in the back can get that…'
He rolled his eyes. But then, his gaze settled on the second question, and that smirk only widened.
'Hmm… the parabola B in the diagram illustrates the greatest possible distance that enemy Ninja A can throw his/her shuriken from a seven-meter-high tree…'
'Predict and answer the ninja's personality inferred from the ellipse this shuriken forms? Also, answer the maximum ring range in battle at ground level and explain your basis…'
He almost chuckled.
'Tch... The ninja's clearly the cautious type. That kind of elliptical arc is all about precision over power, designed for control rather than blind aggression.'
'As for the ring range, the longest effective combat range would be around 44 meters, right before the shuriken loses penetration force due to drag and rotational deceleration.'
He casually tapped his pencil on the desk, already done calculating it in his head.
'But seriously… who the hell would give a question like this to a fresh genin?'
His brow rose just a little.
'This isn't just a math or tactics question... It's an integrated strategic problem that demands prediction under unseen conditions, the application of energy dynamics, and a breakdown of spatial trajectories.'
'These are the kind of questions you'd throw at a Jonin squad leader, not some kid who just learned how to substitute with a log last week.'
Then, a spark of sharp realization flashed in his eyes.
'Ah… that's it. This test isn't about knowing the answers… It's about knowing how to get them. It's about intelligence-gathering under surveillance, pressure, and misdirection.'
'They're not testing book smarts… they're testing ninja instincts... how to cheat without getting caught.'
His eyes flicked casually to the corners of the room.
'There must be planted examinees who already know the answers to all the questions. Hidden operatives. Cheating targets. The real exam is whether you can figure that out and extract the intel.'
He grinned wider, leaning back further in his chair, completely relaxed.
'Well… why should I worry about any of that?'
'Sakura was trained by me. She's sharp and adaptable. Give her any problem and she'll eat it alive.'
'Sasuke? He's got the Sharingan. He can probably see through the ink strokes if he wanted to.'
'This test…?' He let out a soft exhale, smirking.
'This test is gonna be a walk in the park.'
------
A few seats away, Sakura had also arrived at the same conclusion.
Her fingers tightened around her pencil as her sharp eyes darted across the second question. Her mind raced with calculations, diagrams flashing through her memory like pages in a textbook.
'There's no way Sasuke can solve this himself!'
Her brow furrowed.
'Not only him... hardly anyone in this room can! Except… me and… Naruto-sama.'
She bit her lower lip, gaze flicking from her paper to the proctors stationed around the room.
'These aren't just difficult… they're insane. Every question that follows just piles on the pressure. These problems aren't just tricky... they're meant to crush confidence.'
She clenched her jaw.
'If even ten teams out of fifty-one manage to pass, I'll be surprised.'
Her eyes narrowed with renewed determination.
'I need to push myself, give everything I have… I can't afford to let Naruto-sama down. I need to get enough points to make up for any damage Sasuke might cause.'
Her mind raced back through formulas, physics, tactics, everything Naruto had drilled into her. His voice echoed in her memory, calm and commanding, like a master commanding his slave.
'This is a system that's basically inviting cheating… setting the perfect trap to weed out the weak-minded and the slow.'
She closed her eyes for a second, then opened them with resolve.
'Naruto-sama must have already figured that out. Of course he did.'
Her gaze slowly drifted across the room to where he sat, completely at ease, not even a hint of pressure on his face.
'He's probably already halfway done… answering these so-called 'difficult' questions like they're children's riddles.'
Her teeth gritted slightly as a shadow of worry crossed her mind.
'I just hope that idiot Sasuke doesn't lose it and cause trouble for Naruto-sama… if he ruins our team's score—!'
She shook the thought away and looked again at Naruto.
There he wa, calm, focused, and completely unfazed.
His hand moved smoothly across the paper, confident and sharp. His eyes didn't dart around nervously like the others… they were steady, calculated.
Her cheeks flushed slightly.
'Hehe… Naruto-sama is solving these childish problems with such ease… like he's not even trying…'
Sakura's pencil started moving again, faster this time.
If he was that calm, then she had no right to be anything less.
Sasuke kept staring at his paper, his expression unmoved, but his mind running fast.
'I don't… understand half of these problems.'
His eyes narrowed slightly.
'These aren't standard shinobi academy questions. They're intentionally overcomplicated. It's all too… deliberate.'
He leaned back just a little, not enough to draw attention.
'This entire setup… this elaborate fuss… It's like a trick. A trap laid out perfectly, expecting that we'll try to cheat.'
He slowly turned his head, just a fraction, towards the sentinel sitting a few meters from his row.
'They're watching our every move...'
Just then, that sentinel began jotting something down without even lifting his gaze.
Sasuke's eyes sharpened.
'Somebody got caught!'
His mind clicked into high gear.
'Cheating deducts two points… That's brutal. Normally, in a real-world mission, getting caught like that would mean complete failure. Maybe even death.'
He closed his eyes briefly, filtering through every word Ibiki had said earlier.
Then it hit him, like a flash of lightning tearing across a dark sky.
'Know that those who commit awkward cheating will bring ruin upon themselves.'
His lips curled into a faint smirk.
'I see… That's how it is, huh?'
'This isn't just some achievement test to check our knowledge… It's a screening. A field test on gathering intel under pressure.'
He exhaled slowly.
'They're testing our ability to analyze a situation… to use deception and concealment techniques under surveillance…'
His fingers tapped once on the table.
'Typical ninja work. Hidden purpose behind a direct order.'
He opened his eyes, and a cold gleam sparked within them.
'A ninja must always read the double bluff...'
'Looks like if we want to pass this test… we have to cheat.'
'But not awkwardly. Not carelessly. No… precisely.'
With that thought, Sasuke's eyes shifted downward and then closed completely for a brief second.
When he opened them again, they were glowing with a cold, crimson light.
Sharingan!
Three tomoe spun silently in his pupils.
'All right then... Let's get this over with.'