Just like in the original story, these absurdly difficult written questions were nearly impossible for the average genin—only someone like Tsunade, a true academic powerhouse, could solve them with ease.
The exam room gradually grew restless. Hoshiyomi could clearly see some participants growing increasingly anxious, their eyes darting about. Restless leg shaking, nervous glances, and twitchy movements started to spread.
That was when the decoy entered—just as planned. A scrawny, suspicious-looking genin furtively pulled out a scroll from his pocket and began to sneak a look.
At that point, nearly 80% of the classroom was already wavering between holding their ground or cheating. Seeing someone apparently getting away with it emboldened many. One by one, students began taking risks.
Just as things began to spiral into chaos, a cold voice suddenly rang out:
"Numbers 36, 58, and 73—disqualified."
The scroll-user's face dropped as he stared at the floor in shame. The other two stood up in confusion, demanding, "Why are we disqualified?!"
A nearby proctor walked over to the first offender and patted him on the shoulder. The boy flinched—and a textbook fell from inside his jacket.
"See that?"
The other two's faces instantly darkened. As they were dragged out of the room, they hurled curses at their teammates.
The sudden disruption jolted the room. Everyone was shaken, but the reality remained: the questions were impossible, and cheating seemed like the only path—yet even that now felt like a trap.
As fear and pressure collided, the most bizarre and creative forms of cheating began to emerge.
Those with clumsy techniques were steadily weeded out. About an hour later, after most of the obvious rule-breakers had been eliminated, Chief Examiner Karui finally stood up and announced:
"Time's up. Put down your pencils. Remain seated. The proctors will now tally the results and announce the outcomes shortly."
Roughly fifteen minutes passed before Torifu stood up to declare the results: out of the original crowd, 63 candidates remained. 45 were from Konoha and Kumogakure, while the remaining 18 were scattered across the smaller villages.
As expected, Hoshiyomi's entire team passed without incident.
Once the final count was confirmed, Torifu cleared his throat and announced:
"Those of you who passed—report to your accommodations and rest. Tomorrow at 9 a.m., gather at Yugakure's main gate. The second phase will begin then. Latecomers will be disqualified on the spot.
You're dismissed."
Shortly after Hoshiyomi's group returned to the hot spring inn following the first test, more than ten people within Yugakure mysteriously vanished. Oddly enough, no one noticed.
These individuals were all followers of the Kaga Cult, who had secretly infiltrated Yugakure. They had long since dug a hidden passage from the village directly to their temporary base.
At that moment, they were gathered at the base, preparing for their second meeting.
Kiru, the cult leader, eagerly spoke up as his subordinates returned:
"Well? Did you gather the intel?"
One of them handed him two scrolls and replied:
"Evil God, we've done everything we could. These scrolls contain all the information we could gather on the participants. There might be some gaps, but this is the best we could manage."
"Tomorrow's the survival phase of the exams. The test will take place in the forest right above us.
This is the opportunity Evil God has given us, Kiru-sama. We must act."
Kiru's eyes lit up as he took the scrolls. "Excellent. You've done well. Evil God is pleased. You shall all receive his blessings."
His followers were overjoyed at his words. They immediately dropped to their knees, kowtowing and chanting:
"Thank you, Evil God! Evil God is eternal!"
Kiru didn't spare them a glance. His attention was entirely focused on the two scrolls.
One scroll detailed the participants from the western hot spring inn—Konoha's team—and the other from the eastern inn—Kumogakure's.
Kiru wasn't an idiot. He knew that the strength of a ninja largely came down to their mastery of ninjutsu.
The smaller villages lacked foundation. Even if he managed to control some of their genin, they'd be useless long-term. So he'd instructed his people to target only Konoha and Kumo's genin.
However, upon reading the scrolls, Kiru couldn't help but frown. Things weren't as simple as he'd hoped.
Take Kumogakure's team, for instance—one of them was a huge, dark-skinned youth built like a humanoid ox. Despite supposedly being under fifteen, he looked older than Kiru himself.
He looked like nothing but trouble. And considering Kumo's reputation for wreaking havoc in wars, Kiru instinctively decided to avoid their candidates altogether.
Still, just to be thorough, he picked two candidates from Kumo—reluctantly, and only because there weren't better options.
This, however, highlighted one of Kiru's greatest weaknesses: his lack of knowledge. As a non-shinobi, he had no real way of gauging a ninja's true strength.
To him, someone who looked small, thin, and unthreatening—with no known clan ties—was ideal prey. His life experiences and worldview led him to make such shallow judgments.
Opening the Konoha scroll, Kiru felt more at ease. At least their skin tones looked less "intimidating" than Kumo's.
But his relief didn't last long. Out of the twenty or so names, eight or nine bore the surnames Uchiha or Hyūga.
Even a roadside kid in the Land of Rivers knew not to mess with those clans. He immediately wrote them off as untouchable.
Removing the Uchiha and Hyūga, and excluding others like the Aburame or Akimichi—who didn't even look human to him—he was left with just four or five candidates.
Orochimaru. Gekkō Hoshiyomi. Tsunade. Yūhi Shinku.
These four became Kiru's primary targets. There wasn't much logic behind his choices, just the same faulty reasoning: they looked weak, had no apparent clan affiliations, seemed harmless, and were listed as very young.
At a glance, they seemed like easy prey—perfect for a quick curse binding and abduction.
The more Kiru studied their photos, the more pleased he became. He nodded to himself:
"Excellent. Those four—plus the two from Kumogakure. That's six targets total."
Looking up, he addressed his cultists: "Head to the surface and begin reconnaissance. If you spot any of these six tomorrow, report to me immediately.
Evil God has decreed that I must handle this operation personally."
The cultists obeyed without hesitation and scattered.
Kiru, meanwhile, slipped into a secret chamber, locking himself inside to prepare his curse rituals and ready the blood required for the jutsu he would use tomorrow.
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