Half an hour later, outside the Hero Association testing facility, two men with wildly different styles appeared.
One wore a cheap yellow tracksuit and a white cape, a bald man with a vacant look in his eyes.
The other had dazzling blond hair, wore an orange and black tracksuit, and had a bright, cheerful smile on his face.
As the two walked into the main hall, they immediately drew the attention of other candidates waiting for their assessments.
Mainly, their attire and demeanor didn't look like they were there for a serious hero assessment; it was more like they had wandered onto the wrong set.
"Hmph, two more clueless guys," a burly man with bulging muscles sneered.
"That bald guy looks silly, and that blond kid doesn't look like much either," a man in a tight suit, who thought he was very handsome, chimed in.
Naruto and Saitama completely ignored these comments and walked straight to the registration desk.
After handling the registration formalities, they proceeded to the first part of the exam: the written test.
Inside the examination room, Naruto and Saitama sat side-by-side, staring at the test papers on their desks.
The questions on the test paper included:
[When encountering multiple hostages being held, but possessing enough power to instantly eliminate the culprits, how should one choose?]
[How do you view the relationship between a hero's commercial endorsements and public image?]
[Please discuss the balance point between hero activities and public facility protection in the process of urbanization.]
"What is all this? Couldn't I just solve the bad guys with one punch?" Saitama confidently wrote, feeling assured.
Naruto frowned slightly: "If you can instantly eliminate the culprits, what's the point of a hostage situation? The question setter isn't rigorous enough."
"But since it mentions hostages being held, does that mean the focus is still on protecting the hostages?"
"Forget it, too lazy to think, time to copy!"
But in reality, it was just a formality; Naruto was too lazy to even copy and chose to submit a blank paper.
The result was no surprise:
Written test: Fail!
The staff member looked at their test papers, his mouth twitching, and reluctantly stamped "Fail": "Gentlemen, your written test scores are too poor. Theoretically, you cannot become professional heroes. Please return home."
Undisguised laughter erupted from the surroundings.
"I knew it! You can't be a hero with a bad brain, can you?"
"Go home and play!"
Saitama instantly went blank, his background turning gray: "Job—Premium beef—"
Naruto, however, patted his shoulder: "Don't worry, there's still the physical test! Good physical test scores might lead to a special admission!"
In the original work, even though Saitama's written test score was extremely poor, he still became a C-Class Hero due to his perfect physical test score, though he was ranked last.
"Written test 50 points, physical test 50 points, total 100 points. 70 points or above will grant a hero license."
"Given your written test scores, you'll need a perfect score on the physical test to reach the passing line."
"Heh heh, a perfect score on the physical test? In the past two years, only the newly promoted S-Class Hero Genos has achieved that. You two..."
The staff member shook his head, indicating that Naruto and Saitama were daydreaming and foolishly aspiring.
"How will we know if we don't try?" Naruto said calmly.
"You—"
The staff member chuckled and pointed at the blank paper: "You submitted a blank paper, 0 points for the written test. Even if you get a perfect score of 50 points on the physical test, you'll still fail!"
"Haha, I don't mind. I'm mainly here to accompany my disciple."
Naruto smiled nonchalantly, patting Saitama's shoulder.
The staff member had no choice but to grimly lead them to the physical test area, following the exam regulations.
The first item of the physical test was the punching power test.
The muscular man from before stepped up first, gathering all his strength and smashing his fist into the giant force measuring device!
"Bang!"
The display flickered: "857kg"
"Wow! Amazing!"
A chorus of exclamations rang out.
The big man proudly lifted his chin.
Then several others tested, most of them in the range of a few hundred kilograms.
Those who dared to take the hero exam generally had some skills.
Either their strength was greater than ordinary people, or their physical abilities were exceptional.
These people considered that they might be able to become a hero, which would not only earn them respect but also increase their income, allowing them to earn more money to move to safer cities or regions.
There were actually not many who genuinely wanted to become heroes.
One person after another tested.
It was Saitama's turn.
He yawned, looked at the force measuring device, and then, as if swatting a fly, casually threw a punch.
"Thud!!"
An extremely dull, deafening sound!
The entire force measuring device vibrated violently, and then the numerical display at the top... immediately maxed out!
A series of "ERROR!" and garbled characters appeared, even emitting smoke.
A clear fist print was left on the sturdy alloy punching bag.
The entire venue instantly fell silent! Everyone's eyes widened, and their mouths hung open, as if they had seen a ghost!
The staff member's clipboard clattered to the ground.
The surrounding onlookers were all dumbfounded, their jaws nearly hitting the floor.
Saitama's face showed surprise and worry.
Surprised at how poor the quality of the punching bag machine was.
Worried about whether he would have to pay if he broke the machine.
"Teacher, this machine's quality doesn't seem very good. How about—you try?"
The bald man hoped Naruto would also break one.
Naruto hadn't originally planned to take the physical test, as his written test score was already 0, and even a perfect score on the physical test wouldn't make him a hero.
He didn't care if he became a hero himself, as long as Saitama became a hero, to see if the Underground City shop would refresh Saitama's abilities.
However, seeing Saitama's test, Naruto also felt a bit eager to try.
"Then I'll try!"
Naruto walked to another intact force measuring device.
He didn't act as casually as Saitama, but instead struck a pose slightly, then gave a light shout and threw a punch!
"Boom!!!"
A louder and more terrifying sound than before!
The entire testing ground shook!
That force measuring device didn't even have time to display "ERROR"; its entire massive body emitted a series of groans of being overloaded from within, and then it disintegrated with a crash!
Parts, screws, and display screen fragments exploded everywhere!
Everyone: "?! !!!"
This wasn't just maxing out the meter anymore! This was directly flipping the table!
Naruto spread his hands and said: "Sorry, I didn't control my strength well, but this punching power machine really doesn't seem to be of good quality—"
The staff member was completely petrified, cold sweat soaking his back.
If only one punching power machine had been destroyed, everyone might have thought there was a problem with the machine's quality, but with two consecutive ones, they would no longer be foolish enough to question it.
The staff member held a pen in one hand, hovering it over the clipboard, not knowing how to write down their scores.
"You two, please come this way."
The staff member nervously invited Naruto and Saitama to take the speed test. For other people's tests, scores mostly ranged from ten to a dozen meters per second, some already far exceeding normal human levels.
Saitama stepped up.
The moment the starting pistol fired, he disappeared.
The next second, he was already standing at the finish line, dusting off his cape.