Not long after Team 8 had taken their seats, more genin wearing either the Leaf's forehead protector or those of other villages began filing into the classroom.
Among them, Haruma spotted the trio from the Sound Village, Gaara's team from the Sand, the previous year's Team Guy with Neji Hyuga, Tenten, and Rock Lee, as well as Team 10 and Team 7…
As soon as Team 10 entered, Ino immediately found Haruma among the crowd of examinees. Ignoring the many hostile glares cast her way, she ran toward him with a bright smile.
Seeing the girl who looked as though she would have leapt straight into Haruma's arms if not for the desks in the way, the examinees who had already been humbled once by Haruma's Naraku Vision technique froze in fright.
Those who had suffered especially badly before began to sweat heavily and quickly lowered their heads, terrified that Haruma might cast another illusion and make fools of them again.
Meanwhile, Team 7, as in the original story, soon became the center of attention in the classroom.
Kabuto, knowing that Orochimaru already had his sights set on Sasuke, also stepped forward just like in the original tale. Using his Shinobi Info Cards, he "helpfully" introduced which examinees to watch out for in this year's chunin Exams.
Incidentally, because he had been unable to best Haruma for so many years, Sasuke's curiosity about his self-declared rival was strong.
He wanted to know what Haruma had gone through in the past few months. So, after asking Kabuto about Rock Lee and Gaara, Sasuke also requested information on Haruma.
When he learned that Haruma had already completed over 80 D-rank missions and dozen C-rank missions leaving Team Seven far behind, Sasuke's eyes burned with envy. Even though his mission record was nowhere near Haruma's, his pride remained unshaken and the reason for his confidence lay in his own recent transformation.
Through relentless training and a battle with wandering shinobi during an escort mission, Sasuke had finally awakened his Sharingan.
Or rather, it should be said he had finally learned to control it.
On the night of the Uchiha massacre, Sasuke had already awakened the sharingan, but he hadn't been able to activate it at will. Now, he could freely open and close it at command.
What's more, within a month of this awakening, his sharingan had evolved from a single tomoe into two tomoe, unlocking the ability to copy techniques.
With such power, it was no wonder Sasuke brimmed with confidence.
In his eyes, Haruma,merely a civilian-born boy with no kekkei genkai, was no longer a match for him and neither his genjutsu nor his battle skills could hope to stand against the eyes of the Uchiha. Still, soon enough, it was likely his overconfidence would be crushed by one of the "big fish" in the exam, those who fought at near-Kage level.
As Kabuto's staged provocation against the Sound Village escalated and he was "injured" by Dosu's sound-based jutsu, Ibiki Morino finally appeared with the proctors to put an end to the farce. He announced the beginning of the first exam.
When Ibiki finished explaining the rules, the test papers were handed out.Haruma examined the questions and saw that half were complex academic problems, and the other half were advanced shinobi knowledge, things an ordinary genin would have little chance of knowing but for Haruma, who had always been first in class academically, they were not particularly difficult.
If he could handle them, then surely Hinata, who also ranked in the year's top ten, could too and as for Shino, Haruma trusted that his sharp mind would quickly discern the true nature of the exam.
With the Aburame clan's techniques, Shino's "copying" would surely not be penalised.
So Haruma simply picked up his pen and began writing swiftly.
Meanwhile, many examinees who couldn't answer a single question began showing off their resourcefulness, using ninjutsu and strange tools to cheat by copying answers from others who were already writing.
During this time, Haruma noticed a few glances stealing looks at his own answers.But since they weren't disturbing him, he didn't mind. After all, the true difficulty of this test was not the nine questions before them, but the infamous tenth question at the end.
Even if someone managed to answer the first nine, if they couldn't withstand the psychological pressure of the last, they would end up eliminating themselves.
So Haruma let them copy.
As minutes ticked by, the more blatant cheaters were quickly caught by the proctors, penalised five points, and immediately disqualified along with their teammates. When some tried to protest, they were beaten down on the spot by the examiners.
This intimidation made the less composed genin rein in their actions.
Soon, only fifteen minutes remained of the hour-long exam. At that moment, Ibiki, his scarred face twisted into a fearsome grin, declared:
"That's enough. Put down your pens. Now I will reveal the contents of the tenth question."
"But before that, you must make a choice…"
He then unleashed the full weight of his interrogator's aura, striking fear into those weak of will.
The choice? Attempt the tenth question, and if wrong, never again be allowed to become a chunin. Or refuse, and be disqualified immediately, allowed to try again next year.
The pressure was crushing. Many who had managed to complete the first nine through trickery quickly lost their nerve and forfeited.
In only five minutes of the fifteen allowed, one-fifth of the examinees had withdrawn. Counting those already eliminated, two-fifths of the classroom seats were now empty.
As more and more genin faltered, Naruto, sitting next to Hinata just like in the original story, suddenly slammed the desk and shouted his declaration, embodying his "No.1 Unpredictable Ninja" spirit.
His words stirred those on the verge of giving up, shaking them out of despair and rekindling their determination.
Even Ibiki found himself impressed by Naruto, realising that no matter how much further he pressed, none of the remaining examinees would quit.
And so, with minutes still left on the clock, Ibiki announced: everyone who remained had passed.
The result left the examinees, who had steeled themselves to face some hellish final question, completely dumbfounded. Many couldn't accept it and demanded explanations.
Even after Ibiki explained the true meaning of the first test, many were still reeling.
Only Naruto, who had handed in a completely blank test paper, was overjoyed.Having escaped by sheer luck, he leaned back smugly, arms crossed, listening proudly as Ibiki lectured.
Hinata watched in awe, eyes sparkling.
This person… so amazing!
And indeed, Naruto's move had been remarkable. Out of the entire hall, he alone had turned in a blank sheet. Even Haruma, who fully understood the exam's intent, had not chosen to risk that.
Haruma never relied on "plot" or Naruto's protagonist halo. He only used his knowledge of the story to maximise his own advantage.
So, despite knowing that a blank exam would be acceptable, he had still completed his answers seriously.
Such caution was the burden of knowing too much.