Ryou saw the colorful crystals on the ground and already knew what Ichikishimahime was going to test him on.
In the original animation, Ichikishimahime's test for Boruto was a decryption puzzle.
After Boruto entered the cave, Ichikishimahime sealed it and gave Boruto the decryption challenge.
Specifically, he had to find crystals on the ground that matched the indentations on the stone door; once all were matched, the door would open, and he would pass the trial.
It was like a jigsaw puzzle.
This relied on intelligence and spatial logic.
There were many crystals scattered on the ground, so finding the ones that matched the grooves on the stone door required a lot of time, energy, and careful searching.
This relied on endurance and focus.
Moreover, upon entering the cave, one's chakra would be slowly devoured by the surrounding stone walls.
This further tested chakra resilience and anti-erosion capabilities.
This stage of the assessment was multi-dimensional.
In fact, Ryūchi Cave was not purely a den of demons.
When choosing a successor, they also focused on quality; a true powerhouse must be well-rounded.
One must be able to resist their own desires, possess wisdom, patience, talent, a strong character, and even defeat their own inner demons.
With a heart as vast as the universe and a will as firm as the mountains, one should possess a natural majesty and remain unshakeable.
By passing the first three trials, you would possess the spirit of a Sage!
Ryou grabbed a handful of crystals, waiting for Ichikishimahime's question.
But Ichikishimahime didn't make Ryou do a puzzle; instead, she dropped an exam paper and a pen for him.
"Trial-taker, solve the difficult problems on this paper within the allotted time. You must get them all correct. If you exceed the time limit or get even one question wrong, you fail."
"Those who fail must accept punishment—being eaten by me!"
Ryou picked up the exam paper and pen in confusion. Why was he getting an exam paper instead of a puzzle?
However, Ryou wasn't worried, because back at the Shinobi Academy, he was a top-tier test-taker.
He might not have been in top form during combat classes, but in academic classes, he stood tall.
He was a straight-A student, after all.
But seeing the first question, Ryou was dumbfounded.
"Let there be a Sage Power flow function f(x) with a domain of [0, ∞), satisfying f(x)=∫₀ˣ(t²-f(t))dt+2. Given that f(x) tends toward a constant value at steady state, find this steady-state value: ___."
"The grooves on the Ryūchi Cave stone wall correspond to a sequence {aₙ}, where a₁=1 and aₙ₊₁=(aₙ²+2)/(2aₙ). As n approaches infinity, the sequence converges to L. Find the value of L²+2L-3: ___."
...
Holy crap! Advanced Mathematics!
Ryou's Sharingan spun rapidly, as if he were looking at some kind of nightmare.
A woman might leave you, brothers might betray you, but math won't—if you don't know it, you just don't know it.
The only reason Ryou could be a top student was because he attended elementary school with the memories and thinking of his past life. If he wasn't a top student, who was?
But encountering this kind of advanced math left him helpless. How did Ryūchi Cave become so trendy? Isn't this supposed to be a remote mountain forest?
Shouldn't a cultivation sect like this be testing a disciple's character and aptitude?
Why test math?
The Shinobi knowledge system was connected to reality.
For example, the second question of the Chunin Exams for Naruto's class:
"Line B in the diagram represents the trajectory of Shinobi A standing on a 7-meter-tall tree throwing a shuriken at Enemy C. If C is located at points D, E, and F, please describe and formulate the required trajectory. Additionally, predict the maximum range of the shuriken and explain how you arrived at your answer."
This was a physics problem involving projectile motion in classical mechanics, the composition and decomposition of motion, and formulas for uniformly accelerated linear motion...
This was the knowledge system of university and high school physics.
Only an overachieving top student like Sakura could answer it.
Candy looked curiously at Ryou, who looked like he had seen a demon. What was this thing that could make even a beast like its master pull such a bitter face?
Candy jumped onto Ryou's shoulder and looked at the questions on the exam paper with him, then immediately felt dizzy after one glance.
(((φ(◎ロ◎;)φ)))!
Is this a test of wisdom?
It really was a test of wisdom—not an abstract one judging your character, but an extremely realistic test of one's IQ.
Whether you have wisdom isn't based on someone's subjective judgment; it's based on objective mathematics, because if you don't know math, you really don't know it.
There are no shortcuts.
A mediocre person is a mediocre person, no matter how you gloss it over with words, praise it with speech, or build it up with schemes.
One test is all it takes to find out.
True gold never fears the furnace.
When a country selects talent from another nation, it first considers science students, followed by liberal arts students who understand science.
Liberal arts are too subjective! The fluctuations are too great, whereas a science student can easily switch to liberal arts.
Ichikishimahime didn't give Ryou and Candy a chance to be shocked. An hourglass fell from the air, fine sand slowly trickling down through its narrow neck, grain by grain.
Ichikishimahime said, "Trial-taker, if you do not pass by solving the problems on the exam paper within the allotted time, it will be considered a failure."
"If you fail, please do not resist and let me eat you obediently!"
"..."
Ryou and Candy fell silent for a moment.
Shukaku and the Seven-Tails emerged from Ryou's body and glanced at the exam paper, their eyes spinning.
No wonder people always said Tailed Beasts were just a bunch of wild animals; looking at these exam questions, Shukaku understood—the power of Tailed Beasts needed human wisdom to be controlled.
Wisdom was not an abstract concept, but something that truly existed.
Shukaku and the Seven-Tails felt their heads spinning and retreated back into Ryou's body in fear.
"Candy, I'm counting on you!"
Ryou turned to look at Candy.
Candy swiped a paw at Ryou and hissed, "You really think I'm omnipotent? Do it yourself!"
Ryou was out of options and said to Ichikishimahime, "Sage Master, the questions you've set are too hard. Is there a simpler test?"
Ichikishimahime replied directly, "No. Trial-taker, do not think about taking shortcuts. Solve the problems quickly; if you want to leave this cave, you must solve the questions I've set!"
"(╬▔皿 ▔)╯."
Ryou was furious and directly tore the exam paper in his hand to shreds. "Bitch, I gave you face, and now you're trying to test me?!"
"Who the hell do you think you are?"
Ichikishimahime was also enraged. "How hateful! You unlearned Uchiha! I now declare that you have failed the trial. Quickly, let me eat you!"
Ryou sneered, "I now understand the assessment rules of the three trials. As long as I can break through the stages of you Three Snake Sages, I'll be considered to have passed."
In the original animation, Boruto and the others clearly passed the trials, yet Tagorihime, Ichikishimahime, and the others still came out to cause trouble.
This proved that the point of the trials wasn't the assessment itself, but to defeat the Three Snake Sages and go directly to meet the White Snake Sage.
Rules must give way before the strong.
With a thought, Ryou erupted with powerful chakra, causing Ichikishimahime's cave to tremble under its intensity.
Ichikishimahime shouted, "Uchiha Ryou, stop right now, or I'm going to lose my temper!"
"Bah! Just wait until I catch you!"