Chương 81: An Exam for Two

At the head proctor's signal, the collective scratch of pens filled the room as seventy-seven candidates dove into their papers. The strategy was universal: secure the easy marks first, then look to their teammates—or their own ingenuity—to fill the gaps. Dongye Zhen was no exception. Though he possessed the knowledge to breeze through the exam unassisted, he chose to play the part.

He didn't rush to finish and depart; instead, he maintained a measured pace, carefully inscribing the five foundational answers before turning his attention to the advanced problems. Take the first question, for instance—a complex translation of high-level Konoha cipher. Zhen wrote slowly, his calligraphy crisp and unmistakable. Beside him, a middle-aged Genin and a fourteen-year-old girl silently thanked their lucky stars. With just a subtle shift of their gaze, the answers lay bare.

They had found themselves seated next to a beacon of academic hope, and they weren't about to squander the opportunity. The fourth question was equally grueling, requiring a detailed analysis of the physiological effects of three mixed botanical toxins and their rapid-response antidotes. Without a background in medical ninjutsu, a correct answer was nearly impossible. Zhen continued his slow, deliberate script, almost as if he were worried the others might miss a stroke.

Zhen's sensory perception had already confirmed that the room was devoid of "plants"—proctors disguised as students with the answers. These were all his fellow villagers. To ease their burden, he decided to play the role of the benevolent benefactor. After all, "Young Master Dongye" had a reputation for being an amiable soul to maintain. He wasn't like Kakashi, an aloof prodigy who looked down on his peers; he was a comrade who cared.

Once the simple questions were exhausted, the silence of the hall was broken by the subtle, frantic rustle of clandestine intelligence gathering. To his right, the girl who had finished copying Zhen's script began absentmindedly playing with her ponytail. Her fingers were nimble, weaving strands of hair into precise symbols that signaled the answers to her teammates. It was an impressive display of hair-manipulation; Zhen noted she had the potential to be a fine apprentice for Jiraiya.

On his left, the middle-aged man feigned a sudden itch in his armpit. As he scratched, his fingers flew in a rapid sequence of tactical hand signs directed at the back of the room. These were the professionals. Then there were the others. Some resorted to the perilously primitive art of note-tossing. Zhen watched a crumpled ball of paper sail through the air and wondered if these "ninja" thought the proctors had left their eyes at home.

One particularly misguided soul attempted to pass a scroll by wedging it into the center-hole of a shuriken and sliding it across the floor. His aim was atrocious; the blade bit into the calf of a nearby student, who nearly shrieked in pain. For such clumsy displays, the proctors showed no mercy. There was no "five-strike" rule here; the offending teams were hauled out on the spot. By the time the hour elapsed, ten teams had been purged. Only forty-seven candidates remained to move on to the second phase.

The head proctor led the survivors to Training Ground 41, nestled behind the Hokage Rock. While not as sprawling as the infamous Forest of Death, it was a formidable expanse of wilderness where they would spend the next seven hours. Outside the gates of the second exam, Zhen studied the slip of paper he had been handed. The field had been whittled down to fifteen three-man squads and the two solo entrants—seventeen "teams" in total.

Each slip contained a number and a string of digits written in the same high-level cipher from the first exam. It was a clever, slightly sadistic design; if a candidate had copied the answers without memorizing the key, they were now functionally illiterate. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Zhen could see the panic in the eyes of several students who were clearly wishing they could run back to the hall and re-read their exam papers.

The objective was straightforward: locate eight mission scrolls hidden throughout the training ground and deliver them to the proctors at the center of the forest. If you couldn't decode the riddle, your only option was to spill blood and take a scroll from someone who could. At the chime of the start bell, the gates swung open, and the candidates vanished into the treeline. Training Ground 41 was a comprehensive combat zone, enclosed by towering steel fences to keep civilians out.

It had a radius of roughly two kilometers with twenty gated entrances. Effectively, the entire arena sat comfortably within the range of Zhen's sensory perception. While the scrolls themselves lacked a chakra signature, Zhen's unique detection methods made them relatively easy to spot—though he preferred to play the game properly. Zhen had entered through Gate 5. His slip provided a specific data set: 5, 17, 4, 7. Since no number exceeded twenty, it was clear they represented gate coordinates.

The intersection of lines drawn between Gates 5-17 and Gates 4-7 marked his target. The accompanying clue was a simple phrase: Crimson in the Forest. Arriving at the coordinates, Zhen found no red-leaved trees or scarlet wildflowers. He scanned the canopy and smirked. Defying the pull of gravity, he ascended a massive oak with effortless grace, coming to a halt beside a bird's nest. It was the nest of a Red-crested Warbler, a species native to the central-southern regions of the Land of Fire.

The nest was abandoned, but tucked beneath the twigs lay a small, tightly rolled scroll. Task complete. Zhen moved toward the center of the forest at a leisurely pace. Predictably, he was intercepted. Those who couldn't solve the riddles weren't necessarily stupid; they simply realized that an ambush at the finish line was more efficient than a search in the brush. The interceptors were a trio of older Genin, roughly fifteen or sixteen. The leader, a boy with black, spiky hair, grinned as he stepped into the path.

"Talk about luck! We found a straggler, and he's all alone. Hey, kid, you find a scroll yet?"

"I did," Zhen replied calmly.

"Took about five minutes. It's not hard if you have a functioning brain."

"You little brat! You mocking us?" the leader snarled, reaching for his pouch.

"Since you're so smart, you won't mind handing it over!" These low-level Genin were woefully uninformed. While the village knew of the "Two Heroes of the East," their faces weren't plastered on posters, and ordinary ninja rarely had the clearance to see their files. One of the teammates, however, seemed to have a functioning instinct.

"Wait... Hayabusa, look at him. He's the other solo entrant besides the Uchiha. He might be dangerous. Maybe we should pick a different target?"

"Are you kidding me?" the spike-haired boy, Hayabusa, scoffed.

"He's a toddler. I don't care how much of a 'genius' he is; we've been graduates for years. Have some pride!" In a blur that defied the eye, Zhen appeared behind the boy. A crushing weight of killing intent descended upon the trio, pinning them where they stood.

"In the future," Zhen whispered into Hayabusa's ear, "you should trust your comrade's instincts. On a real mission, arrogance like that is a death sentence." By the time they could breathe again, Zhen was gone.

"Hayabusa..." the third teammate stammered, his knees shaking.

"Are we... still robbing people?" Hayabusa stood in a stunned silence for a long moment before regaining his composure.

"Of course we are! But only the old ones. The kids are monsters. We'll find a team of veterans who've been Genin forever—they're bound to be weak. We can take them." Zhen reached the central pavilion and presented his scroll to the proctor. The man and his colleagues stared at him in sheer bewilderment.

"Name?" the proctor managed, blinking. He recorded Zhen's information with a trembling hand, checked the time, and gestured to the waiting area. Less than a minute later, the proctors were stunned again. Another solo entrant. Zhen looked up as Shisui Uchiha approached, the Uchiha crest prominent on his back. Shisui's eyes were filled with an urgent curiosity.

"Yo, Shisui. I knew this would be a walk in the park for you," Zhen greeted him. As he spoke, his right hand subtly flashed a series of rapid signs. Shisui caught the message: Eyes on us. Keep it standard.

"You too, Zhen," Shisui replied, his voice level as he fell into step beside his friend.