Chapter 62 — Three Gods Carrying Two Deadweights
After being mocked by Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke's face turned ashen.
Looking at the "64" on the individual scoreboard, he felt a frustration beyond words.
Had he known how simple-minded this written test was, he would never have poured so much effort into pondering the deeper meaning of each multiple-choice question.
Especially when he saw Naruto's 65, he felt he had been singled out.
He was not the one at fault! The world was!
Why the hell had that idiot Naruto, who scored only 2 on the essay question, done better than him?
A written test that claimed to be "one hundred percent objective" truly had no reason to exist!
After laughing wildly for a while, Naruto's expression gradually grew gloomy.
He suddenly recalled something Instructor Wang Xu had once said...
"If you don't place in the top five, I'll kill you once."
If any other class's teacher had said that, Naruto would have simply pulled a face and not taken it to heart at all.
Unfortunately, Wang Xu was a man whose word was absolute.
Naruto swallowed, moistening his drying throat, his forehead drenched in sweat.
Although the written test was worth slightly less than the practical, a poor written score would make it impossible to enter the top five!
Still, fortune always smiled on fools, and perhaps there was truth in that saying.
In this written test, Rock Lee and Sakura Haruno both earned the same high score: 93!
Tenten, whom no one had favored, performed exceptionally in this round, actually taking the highest individual score of the entire venue: 99!
Thus the written test scores of Team 7's five members were 64, 65, 93, 93, and 99, for a total of 414 points!
Three gods carrying two deadweights!
Thanks to the high scores of Sakura, Lee, and Tenten, even though Naruto and Sasuke, the two dead-last slackers, had bombed the test, the new Team 7 still stood out in the written round and successfully fought their way into the top hundred.
That way, their chances of breaking into the top five overall were no longer zero.
After all, the teams with terrifying raw strength all seemed to have mediocre total written scores.
Even the most fearsome Akatsuki team had managed only 401 points, dragged down by Kisame Hoshigaki and Hidan.
The team ranked first in the written test was naturally the "Cleaver Team," conjured from some question-setter's split personality.
Riven, Yasuo, Master Yi, Tryndamere, and Fiora—when it came to uniting knowledge and action, who could compare to them?
Their team's total written score was a blinding perfect 500.
The spectators whispered among themselves, discussing where this squad had come from.
Many of the powerful figures in the daimyo's guard and inspection corps cast them approving looks, as if intending to recruit them.
People who could carry through their own convictions, whether ninja or samurai, possessed immense potential and were worth cultivating!
Unfortunately, the five members of the Cleaver Team simply ignored the recruitment offers from these high-ranking figures.
Though each used a different excuse, the result was ultimately the same.
Some big shots, long accustomed to being above everyone else, had never been refused before. Feeling utterly humiliated, they wanted to settle scores later.
Unfortunately, their schemes were strangled in the cradle before they even began.
The daimyo of the Five Great Nations gave them a severe reprimand, and the matter was dropped.
Amid the crowd's chatter, Wang Xu slowly dissolved into the air as if annihilated.
This wondrous sight drew gasps from many spectators.
But the scene soon calmed down.
Some spectators who had previously observed how Wang Xu made his entrances served as a calming influence.
Although they were merely spreading rumors that it was Wang Huai'an's special bloodline limit, the effect was positive, and the Konoha authorities did not bother to refute it.
The contest of intellect, stamina, conviction, and human nature left the examinees utterly exhausted, while the spectators were still hungry for more.
Then the host's voice rang out again: "The first day of the Chunin Exams has come to a perfect close! The practical round begins tomorrow! I hope all examinees will prepare thoroughly and be ready to unleash a hundred and twenty percent of their strength, showing off their own brilliance!"
The first stage of the strongest Chunin Exams in history ended in perfect fashion.
Having seen plenty of novel things, the spectators left the arena reluctantly.
Watching Tsunade and Jiraiya run themselves ragged, Orochimaru leisurely opened a novel titled Infinite Horror.
This book, of course, had also been fished out of Jiraiya's stash.
His reading speed was extraordinary, truly deserving the phrase "ten lines at a glance."
After finishing it, Orochimaru closed the book and headed toward the Department of Science and Technology.
He did not understand why the Main God in this book forbade reincarnators from revealing information about the Main God and the reincarnation space to the so-called "people of the real world."
The so-called "real world" was merely a low-magic plane where power belonged to the collective, individual cultivation had no future at all, and no existence could threaten the Main God. Orochimaru did not quite understand this setting.
"Probably to drive the plot and highlight the characters' personalities."
Thinking of the plot, Orochimaru felt relieved again.
Perhaps Infinite Horror was also a kind of prophecy book. But so what? A prophecy was ultimately just a prophecy. Once power beyond a certain level intervened in reality, the originally destined worldline and trajectory of fate no longer carried the same meaning.
Even so, the book gave Orochimaru quite a bit of inspiration.
"Perhaps I can use the reward-point human creation option to make a sage with no emotions, one who will not be influenced by non-objective factors, and have him become my research assistant."
Whenever he thought of Naruto's recent performance, Orochimaru felt a headache coming on.
The boy clearly had the potential and talent to become a first-rate scientist, with endless ingenious ideas, yet he was stuck at the basic knowledge stage. Naruto Uzumaki had truly opened his eyes these past few days.
It was not a problem of memory or intelligence but purely a matter of personality: Naruto's subconscious resisted textual knowledge. Even if it was forcibly crammed into his head, he would forget most of it by the next day.
Despite all his complaints, Orochimaru had still fallen to Naruto's talk-no-jutsu, and their relationship had gradually warmed.
Even being called "Uncle Snake" over and over by Naruto no longer felt awkward to him.
...
The next day.
The morning light was faint, and the breeze was gentle.
Konoha Department of Science and Technology, seventh floor.
"Uncle Snake, could you change the dead-last Sasuke's written test score?"
Bursting into Orochimaru's archive room, Naruto Uzumaki shouted shamelessly: "Sasuke did terrible! He's seriously dragging down Team 7's score! If we don't get into the top five overall, our instructor will kill us!"
Behind Naruto, Sasuke's face had gone dark.
"Shut up, idiot! Get to the point!"
Sasuke truly had no idea how this idiot who had scored only one point more than him had any right to look down on him.
Orochimaru gave a wicked smile and was about to say something when he suddenly closed his eyes.
"So the trash hiding in the shadows have finally shown themselves?"
He opened his eyes, and a cold, eerie gleam bloomed in his shattered-gold snake pupils.
That coldness turned to astonishment in an instant.
"Danzo... has he lost his mind?"