Naruto: Chakra System

In Academy Room 301, the Genin took their seats on the benches after receiving their numbered tiles from Ibiki. Once everyone was seated, Ibiki began to explain the exam rules. The atmosphere in the room grew tense with each passing minute. Within five minutes of the exam beginning, a kunai whizzed through the air, embedding itself in someone's desk.

"Number 77, you're out," Ibiki declared from behind the podium.

Naruto, meanwhile, ignored the commotion around him. He sat on the very first bench, thinking to himself. 'Hmm, these questions. I don't know any of the answers.'

He stretched casually, drawing a number of gazes for his relaxed demeanor. Ignoring them, he smiled to himself. 'Aha, Kakashi-sensei said I could sleep if I didn't get anything here, so that's what I'll do.'

He rested his head on his arms on the desk, pushing aside the question paper, which was only filled with his name, and promptly fell asleep. Ibiki raised his hairless eyebrow, eyeing Naruto with interest but saying or doing nothing. After all, there was no rule stating that a participant couldn't sleep during the exam.

'Haha, he really slept!' Sasuke, who was seated on the last bench of the third row, let out a small chuckle. Naruto had followed Kakashi's advice without a second thought.

'But, I can't be like that. I should answer these nine questions, then the last one when it's given.' Sasuke nodded to himself, activating his Sharingan. The two tomoe spun slowly in his eyes, and he smirked as he glanced around.

Sakura was spinning a pencil between her fingertips, reading the questions. She smiled to herself. "They are all easy." She didn't have to resort to cheating to get the answers.

Other Genin had already started to cheat. Neji and Hinata, at their respective seats, used their Byakugan to copy answers. Gaara used his Sand Eye, and Kankuro used his puppet to help both himself and Temari. Tenten had even planted a mirror on the ceiling, manipulating it with almost invisible chakra threads to get answers not just for herself but for Rock Lee as well.

'It looks like Sakura has stopped writing. Time to make my move.' Ino smirked after 20 minutes, sitting a few benches behind Sakura.

'Mind Transfer Jutsu!' Ino made a hand sign, targeting Sakura. She then slumped over her desk as her consciousness went in a straight line toward Sakura.

"Huh!" Sakura, who had already answered all the questions, was stretching when she felt an outside consciousness entering her mind.

'Wait! Is this Ino!' Sakura mused, closing her eyes to focus. She saw Ino's consciousness entering her mind and scowled. With a strong resistance born of her inner strength, she pushed Ino's consciousness out.

'Huh! No way! Sakura can resist my clan's secret technique?!' Ino's consciousness returned, and she sat up, a bewildered expression on her face. She shook her head. 'No, that can't be possible. Maybe I should try aga—' she thought, but abruptly stopped when she noticed a glare from Sakura, who had turned her head.

Ino flinched and stammered, "N-no w-way, she r-really can!"

"Number 103, you fail. Take your team out!"

"You too, number 26. You're out!"

"Number 23 and 49... Start walking out!" As the exam went on, Genin and teams were eliminated one by one.

———

Meanwhile, in the observation room at the top of the academy, many Jōnin were overseeing the first phase. Jōnin from other villages were also present, silently watching their teams performance, aside from small conversations.

Asuma let out a small chuckle. "Well, haha, everyone's doing well, aside from Naruto, I see."

Kakashi simply shrugged. "It doesn't matter anyway. These nine questions aren't even important. The main part will be the last one, and Naruto won't fail there."

Kurenai sighed. "He also has Hinata sitting to his right. I'm worried that this girl will get into trouble trying to help Naruto."

Asuma tilted his head. "Huh? Why would she be willing to help Naruto when Ibiki has explained his strict rules?"

Kurenai looked at Asuma, opened her mouth, but then shook her head without saying anything, making Asuma even more confused. Kakashi simply chuckled and continued to oversee the exam.

———

Back in Academy Room 301, after 45 minutes, Ibiki's voice roared, a thunderous bang from his hand hitting the table. "Alright! Pencils down, maggots! Get ready for the tenth question!"

Naruto jolted awake from his nap. "Huh! What happened?" he asked, rubbing his eyes. He had genuinely fallen asleep.

Ibiki glared at him for a moment before a malicious grin spread across his face. His gaze swept around the room, settling on each Genin. "But before the tenth question, I'm going to add a very special rule." He paused for good few minutes, letting his words sink in, allowing the tense silence to build.

Naruto crossed his arms, leaning back on his seat, nodded. 'I didn't answer the first nine questions because I trusted Sensei, but I should answer this one, hmm!'

He then felt a soft nudge and turned to see Hinata, her cheeks flushed, looking at him. He asked, "What is it, Hinata?"

Flustered, Hinata said, "N-Naruto-kun, if you don't get your answers, y-you can look at my answers."

Naruto was taken aback. 'Huh? Why would she want to help me, especially when the main question is about to come?'

Then a deep voice sounded in his mindscape. Kurama spoke, "Aha, this type of speaking... I've seen many humans like this. It looks like this girl has something for you, Naruto."

Naruto turned to Kurama in his mindscape, a confused look on his face. "What do you mean by that? And I don't feel anything strange about it. From what I know, Hinata was always like this, a quiet and shy type."

Kurama gazed at Naruto with his red eyes. "You... you don't know why she is like that with you?"

Naruto tilted his head, making Kurama scoff and grin mysteriously before he laid down and started sleeping. Naruto was surprised and asked, "Hey, hey, at least tell me what you mean!" Seeing that Kurama was no longer speaking, Naruto sighed and returned back his focus to the outside world.

He said to Hinata, "Well, thank you, but there's no need. If any of the examiners notice, they might kick both of us out, and I wouldn't want you to pay for helping me!"

Hinata flushed even more, hiding her face. Meanwhile, Ibiki had clearly heard them, he has frowned yet his expression still unreadable. He shook his head and spoke in a loud voice. "The rule is simple. You can choose to leave right now, and your teammates have to go with you as well. But... if you decide to stay and take the tenth question, and also get it wrong, you fail, and so do your teammates. With this, none of you will ever be allowed the chance to get promoted. It's all or nothing!"

He paused, seeing many eyes locked on him in shock, horrified expressions on their faces. Some even voiced their complaints. "You can't be serious! That's ridiculous!!"

"And you're just a Leaf shinobi! How can you decide this for us from other villages!" The shouting spread throughout the room.