Amaya's paper was missing, but she had a feeling that it wasn't– not really.
She had picked up on something the Yamanaka gave them to work with.
It was a small hint, but anyone studying ninjutsu knew that any and all replacement, movement, or borderline teleportation technique had a sign. A puff of smoke, a shower of leaves, something should have been there. Combined with the fact that she had to look for her paper–
'Genjutsu? Damn, she's good. Usually, I'd have noticed...'
"Kai!" Amaya mumbled, flaring her chakra.
She looked down and noticed a paper. Flipping it over, she saw Minato's name on it instead of hers.
'Not this, too. I can't move and Chunins are everywhere... Oh! I can cast a genjutsu on the Chunin and use my shadow to pass the paper to Minato. He must have Hajime's– it doesn't make sense otherwise. But first, are Minato and Hajime out of the Genjutsu?'
Amaya closed her eyes and focused on the buzzing chakra in the room. Now that she was really focusing, she could notice the faint hints of Yamanaka Minori's chakra affecting the brains of the people around her. Thankfully, Minato and Hajime were free of the Genjutsu.
Suppressing a sigh of relief, Amaya pretended to drop her pencil under her desk. Bending down, she put her hands in snake, casting a double layered Genjutsu over herself to make it seem like she was doing a test paper on her desk.
Amaya slipped her paper onto the ground and put her fingers into the rat seal. She lifted it like she had practiced for the Shadow Strangle Jutsu and allowed her shadow wrap itself around her paper. The shadow connected with the ones that the desks and Genins were casting, silently making its way for Minato. Amaya made the shadow drop his test paper under his desk and then tug on Minato's ankle. Trusting that the shadow was Amaya's, he rested his chin on his right wrist and quickly switched out Hajime's paper for the one that Amaya's shadow was holding up under his desk. The shadow repeated the process for Hajime and then brought Amaya her paper.
'Finally. Now, for the actual test...'
Amaya scanned the paper, only to have to resist the urge to groan.
'These questions... Any regular Genin wouldn't be able to answer them. Well, now I'm glad that I taught Minato and Hajime more than the basic math the Academy covers. But, the medical ones and the ones about which herbs are poisonous... well, luckily it's only twenty points? If Minato and Hajime get five each, we should pass. I can't possess them long enough to write all the right answers, and if the wrote the questions in a different order for each person well...'
Amaya spent the remaining half hour answering all the questions to the best of her ability. She was finishing off her last question when Yamanaka walked out of the wall.
'Stupid genjutsu... Kai!'
She noticed that Minori had actually Body-Flickered into the room.
Suddenly half the room stood up.
Minori put her hands into the Rat hand seal. "All of you standing up, you and your teams fail."
"B–"
"If you couldn't even break out of my Genjutsu, you don't deserve to be a Chunin," Minori snarled.
Over half the room left.
Noticing the smiling faces of the rest of the Genin, Minori scowled. "We aren't done here, brats. There's another question I have for you. You can choose whether you want to answer it or not."
"What happens if we don't answer?" a Sand Genin asked.
"Well, your entire team just failed this exam."
"Then it's not really a choice, is it?" the Genin muttered under his breath.
"Ooh, I like you, brat. Now, only one member of your team can answer this question. If this person gets it right, congrats, the whole team passes. If you get this wrong, your entire team fails and you will never be able to take the Chunin Exams again. Ever. If that's too much for you, raise your hand and you and your team will be disqualified. There's no shame in trying again next time. A Chunin must know when to make a tactical retreat, after all."
Amaya bit her lip and hoped to god that Hajime or Minato didn't raise their hands. She had a feeling that the Yamanaka was testing their resolve. Maybe the team's trust in each other. Perhaps even loyalty. She knew for sure that this was a test.
"I– I'm sorry, guys, I can't do this," a Genin said, standing up.
"Team 4 of Konohagakure, fail!" a Chunin announced.
That cracked the dam.
The others were no longer afraid to raise their hands, and soon, over half the applicants were gone.
"Anyone else?" the Yamanaka asked. "No? Well then, congrats, brats! You pass!"
'Three... Two... One...'
There was an uproar.
"What about the tenth question?" a Suna Genin asked.
"That was the tenth question," the proctor grinned. "It was to test your trust in your team and to see if you would abandon them. If you were a given a mission as a Chunin that was too scary for you poor itty bitty souls could you refuse? No! As a Chunin, it will be your job to lead your team into danger. You should be able to suck it up and do your best to bring them back! Your squad will rely on you, and you in turn should be able to rely on them!"
"Were the other questions pointless then?"
Yamanaka scoffed. "No. Those were to test your intel gathering skills. If you're caught, then obviously you don't have the skills to be made Chunin."
"What about the Genjutsu?"
"Tch, I gave you an obvious hint, if you couldn't get it, then you aren't ready to be here. Alright, your next proctor should be here ri-"
A man with gravity-defying hair walked into the room.
"-ght now." Yamanaka finished.
"Ah, thank you, Minori-san," the man smiled. "I am Hatake Sakumo and I will be the proctor of the second round."