A/N: More information about the world's changes can be found at the beginning of the last chapter-this includes an explanation on the change of Sharingan to Sanzengan. Please refer to that chapter for information on the changes made. And now, on with the story!

The bags unfolded one by one, papers lying on the surface of the cart. Pencils sat at the top of the desks, lining the center and sides. The papers slid along the tables.

The groups cleared away.

I managed to send out a few clones… Ugh. Naruto swallowed. This is going to be an awful test!

The shinobi organized their desks.

"Naruto-kun…"

"Ah…" Hinata… That's unexpected. Naruto gulped. I didn't even see her.

"Let's do our best together…" Hinata pressed her fingers together.

"Yeah. Sure." Naruto swallowed.

"Number one… don't turn over your tests." Kakashi yawned as he held up the chalk. "Shutting up is probably a good idea. After all, I will NOT be repeating these rules. You might fail without having a clue what's going on… but that's up to you." The white chalk scribbled along the board.

Naruto swallowed.

"Look at the board if you have to remember after. Rule number one: Everyone starts off with ten points. Basically, you get ten points free if you have no answers wrong. That's nice, right~?" Kakashi remarked grinning. Kōju swallowed. "But, if you have all wrong answers, you get no points. Number two: passing or failing depends on the scores of your teammates, as compared to the others in the room. Your combined scores determine this matter."

Sasuke stood upright. "Sir… shouldn't it be a matter of comparison individually, so we know room for improvement?"

Kakashi yawned. "Guess the Uchiha clan isn't worth much these days. Or did you mishear me earlier? No questions."

Seething, Sasuke forced herself to sit back down.

"Rule number three. Those caught cheating will lose points automatically, two per offense."

Naruto gulped. I hope they remembered to shape-shift…

Several jōnin stared into the crowd ominously.

"Well, at any rate, that covers most of the basic rules."

"Kakashi-jii, you forgot one of them, didn't you?" Kōju remarked, waving her hand in the air.

Kakashi turned. His cheeks flushed slightly. "Well, since it's my beloved daughter, I'll answer the question. There is one other rule. Those that lose all of their initial points by the end of the test will be failed… along with their teammates."

Sasuke's hand tightened on the pen. The pen snapped in half after several seconds of applied pressure.

Naruto gulped. Uh-oh…

Hopefully he remembers what I said… Kōju stared down at the sheet.

"There are ten questions. The test takes sixty minutes. Get started." Yawning, Kakashi opened Come Come Paradise.

For Naruto-kun… Kōju rapidly scribbled along the page, filling in the bubbles. Creating clones after the fact is likely impossible. But there is one way for him to cheat and pass the test… namely… the brute force method! If Naruto has a hundred clones read through every book in the library, he'll likely be able to answer every question in the sheet simply by the variety of information he gathered. It's the same method we used to find this place… Brute forcing an algorithm will always give the right answer. The same is true here. I can answer it fine… the problem is Sasuke-chan…

Sasuke stared blankly at the sheet. Okay. I got nothing.

Gaara held out his hand. Sand spread from the arm.

Even if I cheat in a normal way… Wait. Sasuke's eyes widened. If I use my Sanzengan like that, I should be able to read it! Her eyes glistened. They mean for us to cheat, huh? I'll definitely overturn this system of theirs, for sure! Her hand tightened over her eye. Let's focus! Her eye flashed, staring through the chakra system ahead of her to the page.

Chinmoku folded his arms across his chest. His dark hair covered his face.

Is he already done? He's a tougher competitor than I thought… Gaara held out his arm. A sand eye formed over the papers. Still, he's behind me.

Gaara's getting started… Kankurō gritted his teeth. Here goes nothing. Karasu, take care of it…

The puppet rose to its feet.

Akamaru's eyes glinted. He barked quietly.

Good boy, Akamaru. Now for part two… Kiba smirked.

An examiner made a note, staring at Kiba.

Shino glanced at the small fly on his shoulder. Looks like she's using the same method…

A thin girl wearing round black sunglasses held out her arm. A large bee settled on the surface.

Lee's eyes flickered from page to page, studying the motions of the pens.

A smirk crossing her lips, Asahi adjusted her sword. The reflection danced onto the page. Here we go. Last two…

An examiner stared at Asahi. He quietly made a note.

Neji closed his eyes. Sanshigan! The eyes flashed blue. There we are. Someone who knows what he's doing. Let's have a look at his sheet…

Hinata closed her eyes, and then opened them again. Sanshigan!

An examiner made a note on the page.

The white-haired boy set down his pen quietly.

Ino closed her eyes. Her head slumped toward the desk.

The white-haired boy's body twitched briefly as his arms lifted, then fell to the page. His eyes widened. There we go. That looks like his answers…

Ino frowned. I see. This is the Mind Lotus Transfer Technique… It's my first time seeing it in action.

Roha clapped her hands together.

A nearby testing officer stopped motionless on the ground. "Eh?" He glanced upward. "Ah, well…" He sat down again after a moment.

For a moment or two, I can put this whole room under my illusion. It's not long but… I can look at someone else's answers quickly… Roha rapidly scribbled down answers from the page.

Naruto released the technique. His eyes widened. Squares and—okay! I got this! He scribed answers down rapidly on the page.

Hinata blinked. How did he learn that…?

Heh… this brute force algorithm thing is working great! Naruto's grin broadened.

"Who in here used the shadow clones at the library?!" one of the chūnin demanded.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

Naruto gulped. I should—wait. They said they don't know who it is. He lowered his hand slightly.

"Bastards… Are we still using that question, Kakashi-san?" the chūnin questioned. His body shook.

Kakashi grinned uncomfortably widely. "Yeah… Tenth question is still a go."

Naruto's eyes widened. Huh? What kind of tenth question…?

The clock ticked steadily onward.

"Okay, everybody. It's forty-five minutes past the hour… And the time has come." Kakashi clapped his hands together rapidly. "First off, everyone who failed, get out."

"Huh? How are we supposed to know…?" Naruto demanded.

"Multiple Shadow Clone Shuriken." A whirlwind ripped through the room. Kakashi hurled shuriken forward. Many genin gasped, blood running down their shirts. "Everyone who got wounded… get out. Everyone whose tests are still whole, stay here." Kakashi's eye narrowed. "The rest of you… It's time for the tenth question."

Naruto's eyes widened.

The testing site grew subdued.

Kakashi's chakra filled the air, a dense fog. "There are two little rules for this tenth question."

Naruto's brow dripped with sweat. Crap! I forgot about this question!

"Getting to this point… Well, it's commendable. But let me remind you of something important… Examiners. Please read your observations, will you?"

Observations?! Sasuke's eyes widened.

"Someone in row Fifty… Shadow clones. If we knew who the bastard was, he and his team would be out by now." The chūnin flipped over the page.

Naruto's face dripped with a sheet of sweat.

"Number Twenty-Five. Used bees to spy on other people's readings."

Shiba's mouth emitted a small squeak.

"Number Seventy-Three. Encompassed the entire room in a brief genjutsu."

Roha gulped heavily.

"Number Fifty-Nine. Used the Sanshigan to spy on another person's answers."

Hinata covered her mouth, her cheeks turning red.

"Number Twenty. Used a puppet to collect answers."

Kankurō's eyes widened.

"Yep." Kakashi yawned, leaning back in his chair. "Basically, we could continue, but we've made our point. For those we know the source of, we've already deducted points. For those we don't, we've made preparations to make sure it doesn't happen again… The final question will have a separate fifteen minute timer attached to it, starting when I finish explaining it. So, for this question, there are several additional rules. Being caught cheating results in the question being counted incorrect."

What does that matter? Sasuke wondered.

"Second, you must choose whether to take it or not."

"Eh? What happens if you choose not to?"

"Naturally…" Kakashi smiled. "You lose. You and your teammates are kicked out. But…" He raised a finger. "That's only the third rule. There's still one more to go. Listen till the end. The fourth rule states that if you choose to take it, and answer incorrectly, you will lose the right to take the chūnin exam ever again. You cannot become a chūnin if you answer it incorrectly."

Kiba's eyes widened. "What the hell? That's crazy!"

"Did I give you permission to question the rules?" Kakashi questioned distantly.

"There are people here from previous years!" Asahi barked.

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry… should that matter?" His eye narrowed. "I said it before, didn't I? I make the rules. Those who do not follow the rules are trash. If you don't follow my rules, I will fail you in an instant."

Six to seven people slowly raised their hands.

The teams exited the room, one by one, attrition rising. Terror spread through the ranks, the smell of fear growing through the groups.

I believe in myself… Naruto gritted his teeth. I won't give up! "I won't run, Kakashi-san!" He slammed his hand into the table.

A silence fell over the room.

Kakashi's eyes narrowed. "You are quite arrogant, aren't you?"

"It's not arrogance… I believe in myself and my teammates! I believe that we can make it through this test! I believe in them… and I believe in me. I'll take this test!"

Kakashi sighed quietly. "You were dead last in the academy. Am I wrong in my statement?"

Naruto stared at Kakashi silently.

"If you fail here, you will never become Hokage."

"Then why should I care?"

Kakashi blinked.

"If I can't succeed here, I'm not worthy of being Hokage!" Naruto's fist clenched.

Kakashi's lips curled upward. "Is that all?"

Clouds passed over the sun.

"Such a stupidly simple reason… Let's see." Kakashi paused. "Twenty-six teams remaining… None of you wants to consider your futures?" The chakra grew harsher, colder. "Remember, a chūnin's salary is capable of feeding a family. Do you want a home? A family?" Silence followed the question. "None of you?" Kakashi sighed. "Fine…" He walked over to the whiteboard. Picking up a piece of chalk, he wrote on the chalkboard. "Don't blame me."

"Huh?" What the hell kind of a reaction is that?! How bad is this question?! Kiba wondered, staring at the board.

"Oh, yeah. The ban on asking questions is lifted. Go ahead; ask away. Flip over your papers."

Naruto flipped over the page.

"Congratulations, you pass?! WHAT THE HELL?!" Asahi demanded.

"Good, you can read." Kakashi spun around in his chair. "Please sign the non-disclosure waiver at the bottom…"

"Eh?" Naruto swallowed heavily. "Uh… sensei… what exactly is going on?"

"The tenth question… was the only important question." Kakashi paused. "Any more than that, I can't explain… If you answered it, you should understand it by now."

"Believing in yourself. Am I incorrect?" the white-haired boy questioned, pushing his shattered glasses up on his nose.

"That is the meaning of the tenth question. The other nine questions tested information-gathering skills… You're correct, Kabuto-san." Kakashi reached sideways. "You had to hold up your team as a whole. Right?" He reached upward. "In the shinobi world, information is power. If you take only one lesson away from this exam, that's the only one you need to know. Those who defy the rules are worse than trash."

Sasuke's eyes widened.

The Sanzengan glinted in the left eye.

"At any rate, that's one thing… believing yourself is the other. Uncertainty, doubt—you cannot abandon your comrades. People like that are worse than trash." Kakashi paused. "That concludes the first round of testing. This year, it would appear that there are three rounds of selection… the best of each year shall be promoted swiftly, the worst denied. That is the case… Good luck."

The window exploded. Kakashi's eyes widened.

A figure rolled onto the ground. "All right, folks—Kakashi? This is going to require three play-off matches! THREE!"

Shards of glass slammed into the tables.

Kakashi shrugged. "We have three relatives of Kage in this one, not to mention my beloved daughter. What do you expect?"

The woman groaned, striking her forehead with two fingers. "Okay… Folks, I'm Mitarashi Anko. We're holding our next exam outside in Area Forty-Four… the Forest of Silence. There are two specific parts to this test. I'll explain them once we get there…"
Trial
The chain link fence rose forbiddingly over the forest. Iron walls barred in whatever lived there, ancient forest beast or monster.

Chinmoku looked upward. His brown eyes narrowed. "Interesting."

"Kay. The second test is going to consist of the following! Listen up!"