CH_80

"Quiet!" As soon as the barrier surrounded the room, all nine examinees started whispering among themselves. The proctor had to speak up to stop them.

"Proctor—what's going on here?" asked a male examinee who looked about fifteen or sixteen.

"Everyone, settle down and listen." The proctor clapped his hands. "The main function of this barrier is soundproofing. The exam rules are simple: no fighting with anyone, and no leaving the barrier."

"Why are there only nine of us?" A female examinee also asked.

That was also Tōji's question. 『Did the other eleven drop out?』

"I said, let me finish." The proctor pushed a little chakra into his voice, making himself more imposing. "The number of examinees present was never fixed. There are so many exam rooms—who knows which one everyone went to?"

"…" The examinees exchanged glances.

『Aren't there only three rooms?』 Tōji started thinking about what kind of twist this written exam was hiding.

"Come get your test papers!" The proctor held out a stack of blank papers…

All nine examinees—including Tōji—chose to obediently take a sheet.

"Blank paper?" The ones who got their papers first were already questioning it.

"This is your test paper. Whether you score any points depends on your own skills. I will not give any further hints. Time limit: 30 minutes. Anyone who steps out of the barrier is disqualified. Anyone who fights inside the barrier will be thrown out the window by me!" The proctor's presence suddenly felt much more intimidating than before.

The more timid ones even broke out in cold sweat.

『This guy—he's using chakra to intimidate people just by talking.』 Tōji complained internally.

He took the so-called test paper and returned to his seat to study what secrets the "blank paper" held.

"This should be some kind of encryption technique—if we try to make the original text appear, it should show up." Suddenly, a female examinee sitting to Tōji's front-right—the talkative one—gave everyone a "lesson."

With that, she was the first to inject chakra into her paper under everyone's watchful eyes…

Tōji wasn't in a hurry to work on his paper—he watched her performance first. 『Is it some kind of barrier, seal, or genjutsu?』

『There's always someone who likes to show off—good!』 Tōji thought.

Under the influence of chakra, text actually began to appear on the female examinee's "blank paper."

"It works!" The female examinee looked around, as if basking in everyone's "admiration."

『A small-scale genjutsu seal?』 Tōji guessed, and tried using chakra to interfere.

『Got it—no difficulty at all… Looks like that's not the real challenge.』 Tōji began reading the questions on the paper…

In the top right corner was a small character: "Yellow."

The first line read: "Examinee's Name_____"

The second line: "Your exam room number_______ (20 points)"

The third line: "Name of the teammate who drew the red ball_____"

The fourth line: "Your red-ball teammate's exam room number_______ (40 points)"

The fifth line: "Name of the teammate who drew the blue ball_____"

The sixth line: "Your blue-ball teammate's exam room number_______ (40 points)"

『Just six lines…』

Tōji needed a moment to sort things out. 『The test is asking each examinee to write down which exam room each of their three squad members is in.』

『Do the rooms have numbers?』

Tōji looked around carefully—there was nothing in the room that could be considered a room number.

『Could it be outside the door? That's why we're not allowed to leave the barrier…』 Tōji was starting to understand what the exam was testing.

"There's no room number in here! Proctor—are you sure you didn't miss something?" The fifteen- or sixteen-year-old male examinee questioned.