CH_81

"What you see—is it necessarily real?" The proctor stood at the podium, making no effort to stop the increasingly unrestrained discussions among the examinees.

"Could we have already been under a genjutsu before we even came in? I already felt something was off at the door." One examinee voiced his suspicion.

『A genjutsu barrier outside too?』 Tōji was a little speechless—he hadn't sensed a thing.

『If that's the case, then anyone who's good at seeing through genjutsu has a natural advantage.』

Pfft! Suddenly, a soft popping sound…

Tōji, along with most of the other examinees, turned toward the source of the noise—one examinee's test paper had just undergone a tiny explosion on his desk…

『A true talent—someone who can't even control their own chakra!』

"Uh… Proctor…" The poor guy awkwardly looked at the proctor, wanting to ask what he should do.

"You've already destroyed your test paper—why are you asking me?" The proctor seemed to have anticipated that there'd always be a few clumsy types like Naruto—though he had no idea who Naruto was.

"Oh, and by the way—the written exam scores are based on the total of all three members of a squad. At least the five lowest-scoring teams will be eliminated. Of course, if everyone gets zero, then all twenty teams are out." The proctor's tone gave Tōji a smug, almost gleeful vibe.

That poor guy, with tears streaming down his face, spoke in a sobbing voice, "So I've dragged my teammates down with me…"

Tōji watched the guy trudge out of the exam room dejectedly.

Nothing happened when he passed through the barrier. The proctor didn't react at all.

Tōji knew that Konoha's Chūnin Exams were often a game of wordplay…

『Examinees can't leave the room… so what about using clones?』

Suddenly, Tōji felt he'd found his own way to answer!

『Could I send clones to help Natchi and Neru with their answers too?』

Tōji suddenly realized this Chūnin Exam was actually quite lenient.

『The goal is probably just to weed out those who are too far from chūnin level.』

After some thought, Tōji stopped holding back and decisively used the 【Water Clone Technique】 and the 【Earth Clone Technique】, creating two solid clones.

Both were only C-rank techniques, each allowing only one clone at a time. To be safe, he used both.

Of course, the other examinees noticed Tōji's actions. Some whispered among themselves, while others openly played the role of "commentator."

"He knows two different chakra nature C-rank clone techniques!"

"What's he planning to do with two clones?"

"Just watch and see."

"Hey, you—what are you up to? Did you find a way to solve it?"

Tōji didn't want to show off, but if he wanted to get promoted, he had to do what needed to be done.

"The proctor said examinees can't leave the barrier. What if I stay inside myself, but send my two clones out to check the room number?" Tōji said this mainly to gauge the proctor's reaction.

"Haha—interesting." The proctor didn't hide his smile.

『Tacit approval.』

Tōji nodded to his two clones.

One of them cautiously walked to the edge of the barrier and reached a hand out—nothing happened.

The two clones exchanged a glance and nodded. Under the collective gaze of all the examinees, who had gradually fallen silent, one clone stepped out of the barrier…

Nothing happened!

The proctor said nothing, just wore a faint smile.

"Th-That works!" The examinees burst into discussion again, brainstorming ways to use their own methods to check the room number outside.

Tōji's other clone didn't hesitate any longer—it also stepped out of the exam room.

But Tōji's real body had no way of knowing what the clones saw or heard. All he could do was wait.