Written Exam (1)

Shinji pushed open the door, revealing the room where the first stage of the chuunin exam would be held. Inside, there were already a good number of teams inside – roughly seventy or so individual genin from a cursory count, give or take.

Cautious and piercing gazes from a large majority of the situated genin in the room slammed against Hinata and Shino, an unmistakeable tension filled the air, the result of a mixture of nervousness and stress from the other shinobi. Though they were skilled shinobi for their age, the two of them did not usually encounter such large numbers of shinobi packed in a single room together exuding tremendous pressure.

Needless to say, Shinji faced no such pressure. The [Gamer's Mind] skill ensured that he would never be influenced mentally, especially not from such feeble glares sent by even more inept genin. One had to understand that a large majority of the genin gathered here were not exactly the cream of the crop of their respective hidden villages. Only a few were nurtured talents with actual potential to climb the ranks, the rest just fodder sent to fill the numbers.

As such, Shinji had more than enough confidence to return those piercing gazes with his own defiant eyes, as though inviting the probing looks from them since it would make no difference anyway.

Although he could have also pretended to have been cowed by their glares, he did not find it necessary to act like a weakling. None of the gathered genin, save a rare particular few, posed any sort of danger to him. This was not conceit, but an objective estimation made from the previous reconnaissance he did when the foreign genin had been arriving at Konoha. If he was being fully honest, however, there also a certain degree of arrogance.

Shinji was fully aware of his own strength. This tended to happen when your entire being was quantified into numbers by the Gamer System. And when these numbers were put next to the rest of the genin in this room and compared objectively, it was simply a case of the strong bullying the weak.

He understood the intent of these looks. Ultimately, Team Ten looked too young!

In the context of the chuunin exam where only a lucky or skilled few could enter the final round, the competition for those precious few spots was intense. As a result, Shinji's team which looked so young and green was deemed as easy prey by the ambitious chuunin hopefuls.

Yet, despite their appearances, such thoughts were actually too naïve. Age, while a decent indicator of experience, could never be the sole measurement of actual strength. Just take a look at Gaara, for instance. He was young, and had a particularly small physique because he did not train his body. However, the Suna genin would still be able to slaughter this entire room full of weak genin with ease.

Of course, that was only because Gaara was the jinchuuriki for the Ichibi. But either way, those who underestimated him because of his age and size would be making an absolutely fatal mistake.

Which was also why most of the genin gathered in this room were only wannabe chuunin hopefuls, and not chuunin candidates with an actual, realistic chance of receiving a promotion.

The other participants thought it strange that this young, greenhorn genin could look so fearless when faced with so much pressure. Even stranger was the evaluative stare he returned them that also seemed as though he could see through all of their secrets.

Mentally, some of them changed their previous designation of Team Ten from 'easy prey' to 'need more info'. Of course, the rest were still foolish enough to judge a book by its cover, only looking at the surface without pondering what might lie deeper.

Shinji casted [Observe] on a large scale, taking in their information while standing upright in open confrontation of their calculative gazes. Gaara's team had arrived even earlier than his, located in a corner of the room with his siblings. They held little to no interest in his team, not even sparing a glance at their arrival.

However, there was one individual that had Shinji's blood freeze when he saw him.

[Shiore Lv 35]

HP: 7380/7380

CP: 8900/8900

Shiore is a genin from Kusagakure.

He has no opinion of you.

Shiore is weaker than you.

On the surface, the status of this Kusa genin was normal, albeit a little sparse in its data. And had Shinji not recognized the identity of this person, he would have thought little of him. But he did recognize him, and only solely from his memory of who this person actually was.

Orochimaru, the Snake Sannin.

His disguise was so perfect that even a MAX level [Observe] showed nothing out of the ordinary, with only the lack of a more complete profile being something unusual. The status even claimed that Shinji was stronger than him. What a joke.

Next to the disguised Orochimaru, the other two unfortunate Kusa genin had also been replaced with his men. Both were chuunin level Oto shinobi, as was revealed by [Observe]. It was apparent that their disguise wasn't as flawless as the Snake Sannin since [Observe] actually showed their real names and levels, not to mention pointing out the fact that they were currently in the service of Orochimaru.

It took every sheer ounce of Shinji's willpower and acting ability to conceal the deep seated fear and panic that erupted upon recognizing Orochimaru. Though it was only for a moment as [Gamer's Mind] immediately erased the extreme terror in his mind.

His fear was not unfounded. In a room full of genin stood a genuine Kage-level monster in human form, and that would be an understated, yet literal description of the fiend. And Shinji had too many secrets within his body Orochimaru would kill to get his hands on.

Unfortunately for him, however, at that moment Orochimaru glanced right at him.

'Fuck! Play it cool... Goddamn it me, act normal… Shit, what the fuck is normal!?' Shinji reminded himself, trying his best to feign nonchalance. Though his fear may have been expunged by [Gamer's Mind], he still found it difficult to pretend like the monster that was going to kill the Sandaime in the near future wasn't casually standing around in the same room as him.

The Snake Sannin's cold gaze took on a glint of interest upon catching sight of the raven haired boy a short distance away from him.

'Fufu, so that's the boy who killed Mizuki. Rookie of the Year who surpassed even the supposed last Uchiha? Interesting, interesting, interesting…' Orochimaru mused, appraising the boy with his keen eyes.

'Reports indicate that he is talented. For a civilian born orphan, that is. Good physique. Impressive, in fact, for his age. He might make for an adequate… vessel. Temporarily of course, until Sasuke-kun comes of age. Well, we shall see.'

Decades of experience allowed Orochimaru to immediately evaluate every single aspect of Shinji's existence with but a glance. He took note of the fact that there were no calluses on Shinji's palm, despite him being praised as a genius – an indication of a naturally talented but lazy shinobi. Yet reports indicate otherwise; that he was hard working as well. Though his proficiency in medical ninjutsu might be an answer to his lacking any scars and calluses that came with hard work and effort.

He also recognized Gai's green body suit that occasionally peaked out of Shinji's sleeves. He didn't hear that the boy was acquainted with that man, perhaps the genin look-alike then. Shinobi pouch strapped to the right side of his thigh and another one on the small of his back – right handed. Feigning indifference but clearly on edge. Oddly lacking in confidence even though he was recognized as the Rookie of the Year. How adorable.

Orochimaru wasn't a natural sensor, but he was comfortable enough in recognizing the approximate size of another's chakra capacity through other indicators, a skill he picked up from the years of experience in his chosen profession.

A sizable reserve, he observed. But absolutely dwarfed by the most interesting genin in the room as of now. At that, the Snake Sannin turned his attention back to a certain red-headed Suna shinobi, brooding silently in a corner.

Shinji could feel cold sweat damp against the green bodysuit he wore under his clothes as he silently and nondescriptly breathed out a sigh of relief when he noticed Orochimaru no longer staring at him. He could finally swallow the lump in his throat, suddenly noticing how dry his mouth felt.

How long might he be able to resist, Shinji wondered, if Orochimaru noticed something and decided to strike right then and there?

'A solid five minutes probably… if Orochimaru decided to play with his prey. Otherwise? I would be dead before I could even blink.' He helplessly conceded.

After being in this world for so many years, and despite being an official genin for just six months, Shinji already understood the massive distance between himself and the Snake Sannin. Being titled a Kage-level existence meant something – it was a symbol of dominance, of invincibility in the eyes of the weak. And currently, when compared to those monsters, Shinji was weak. A helpless mouse shivering in terror within the gaping maw of a titanic serpent that was Orochimaru.

'But that will change. The chuunin exams will be my turning point. This will be where I make the leap from being just a weakling to someone with the strength to resist against these monsters.' Shinji firmly resolved in his head.

With the immense pressure stemming from Orochimaru's gaze momentarily allayed, Shinji gestured to Hinata and Shino before making his way away from the door. Of the three Rookie 9 teams, his was the earliest to arrive. Though Team Eight followed not long after, consisting of Ino, Kiba and Chouji.

They exchanged boisterous greetings, celebrating their reunion with Ino immediately approaching Shinji with a bright smile.

"Shinji-kun! Oh my god, have we really not met since we graduated? How cruel of you to leave me alone with those two idiots for so long!" Ino remarked excitedly, while gesturing to an annoyed looking Kiba and Choji who was indifferent to the blatant slight. Clearly they were already used to the blonde's more abrasive but harmless ways.

As their two teams conversed, Shinji noticed that Ino was notably more subdued than how she behaved back in the Academy. While she still held on to a degree of her fangirl past when talking to him, it was definitely a lot more toned down than when they last met. Kurenai must have been a much needed positive influence on the girl, Shinji deduced, ridding her of her naïve and frankly silly behaviors.

Kiba did not change much, still the same loud mouthed kid who had ample confidence. Akamaru as well seemed to have not grown at all in the six months since Shinji last saw him. He mused what Kiba might have fed him during the future time skip for the ninken to have grown to such an unbelievable wolf like proportion.

The Inuzuka was at first glad to see familiar faces amidst a sea of hostile genin who saw them as competitors, but then turned angry.

"I heard your team have been training with Naruto's team. What the hell, Shinji! Why didn't you invite us!?"

Shinji blinked, feeling awkward at being called out. Though Team Ten and Team Seven regularly trained together, he intentionally left Team Eight out of those sessions. There were no complicated or malicious reasons for doing so. Because the only reason he trained with Team Seven was because Naruto and Sasuke were in it. Shinji helped Naruto because and he wanted to make up for letting the blonde fail Academy, while Sasuke was both a convenient way for him to access the Uchiha Clan Repository as well as someone he developed somewhat of a sense of kinship with.

He abashedly scratched the back of his head, "My bad, it wasn't personal or anything. It's just that I always used to train with Sasuke when we were academy students, so when we became genin it just became more convenient for our teams to train together instead. Y'know, since we both had rather different schedules. And we thought having to arrange two teams schedule for inter team training was already tough enough, adding a third would have been too complicated. Sorry!"