Chapter 102: The Video That Predicts the Future

【The video begins to play】

The scene slowly appears,

inside a classroom, ninjas from various nations are sitting, with test papers placed on the desks.

……

Outside the arena,

Asuma's heart tightens, his gaze burning as he watches Uzumaki Naruto—or more accurately, as he watches the Golden Critical Hit reward.

Up until now,

the Mist and the Dawn Organization, who obtained Family Tokens at auction, have made no moves to establish a family; after all, the Silver Heart is too rare, making it very difficult to gather, and the merchants are holding out for a better price.

However, according to Asuma's deduction, it is likely that both factions will soon establish their families.

He had already given up hope of being in the first batch to establish a family with his own inferior token, but he never expected Naruto to bring such a surprise.

If the answer is correct, the conditions for activating the Family Token could be met; could Konoha actually become the first faction to establish a family?

"You must answer correctly!"

Asuma watches the video with total concentration.

"It's the Silver Material for activating the Family Token, five hearts, they can sell for a six-figure sum of Reward Points!"

The surrounding players fall into a frenzy,

their jealous gazes looking as if they want to devour Uzumaki Naruto alive.

Everyone paid the same five-hundred Reward Point entry fee, so why are you so special?

"Don't worry, didn't the game merchant say that if the yellow-haired brat answers incorrectly, we can answer too?"

A player comforts themselves.

They pray in their hearts that the yellow-haired brat, who looks dull and foolish, absolutely does not answer correctly.

The video continues to play,

the scene outside the window flashes by, but sharp-eyed players still see the Hokage Rock, carved with four human face sculptures.

Subsequently, Morino Ibiki's scar-covered face appears,

and he begins to describe the rules for the first round of the Chunin Exams, the written test.

"Chunin Exams?"

"Isn't that what we are currently participating in, the Konoha Chunin Exams? What time period is this in the footage?"

Even the five Shadows in the viewing gallery show expressions of curiosity.

Especially,

when the video plays Uzumaki Naruto with a face full of agony, looking like he has a stomach ache and is waiting for the restroom, sitting in the exam hall in torment, they feel even stranger.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, however, thinks of what happened that night in the Death Forest and shows a look of sudden realization.

Terumi Mei shows a look of curiosity and asks: "Hokage, do you understand the situation?"

Raikage Ai does not speak, but shifts his body slightly, turning his ear toward Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Do you have some unspeakable secret, Hokage?"

Onoki looks up, measuring the massive body of the game merchant.

Even he, who has witnessed Susanoo with his own eyes, feels that the former is like a weak chick in front of the game merchant.

"If the game merchant had not appeared in the Ninja World, this would likely be the original trajectory of the Ninja World..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi thinks for a moment and does not hide this information.

Once the video finishes playing, or if two more videos appear later, these clear-headed Shadows will soon figure it out anyway.

There is no need to hide it.

After hearing his words, the Shadows fall into silence.

"This kind of thing... predicting the future?"

Terumi Mei looks solemnly at the game merchant,

which means that the Golden Critical Hit can not only obtain rewards but also reveal the future of the Ninja World through videos.

Although the landscape of the Ninja World has already changed since the game merchant descended, there is still important intelligence to be gained.

Thinking of this,

Terumi Mei watches the video with even greater focus.

The footage plays the candidates' appearances one after another, until it finally freezes, and the question to be answered appears.

【Question: Candidate Uzumaki Naruto, by what means did he complete the exam?】

At this moment,

a countdown appears in Uzumaki Naruto's grid; he has two minutes to state the answer to this question.

"Huh?"

Naruto blinks blankly; is the video over already?

He never expected the video to play content related to himself; did the Chunin Exams actually require a written test?

Watching Naruto standing there in a daze, Sasuke says with a face full of anxiety: "Answer quickly, there's almost no time left!"

But his voice is blocked and cannot reach Naruto's ears at all.

【Outside Assistance: 50 Reward Points】

【Hint: 50 Reward Points】

"I choose outside assistance, Sasuke Uchiha!"

Naruto chooses to spend 50 Reward Points without hesitation to request outside assistance.

He knows exactly what he is capable of; he is completely clueless about questions involving observation skills.

Hum.

The square where Sasuke stood instantly expanded, becoming the focus of everyone's gaze.

It was likewise a two-minute countdown.

"You big idiot, the video shows Morino Ibiki as the proctor; perhaps he knows the crux of the problem. Did you get water in your brain by choosing me for outside assistance?"

Sasuke twitched the corner of his mouth, unable to judge Uzumaki Naruto's thick-headed train of thought.

He furrowed his brows tightly, pondering the possible answer.

"I will pass the answer to Naruto."

In the end, Sasuke came up with this answer.

The exam rules played in the video stated that if one person gave up, the entire ninja squad would be considered to have failed. With Naruto's brain, he definitely wouldn't be able to answer, so if he himself wanted to pass the exam, there was a high probability he would pass the answer to Naruto.

【Answer incorrect. Golden Critical Hit changed to an open question. Everyone can answer, each person has one chance.】

"Nara Shikaku, can you think of the answer?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen, on the spectator stand, asked Nara Shikaku, who was serving as the guard captain on the level below his feet.

Although Nara Shikaku had developed a slight, faint rift with the Hokage because of Danzou's affairs, they were, after all, an allied family dating back to the Sengoku period, so they were still considered close.

Known as the brains of Konoha, Nara Shikaku closed his eyes, and after pondering, said: "When the video was playing, it lingered on the exam paper for two seconds. I feel there should be some hidden meaning..."

"Hidden meaning?"

The Shadows could all hear Nara Shikaku's analysis and revealed thoughtful expressions.

Finally, Nara Shikaku said earnestly: "It is the difficulty. The questions on the exam paper are too hard for Genin; they are impossible to answer. Connecting this to Morino Ibiki's usual interrogation mindset, if he is serving as the proctor, I fear this exam is not simply about answering knowledge-based questions, but rather a test of cheating methods—that is, the ability to gather information."

The players were anxious inside, fearing they would be beaten to the punch by others, yet also afraid of answering incorrectly.

Fifty Reward Points per attempt.

If they answered correctly, they could obtain a ten-thousand-fold grand prize; even the Shadows could not sit still.

"Kekkei Genkai, the yellow-haired brat has a Kekkei Genkai related to peeping!"

【Answer incorrect】

"Yellow hair? So that's it... it's Mind Transfer Jutsu!"

【Answer incorrect】

Hundreds of "Answer incorrect" notifications made the players scratch their heads in anxiety.

In the blink of an eye, thousands more Reward Points were banked.

After pondering for a moment, Onoki whispered a few words to his personal guard.

Earth Style: Earth Mole.

A burst of light dust dispersed, revealing a crawling spider the size of a fingernail, formed entirely of sand and gravel, which crawled along the wall of the Duel arena toward the inside.

At an extremely fast speed, it crawled up Kurotsuchi's fair thigh.

After receiving the information, Kurotsuchi revealed a look of realization and answered: "Uzumaki Naruto did not pass the exam."

All the players were answering with methods to pass the exam; perhaps that was the trap of this question?

Looking at the somewhat dazed and foolish appearance of Uzumaki Naruto in the video, perhaps he didn't pass the exam at all.

As expected of Grandpa Onoki.

(End of chapter)