Path to Chuunin Part 1: Written Exam - Sato Hibiki

Rank C mission: Path to Chuunin Part1: Written exam

Hibiki had woken early to check over his ninja tools, Jorogumo and even polished his headband in preparation for his first step towards promotion to Chuunin. Hibiki had no illusions that it would be a long journey, but the written exam was aa important and essential first step on his journey to a higher rank, higher pay and greater respect and responsibility within the village. His family had finally accepted and begun to see the value in the path he had chosen and so he walked proudly downstairs to grab his breakfast and say goodbye to his mum, who waved him and wished him luck. He headed quickly to the examination area, leaping from rooftop to roof top to avoid the pedestrian traffic in the streets below.

He entered the examination hall and listened intently as the test papers were handed out, nervously twitching his toes to avoid tapping his fingers and lamenting that he chose not to take a selection of tooth picks or grass stalks in with him.  The examination rules were provided, and the test began. Hibiki flipped over the examination paper and read the questions before him, considering his answers, and filling them in carefully and giving great thought as to the answers he not only felt were correct to the examiner but also true to himself. The first section of the test comprised of 10 questions seemingly designed to test basic knowledge of the village’s culture and ideal as well as the shinobi’s own personal beliefs and understanding of what it meant to be a ninja.

1. Why did you become a shinobi?
I became a shinobi in order to help the village and to prove that anyone could become great, even those that were not born into the ninja clans or possessed special abilities or bloodlines from birth. It was also my intention to protect my family and I dream of one day travelling the world. Growing up in an inn relatively near the gates of the village I heard many wonders and tales from the world outside and hope that as a ninja I will be able to see many wonders for myself whilst on missions. It seemed an ideal opportunity to not only fulfil my dreams but to make the village and my family safer for my missions and travels.

2. If you weren’t a shinobi what would you be?
I would likely have tried to become either a merchant or performer. This would allow me to travel and I have always enjoyed the performing arts. If I was successful enough I could even draw crowds to the inn and my family could also benefit from my success and my parents could retire early and hire staff to work the inn.

3. What are your morals and values?
I feel it is important to be strong, independent and self sufficient and that it is also important to aid my family, friends and village as a whole. If I can become strong enough then I can protect everything that matters to me and share my successes with my village. I also feel that honesty amongst friends is important and I do not enjoy needless killing but accept that performing necessary evils are part of a Shinobi’s duty. Sometimes the needs of the many outweigh the desires of the individuals. Money is important to me as it can help my family business grow and ensure that my parents will be comfortable when they are old. Also it really helps to buy more ninja gear and even purchasing materials for puppets or potions can be expensive.

4. What are your strengths and weaknesses and how/where can you improve?
I feel my greatest strength is my versatility, with my puppetry skills I hope to develop new and unique techniques that will allow me to quickly adapt to any situation or fill any weaknesses within a team. Once I am able to use multiple puppets at once I might even be able to fufil the role of a small team alone. I have also been able to develop a wide array of jutsu and I have a keen interest in medical ninjutsu which will also be very handy if team mates are ever wounded in battle. My biggest weakness is probably my physical strength and taijutsu skills as my specialties allow me to lean heavily on my puppets for close combat fighting but I am quick enough to be able to dash away from most sticky situations. Close combat ability has been a big weakness and so I am considering studying weaponry to take advantage of my natural speed and hope to study some of the techniques our village is famous for. If I can trick my opponent to thinking I dislike close quarters fighting then I can also potential catch them unaware.

5. Who are the gods that are worshipped in Kumogakure?
The gods are Raijin the thunder god and Fujin the wind god and through our offerings they protect the village and inspire many of our unique techniques and jutsu.

6. What is Kumogakure’sphilosophy
Kumogakure’s philosophy is to face opponents head on, stand resolute and show determination in the face of danger. To crush our foes beneath the force of Raijins thunder and Fujins gales as we forge a path to be the greatest hidden village with our own strength. Our motto is Thunderous Might, Lightnings resilience for a reason!  

7. You were discovered by the enemy and risk failing your mission, will you run/ fight or surrender?
Depending on the situation I would first try to distract the enemy and flee if I was alone, setting an ambush to try and whittle down the enemy number and weaken morale in case I had no choice but to commit to a fight. If I was with a team I would try to draw any enemies away, transforming my puppets to look like my team mates and buy time for my allies to escape. If I held secrets that put the village in danger, then surrender would not be an option and I would do my utmost to go down fighting.

8. You are leading a team of inexperienced Genin on a dangerous mission. Trying to complete it also means risking getting everyone killed, what do you do?
If would do my best to protect the Genin and explain the importance of the mission. If I felt the mission was too dangerous for them to proceed I would send them back and try to complete the mission myself or weigh the importance of the mission against the risk to their lives. I don’t think genin should be sacrificed needlessly like pawns on a chessboard. Not when each has the potential to be a great asset to the village one day. Ultimately the decision would be made based on the importance of the mission. If the mission was vital to the village then it is unlikely i would take a team of genin in the first place.

9. Two complete strangers are about to die, you can only save one. What are the options you can take and who will you save?
It would depend on whether it would affect my missions firstly, if I am undercover then it would be best not to reveal any of my skills. If I felt it was safe to do and that there was not some kind of trap or ambush,  I would try to heal them with my medical jutsu and pick the one that looks to have the best chance of survival before attending the other stranger. If we were near a village or town, I would take the bodies there and request they take care of them. If I was far from civilisation I might take the time to bury them if time and the mission allowed.

10. If you could choose your own destiny, where would you end up?
I would choose to be a world famous jonin and master puppet maker and teach my puppetry arts to selected students, hopefully inspiring them to create their own unique puppets and techniques that could help elevate the village. Eventually I would also like to create a loose clan of my own to had down my skills and techniques to the younger generations as I remain in the village, ready to defend it against threats if required.

Hibiki paused and placed his pencil down, reviewing his answers briefly before proceeding. He had answered honestly and simply hoped his answers would be acceptable to the examiner. If they didn’t like him due to his personality then there would be little he could do to let him proceed. At least nothing in the near future and Hibiki was uncertain if he wanted to change who he was fundamentally, even to become a chuunin.
Hibiki considered the scenario question in front of him and imagined how he would react in the scenario as described.

Scenario 1:
Hibiki had taken his time scouting the area ahead using various transformation technique forms to scout the area from a distance before heading closer. He had been instructed to infiltrate a bandit group that was believed to have been hiding or supplying information to a number of missing nin as they passed through the area. Hibiki had been watching one particular individual that was part of the group covertly, memorising his route. The ruffian seemed content to wander further from the hideout and generally seemed to be ordered about by the others. This suited Hibiki perfectly as they were unlikely to question their lackey too much so long as he followed orders. Hibiki waited in the tops of the trees with Jorogumo ready and perched in the boughs of the tree.

Hibiki used ventriloquism to mimic the targets voice from above, pausing him to pause and look up as Jorogumo revealed its multiple arms and with several swift hand movements extended them outwards to capture the bandit and drag it into the trees. Hibiki weaved another shape with his fingers and allowed the paralysis poison to be expelled from Jorogumo’s mouth as a heavy gas that knocked out his target. Hibiki spent a few minutes checking the body for blemishes, scars and scents to ensure his transformation was as close as possible. Hibiki had already studied his speech patterns and movements and so was confident in his approach. Hibiki killed the bandit swiftly and disposed of the body with the storage displacement jutsu before also re-stocking Jorogumo’s gas chamber and returning the puppet into storage displacement as well. He changed into the bandits closed and grimaced at the smell and coarseness of the clothing before completing his transformation technique and filling into he previously too large clothes and wandering back to the bandits hideout, slipping into the mannerisms and testing the speech of the bandit so as to infiltrate the group effectively.

Scenario 2:
Hibiki quickly realised that some of the questions were beyond on his ability but he was determined to succeed whatever the cost. He noticed the examinee to his right seemed to be answering the questions with little difficulty but tried hard to sneak a peek. To simply lean over and look would be obvious, and he dreaded to think what the punishment for getting caught cheating would be. He scractehd at his neck where his forehead protecter rested as though it was bothering him. After a few more minutes he removed the protector with a loud yet hushed sigh, as though relieved he had taken it off. He placed it on the table and shifted it carefully, its freshly polished metal acting as a n impromptu mirror. He shifted the forehead protector until he could just read the reflected answers and began swiftly deciphering what the corresponding answers should be and writing them down carefully to try and avoid any obvious mistakes. Hibiki chose to make a few small minor misspelling or mistakes to prevent his answers being questioned too much.

Frustratingly it seemed the examinee to his right was also getting stuck on the last questions. He spotted another examinee two rows down that appeared to be writing quickly and effortlessly. Hibiki took a deep breath and placed his hands beneath the table making the signs of Rat and Dog to activate storage displacement and withdraw a piece of paper as he strained his eyes to read the top half of the his targets exam. Satisfied he cast transformation jutsu on the blank paper to copy the targets answers on the visible section of the exam and the blank questions before attaching his chakra strings. He controlled the paper smoothly, allowing it to glide a few mm above the floor beneath the desks until it was in position right by his target.

Hibiki threw his voice using Puppet Art: Ventriloquism to make the voice of the head examiner appear just to the left of his targets ear, asking if he could face him a moment. In that instant Hibiki slid the copied paper over his targets exam and waited for him to complete the answers after his bout of confusion passed. Time began to run out and so Hibiki attached a chakra string to the end of the targets pen, yanking it to the ground and whipping the page over the targets head as he bent down to retrieve it. Hibiki dragged the answer to his lap and began frantically writing them down, ignoring the shout of alarm from his fellow examinee and the curt order to remain silent from a nearby examiner. Hibiki felt bad for the other student but he wasn’t about to miss his chance to succeed. A timer beeped and the class were ordered to put their pens down.

Hibiki’s target had gone straight to the examiner to complain as Hibiki walked passed him and handed in his exam, eager to leave the room quickly.

[Exit]

2,319 WC

Claiming mission rewards:
- 8,000 Ryo (x2 for Beloved Presence)
- 40 AP (x2 for Beloved Presence)

Claiming Stats:
+23 Speed

Claiming WC: 2,319/2,319
- 248 wc to complete (incomplete)Puppet Art: Puppet Transformation Technique - 500/500 - 246/2319 wc
- 2000 wc for Apothecary Skill - 2248/2319 wc
- 71 wc towards (Incomplete) Sealing Art: Dark River Breaking Seal (B - Rank) - 71/1750 - 2319/2319 wc