Perception turned out to be the hardest thing to measure.
After thinking it over, Chiba Shun came up with a method. The student would be blindfolded and led into a sealed, pitch-black room, then asked to determine how much chakra was present inside, how strong it was, and where it was located.
The plan itself was simple enough. A dark room could be created with Earth Release. Chakra sources were easy too; students, genin, chunin, and jonin could take turns stepping in to act as targets.
The real headache was the final category - intelligence.
There was no clean standard for testing that.
After all, the educational level of the children being examined was still very low, especially those who had not even formally entered school yet. Some of them might show promise in actual combat, but in terms of theory, they were almost blank slates.
So what exactly should be tested? And how far should the questions go?
The exam definitely could not be as difficult as the written portion of the Chunin Exams from the original story. If he did that, almost everyone would get a zero. As the person setting the test, Chiba Shun had to make sure the scores actually reflected tiers instead of flattening everyone into the same useless result.
After three full days of preparation, the Ninja Academy officially began its first academy-wide comprehensive talent examination.
Every child aged four and above had to participate.
Before the students took the test, Chiba Shun had several chunin demonstrate the full process first.
Only then did everyone realize just how brutal the standards were.
By the time the chunin finished, there was sweat on all of their foreheads. In many categories, they had scored straight zeros. Even in the areas they were best at, not one of them had managed a perfect ten.
That demonstration alone was enough to leave the students whispering nervously among themselves.
Once it was over, the real testing began in order.
The Ninja Academy had originally housed over five thousand students. This time, however, the Third Raikage had directly stuffed more than a thousand children with good bloodlines or obvious talent into it.
At the same time, the Raikage's new policy had made the entire village understand just how important the academy had become in the eyes of the higher-ups.
As a result, families across the village sent in another huge wave of children.
This newest batch alone exceeded two thousand. Of course, their average age was lower.
By the time everything was counted, the total number of students at the Ninja Academy had surged to nine thousand.
When the Third Raikage glanced at the sample scores from the chunin demonstration, his brows drew together.
"Shun, isn't this standard too high?" he asked.
Chiba Shun replied calmly, "Lord Raikage, this standard isn't only for testing students. It can also be used to test genin, chunin, and even jonin."
"I've already tested myself. These are my own numbers."
With that, he handed over his sheet.
"Roughly speaking, a score between 2.0 and 4.9 corresponds to genin level. A score from 5.0 to 7.9 is around chunin level. If someone scores 8.0 or above in a category, then in that field, they're already at jonin level."
"As for a perfect ten, that means they have reached the average standard of a jonin in that area. For a student at the Ninja Academy, that would absolutely count as genius-tier talent."
The Third Raikage looked down at the sheet.
Hand seals: 9.1.
Among jonin, Chiba Shun's hand-seal speed was already considered extremely fast. The only reason he did not give himself a full score was because he remembered that, in the original story, some monsters could perform six seals per second. Since he had defined the average jonin standard at five seals per second, his own score settled at 9.1. His fastest bursts had already reached that benchmark, but his sustained average still fell slightly short.
Taijutsu: 5.2.
A jonin average was set at ten. Chiba Shun's taijutsu, meanwhile, could only be called middling among chunin. He gave himself 5.2 with no hesitation.
Ninjutsu: 9.7.
This was his strongest field. In truth, his level had already reached the average standard of a jonin. The only reason he did not score himself a full ten was that he performed poorly in a few subcategories, such as the development and innovation of jutsu.
Genjutsu: 6.8.
He still had not mastered an A-rank illusion, so even though he was far from weak, he judged himself to be sitting firmly in the chunin range.
Swordsmanship: 6.3.
He had fully mastered the Four-Sword Style. Among chunin, that already counted as very good.
Hidden weapons: 2.9.
Before this, he had rarely trained with concealed weapons. The reason was simple - it was too expensive. So his score in that category was pitiful.
Actual combat: 3.6.
Strictly speaking, it should not have been that low. But during the test, Yotsuki Ai had deliberately gone all out, turning what should have been an evaluation into a beating. As a result, Chiba Shun's actual combat score fell below even the ordinary chunin threshold.
Chakra control: 8.0.
He had always had a decent foundation in this area, though not an overwhelmingly outstanding one. Most of it came from hard practice. Because his chakra reserves had been too low in the past, he had not been able to repeat some of the training often enough, but recently his control had improved sharply thanks to genjutsu training and Maki Uzumaki's guidance in sensory techniques.
Medical skill: 0.7.
He only knew the most basic emergency bandaging, and when he let the medical ninja instructors at the academy evaluate him, they had criticized him mercilessly.
Sealing: 0.
He had never formally studied sealing techniques.
Perception: 6.7.
On paper, that did not look very impressive. In reality, very few jonin in the entire Hidden Cloud Village could score higher than that. The only reason the standard looked so high was that Chiba Shun had made the mistake of using Uzumaki Maki as the benchmark. Compared with Maki's monstrous sensory talent, his own performance looked ordinary.
And then there was the last category.
Intelligence: 10.
Since Chiba Shun was both the person setting the test and the one grading it, his intelligence score on his own sheet was, naturally, a perfect ten.
After reviewing it, the Third Raikage compared Chiba Shun's scores with those of the chunin and slowly nodded.
The standard was harsh, yes, but it was reasonable. More importantly, it could be used village-wide.
Then Chiba Shun handed over another sheet.
The Third Raikage glanced at it and discovered that it belonged to his son, Yotsuki Ai.
He did not care much about the rest. What immediately caught his eye was the score in the final category.
Intelligence: 4.9.
At that very moment, Yotsuki Ai, who was standing nearby, nearly exploded.
That score of 4.9 was also the direct reason Chiba Shun's actual combat result had been driven all the way down to 3.6.
Ai had been convinced Shun was targeting him. So when the practical combat assessment came around, he personally stepped into the arena and activated his Lightning Release Stimulation Technique right there during the evaluation.
Now, seeing his own report card end up in his father's hands, he wanted to vomit blood.
"Damn it!" he roared internally. "I already tore that thing up! Why did Chiba Shun make another copy?"
But when the Third Raikage looked over, Yotsuki Ai immediately shrank back and stopped making noise.
There were simply too many students.
The testing process lasted four full days.
When it was finally over, Chiba Shun and the others reorganized the academy based on the results.
In the end, they established four elite classes - one each for ages five, six, seven, and eight.
Once the first wave of academy-trained prodigies reached the age of nine, they would open an elite class for nine-year-olds as well.
As for children aged four and under, after discussing it carefully, they chose not to create an elite class for them yet.
At that age, the scores were too unreliable. A four-year-old child's results simply did not mean much.
What surprised the Third Raikage the most was that the test uncovered a number of geniuses who had previously gone unnoticed.
For instance, Hayato scored a perfect 10 in chakra control.
Even Chiba Shun, now a jonin, had only scored 8.0. Yet Hayato - a child who was not even a genin - had received a full ten.
When the Third Raikage saw that result, everyone present felt a genuine wave of regret.
Because mastering Lightning Release Chakra Mode required extremely high chakra control.
Unfortunately, Hayato's chakra reserves were far too low. So low, in fact, that almost no one believed he was worth cultivating in earnest.
Chiba Shun had wanted to push him into an elite class by force. But the other three - including Yotsuki Ai - refused, so in the end he had no choice but to let it go.
Then there was another child with exceptional hidden-weapon talent.
The boy's kunai-throwing skill was so sharp it almost resembled some of the Uchiha clan's famed techniques.
Unfortunately, he did not have the Sharingan.
What pleased the Third Raikage most, however, was the discovery of a large number of children with strong talent in non-lightning elemental ninjutsu.
He directly instructed Aoki Yuuichi and Chiba Shun to pay close attention to those students.
The village needed them to fill in its long-standing weaknesses.
The two of them agreed immediately.
Once class placement was complete, Chiba Shun called Ayana, Shosuke, and Hayato over.
All three looked dispirited.
Because none of them had made it into an elite class.
Chiba Shun felt a little helpless as well.
He had truly wanted to help all three of them. After all, the待遇 in the elite classes was completely different from the regular ones.
But the truth was cruel.
The foundation of all three was simply too weak.
Hayato at least possessed one startling talent. The other two, however, had not shown anything truly eye-catching under the academy's formal scoring system.
Ayana's talent lay in making sealing scrolls. But that skill could not be properly tested during a mass examination. Chiba Shun could not possibly hand every student a set of materials and ask them all to make sealing scrolls on the spot.
At most, that gift only surfaced in the sealing category. But sealing scrolls and formal sealing techniques were two different things. They were related, but not closely enough to significantly affect her score.
So Ayana's results were mediocre across the board. On paper, she did not appear gifted at all.
Shosuke's situation was slightly better.
After receiving fifty thousand ryo from Chiba Shun twice, his diet had improved, and his chakra had grown with it. He was diligent in cultivation, too, and his willpower was solid.
That had raised his overall standard considerably.
But it still did not change the fact that he had originally been ordinary.
Especially now, with all those newly admitted children from ninja families entering the academy - some of whom had already learned jutsu - his hard-earned progress still was not enough.
So he failed to make the elite classes as well.
Chiba Shun did not rush to comfort them.
Instead, he quietly studied the three of them first.
All three kept their heads lowered, not saying a word.
They had all tried their best during this examination. Yet in the end, they had still failed to enter the elite classes. In their hearts, they felt they had embarrassed Chiba Shun.
They were no longer the ignorant little children they had once been when they first entered the academy.
By now, they had learned from the chunin instructors what the real ninja world looked like.
Under ordinary circumstances, students who were not yet even proper ninja would have to do most of the dirty work when following a chunin captain on a mission, yet they would only receive a tiny share of the reward.
Only those who had already reached the level of a true genin - and were considered quite good among genin - were likely to receive even half of the mission payout.
As for following a jonin and receiving half the reward, that would only happen if all three of them became chunin and strong ones at that.
Otherwise, it was a fantasy.
But with Chiba Shun, everything had been different.
They had not needed to do anything at all. Chiba Shun had even had to create clones just to protect them.
He treated them to good food, brought them to soak in hot springs, and let them see the customs and scenery of one country after another.
Most importantly, after that A-rank mission, he had directly split half the reward with them.
Chiba Shun had treated them astonishingly well - better than anyone else ever had.
He had spent time on them. He had spent money on them.
And they all knew, vaguely but clearly, that Chiba Shun himself was probably not a rich man at all.
Because in a sense, Chiba Shun was an orphan too.