Up on the podium,
Morino Ibiki suddenly noticed the classroom lights flicker strangely for a second, then return to normal.
He rubbed his eyes, puzzled. "Was that just in my head?"
Looking out over the examinees, he saw that some of the smarter ones were already using different methods to cheat.
Uchiha Sasuke had activated his Sharingan to copy other people's movements and write down their answers.
Hyuga Neji was using his Byakugan to see through the paper and steal answers from others.
Inuzuka Kiba used Akamaru to peek at the answers of people nearby.
Aburame Shino had his flies memorize other people's answers and then told them to him...
Naruto could understand a dog being that smart, but flies too?
At that moment, Tenten, who was skilled with ninja tools, was using a thin wire to control the mirror on her clipboard to reflect other people's answers onto her forehead protector.
"Huh? What's this?"
Tenten noticed Naruto's reflection showing up on her forehead protector, and in Naruto's hand was a small golden test sheet.
A test sheet?
But why was it so small?
Tenten tried to see what was written on the tiny golden paper, but it was too small—no matter how hard she looked, she couldn't make it out!
"What kind of technique is this?"
Tenten muttered quietly, then started copying Naruto's answers as he wrote them down.
By the time Naruto finished writing, so did she. Then she used the mirror on her clipboard to reflect the answers onto Rock Lee's forehead protector.
Just like that, all three of them would get perfect scores!
Forty-five minutes went by quickly,
During that time, many people got kicked out of the exam for cheating too obviously, but there were still over a hundred people left in the room!
Clearly, anyone daring enough to take this test had some kind of method—or at least decent self-control...
"Time's almost up. We're about to start the tenth question!"
Morino Ibiki's voice suddenly rang out, and everyone—whether they were done or not—looked up at him.
"You've all been wondering what the tenth question is, haven't you? Hmph."
Ibiki let out a cold chuckle. "You'll find out soon enough. But before that, you need to decide if you even want to take the tenth question."
"What happens if we choose not to?" Temari asked, confused.
Ibiki looked at Temari and calmly said, "If you choose not to take it, then your score is automatically zero."
"That means you fail, and both your teammates get eliminated too."
Hearing that, pretty much everyone in the room felt like they had no choice but to take the tenth question.
If not answering meant failing, then they had to try just to stay in.
But what Ibiki said next made everyone even more conflicted.
"You think I'm just bluffing? That I'm forcing you to take the question?"
"Hmph, listen closely! There's one more rule!"
"If you choose to take the tenth question but get it wrong… then you'll be banned from ever taking the Chunin Exam again!"
"What?!"
"That's ridiculous! There are people here who've taken the Chunin Exam multiple times!"
Looking at Inuzuka Kiba who argued back, Ibiki let out a sinister laugh, "Heh heh heh... You're just unlucky! Today, I make the rules!"
"And I gave you a way out, didn't I? If you don't have confidence, just skip the question. You can always try again next year or the year after."
The room went completely silent. A lot of people started hesitating, torn about what to do.
But Naruto didn't feel anything at all.
Not just because he already knew the answer to the tenth question, but because there was something wrong with Ibiki's logic from the start!
If this year he *is* the rule, and nobody who fails can take the test again...
Then next year, he *won't* be the rule anymore, right?
So today's rules can decide someone's entire future?
Sir, you're really full of yourself.
Anyone with a bit of sense could see through that bluff.
But sadly... most of the people left in the room weren't that sharp.
Soon enough, someone raised their hand to quit.
And once that person dropped out, their two teammates were also disqualified.
As more and more people, full of fear or regret, left the exam room, a twisted smile crept onto Ibiki's face.
"Not much time left~"
"..."
To those with weak nerves, those words were like a death sentence—and sure enough, more people started raising their hands to quit!
About ten more minutes passed, and there were only 57 people left in the classroom.
Without Naruto's usual chaos, this round had eliminated 21 more people than usual.
Morino Ibiki glanced at the time, then looked at the remaining participants.
"Anyone else want to quit? This is the last time I'll ask. If you don't back out now and fail to answer the tenth question later—you'll never become a Chunin!"
No one responded to Ibiki. No one left.
It was clear the ones who remained were either smart or had strong willpower.
"Good! Looks like you all have the guts!"
Ibiki looked around at them and said, "In that case, I declare all of you who are still here... have passed this test!"
"P-Passed?"
"What's going on? What about the tenth question? Why are we suddenly passing?" Sakura asked, confused.
"Hahaha, there was never a real tenth question to begin with! If anything, that final choice was the tenth question!" Ibiki laughed loudly.
"Wait a second! If that's true, then what were the first nine questions for?" Temari asked sharply.
"They weren't useless."
"The first nine questions were designed to test each of your information-gathering abilities!"
"Information-gathering?"
"That's right! I told you at the beginning—no cheating with shameless tricks. You had to approach this like real ninja with discipline and skill!"
"So those who used dumb methods to cheat got eliminated!"
As he spoke, Ibiki took off his headwrap and forehead protector, revealing a bald head covered in scars.
"Sometimes information is more important than your life. If intel is wrong, it can bring disaster to your village and your teammates!"
"To make sure your intel is accurate, you must avoid relying on others and develop your own ability to gather solid information!"
"The first nine questions weeded out the weak. That was their purpose."
"Even so... that tenth question still felt a bit unfair," Temari muttered.
"Hmph."
Ibiki put his headwrap and protector back on. "The first nine tested your information-gathering, but the real test... was the tenth."
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