"Why?"
Everyone looked confused, staring at Ibiki, waiting for him to explain.
"Whether to answer or not seemed like a simple choice, but the mental pressure on you all was huge," Ibiki said calmly.
"If you chose to answer, you risked not only losing your chance to become a Chunin forever—but also dragging your teammates down with you!"
"If you chose not to answer, you would've gotten your whole team disqualified!"
"You might not fully get what I mean, so let me give you an example."
"Let's say you're already a Chunin and receive a mission to steal a secret scroll. But you have no clue how many enemy ninja there are, how strong they are, or whether they've set traps. Do you accept the mission or not?"
"If you say no out of fear, you're putting your teammates in danger. Can you really keep running away forever?"
"As ninja, you'll face missions that are deadly and impossible to refuse. In those moments, showing courage and being able to push forward is what a real Chunin needs!"
"If you can't even bet your life when it matters, if all you do is cling to safety and hope for a miracle or rely on luck—you don't have what it takes to be a Chunin!"
"Choosing to answer was the best possible answer to the tenth question!"
"And finally... congrats on passing the first round of the Chunin Exams. I hope that when things get tough later, you'll still face them head-on!"
"This test—ends here!"
"Good luck on the next part!"
Hearing all this, Naruto had some thoughts.
Putting aside the part about risking your life, the rest made sense.
When danger comes, as the leader, you need courage far beyond others.
Because your courage becomes your team's courage.
If the leader runs from fear, then everyone else will lose heart too. A team without courage won't survive when real danger hits.
*Crash!*
The window suddenly shattered, and a cool-looking female ninja jumped in from outside.
At the same time, a few kunai stuck into the ceiling, pulling open a black cloth banner.
"The proctor for the second exam... Mitarashi Anko?" someone mumbled, reading the banner.
"That's right!"
"I'm your next proctor—Mitarashi Anko!"
Anko flicked her hand, throwing off her cloak. "Even though you passed the first test, now's not the time to relax! Get serious, you Genin!"
"..."
As they watched Mitarashi Anko waving her arms and talking excitedly on stage, the whole classroom fell into an awkward silence.
Being stared at by so many people with weird looks made Anko blush a little.
"Check the mood, Anko," Morino Ibiki quietly reminded her, peeking his face out from behind the curtain.
"*Ahem!*"
Anko coughed to ease the tension, then quickly changed the topic. "Fifty-seven people, nineteen teams... still a bit too many. You're being too soft, Ibiki."
"There are a lot of talented ones this year," Ibiki said calmly.
This was already the final number—even without Naruto stirring things up.
With this many people passing, it really did show how capable they were.
"Hmph, whatever. I'll make sure to cut this number in half during the next round!"
Seeing the nervous looks on the faces below, Anko gave a short snort. "We'll go over the details tomorrow. For now, let's change the location."
"As for the time and place, ask your team leader."
"Now then—dismissed!!"
...
"Phew! That scared me to death... I didn't think the first round would be that tough!"
After leaving the exam room, Sakura finally let out a sigh of relief.
Even with Naruto's special training, she still hadn't felt very confident.
Luckily, the first round had been a written test—her strongest area—so she made it through without too much trouble.
"Relax. The Chunin Exams aren't as hard as you think."
Naruto looked at the setting sun and said, "Let's go find Kakashi. We need to ask him where the next test will be."
He remembered that the second round was in the Forest of Death, but he didn't know exactly where it was.
"Yo, looking for me?"
Before they could even start searching, Kakashi showed up on his own.
"You've been here the whole time?" Naruto asked.
"Yup. Though I hate to admit it, I was a little nervous watching you all take the test too~" Kakashi said with a squinting smile. "But it looks like you all did great. Congrats on passing the first round!"
He had full confidence in Naruto and Sasuke. The proctor for the first test was Morino Ibiki, and the test wasn't about strength or teamwork.
Sakura was the only one he was worried about—her skills and mental strength were still lacking.
But judging from the outcome, it looked like she'd grown a lot too.
"Besides 'congrats,' got anything more useful to give us?" Naruto suddenly asked.
"..."
Kakashi knew exactly what Naruto meant by "useful."
He meant money.
And honestly... he really didn't have any... probably?
"*Ahem,* the location for tomorrow's test is Training Ground 44—the Forest of Death. The exam starts at 2:30 in the afternoon. Make sure you get there early!"
"Well then... dismissed!"
With that, Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke, not giving Naruto a chance to say anything else—as if he was scared Naruto would ask him for money again.
Naruto let out a small grunt and muttered, "Just as stingy as the old man Hiruzen."
Sakura and Sasuke couldn't help but smile at that.
To them—
Both Naruto and Kakashi were people they looked up to.
And yet, seeing the two act like this over something like money... it was kind of funny.
The next day, at 1:30 p.m.—
Team 7 arrived early at Training Ground 44.
Looking at the massive trees surrounded by barbed wire that formed the Forest of Death, Sakura and the others were honestly a little overwhelmed.
Naruto even wondered if this place was a leftover battlefield from one of Senju Hashirama's fights!
"So this is the Forest of Death? Just looking at it gives me the creeps," Sakura said, clenching her fists, clearly a bit nervous.
"Maybe it just looks scary. A strange place and a spooky name can make something feel way more dangerous than it is," Sasuke said calmly—but it kind of sounded like he was trying to convince himself.
Naruto glanced at the two of them and said, "Don't worry. This is a team battle. As long as I'm here, we'll be fine."
Hearing that, Sakura relaxed and smiled. "Yeah, with Naruto... and Sasuke-kun here too, I know we'll be okay!"
Sasuke glanced at Naruto but didn't say anything.
What Naruto said wasn't wrong, and it really did take away the risk of failing the exam—but that wasn't what Sasuke wanted!
Rebuilding the Uchiha clan and getting revenge—those things could only be done by him alone.
Naruto couldn't help him with that.
Even if Naruto wanted to help, he wouldn't accept it!
Because Naruto wasn't an Uchiha, and Sasuke didn't want to—couldn't—spend his life standing behind Naruto.
He needed more power. Power to surpass Naruto!
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