The period that followed was rife with eliminations, with most teams quickly eliminated.
With 15 minutes remaining, just as Ibiki had said, he began the final question.
-Now that we've gotten rid of most of the trash, there are only 15 minutes left. - he began calmly. Jugo watched him with his hand resting on his chin, his gaze disinterested.
The sheer number of people around him was making him restless, the madness inside him, if it weren't for his prisoner skills, he would have gone mad long ago.
Even so, the lunatic's curse wouldn't leave him alone, a constant tug-of-war in his mind, but on the outside, his prisoner skills allowed him to remain completely normal.
Indeed, his body was trapping his mind.
Ibiki was unaware of Jugo's problems and didn't even look at him.
-It's time for the main event. - He spoke with his eyes closed, only to open them suddenly and glare at the remaining candidates with a weight only a cold-blooded killer could emit. - So, listen up, here's the tenth and final question!
Jugo could feel the palpable anxiety around him, but he simply placed his arms behind his head and leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling indifferently. This theater was already boring enough.
He couldn't wait for the next phase.
A deep madness shone in his eyes.
-But... before you ask the question. - Ibiki lowered his tone, almost disinterested. - there are a few more rules you need to know.
At this point, Kankuro, who had gone to the bathroom with the instructor, returned, drawing the examinees' attention. Jugo noticed the instructor and remembered that it was Kankuro's puppet, Karasu.
But the man hardly looked like a man. Honestly, with Kankuro's puppeteering skills, he could have done better, but judging by the time he had, being caught off guard by this exam, it wasn't actually that bad.
Jugo stopped paying attention as he waited for Ibiki to continue.
He glanced at the window as he built up momentum, but Jugo just thought it was cheesy. - These rules are only for question ten, so...
Ibiki turned his eyes to the examinees as he continued. -Pay attention and don't be alarmed by them.
Ibiki turned fully to them before continuing. -First, everyone is free to choose whether or not to participate in the final question. It's up to you.
Temari from the back shouted. -Is this a joke? And what happens if we decide not to answer?
Ibiki didn't seem to mind, but he answered calmly. -If you decide not to answer question ten, regardless of the answers to the other nine, you will get a zero.
He smiled as if expecting their frustration as he continued. -In short, you will fail, which includes your partners.
The surrounding group quickly began to complain. Dosu and Kin also narrowed their eyes and looked at Jugo, but Jugo was still leaning against the chair with a pencil hanging over the lips, pouting to keep it from falling.
His mind wandered.
The pair could only remain silent, without Jugo's order, they could only wait.
Ibiki looked around, ignoring the complaints, and spoke. - If you accept the answer and answer incorrectly, you will not only fail, but you will also be banned from taking the chunin exam forever!
Jugo glanced at Ibiki sideways and scoffed mentally, as if he had the authority to do so. At most, they would be banned from taking the Konoha chunin exam.
But they could still take other exams or be promoted for excellence.
Could Jugo have appeared here as a Jonin leader instead of a simple Genin, even if he was actually imprisoned as a Genin? So what? Can he eat that title? It's not like things like titles really matter in the Sound Village.
There, strength alone rules, of course, If you're an experiment, even if you're strong, don't expect human rights.
Dosu narrowed his only visible eye and Kin became nervous, but as they looked at Jugo, they remained silent.
Even if they truly would never advance to Chunin, if they angered Jugo, they would die!
Life is more important, so none of them were thinking of giving up without Jugo's order.
Even Dosu had already calmed down and no longer planned to fight Jugo to prove himself.
That malice he felt that day paralyzed him to the point where he couldn't even move, he could have been killed hundreds of times in that time.
Dosu didn't have Naruto and Sasuke's courage to face such profound malicious intent.
Dosu himself was already a recurrent killer and didn't expect to be intimidated by a simple killing intent. The only time he felt this way was when Orochimaru unleashed his killing intent near him once.
No, even Orochimaru couldn't emit such a malevolent aura.
This frightened Dosu to the point that he became extremely well-behaved.
Kin was even simpler, she had no interest in antagonizing Jugo, whom Orochimaru had introduced to her from the beginning, it was only Dosu's actions that affected her.
If before she had simply followed orders, now, even if it went against them, she didn't have the courage to antagonize Jugo.
Kiba, with Akamaru in his hair, stood up and shouted. -Don't talk nonsense! There are people here who have taken this test before!
Ibiki pretended to laugh as Jugo looked away again. He was growing increasingly irritated by all this nonsense and it was getting harder and harder to control his impulse.
Some of his aura leaked out unintentionally, leaving the surrounding group feeling a little chilly, but Ibiki's laughter died down, looking toward him. Even the other examiners tensed, looking at Jugo who was playing with a pencil on his lips like a mustache.
It was a brief glance from Ibiki. His character development was slightly affected, but he didn't care now. He felt a slight chill down his back and quickly looked away from Jugo.
But a glance also turned to Jugo. He managed to locate the source of that cold aura and it made him excited and restless, releasing his own aura, making the surrounding examinees feel even colder.
Gaara of the desert.
Currently a psychotic maniac.
He was staring directly at Jugo. Jugo felt his gaze and glanced at Gaara, tilting his head back. The pair exchanged glances and Gaara was surprised, because through Jugo's eyes, he sensed something very close, something he'd only seen in his own.
This made Gaara pause for a moment and tremble slightly. He felt something, an immense lust for blood!
Just as Gaara was about to lose his mind and attack, Ibiki sensed the pair of lunatics and seemed to realize things were taking a dangerous turn.
He clapped his hands once, attracting their attention and continued speaking, as if oblivious to the previous clash.
Gaara quickly calmed down, greatly relieving Temari and Kankuro, who were the most worried.
Dosu slightly lowered the arm with the sound amplification equipment he was preparing and Kin breathed a sigh of relief.
Jugo went back to playing with his pencil, ignoring everything else.
He didn't want to ruin Orochimaru's plans. An angry Orochimaru wasn't something he could handle right now, so he ignored Gaara.
-I think you're out of luck. - Ibiki continued, his tone calm but very dangerous. -I didn't make the rules before, but I do now.
The examinees swallowed hard, not daring to look Ibiki in the eye, at least most of them didn't. Even so, the strongest still managed to hold their own.
-Of course, if you don't want to risk it, you won't have to. - Ibiki explained, lowering his tone again, his words seeming to constantly waver between pressure and lightness, playing with their minds. - If you don't feel confident, I suggest you give up. You can come back and try next year.
Then he gave that Machiavellian laugh again and Jugo just wanted to roll his eyes. What the hell was Kishimoto thinking when he wrote this low-grade "villain"?
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--x--
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+10 chapters of Jugo - Father of Devils on P_treon.
+16 chapters of The Legendary Mechanic - Triple Six on P_treon.
P_treon: March_Rain