Ibiki looked around, aware of the effect his words had caused.
Most people seemed distressed, doubtful and apprehensive.
Even Kin and Dosu didn't rule out the possibility. After all, as a joint exam, Orochimaru might have chosen to accept these rules and enforce them, but with Jugo there, none of them dared speak.
Jugo, on the other hand, was thoughtful.
For the next test, he hoped to let himself go, not to the point of going completely insane, but to finally be able to act like a Lunatic.
The problem was that if this continued, the number of teams would be limited. Just like in the original, Jugo wanted to send many people into the Forest of Death, only then could he let himself go completely and act out.
Jugo hasn't yet found the Lunatic's rules because he's always held back so far, having more test subjects is in his best interest.
He plans to help these examinees see the truth so he'll have more prey to hunt.
But this is also dangerous. What happens if Ibiki changes the rules to make it a truly written exam? Wouldn't he fail immediately?
But then he thought of Anko. She'd arrived all at once, and he'd assumed everyone who remained had passed. In other words, this exam wasn't created out of thin air, it was planned. Ibiki couldn't make such a big change, especially when there were only less than 15 minutes left!
Thus, Jugo made up his mind and smiled slightly.
-Now, if you're ready, here's the tenth question. If you don't want to answer, raise your hand. - Ibiki concluded. -Your number will be recorded, and you're free to leave.
Soon after Ibiki finished speaking, silence reigned and many began to panic and despair. Just as the first was about to give up, Jugo finally moved.
A light laugh began in the silent room, so quiet that everyone heard it, turning to see Jugo, who was leaning against his chair without a care, continue to increase his laughter.
Ibiki narrowed his eyes, thinking something unexpected was about to happen, so he wanted to tell Jugo to be quiet again.
But at that point, Jugo had already begun to speak mockingly. - Hey, no kidding, do you really think you can force other villages to follow your rules? Even if we can't take the exam in Konoha anymore, do you think we can't do it somewhere else?
The surrounding group fell silent, the eyes of the ninjas from other countries shining. Yes, anyway, even if we can't take the exam in Konoha, so what?
The Konoha ninjas were the only ones affected!
But most of the teams there were from Konoha and Jugo didn't want to let them go, so before Ibiki could respond, he continued.
-Besides, the Chunin Exam is just to show excellence. Do you think the ninja villages have enough elite ninjas? Just because of your broken words, you want to limit their advancement in the ninja career? If you're strong enough, even if you don't want to be, you'll still be promoted so you can contribute more to the village.
-It's impossible for a village to limit its ninjas because the village needs elite ninjas. Strength, experience, intelligence... when everything reaches the right point, being a Chunin is just the expected result. That means you don't have the ability to make the examinees fail. Instead... you've already asked the tenth question, haven't you? The question is "do you give up or advance?". The answer to the question has always been clear, only idiots would give up because of that. - Jugo concluded.
It was the most he'd spoken since arriving in this world, but the results were evident.
The group stopped trembling, their hands lowered, and Ibiki's face was grim.
Through the surprised and thoughtful eyes of the examinees, Ibiki knew the exam was over.
He looked deeply at Jugo, who had already looked away and returned to leaning back in his chair without a care.
He couldn't understand.
In fact, no one watching could understand; even Kin and Dosu could only look confused.
It was clear that Jugo, despite his sarcastic and offensive words, was helping them.
But why would he do that?
Of course, only Jugo could understand the answer, but he wouldn't stupidly explain that he wanted more targets to attack in the forest of death.
The number of examinees in the room was 150, yet two-thirds of the teams had disappeared.
Ibiki looked around and saw that he couldn't fool those guys again. He clicked his tongue and didn't complain to Jugo. It made no sense. What's the point of complaining now?
-Does anyone still want to give up? - He asked as if Jugo's previous monologue was air.
But no one fell for the trick again. Even Naruto had his arms crossed with a smug look, which irritated Ibiki even more.
50 teams! This only made Ibiki sigh wearily.
He glanced at Jugo again with irritation before turning to them and saying. -You all passed the first exam!
Everyone smiled. As Jugo had said before, the question was whether or not to answer, even if it wasn't, so what? They couldn't believe Ibiki had so much power to prevent them from becoming Chunin.
Of course, there were still some veterans in their 40s who didn't see it that way. After all, they had been trying to pass the exam for a long time. To them, their strength had stagnated for a long time and they could only rely on luck.
But not even they gave up this time. First, because of the shame of giving up when everyone else had decided to stay. Giving up now would only show that they considered themselves weak and hopeless, and second, because Jugo's analysis made sense.
So, Ibiki could only let everyone pass. Jugo was a wild card, and the problem wouldn't be his, but Anko's.
Ibiki looked at their smug faces and wanted to punch each of them, before sighing and continuing to speak. - The tenth question, just like candidate number 23 said... is really about choosing to stay or leave.
-Wait! So the other nine questions were a waste of time?! - Temari asked, irritated at having put in all the effort for nothing.
Ibiki, though unhappy, still explained. -It wasn't without reason. On the contrary, those questions had a very important purpose. To test your ability to acquire intelligence and your level of stealth. Basically, to extract information in an adverse situation.
Tempari paused for a moment and nodded, satisfied. - That explains everything.
Ibiki, still unhappy, began explaining the intricacies of the test while Jugo ignored him again, waiting for Anko to arrive and quickly begin the second exam.
Jugo's hands clenched as he grew excited, finally, he could get some action.
Aside from Orochimaru, there wouldn't be anyone in those forests who posed a threat to him.
Orochimaru, on the other hand, was his "boss", so of course he wouldn't cause him any trouble.
Thus, the Playground was set up.
If he weren't afraid of killing everything around him, including the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki and Sasuke, he would have liked to let himself go completely.
It would probably speed up his performance enormously, but for now, he couldn't do that, he was curious to see how far he would progress in five days.
When Ibiki revealed his bald head, full of scars and holes, Jugo looked at him and whistled lightly. That was a real disaster.
Of course, Jugo was still trying to control himself, so he stopped paying attention again, finding the man's monologue increasingly irritating.
Of course, all that changed when Jugo felt someone approaching through the window. With a loud bang, the window shattered into shards and a black ball flew in. The next moment, the "ball" opened, revealing a woman, who threw two kunai at the ceiling, trapping the black cloth she was covering herself with behind her.
The cloth basically read: "Second Examiner, Mitarashi Anko."
She covered Ibiki with this movement.
-All of you! No time to celebrate! - the woman shouted with an arrogant smile on her face. Jugo wondered how long she must have been thinking about this exaggerated introduction. - I am your next examiner, Mitarashi Anko!
But he soon focused on Anko's outfit, and for a moment, he felt the blood rush through his body.
This woman... she really is a bit over the top.
Of course, Jugo's eyes never left Anko's heart, feeling that her heart was very beautiful... and round.
-In the next stage from now on, follow me! - She shouted, pumping her fist in the air, and Jugo watched her heartbeat slow down.
Everyone went quiet as Jugo gave her a thumbs-up. - Nice show!
Ibiki poked her head out of the curtain and said. - You're early again.
Anko seemed to blush, while Jugo thought she was very cute.
Anko finally noticed the high number of examinees, 50 teams! - How many are there?! Ibiki, did you let them all pass? Your test was too easy, you must be getting soft.
Ibiki didn't answer, glancing slightly at Jugo. He pursed his lips and shook his head wearily.
Anko looked away. - Well, whatever. Before the second round ends, more than half will be eliminated.
-More than half? - Sakura asked in surprise.
-Ah... this will be fun, I'm getting excited. - Anko looked at them with an excited expression, but still with that venomous snake look. - Well, things have been easy so far, but everything will be different starting tomorrow morning! I'll let the team leaders know where to find me, dismissed!
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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