Trick

The clock was ticking, and the participants that hadn't answered a question got increasingly stressed.

"Morohiro! Can you hear me!?"

"I'll answer the first question!!"

Suddenly, the three rooms became filled with screams, making it impossible for people to understand each other. Seeing this, Jun smiled.

He had to give it to the Nara clan. They knew how to rattle people.

After a while, the noise died down, and the contestants reluctantly answered a question...There was almost no time left.

Once the countdown finished, the speakers turned back on.

"Alright, let us commence the second part of the first round. All of you, turn your sheets over."

"What!?"

"A second part!? Don't f*ck with me!"

Ignoring the angry growls, the voice continued explaining.

"I want you all to imagine that your team is on an important mission, and the enemy suddenly intercepts you. You have to choose a decoy, knowing they'll face certain death…"

"Only the teams that have answered the same thing on all three sheets of paper will pass… Also, the one they chose will be disqualified from the exam. You have three minutes."

With that said, the speakers cut off once again, causing mass panic in the three rooms. No one knew what the head-proctor meant.

Resting his shoulders on the table, Minato closed his eyes. Were they meant to choose, or was this just a trick question.

"...!"

Opening his eyes back up, Minato understood. The right answer was... None!

The problem was, he didn't have a way to communicate it to the rest, so he could only hope that Jun would show up again.

Sighing, he patiently waited.

Inside room two, Nozomi started sweating coldly. She couldn't help but see herself as the only suitable decoy. Dejected, she also waited for Jun to show up.

As for Jun, he was seriously thinking about the case scenario. If their team was put in that situation...

"I would kill the opponent anyway, so there wouldn't be a need for a decoy… Yeah, sounds about right."

One thing the head-proctor hadn't accounted for, was pure, unadulterated arrogance. Jun was so confident in his abilities that he indirectly found the answer to the question.

Smiling, he had the clone communicate it to both Minato and Nozomi, who reacted differently.

Minato was surprised that Jun had come up with the same answer as him, even though their reasoning was different. Smiling, he got to writing.

Nozomi sighed in relief, thankful that her teammates wouldn't just get rid of her like that. At this moment, she felt like she was part of the team.

After three minutes finally passed, the doors of each room opened, and the proctors entered, retrieving all the test-papers. Once they were done, the speakers turned back on, and the voice sounded one more time.

"In a minute, we'll list out the team that passed. We'll also name the Genin that were left as decoys...They'll have to remain here with the other eliminated participants."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A while later, all of the passing teams met back up outside the building. Some kept all three members, while others just had two left. Out of the original fifty teams, only around twenty were left.

As for team Jiraiya, they had all passed.

"We did it!"

"Yeah, good job, everyone."

Nozomi and Minato rejoiced. Smiling, they felt relieved… That exam was quite stressful.

"Ahem… Congratulations to all of the teams that passed. Now, we'll move on to the second round. But before that, I have an announcement to make."

In front of all of the participants, a man stood on a podium. He had a tired face, with his hair tied up in a pineapple-bun. He wore the traditional Konoha flack-jacket, indicating his status.

He was Shigeo Nara, a Tokubetsu-Jōnin and the head-proctor for the first round.

"The next round will be a team battle, so all of the two-man cells are automatically disqualified."

"..."

After he finished his statement, a deathly silence loomed over the area. All of the teams with two people left realized what happened, and mass disorder ensued.

-------------------------------------------------------

Don't forget to drop some stones!

-------------------------------------------------------

*NEW DISCORD!* https://discord.gg/Gnm3FY

Join to have fun and receive notifications of any new chapters! Link in the comments!

There are currently 15 more chapters on P.a.t.r.e.o.n. If you want to continue reading, head on over to P atreon.com/toxinfraser

There are many more benefits, like concept art and more!

Thank you for your support!