Chuunin Exams 2

A/N: The number was 29, like the previous chapter. Unexpected_Weirdo guessed it first.

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Most of the Genin were nervously considering their options.

If they answer incorrectly, they fail and will not be able to take a Chuunin exam again.

But if they don't answer at all, they and their teammates will fail, but they could take it again next time.

"Now, if you are ready. Here is question 10. Those who do not want to answer raise your hand!"

A few moments after Ibiki said that, the participant to Naruto's left dropped his pencil and raised his hand shakily, "I'm leaving. I can't do it, sorry!"

"Number 50. Outside! Number 130. Number 110. You too, outside!" One of the professors announced when the Genin finished speaking.

The 50th participant lowered his head and spoke shakily as his teammates rose to their feet. "Yanai, Inaho, forgive me folks…"

"I'm leaving too!" When he finished speaking, another participant raised his hand.

"Me too!"

"I also!"

"Sorry! I can't go on!"

More and more participants raised their hands.

'Come on Naruto! We can do it next year! Why don't you raise your hand? ' Sakura thought worriedly as she looked at Naruto's back.

She was slowly raising her hand, as she knew the blond's stubbornness and knew that he would not give up on his dream.

However, she stopped when she saw Naruto shakily raise his hand.

Those who knew Naruto were surprised by his action, however, the hand only remained raised for a moment.

The blonde lowered his hand and smashed it on the table, creating a rumble that attracted everyone's attention.

"Don't underestimate me! I don't quit and I don't run away! I don't care if I stay a Genin for the rest of my life! I'll be Hokage one day!"

The room was silent for a moment before Ibiki spoke. "This decision may change the course of your life. If for any reason some want to quit, this is your last chance."

However, no other participant raised their hand again.

Ibiki looked at the other teachers, who nodded at him.

He returned the assent and looked at the Genin. "Your determination is admirable. For those of you who stayed, I have only one thing left to say to you." Ibiki smiled, "You all passed the exam."

After a confused silence, Sakura stood up. "Wait! What just happened!? What do you mean, what did we go through? And the tenth question!?"

"Hahaha." Ibiki laughed in amusement. "It never existed or at least not written. Your decision to stay was the answer to the tenth question."

"So the other 9 questions were only used to waste time!?" Temari questioned.

Ibiki laughed again. "Of course not. On the contrary, the 9 questions had a very important objective. To test your ability to intelligently and stealthily track strategic information under the most adverse circumstances."

"Oh yeah... That explains everything..." She replied.

Ibiki looked at the participants. "My goal was to test you, not only individually, but also as a team. And how you function as part of a team. That is why the exam was graded on a team basis. So everyone finds out what you do and whether or not you fail and how it affects your teammates. I wanted to see how you handled the pressure. "

The participants showed looks of understanding.

"The first 9 answers of the exam were difficult. In fact, as you may have noticed, they were too difficult for any Genin to answer. Therefore, they will have concluded that the only way to pass was to copy. The fact is that the exam was designed so that they would have to cheat almost out of obligation. Of course, this would have been useless if there was no one to copy. That is why I disguised 2 Chuunin who already knew the answers beforehand and they sat among you. " The disguised Chuunin raised their hands as Ibiki said that.

Ibiki began to remove the headband that he used as a headscarf. "Those who were caught failed. Better not to copy than to copy foolishly." He peeled off the headscarf, exposing his bald head covered in scars and burns.

The participants gasped when they saw his head. "Information can be the most valuable weapon in a battle. Depending on how you handle information it can depend on the success or failure of a mission. And sometimes you will have to risk your life to obtain it. "

Many participants swallowed.

He put the diadem back on. "Of course, you must always consider the source of the information. Information obtained from the enemy is not necessarily accurate." Ibiki's tone turned grave. "Always keep this in mind; wrong information can be worse than misinformation. It can lead to the death of your comrades or the ruin of a village. That is why I put you in the position of having to obtain information by copying in order to survive. And that is why those who are not capable have to leave. "

"Well… but I still don't understand what the tenth question consisted of." Temari spoke confused.

Ibiki crossed his arms. "The 10th question was the main focus of the exam. As I said before, I did not want to test you individually, but as part of a team. The 2 options for the 10th question were difficult."

Ibiki held up 2 fingers and continued. "You could choose not to risk it and avoid the question, although that meant the entire team would fail. Or you could try to answer, knowing that if you failed, would forever lose the opportunity to be Chuunin. There was no positive choice."

He looked at all the participants. "This is a decision the Chuunin face on a daily basis. For example, let me give you a hypothetical mission; Steal a document from an enemy fortress. You have no idea how many enemies there are or how well armed they are. And even more, you have reason to believe that the enemy awaits them. So, you must be careful not to fall into a trap. Now, do you have the option of accepting or not that crazy mission? Your comrades and you would rather stay alive than fight? Can you choose to avoid danger? "

Ibiki narrowed his eyes. "No! There will be many missions that will seem suicidal if you consider them. But you must not think about that. Just think about the goal, and accomplishing it through courage and discipline." He smiled. "Those are the qualities required for a Chuunin leading a team. Those who choose the safest option, those who doubt their determination when facing adversity, those who put the lives of their comrades in danger by worrying. by themselves. They can never be called Chuunin. At least not while I'm here. "

Ibiki smiled, "And for the rest of you who correctly answered the tenth question I posed, you have earned the right to proceed to the next step. I hereby declare this part of the exam completed. I can only wish you good luck."

As Naruto celebrated, Ibiki looked at something approaching from outside

Suddenly Anko came through the window and threw 2 Kunai tied to a sign.

"Very good guys and girls! No time to celebrate! I will be your next Procter; Anko Mitarashi. Are you ready for the next stage of the exam!?"