Chapter 970

"Now I will announce the final question of this exam. Before that, I have one thing to declare: anyone who cannot answer this question, or who answers it incorrectly, will have all their previous scores invalidated as well, and the members of their squad will likewise be recognized as eliminated…"

Because the village was desperately short-handed, even Ibiki Morino, the head of Konoha's Leaf Anbu Torture Division, had been temporarily pulled out to serve as an examiner. Yet, as fate would have it, the terrifying scars on Ibiki's face and his cold, ruthless demeanor brought enormous psychological pressure to bear on these green genin rookies.

"One special note: anyone who is eliminated will lose the qualification to take the Chunin Exams again for the next ten years!" Like the last straw that breaks the camel's back—but Ibiki, that guy, prefers to dump an entire stack of hay at once—proposing an elimination penalty that absolutely no one wants to accept.

"Of course… you're all just a bunch of rookies, genin who have never seen blood. Naturally, I won't wipe you all out. Anyone who chooses to give up on answering before I announce the final question will only be counted as having missed the exam. Next time, perhaps you'll take the Chunin Exams in some other ninja village, and perhaps you'll meet an examiner more kind-hearted than me."

A strange smile spread across Ibiki's face, making the scars on his cheeks look even more hideous. Quite a few genin with weak willpower, unable to bear the psychological pressure, slumped back into their chairs.

The live broadcast also appeared in the crystal ball in the Hokage's office. Among Konoha's eight jonin acting as mentors, the atmosphere grew solemn. Ibiki never jokes when he speaks; if he says something like this, it means he is confident he can make many people unable to answer the final question correctly.

Thus, the mentors whose teams had members weak in theoretical knowledge grew even more anxious now—such as Hatake, and Yuhi Kurenai.

Sarutobi was very satisfied with this outcome. Although choosing Ibiki as the examiner for the first exam had been a spur-of-the-moment decision, he hadn't expected the guy to skillfully apply his interrogation techniques to this exam. He clearly hadn't given Ibiki much preparation time either.

Ibiki gave these rookie genin five minutes to decide whether to withdraw. Once a single person broke under the pressure and chose to give up, their companions in the other two rooms would simultaneously lose their qualification and be eliminated. In the end, in less than two minutes, seven or eight squads had already left.

"Sometimes running away may be shameful, but it leaves you a way out. No one will laugh at you." Every time a genin who gave up left the exam room, Ibiki would say this line to them.

Young Yuanzi, who understood this trick, had not offered any comment at all. She knew Ibiki well enough to be certain he was absolutely not being kind enough to comfort these wastes. That line of his was actually aimed at the genin still sitting in the exam room, tormented inside. Every repetition was a form of emphasis, painting "giving up" over and over as something "you can do," "and even if you do, you won't be blamed." Such psychological suggestion, magnified infinitely, was enough for Ibiki to use the methods he excelled at to eliminate even more people directly.

Soon the five minutes were up. Ibiki slammed the originally wide-open door shut with a "Bang—", walked to the podium, and took the exam questions out of a black sealed bag.

"Don't be ridiculous! Are you just going to slink back without even fighting?"

Student Zhao Afu was finally jolted awake from his nap. In his daze, he only caught words like "eliminate" and "knocked out." Already not good at written exams, he immediately stood up in dissatisfaction, and naturally his gaze met Ibiki's.

"Are you planning to forfeit? Zhao Afu, the Black Tiger from Moon Ninja?"

"Eh? No, why would I forfeit? I'm just dissatisfied that you Konoha never arrange a proper venue for me to fight. By the way, with this kind of efficiency, did you guys really used to be companions with our Young Yuanzi, my lord?"

"Cough! That kid Afu might actually get along really well with Captain Ibiki." Being stared at by the entire classroom was, of course, a bit awkward. Young Yuanzi kept a calm yet polite smile on her face, while inside she wished she could rush straight over to the still tactlessly babbling Afu and knock him out cold.

"Please don't keep provoking people, you're not Naruto! Damn, I almost forgot—this world doesn't have Naruto at all. Now there's only Uzumaki Naruko, who usually doesn't attend class properly but is still half a top student. Could it really be that heaven sent Afu to stick his neck out like this!?"

She might as well just toss Afu to Ibiki and have him disposed of as non-combustible trash. Although he looks cute, he's a boy after all—lose him and he's lost! Young Yuanzi thought in despair, wondering whether such a handling method was appropriate, and whether it could salvage even a shred of the nonexistent prestige of Moon Ninja Village that had just appeared in everyone's sight.

"You're the first genin to dare speak to me like this—how interesting. But for disrupting exam-room discipline, shouldn't I punish you a little?"