The first round of the Chūnin Exams had officially begun.
At the front of the room stood Ibiki Morino, the scar-faced chief examiner, arms folded and expression cold enough to freeze stone. Rows of Chūnin proctors lined both sides of the hall, clipboards in hand, eyes sharp as hawks. Anyone caught cheating would be penalized immediately — no mercy, no discussion.
Each team's score would be totaled.
If the combined points fell below passing, the entire team would be eliminated.
And if even one person scored a zero… the whole team failed.
The pressure was suffocating.
Whispers stopped. Chairs creaked. Dozens of Genin swallowed hard, realizing this wasn't some classroom test — this was a battlefield.
But of course, ninjas weren't supposed to play fair.
"How can you be a ninja… if you don't know how to cheat?"
The silence shattered with the faint rustle of paper and the scratch of pencils — and the quiet flurry of secret seals.
Hidden genjutsu.
Reflected answers through kunai blades.
Tiny chakra strings stealing glances at neighboring tests.
The room was calm on the surface, but underneath — chaos.
"Number 18, cheating once — minus two points."
"Number 73, minus two points."
"Number 3, minus two points."
The cold, mechanical voices of the proctors echoed through the room.
Every few seconds, another name.
Another penalty.
Another team closer to being erased.
The tension thickened.
Those who were reckless enough to cheat openly were instantly caught. Others became more cautious — quieter, faster, subtler. But no matter how sneaky they thought they were, Ibiki's eyes — and his shadowy Chūnin — saw everything.
Dozens of teams were eliminated before they even realized what went wrong.
Despair spread fast.
Meanwhile, in the middle rows, Rock Lee sat rigidly at his desk, eyes wide and face pale. His test paper was as blank as his mind.
"I… I don't understand a single question!"
He wanted to cry.
Worse — he refused to cheat.
Behind him, Yamanaka Ino groaned quietly. "That idiot…" she muttered under her breath.
With a small sigh, she formed a seal.
"Ninjutsu — Mind Transfer Technique!"
Lee froze as Ino's consciousness slipped into his body. Her voice echoed inside his head.
"Don't panic! It's me — Ino. I'm taking control. Just relax and let me write!"
Lee blinked, stunned. Then he relaxed his muscles, surrendering control.
Ino's hand flew across the paper, filling in answers with lightning speed. When she withdrew, Lee looked down at the completed test, eyes shimmering with tears.
He turned slightly and gave her a glowing thumbs-up — the picture of "youthful spirit."
"Ino is such a kind girl! Maybe… maybe I should confess after the exam!"
Ino, sensing the sudden emotional shift, shivered. "Why… do I feel creeped out all of a sudden?"
Time crawled.
Five hundred participants dwindled.
Nearly two hundred had been disqualified.
Finally, Ibiki's deep voice filled the room again.
"Time's up. Now we move to the tenth question."
Every head snapped up.
The atmosphere grew heavier.
"But," Ibiki continued coldly, "before I give you the question, there's an additional rule."
The candidates tensed.
"You must first decide… whether you want to accept the final question."
Confused murmurs filled the air.
"What happens if we don't accept?" someone shouted.
Ibiki's lips curved slightly — not in a smile, but in mockery.
"Simple. Anyone who refuses automatically gets a zero. That means your entire team fails."
An uproar erupted.
He waited until the noise settled, then spoke again.
"However… those who do accept, and answer incorrectly, will be banned for life from ever taking the Chūnin Exam again."
The room exploded.
"What kind of rule is that?!"
"That's insane!"
"There are people here taking this for the third time!"
Inuzuka Kiba shot up from his seat, Akamaru barking furiously on his head.
"Hey! You can't do that! That's not fair!"
Ibiki's grin widened, his scar pulling taut. "Unlucky for you — I make the rules this year. Don't like it? There's always next year. Or the year after."
His chuckle was low and unsettling. "Those without confidence may leave now."
The pressure in the room became physical — heavy, choking.
One by one, hands began to rise.
The first was shaky. Then another. Then dozens more.
Some faces twisted in frustration, others hung in shame.
They couldn't take it — the psychological pressure crushed them harder than any battle could.
As the minutes passed, the number of contestants shrank rapidly.
"I give up!"
"Me too! I'll try again next year!"
Their voices broke the silence, each word triggering another wave of surrender.
At last, only a hundred or so remained.
Ibiki scanned the room, eyes glinting with something like approval.
He waited.
Then said quietly, "Anyone else?"
No one moved.
"Good."
A rare smile crept across his face.
"Excellent resolve."
He straightened and slammed his clipboard shut.
"Then I hereby declare — everyone remaining has passed the first round."
For a few seconds, silence.
Then — chaos.
"WHAT?!"
"Are you kidding me?!"
"There was no tenth question?!"
Ibiki let the noise die down, then explained, his tone calm and clinical.
"The first nine questions tested your ability to gather intelligence — to cheat smartly under pressure. The tenth question wasn't about knowledge. It was about courage — the will to make impossible decisions under threat."
He looked over the survivors.
"In the field, hesitation means death. You all stayed. That resolve… is the real answer."
The room went still again — but this time, it wasn't fear. It was respect.
Ibiki nodded once.
"The first round of the Chūnin Exams is complete. Congratulations — and prepare yourselves for what comes next."
A collective sigh swept through the candidates. Some slumped in relief, others clenched their fists in renewed determination.
They'd survived mental torture.
The real battles were just beginning.
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