The quiet environment for thinking did not calm the examinees; instead, it made them more anxious and restless. Before long, some examinees started giving up on the tenth question and left the examination room.
Naruto, sitting in his seat, raised an eyebrow. He was both happy and disappointed about the tenth question.
He was happy because he was guaranteed to pass this exam.
He was disappointed because what Ibiki said was somewhat low-level.
In Naruto's view, what Ibiki said earlier was fine, but his mistake was setting the penalty too severely.
Seriously, the Chunin Exams aren't exclusive to Konoha; other hidden Villages can host them too.
If the person who said that was the Third Hokage, Naruto might try to believe it, as other Villages might give the Third Hokage Face.
But Ibiki was just the examiner for this test. What gave him the authority to make such a decision?
Even if he could make this decision, would other Villages give him Face?
His Face wasn't that significant.
Therefore, Naruto was certain that the tenth question was just a facade, and Ibiki's main goal was to thin out the number of examinees.
Just look at the examination room now; the number of people has already decreased significantly.
Most of these people weren't caught cheating, but were scared by the choice presented in the tenth question and voluntarily gave up the exam.
Having understood Ibiki's purpose, Naruto naturally sat calmly, completely unfazed.
About seven or eight minutes passed. At this point, less than three-fifths of the people remained in the large examination room.
Seeing that no one else was willing to leave voluntarily, Ibiki loudly announced, "Congratulations, you all passed."
"Huh?"
The examinees who had resolved to stick it out and tackle the tenth question were first confused, then overjoyed, upon hearing Ibiki's announcement.
This was like an organization assigning you a life-or-death mission, and just as you prepared yourself mentally to accept the task, the organization said, "Just kidding."
Aren't you happy? Aren't you surprised?
"Crash."
Just as the examinees relaxed and indulged in their celebration, the glass window on the left side of the examination room suddenly shattered. Ibiki's eyebrow twitched slightly, and he let out a soft sigh.
Following the sound of shattering glass.
A huge banner instantly unfurled, and a figure appeared in front of it.
"Haha, you brats, don't think you can relax just because you passed the first test! Next up is the second stage of the exam! I am the chief examiner for the second stage! Anko Mitarashi!"
This extremely arrogant entrance caused the noisy and joyful Genin to fall into collective shock.
The entire examination room immediately fell into an eerie silence.
Anko had expected her entrance to be met with cheers from the examinees. Instead, this?
Looking at this group of examinees, who were quiet as if turned to stone, Anko was clearly angry.
Just then, Ibiki delivered a 'finishing blow.'
"Heh, no one is paying attention to you." Mori Ibiki's tone was very flat, yet Anko felt that this guy Ibiki was completely mocking her—that expression, that slightly curved corner of his mouth, that hateful smirk.
"Agh!!!" Anko yelled internally, then let out a long breath, forcing herself to calm down.
"Hmph! Mind your own business!" Although Anko tried to look indifferent, her tone, expression, and gritted teeth clearly showed how dissatisfied and angry Anko the Jonin was.
Mori Ibiki shrugged, indicating that he meant nothing by it.
He then immediately took a few steps back. Mori Ibiki knew the temper of the female Jonin before him. Since this was an important occasion, provoking her occasionally might be acceptable.
But if he said anything more, he couldn't guarantee what this madwoman might do. After all, she was usually the type to start fighting or playing tricks on others at the slightest disagreement. Mori Ibiki didn't want to suffer, so regarding Anko's comments, Mori Ibiki decided not to get involved.
Watching Mori Ibiki's movements, Anko snorted and decided not to dwell on it. After all, with so many examinees present, it wouldn't be appropriate for her to do much. However, if that guy dared to say one more word, hmph, Anko vowed she would definitely make Mori Ibiki regret it!
Immediately, Anko cleared her throat, scanned the number of people present, and frowned slightly.
She said discontentedly, "Ibiki, why is the first round of the exam so simple now? You left this many people?"
"Too many? Are you kidding?" Mori Ibiki hadn't even replied, but the examinees present had already widened their eyes. Although they dared not say anything aloud, they were all complaining internally.
The room was full, yet less than three-fifths of the people remained. And she still thought that was too many?
The examinees present all looked at Anko with indignant expressions, but out of consideration for Anko's status as an examiner, they dared not utter a word.
"Heh heh, this year's batch of candidates is quite outstanding, which is why more of them remained," Mori Ibiki said with an indifferent smile.
"Hmph hmph," Anko Mitarashi grunted dismissively.
She then gave a sinister laugh, sneering, "In any case, during the second round of the exam, I will reduce your numbers to less than half!" Anko's voice lost its initial cheerfulness, replaced by a chilling, sinister smile that made people shudder.
"What? Less than half!"
There wasn't a huge difference between one-half and three-fifths, but they had just gone through a 'barbaric' written test, leaving them physically and mentally exhausted.
Now, the second round was going to eliminate more than half the remaining people? How were they supposed to handle that?
"Alright, you don't have any time to rest. Now, everyone, please follow me to the venue for the second round of the exam!"
Anko completely ignored the reactions of those present, merely curling her lip slightly as she spoke to herself.
Immediately, her figure blurred, and she left the examination room through the previously shattered window. As she departed, a wicked smile appeared on her lips, and she said, "Anyone who can't keep up with me, your entire team will be disqualified, haha!"
Only after Anko had left did the crowd react, startled.
They immediately scrambled, one after another, following Anko's steps, rushing toward the Forest of Death, one of Konoha Village's Forbidden Lands.
After the examinees left, Ibiki began collecting the test papers.
The test papers of the others were acceptable; even if they wrote the wrong answers, it was clear they had answered seriously.
But when he saw Naruto's test paper, Ibiki immediately froze.
"Dream divination?"
"Go around it?"
"About this big?"
"How did you know?"
... "What in the world is all this?"
Ibiki was considered battle-hardened; what kind of situation hadn't he seen?
It was just that he had truly never seen such an absurd test paper.
"Heh heh, Uzumaki Naruto, is it? What an interesting kid."