Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, 45 minutes had passed.
Many people had finished answering the questions, and many were also kicked out of the examination room because their cheating skills were too poor.
As for those who didn't dare to cheat and hadn't filled in the answers...
"Hehe!"
Ibiki sneered inwardly and announced the tenth question.
However, before giving the question, Ibiki added a rule.
Those who were eliminated in this exam would never be able to participate in the Chunin Exams in the future and could only be Genin for the rest of their lives.
But if they voluntarily withdrew before the question was given, it wouldn't count.
Whether to gamble that they could definitely pass the exam, or voluntarily withdraw and choose to come back next time.
The premise of the tenth question was actually picking one of these two options.
However, the examinees didn't know this. Under the immense pressure of potentially only being a Genin for the rest of their lives, they began to withdraw one after another.
Under the herd effect, even more people cowered, preparing to voluntarily withdraw from the exam.
Unexpectedly, Naruto's passionate declaration inspired everyone's courage, firming the resolve of some people who had originally wanted to withdraw.
After confirming repeatedly that no one else was withdrawing, Ibiki announced that everyone who remained in the classroom passed the first exam.
"Crash!"
The window glass was smashed. A bundle of curtain cloth unrolled at the podium, then was pinned to the wall by four kunai.
A girl with an alluring figure, wearing a fishnet shirt with a trench coat over it, and a bright smile on her face, stood on the podium.
"I am the chief examiner for the second exam, Mitarashi Anko." Anko spread her arms, looking like she was making a grand entrance.
But what she received in return was a sea of gazes looking at her like she was an idiot.
"Be serious."
Ibiki poked his head out from behind the curtain cloth, his face full of exasperation.
Anko also noticed the gazes of the examinees below, and couldn't help but cough lightly twice to cover up her embarrassment.
Next, she counted the number of examinees, her face turning stern, and she scolded, "75 people, how are there still so many?"
"It can't be helped, there are many excellent seedlings among this batch of examinees," Ibiki said helplessly.
"Is that so?"
Anko looked at the examinees below, a bizarre smile appearing on her face.
"I'm going to cut the number of people by more than half in the second exam."
Instantly, in the minds of the examinees, the image of the originally goofy chief examiner turned into a devil even more terrifying than Ibiki.
"Everyone follow me."
Anko called out and jumped down from the broken window.
The examinees were speechless once again.
...
The Forest of Death.
A training ground located in a restricted area of Konoha, designated as number 44. Inside, there were primeval forests and rivers, venomous insects, rats, and ants everywhere, as well as many mutated giant beasts. The whole area was isolated by wire fences and large padlocks. Unauthorized entry was forbidden.
The examination ground for the second exam was right in the Forest of Death.
Anko, acting as the chief examiner, blabbered a bunch about the rules and precautions for the exam.
Then she had each team sign a death waiver.
In other words, people could die in this exam.
However, having passed the first test of bearing responsibility and courage, everyone naturally wouldn't shrink back out of fear of death.
Each squad received a Heaven or Earth scroll and chose an entrance to enter the grounds.
Then they would conduct a scroll snatching battle.
There were 25 teams in total: 13 holding a Heaven scroll, 12 holding an Earth scroll, and one Earth scroll was hidden somewhere in the forest.
To successfully pass this exam, they had to gather a pair of Heaven and Earth scrolls within 5 days and reach the tower in the center.
If there were any casualties, even if the above conditions were met, they would be eliminated.
This meant that even under ideal conditions, at least half the people would be eliminated. This was also why Anko dared to boast earlier that she would eliminate half the people.
However, this was only the ideal situation.
Just using one's brain a little, this ideal situation fundamentally wouldn't occur.
It was impossible for every team to be lucky enough to find a team holding the scroll they needed on the first try. There would definitely be overlapping waste.
Taking various accidents into account, the number of people who could truly pass the exam was far fewer than the ideal number.
The scroll Jokichi received was the Heaven scroll.
In other words, they needed to find a team holding an Earth scroll.
Time quickly reached the afternoon.
The squads were scattered to different entrances to stand by.
The assistant examiners responsible for each group opened the gates in advance.
2:30, time was up.
"The second exam officially begins!"
With the examiner's order, all examinees filed in. Then, they ran towards the central tower at their fastest speed.
The Forest of Death was very large, and the terrain was very complex.
Being able to quickly familiarize oneself with the terrain and set up traps would give one an advantage.
Team 7 chose entrance number 22.
After running wildly inside for a while, the three slowed their pace.
In this highly dangerous environment, one must conserve physical strength at all times. Otherwise, not only enemies, but the traps of nature would also take your life.
A quiet path.
Surrounded by gnarled large trees, under the trees grew various twisted and bizarre plants. Faint sounds of snakes, insects, rats, and ants moving about could be heard. It was eerie and very terrifying.
"Jokichi, what should we do?"
Sakura asked, and Naruto also put his gaze on him.
As a teammate, Jokichi had always been very reliable, becoming the backbone of the squad.
"...Head straight for the central tower." Jokichi thought for a moment and said, "There will always be teams that have gathered the Heaven and Earth scrolls reaching the tower. We just need to intercept those teams outside the tower. Of course, if we encounter other teams on the way, we can also strike and snatch theirs."
"Then let's do that!"
This plan was very arrogant, placing themselves above all other teams, but the two had no objections at all to Jokichi's plan.
No Genin would be Jokichi's match.
This point, even a simpleton like Naruto was very clear on.
However, saying that was one thing.
Jokichi's true thought was to quickly send these two into the tower, so he could go hunting conveniently.
There were quite a few people participating in this Chunin Exam; perhaps there were people with potential.
Putting everything else aside, just Karin alone was worth the trip.
...
The three maintained a moderate speed heading towards the central tower.
Suddenly, Naruto stopped in his tracks.
"What's wrong?" Jokichi asked.
"My stomach hurts, wait for me a bit."
Saying that, Naruto turned around and started unfastening his pants.
Unexpectedly, Sakura directly gave him a knuckle to the head.
"Don't do this kind of thing in front of a lady!"
So, sporting a piping hot bump, Naruto slipped into the nearby bushes.
Suddenly...
"Swish, swish, swish!"
The sound of air breaking sounded from above and behind them.
Without looking back, Jokichi threw out three shuriken backhandedly.
The shuriken spun at high speed, drawing an arc in the air, and collided with the incoming kunai.
"Boom, boom, boom!"
Explosive tags were tied to the kunai. The collision between the shuriken and kunai detonated the explosive tags, making them bloom into three bursts of fire in the air.
Amidst the permeating thick smoke, two figures wrapped in cloaks charged out.
"Kid, let's properly settle the score from the classroom!"