The scene shifted to the Exam Proctors' lounge for Konoha's Chunin Ninja Exams.
Kakashi Hatake, Asuma Sarutobi, and Kurenai Yuhi were there discussing the exams.
"Speaking of which, was it appropriate to have Ibiki Morino serve as the Exam Proctor for the first exam this year?" Kakashi asked from his seat.
"Now even the first exam is dangerous. The questions that guy comes up with are seriously twisted," Kakashi said helplessly.
This year's Chunin Ninja Exams were supposed to be a joint exam, yet Lord Hokage had specifically sent someone like him to proctor it.
"Who knows? The old man has always been like that!" Asuma slowly tapped the ash from his cigarette.
He hadn't been sent out in previous years, and no one knew what was different this year.
Kurenai, however, was confused by their conversation.
"Ibiki Morino? What's wrong with him?" Kurenai asked, unaware of the situation.
"You're a newly appointed Jonin, so you might not know much about him." Asuma put down his cigarette.
"He's extremely skilled at subjecting examinees to mental torture. In some respects, he's an expert at interrogation and torture."
"After all, he's the captain of the Konoha Anbu's Torture and Interrogation Force." Asuma explained Ibiki Morino's position in full.
Meanwhile, the first stage of Konoha's Chunin Ninja Exams had just ended, and everyone except Naruto had turned in their papers.
"Heh, there are still seventy-eight of you left?" Ibiki Morino looked at the seventy-eight remaining examinees.
"Now I'll ask one more question. You can choose to answer it, or you can choose not to." Ibiki Morino slowly introduced the final question of the exam.
"Will we be penalized if we choose not to answer?" Temari stood up and asked.
"Of course. If you choose not to answer, you'll fail this exam, and your teammates will fail as well because of your wrong answer." Ibiki Morino revealed the cruel truth.
Everyone who had made it this far wanted to qualify as a Chunin, yet now he had pulled something like this. If they answered the question, they risked failing, and if they didn't answer, they also risked failing.
Wouldn't everything they had done up to this point have been for nothing?
Naruto was agonizing over the decision. He was the man who had told everyone he would become Hokage. Was he going to fall at the very first step?
It wasn't just Naruto. Many of the examinees were at a loss, unsure whether they should choose to answer.
Meanwhile, Ibiki Morino slowly piled the pressure on everyone. This was what he did best: breaking down other people's psychological defenses, one step at a time.
But after struggling for only a short while, Naruto raised his hand under everyone's astonished gazes.
"I'll answer! Even if I get it wrong, even if I remain a Genin for the rest of my life, I won't give up a single chance to become Hokage," Naruto said bravely.
Sasuke was stunned by Naruto's choice. He hadn't expected Naruto, the usual fool, to be so brave.
Sasuke slowly raised his hand as well, and then more and more people were inspired by Naruto.
Before long, all seventy-eight people present had chosen to answer the question.
This came as a shock to Ibiki Morino. He had originally thought only a little over twenty would raise their hands, but after Naruto's encouragement, every single one of them had done so.
"All right, in that case, I hereby declare that all of you..." Ibiki Morino paused for suspense.
Just as everyone's hearts were in their throats, Ibiki Morino suddenly said something they hadn't expected.
"You all pass!"
"Huh?!" Naruto was baffled by what Ibiki Morino had done.
He had finally worked up the courage to stand up, and in the end, he had just passed them like that.
Ibiki Morino explained, "Actually, this final question was simply a test of your courage, a test of whether you dared to try."
"As a Shinobi, knowledge on paper isn't the most important thing. What matters most is having the courage to face yourself."
"But don't think you can let your guard down just because you've cleared this stage! The exciting part of the Chunin Ninja Exams is still to come," Ibiki Morino said.
While everyone was celebrating, someone suddenly burst in.
"I'm the examiner for your second exam, Mitarashi Anko!" A bold-looking Shinobi walked in.
The newcomer was none other than Mitarashi Anko as an adult, but unfortunately, the Anko who had transmigrated had no chance to meet her future self.
"Tomorrow, I'll take you to the site of the second exam. I hope you'll all be ready."
With that, Mitarashi Anko left without looking back. Naruto, having just passed the first exam, looked at the carefree examiner and instead felt that the next exam would be much easier.
Early the next morning, Anko had already brought them to the entrance of the Forest of Death.
Naruto looked around in every direction, seemingly surveying his surroundings.
But all around the entrance, there was nothing but dense trees.
"What? So this is the Forest of Death!" Naruto said with a look of disdain.
He immediately struck all sorts of punchable poses, as if he wasn't afraid at all.
"Oh? You're full of energy, aren't you!"
But then Anko suddenly hurled a Kunai straight at Naruto. Naruto had never expected the examiner to attack him out of nowhere.
"Kids like you are usually the first to die."
The Kunai flew past Naruto's cheek and continued on until it passed behind a person who looked like Orochimaru.
By then, Anko had appeared behind Naruto and reached out to gently touch the blood on his face. At the same time, she immediately pulled out a Kunai and stabbed backward.
The person who looked somewhat like Orochimaru had somehow appeared behind Anko and had even used a very long tongue to pick up the Kunai she had thrown.
"Your Kunai. Here."
Anko hadn't expected to be treated with such disregard on her first day as an Exam Proctor, but she truly hadn't noticed the person coming up behind her.
As it turned out, when the Kunai had narrowly passed Naruto, it had accidentally cut this person's hair.
Anyone with a discerning eye could guess who this person was: someone who played with snakes, had such a long tongue, and looked a lot like Orochimaru.
But Anko seemed not to recognize the person, thinking this was a Shinobi from some village.
Anko stopped wasting words on them and announced the task for this exam. Each squad would receive a scroll, and they would succeed if they gathered both the Heaven and Earth Scrolls and reached the tower in the very center of the Forest of Death.
That meant they had to steal another team's scroll to complete the task, since each team would receive only one scroll at the start.
Naruto's squad received their scroll from Anko.
"Ah, ours is the Heaven Scroll," Naruto said after opening it.
Naruto's funny pose
Mitarashi Anko