Scroll Bandits

"Hahahahaha." Ibiki suddenly laughed, and the proctors in the classroom joined in with hearty laughter.

"An interesting statement!"

Ibiki composed himself.

"Now I declare—every examinee who stayed—has passed this written exam!"

Ibiki revealed the true purpose of the exam and the real meaning behind the tenth question to everyone.

"Suppose you've already become chunin, tasked with stealing vital intelligence from an enemy nation. But when you don't know the enemy's numbers or their positions, would you abandon the mission out of fear of losing your own life or your comrades'?" Ibiki posed the question.

Seeing no one answer, he explained on his own.

"Those who don't value their comrades' lives don't deserve to be ninja. But some missions must be carried out by someone. Only those who can shoulder immense pressure in a crisis, giving their comrades trust and courage, deserve to be called chunin..."

"Those who shrink back in a critical moment, or voluntarily withdraw, or pin their hopes on retaking the exam next year—in my eyes, they're weak-willed trash. Would you dare entrust your backs to them?"

"Therefore, you've all passed this exam!"

"Hell yeah!" Naruto cheered.

In the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage watched the image in the Crystal Ball alongside a group of squad leaders.

"Kakashi, you really struck gold..." Gai had to admit that Jimo was indeed outstanding.

Even Asuma and Kurenai marveled at Jimo's courage.

"It's been a while since I've seen such a hot-blooded fool..." Kakashi stared at Jimo's figure, lost in memory.

"Don't get too excited just yet!"

A figure appeared before everyone, accompanied by the sound of a window shattering.

A banner suddenly dropped down in the classroom.

"This guy..." Ibiki turned his face away, restraining himself from looking at this oddball.

"I'm the proctor for your second exam! Anko Mitarashi!"

The fiery woman raised her arm high.

"Follow me! The next exam awaits you..."

The classroom fell into silence, until Ibiki finally broke the awkward scene.

"No one's paying you any attention..."

"Seriously, your exam was way too easy—how are there still over seventy people left?" Anko sneered at Ibiki.

"Just watch me. In the next exam, I'll eliminate at least half of them."

Everyone followed Anko to the outskirts of what Konoha called the Forest of Death.

"You little pervert, didn't anyone tell you not to stare at a girl?" Anko suddenly turned around and smiled at Jimo.

Along the way, Jimo had confirmed multiple times—this woman was going commando...

Jimo gave an awkward smile.

Seeing this, Sakura and Ino silently distanced themselves.

"What do you mean by that?!" Jimo complained at their expressions. "I wouldn't have any interest in underdeveloped flat boards."

"Hahaha!" Naruto burst out laughing.

And so, the two of them happily received a pair of red-envelope gift packs.

"Sumimasen..."

Jimo and Naruto, each sporting three steaming bumps on their heads, apologized to the two girls.

"Can this kid really... have fought Zabuza to a draw?" Anko watched Jimo humbly apologizing and felt doubtful.

Arriving at the assembly point, just as Jimo had predicted, Naruto's loudmouthed declaration was shut down by Anko. And a certain guy with an absurdly long tongue kept staring at their team.

"What a pain... Orochimaru..."

Jimo felt that, as he was now, going up against Snake Uncle was still a bit premature.

"This exam lasts a total of one hundred and twenty hours—that's five days! Half of your teams will carry the Heaven Scroll, and the other half the Earth Scroll. Only teams that possess both scrolls and successfully reach the Central Tower will advance." Anko pulled out two scrolls, one black and one white, to explain.

"In other words... you'll eliminate half of you."

Then, the proctor began distributing scrolls to each squad.

"Hey! Don't start until I say start!"

Anko shouted at Jimo, who was already raring to go. By then, Jimo had already grabbed two examinees from other villages and was starting a "friendly" conversation.

Stopped by Anko, Jimo scratched his head and reluctantly set the two down.

The squads were led to different areas to enter the forest. As soon as they entered, Jimo shared his plan with the others.

It would be great if the three little ones could guard the scroll, but he had to prepare for both outcomes.

The three little ones should focus on avoiding enemies and try not to engage in direct conflict. He would act alone—not only to snatch the Earth Scroll but also to grab the Heaven Scroll.

A while later, Jimo sat on the Flying Nimbus, observing the situation below. Beside him lay four Heaven Scrolls and six Earth Scrolls.

"Ah la la, so boring..."

On the ground, Sasuke had successfully distinguished the real Naruto from the fake based on his knowledge of him.

But they came up against Orochimaru, disguised as a Grass Shinobi. With just one look, Sasuke and Sakura fell under a genjutsu. If Orochimaru hadn't voluntarily dispelled it, the two would have likely suffered mental collapse.

"Tough to deal with... one of the Three Ninja, Orochimaru..."

Jimo condensed a mass of energy between his fingers, then continuously compressed it into a Chakra Sphere.

Naruto used the Clone Technique to burst the snake that had swallowed him and regrouped with Sasuke.

When he saw Sasuke already injured and trying to trade a scroll for his life, he couldn't help but flare up.

"You think if you give him the scroll, he'll let us go? Don't be stupid... Did you forget what Jimo said before we split up? The weak have no right to negotiate with the strong!"

Naruto charged at Orochimaru like a madman, but was sent flying by a summoned Giant Python. Blood splattered everywhere. At that moment, a surge of powerful chakra erupted from Naruto's body.

The whisker marks on Naruto's face suddenly grew denser, and his eyes turned fierce. With a single punch, he flipped the Giant Python over.

But a Three Ninja was still a Three Ninja—not something a power-up could solve. Orochimaru used a crude Sealing Technique to seal Naruto's Nine-Tails chakra and planted a Cursed Seal on Sasuke.

Perhaps sensing Anbu ninjas heading this way, Orochimaru chose to retreat.

In the sky, Jimo had been tracking Orochimaru's figure, the sphere of light in his hand growing more refined.

"Ah la la! Found you!"

Just as Orochimaru was toying with Anko, a beam of light pierced straight through his chest.

This gave Anko, paralyzed by the Cursed Seal, a brief moment to catch her breath.

Then, a figure scooped her up and fled the area.

"What are you doing?! You can't let him get away!"

Anko shouted anxiously.

"Sensei, you know better than I do how strong he is. Do you really think piercing his chest is enough to kill him? Then you're overestimating me, a mere genin."

It was then that Anko realized the person holding her was that problem child from before.

At the same time, she also noticed...

"Why are you flying, hey?!"