The Power of Talk-no-Jutsu Reveals Its Might, Three Blind Girls

"Next, I'll announce the contents of the tenth question. But before that, you need to make a choice..."

Just like in the original story, Ibiki Morino gave them the choice of whether to answer before revealing the tenth question.

If they chose to answer, then getting the tenth question wrong meant they would never be able to become chunin for the rest of their lives.

If they chose not to answer, it would be treated as an automatic withdrawal, and the entire team would be eliminated.

The moment this choice was presented, the whole room erupted.

The examinees who had worked so hard to copy down the answers stood up in anger and protested.

However, when Ibiki Morino removed his headscarf, revealing a bald head covered in scars just like his face, along with the presence of a jonin, everyone was intimidated by the captain of the Interrogation Department.

The silent atmosphere became a form of high-pressure torture for those with fragile hearts and little confidence in their own abilities.

"I... I withdraw!"

Before long, one examinee could no longer bear the psychological pressure and raised his hand to forfeit.

As he left, he even defended himself. "I'm still young. At worst, I'll come back next year. I'm not willing to gamble my ninja career on an unknown question."

Those words became the final straw that broke the camel's back.

One after another, examinees with no confidence in themselves raised their hands and withdrew.

The examination room, once packed to the brim, quickly emptied out by a large margin.

Watching more and more examinees withdraw, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura, who had little faith in Naruto, fixed their eyes on his back in the front row, where he sat beside Hinata. They were terrified that the dead last would raise his hand.

With five minutes remaining, Naruto, trembling all over, slowly raised his hand under the slightly changed expressions of Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura.

Bang—

The next second, his palm slammed heavily onto the desk, drawing everyone's attention.

"Don't underestimate me! I won't run away at the last moment! Even if I can only be a genin for the rest of my life, I'll still work hard to become Hokage! That's my ninja way! Bring on the tenth question!"

His loud, resolute words echoed throughout the examination room.

The examinees who had been anxious and wavering over whether to raise their hands and withdraw suddenly felt their spirits lift.

At that moment, they were all infected by Naruto's willpower. The fear in their eyes vanished, replaced by firm determination.

The atmosphere in the room changed instantly.

Seeing this, Ibiki Morino and the proctors looked at Naruto with disbelief in their eyes.

Ryusuke rested his chin on one hand, smiling as he looked at Naruto's back.

So this is Talk-no-Jutsu? What incredible power to move people!

For Ryusuke, this was good news.

He did not know whether Asura's Chakra contained the will of Otsutsuki Asura.

If it did, then Ryusuke was now certain that Otsutsuki Asura's will remained with Naruto.

The Asura's Chakra Ryusuke had obtained was merely pure energy!

That meant his Asura's Chakra did not contain any contingency left behind by the Six Paths Sage!

The game system stood far above the Six Paths.

"Time's up. I announce... that all of you have passed the first examination!"

Seeing that his psychological interrogation had failed, Ibiki Morino did not waste any words and directly announced that everyone had passed.

That result caused another uproar throughout the room.

The examinees who had just resolved themselves to gamble their ninja careers on the tenth question were all left dumbfounded.

Then quite a few of them cracked, standing up to question Ibiki Morino. "Then what was all our effort just now for?"

Even after Ibiki Morino explained that the first examination had merely tested their qualities as ninjas, those examinees still could not accept it.

Only Naruto, who had just steadied everyone's morale with Talk-no-Jutsu, was beaming with joy.

I passed the first examination just like that?

Even Hinata beside him looked at Naruto with disbelief.

As Naruto's desk mate, Hinata knew very well that aside from writing his name, Naruto had not answered a single question.

He passed even after handing in a blank paper. That's amazing!

Hinata decided that she would use this as a topic to talk to Ryusuke and Ino about later.

Crash—

The sound of something smashing through glass rang out as a kunai flew in from outside.

Anko Mitarashi, the chief examiner of the second examination, made a very high-profile and exaggerated entrance, successfully shifting the examinees' attention.

"Ibiki, why did you leave behind so many examinees?"

"Never mind. In the second examination, I'll cut this bunch down by at least half."

When no one played along, Anko Mitarashi did not feel embarrassed. After mocking Ibiki Morino, she swept her gaze across the room like a predator hunting prey.

Hearing her words, many examinees felt their hearts tighten.

Very quickly, Anko Mitarashi announced the time and location of the second examination.

It would begin at exactly three in the afternoon the next day. The location was Konoha's 44th Training Grounds, also known as—the Death Forest!

After the gathering ended, Ino and Sakura immediately said goodbye to their teammates and came over to Ryusuke.

Under the envious gazes of Hinata and Sakura, the warm and proactive Ino linked her arm through Ryusuke's. "Ryusuke, can I come to your house for dinner? I haven't tasted your cooking in so long since graduation."

"Of course. Everyone, come along."

Taking advantage of his absolute height advantage, Ryusuke first patted Ino on the head, then smiled at the three girls.

The combination of one boy and three girls drew countless looks.

Watching Ryusuke surrounded by three pretty and adorable girls, Konoha ninjas a few years older than him, as well as ninjas from other countries, were all filled with envy, jealousy, and resentment.

Handsome, strong, and liked by so many girls...

What novel's male protagonist did this damned guy crawl out of?

The female ninjas were equally envious, jealous, and resentful of Hinata and the other two.

Hinata in particular drew many hostile stares.

Some girls even cursed under their breaths. "How can they possibly be that big at her age? She must have stuffed them. What a shameless woman!"

Ryusuke and the others neither knew nor cared about those people's thoughts. They were already used to it.

After leaving the Ninja Academy, the four of them, who had not gotten together for several months, went to the market to buy ingredients before heading home to cook.

Just like in the island nation of his previous life, once women got married, they usually stayed home as housewives and rarely went out to take missions.

To them, making men enter the kitchen was a disgrace.

Logically speaking, Hinata and the other two, who would become virtuous wives and loving mothers in the future, should have been the same.

Yet they had never stopped Ryusuke from entering the kitchen. When they were in there, they merely helped him out.

That was because many of Ryusuke's dishes were completely different from what their families made, and even different from the food sold outside.

That was right—Ryusuke cooked Chinese food.

Today was no exception.

After preparing a lavish meal and thoroughly satisfying Ino and Sakura's taste buds, Ryusuke did not test how much they had improved over this period. Instead, he took out a deck of cards, and they played while chatting about their experiences over the past few months.

When Ino heard that Ryusuke, Sakura, and Hinata had all encountered jonin like the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, she cried out in alarm, her face full of lingering fear.

When she heard that Ryusuke had killed a jonin like Raiga Kurosuki, Ino and Sakura looked at him with admiration, their beautiful eyes seeming to sparkle.

Sakura especially understood the gap between genin and jonin after witnessing Zabuza Momochi's strength.

Even Naruto and Sasuke Uchiha working together had only managed to avoid Zabuza Momochi's Water Clone.

Yet Ryusuke had actually been able to kill someone like that.

As expected of Ryusuke!

The three girls did not realize that they had already become blindly convinced of Ryusuke's strength and excellence.

Looking at the three girls, who were practically taking on his shape, Ryusuke's heart was filled with a sense of accomplishment.

Once his plan succeeded, the only obstacle left between him and the three girls would be their age.