"Based on everyone who remained, I now declare that you have all passed the first exam."
In an instant, the heavy atmosphere in the classroom deflated like a punctured balloon.
"Huh?"
"Why?"
Everyone looked utterly confused, unable to make sense of it!
"As Chunin, you may one day be assigned missions in any environment and under any circumstances. Quite a few of those missions will involve highly opaque intelligence and unpredictable, high-risk situations..."
Ibiki looked at the bewildered crowd and explained, "Ninja who refuse to accept risks, who do not dare shoulder important responsibilities, and who can be easily talked into quitting by others will ultimately shift the casualties of an entire mission onto the comrades they were supposed to protect."
"We do not need people like that to become Chunin."
"You made your choice, and that was the tenth question."
"Congratulations. Even more grueling trials await you."
The moment Ibiki finished speaking.
The classroom window shattered into countless pieces.
Before the fragments of glass had finished scattering through the air, a figure in fishnet stockings leaped in through the window.
She flipped once in midair and landed steadily atop the podium.
She was tall and slender, with dark brown short hair tied into a neat ponytail at the ends. A beige trench coat hung over her shoulders, open at the chest to reveal the fishnet undershirt beneath.
Mitaraishi Anko.
A Special Jōnin of Konoha, the proctor of the second exam, and also Orochimaru's disciple.
Anko held a dango skewer between her teeth, swept her gaze over the more than twenty groups of examinees in the classroom, then turned and flashed Ibiki a broad grin.
"More than sixty groups signed up, yet twenty are still left? Ibiki, weren't you too soft this year?"
Anko took the dango skewer from her