Question Ten

Naruto had no idea how long he had slept when, in his light slumber, he felt something kick his foot.

His comfortable sleep disturbed, Naruto could only sit back up from the desk.

Still bleary-eyed, he raised his head and glanced at the clock hanging above the blackboard at the front of the room.

The exam had reached its fortieth minute.

Ibiki Morino would announce the final question in another five minutes.

After confirming the time, Naruto turned to Temari.

Temari had been the one to kick him just now.

"What is it?"

Naruto gave Temari a puzzled look.

Had sleeping somehow offended her too?

Temari did not answer Naruto's question aloud.

She merely cast a sidelong glance at the pencil resting on top of Naruto's test paper.

Unable to get an answer from Temari, Naruto could only follow her gaze.

Beside Naruto's pencil, he noticed a tiny paper ball shorter than even his pinky nail.

This thing looked awfully familiar...

Naruto froze, then realized there was only one purpose for a crumpled paper ball in an examination room.

Naruto looked at Temari again. While he had been sleeping, her test paper, which had originally been blank like his, was now densely filled with answers.

"Stop spacing out. There's no time."

Seeing that Naruto still seemed unmoved, Temari finally gave him a quiet, urgent reminder.

Only then did Naruto pick up the paper ball.

Even he had not expected his earlier words about "becoming friends with Gaara" to affect Temari so much.

She had actually prepared the exam answers for him as well.

When he unfolded the paper ball, it covered all nine questions on the test despite its tiny size.

But compared to the answers written on it, Naruto was more interested in the material of the paper itself.

It did not have the usual rough texture of ordinary paper.

It felt more like... thread.

The paper, woven from threads, carried a faint trace of chakra.

Naruto immediately understood where it had come from.

Kankuro.

It was paper woven from the chakra threads he used to control puppets.

Yet the answers on the paper carried another kind of chakra. When Naruto rubbed the writing hard, he could clearly feel grains of sand.

So that was it...

Gaara had provided the answers, and Kankuro had passed them on to Temari.

That worked out well. Naruto had been somewhat worried that turning in a blank paper would attract too much attention.

With Temari's answers, he could finish the first exam "normally," just like the other candidates.

He copied the answers onto his own paper, and the final word took shape.

Ibiki suddenly spoke from the podium. "Now, I will announce the tenth question of the exam."

Naruto glanced at the clock. Copying the answers had taken him exactly five minutes.

Ibiki swept his gaze around the examination room. The seats that had originally been packed were now more than half empty after forty-five minutes of testing.

Those empty seats belonged to candidates who had been caught cheating five times by the Chunin examiners during those forty-five minutes, causing their entire ninja teams to be eliminated alongside them.

The remaining candidates who had endured the forty-five minutes were also anxiously awaiting Ibiki's tenth question.

Would the final question be easy? Or would it be even harder than the previous nine?

That was what most of the remaining candidates' eyes conveyed.

As the captain of the Torture and Interrogation Force, Ibiki could easily see through their thoughts.

"Hmph."

Yet as the candidates waited uneasily, Ibiki merely let out a chilling snort.

"What is that chief examiner smiling about now?"

Temari could not understand Ibiki's theatrics.

"No idea."

Although Temari did not look at him, Naruto could tell from her tone that she was talking to him.

Temari said nothing more. She merely frowned and stared intently at Ibiki, wary of the grotesque chief examiner pulling some new trick.

Naruto focused more of his attention on the clock. Only fifteen minutes remained in the exam.

Yet they were even harder to endure than the previous forty-five minutes.

This was probably the mindset of a bad student who had already given up... But Naruto felt time passing slowly now because he knew what Ibiki's trick for the tenth question would be.

After all, only unknown interrogation could truly intimidate people.

Ibiki seemed to feel that the atmosphere in the room had been warmed up enough. At last, he spoke again. "Before I announce the final question, I will add some exam rules."

"Additional exam rules? Why add rules now?"

As soon as Ibiki finished speaking, Sakura, seated near the middle of the room, spoke up to question him.

"My examination room. I'll add rules whenever I want."

Ibiki met Sakura's gaze with cold eyes. "If you are dissatisfied, you may choose not to answer the final question—but accordingly, you and your companions will be eliminated immediately!"

Faced with Ibiki's overbearing attitude, Sakura could only fall silent again.

"What I just said is the first additional rule: before I announce the tenth question, you must choose whether to 'answer the tenth question' or 'not answer the tenth question.'"

"Those who choose 'not answer the tenth question' will have their scores reduced directly to zero and will be eliminated immediately along with the other two members of their ninja team."

That was the first additional rule.

At first glance, it seemed like nothing more than a compulsory multiple-choice question.

"If you put it that way, then we can only choose to 'answer the tenth question'!"

"Exactly! He's right!"

"If one person refuses to answer and the other two get eliminated too, who would choose not to answer and get blamed by their teammates?!"

Thus, candidates immediately began expressing dissatisfaction and mockery toward Ibiki's additional rule.

However, Ibiki paid no attention to their clamor.

He continued with the second additional rule.

"Among those who choose to 'answer the tenth question,' if even one person in a three-man ninja team answers the tenth question incorrectly, the entire team's scores will likewise be reduced to zero—and the three of you will permanently lose the right to participate in the Chunin Ninja Exams. You will remain Genin for the rest of your lives."

Upon hearing Ibiki's second additional rule, the noisy examination room suddenly fell completely silent.

"How is that possible... I've taken so many exams, but I've never heard of anything like this!"

A Genin candidate in his thirties questioned Ibiki's rule, his voice trembling.

"What a pity. This year's chief examiner is me... Since you have taken the exams so many times, you should understand that the rules set by the chief examiner of every Chunin Ninja Exam are approved by the Hokage—and remain permanently in effect, even if the next chief examiner is someone else."

Ibiki's cruel words immediately broke the Genin candidate in his thirties. "Then... then what if I choose 'not answer the tenth question'?"

"Then it will count as an ordinary elimination. You may take the exam again next year or the year after."

Ibiki looked at the Genin candidate, who was a full generation older than the other Genin present.

He paid no attention at all to the man's current hesitation and anxiety.

"I... won't answer the tenth question."

As the Genin in his thirties selfishly answered without regard for the opinions of his other two teammates,

the Chunin examiners immediately called out the candidate numbers of his teammates, and all three were expelled from the examination room.

With a coward taking the lead, the others who had been wavering made their choices as well.

More candidates were eliminated in those short ten minutes than in the previous forty-five minutes of the exam.

Five minutes remained before the first exam ended.

Ibiki still did not announce the tenth question's answer. He merely waited for candidates who still intended to withdraw.

Another simple yet hard-to-notice time trap. Five minutes was not enough time to answer a question.

The fact that Ibiki had not announced the question already made the issue clear.

But fear of their own failed futures kept most people from seeing the truth.

If these people, who had nothing to do with Naruto, wanted to quit, then let them quit.

Naruto's gaze fixed on Sakura.

As if sensing Naruto's stare, Sakura suddenly turned around and looked at him.

Her eyes held fear—not fear that she would be unable to answer the question.

Rather, fear over whether she should choose to answer it.

Naruto looked into Sakura's eyes, his gaze unwavering.

Naruto's gaze calmed Sakura. The fear in her eyes gradually faded, and she was no longer lost.

It seemed Sakura would not give up at this final moment.

Naruto then looked at Sasuke. Naturally, Sasuke would not choose not to answer either.

Finally, Naruto stared at Karin and her companions.

Karin and her team were now the only uncertain factor.

If Karin showed any cowardice, Naruto had no good way to stop her. He could probably only make a huge scene like in the original story and drag out the final five minutes.

But Karin was unexpectedly calm, while her two Grass Ninja companions still appeared indecisive.

The two of them kept glancing at Karin, seemingly furious that she had not yet raised her hand and chosen not to answer the tenth question.

"What two pathetic idiots, too concerned with saving face."

A rare look of disgust appeared in Naruto's eyes.