"So we took that exam for nothing?"
Temari frowned, slammed her hands on the desk, and sprang to her feet, glaring at Ibiki Morino as she demanded an answer.
"Heh, not for nothing. This was a test in its own right."
As someone who interrogated people for intelligence, Ibiki Morino had seen every kind of person. His expression remained unchanged.
"Those nine questions were extremely difficult because they were testing your ability to gather intelligence. We planted Chunin who knew the answers right in the middle of you so you could gather information from them..."
At that, the Chunin sitting in the central seats disguised as examinees turned around to greet everyone.
Compared with his icy demeanor at the start, Ibiki now seemed almost friendly as he explained things to them.
Everyone around him was shocked. They had never imagined that this was what the exam had really been testing.
"As for those disqualified for their clumsy methods, that was for their own good. Sometimes, gathering intelligence matters more than your life!"
With that, Ibiki Morino removed the head covering he had been wearing all along.
Everyone in the room was instantly stunned.
That included Luo Mang. Seeing it in person was still something of a shock, after all. There was a difference between killing someone outright and seeing mutilated flesh that had healed.
His forehead was pitted all over, without a single unmarked patch, and an enormous scar looked as though his head had once been sliced open.
He looked like he could star in a horror movie with Utatane Koharu. It would definitely be a hit.
"..."
The fact that they had stayed proved their determination, and Ibiki Morino greatly admired people like that. His attitude had changed enormously since the beginning.
"Let me congratulate you once again.