Exactly 45 minutes of the exam had passed.
The serious-looking Ibiki suddenly spoke, "Alright. Now I will announce the tenth question."
In an instant, a suffocating atmosphere of tension filled the classroom.
Just as Ibiki was about to announce the final question, the back door of the classroom was pushed open.
Kankuro walked in from outside, followed by the proctor that was actually a puppet. As soon as he entered, he was startled by the heavy atmosphere in the room, an expression of astonishment appearing on his face as he stood frozen in place.
"Hmph. What good luck."
Ibiki gave a cold laugh, his expression calm and composed. "Playing with dolls wasn't a waste of effort after all."
Having his disguise seen through at a glance, Kankuro's face gradually darkened, but he still forced himself to remain calm.
"But never mind, sit down." Ibiki didn't press further and signaled for him to return to his seat.
Once Kankuro was seated, Ibiki continued, "Now I will explain the rules for the tenth question. First, you must choose whether or not to answer the tenth question."
Temari had just obtained the answers through Kankuro's secret methods, not expecting the proctor to suddenly change the rules.
Faced with this unexpected situation, she couldn't help but raise her voice and ask, "You want us to choose? What happens if we choose not to answer the tenth question?"
Ibiki replied straightforwardly, his voice exceptionally clear in the quiet classroom, "If you don't choose to answer, the candidate will be immediately judged to have zero points, which is to say—failing. Of course, the other two members of the same team will also be eliminated together."
As soon as he finished speaking, the classroom suddenly erupted into chaos, with discussions rising and falling.
But Ibiki continued as if he hadn't heard, "Then, there is another rule. If you choose to answer but get it wrong..."
He paused deliberately and suddenly raised his volume. "The respondent will be permanently stripped of their eligibility to participate in the Chunin Exams."
"Alarmist, but the effect is immediate." Mamoru held the back of his head, leaned back against the chair, and whispered while looking up at the ceiling.
As if responding to his comment, Orochimaru's chilling laughter rang out beside him.
Mamoru couldn't help but curl his lips and cursed in his heart, 'That laugh is so damn perverted.'
After hearing Mamoru's whisper, Gaara glanced at him silently.
"Are you kidding me? Aren't there people here who have participated in the Chunin Exams several times?"
"Exactly."
"This ridiculous rule is simply nonsense."
...
The candidates could no longer sit still, and some even stood up angrily to question the proctor loudly.
"Hmph... Heh heh..."
Facing the questioning looks and voices, Ibiki let out a strange laugh.
Then he contemptuously scanned the candidates in the classroom, a cruel smile appearing at the corners of his lips. "Your luck is too bad. This year, I am the rules. And haven't I given you a way out? Those who lack confidence should choose not to answer and come back to take the exam next year or the year after."
After saying that, he let out another harsh, mocking laugh, which sounded like coarse sandpaper rubbing against the eardrums and nerves of every candidate present.
At this moment, the air in the examination hall seemed to freeze. Everyone in their seats was on pins and needles, fine cold sweat oozing from their foreheads, nails unconsciously scratching the edges of the test papers on the desks, as their hearts engaged in a fierce internal struggle.
To answer, or not to answer?
A long silence spread and settled in the classroom.
Ibiki's cold gaze slowly swept across the room. He had given these young people enough time to weigh the pros and cons.
Finally, he spoke in a deep voice, breaking the almost suffocating silence, "Then, let's begin. Those who choose not to answer the tenth question, please raise your hand. After confirming your number, please leave from here."
As his voice fell, all sorts of reactions were displayed in the examination hall. Some people's faces were pale, their lips trembling. Some had their eyes closed tightly, their chests heaving violently. Some forced themselves to remain calm, but their clenched fists revealed the turmoil in their hearts. Regardless, they had to make a choice concerning their future at this moment.
To gamble everything on an answer, or to give up to preserve the future?
Just then, a candidate suddenly sprang up from his seat. Because the movement was too violent, the pencil on the table rolled to the ground with a "clack." He propped his hands on the table, his knuckles turning white from the force, his face written with pain and struggle, and he almost squeezed the words out from between his teeth. "I... I don't want to! I'm not taking the exam anymore!"
"Number 50, withdraw." The proctor announced expressionlessly, his voice without a hint of emotion.
Once someone tore open this gap, it was like a dam bursting, the flood of withdrawals could no longer be stopped. One after another, candidates in the classroom stood up, expressing their surrender with voices that were either trembling or low. The air was filled with a sense of helpless tragedy.
No one blocked them, and no one spoke out to blame them. Everyone understood that the rules for this exam question were too cruel. Choosing to stay and answer, if correct, would naturally be a cause for celebration. But once wrong, it meant being bound to the status of a Genin for life. Such a price was too heavy for any ninja with a dream.
Just as Ibiki said, if one lacked confidence, they could always come back next year. Why gamble one's entire future on a single exam?
However, the balance in everyone's heart was different. If some chose to give up, there would always be others who chose to hold on.
As the number of people withdrawing increased, the classroom gradually became empty, and those who still insisted on sitting in their original places suddenly felt the pressure hit them like a landslide or a tsunami. An invisible sense of tension gripped everyone's throat.
Hinata wove her fingers together uneasily, her gaze quietly searching the classroom, eventually finding that familiar figure in the back. She saw Mamoru with his hands casually resting behind his head, his body leaning back slightly, lazily looking at the ceiling. That languid and relaxed posture was completely out of place with the heavy atmosphere pervading the examination hall.
After seeing him like this, Hinata felt a sense of relief for no reason, as if she had found a pillar of support. As long as this person was there, even the most difficult situation seemed nothing to fear. She took a light breath and refocused her gaze on the desk in front of her. The tension that had been surging just now miraculously calmed down.