Morino Ibiki glanced at the clock on the wall.

There were only fifteen minutes left until the end of the exam.

He suppressed the anger in his heart, walked back to the podium, and looked at Naruto, who was still snoring in the first row:

"Everyone, put down your pens! Now I am going to announce the final tenth question!"

All the examinees raised their heads to look at Morino Ibiki on the podium.

Only Uzumaki Naruto was still lying on the table, snoring thunderously.

Veins popped on Morino Ibiki's forehead, and he took a deep breath and continued:

"Before announcing the tenth question, I have a few more rules to add!"

"First, you must make a choice now: whether to take this tenth question or not!"

Temari in the audience immediately chimed in: "Are you kidding me? We've come this far, of course we have to take it! What happens if we don't take it?"

Morino Ibiki's mouth twitched: "If you choose not to take it, that examinee's score will be cleared to zero on the spot, meaning your three-person team will be directly eliminated!"

The classroom immediately became noisy.

"What? One person abstains, and the whole team is implicated?"

"Then who would foolishly choose not to take it! Even if we have to bite the bullet, we have to take it!"

Morino Ibiki raised his right hand and pressed it down:

"Quiet! Listen to me finish what I have to say!"

"If any of you choose to accept the tenth question, but fail to answer it in the end..."

Morino Ibiki paused, his gaze sweeping across the faces of the examinees one by one:

"Then this person will be deprived of the qualification to participate in the Chunin selection for life, and can only be a Genin for the rest of their life!"

Hearing this, Inuzuka Kiba suddenly stood up from his seat and roared at the top of his lungs:

"Hey! Are you kidding me? Who sets rules like yours? There are plenty of veterans here who have taken the exam many times, right? Why should answering one question wrong mean being a Genin for life?!"

Morino Ibiki twitched the corner of his mouth,

"Why? Just because this year's chief proctor is me!"

"Blame your own bad luck, you brats. If you don't want to gamble the second half of your lives, it's still not too late to raise your hands and abstain. You can come back and try your luck again next year."

"Of course, the price is dragging your two teammates down with you!"

"Now, make your own choice."

The lecture hall suddenly fell silent.

The first nine questions were already outrageously beyond the syllabus, how hard must this concluding tenth question be?

If they really couldn't answer it, their Ninja careers would be over, and from then on every day they could only catch cats, pull weeds, and sweep the streets in the village!

But if they copped out and raised their hands now, the other two teammates who worked hard to answer the questions would also be doomed together!

Sakura glanced at Naruto, who was still sleeping soundly.

Be a Genin for life?

It didn't matter much to her; as long as there were enough research funds and dissection materials, whatever title she held was the same.

It was just that idiot in the green clothes in the front row who shouted every day about wanting to become Hokage; if he were really deprived of promotion qualifications, he would probably cry to death.

Sasuke by the window crossed his arms and didn't take this rule to heart at all.

Konoha's few peers were still pondering, while the psychological defenses of the Genin from other villages had already begun to loosen.

Morino Ibiki walked down the podium, took two steps forward along the aisle, and continued to pressure the crowd:

"Reality is cruel. If you don't have the ability, don't push yourself and harm others along with yourself."

"Those who feel they have no certainty, raise your hands and get lost early, don't make a fool of yourselves here!"

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

Sweat streamed down the temples of many examinees.

A Kusagakure Genin sitting in the fourth row breathed increasingly rapidly, his right hand holding the pencil trembling incessantly.

"I... I won't take it anymore! I abstain!"

The Kusagakure Genin raised his right hand high in a breakdown and stood up from his seat.

The Chunin responsible for recording nearby noted down: "Number fifty-five abstains! Number fifty-six and number fifty-seven, you two leave the classroom with him!"

The other two Kusagakure Genin of the same team sat blankly in their seats, never expecting their teammate to pull a backstab.

However, rules were rules, and the three could only leave Room 301 under everyone's gaze.

With this person taking the lead, the mentality of quite a few examinees in the exam room collapsed.

"I abstain too! I don't want to be a Genin for life!"

"Sorry everyone, I quit!"

"Count me in! These are simply not questions that a Genin can solve!"

Examinees from Amegakure, Hidden Waterfall Village, and Hidden Sand raised their hands one after another.

In just a few minutes, the lecture hall that was originally packed to the brim suddenly emptied out by a small fraction.

This commotion finally woke Naruto up.

"Mm... Is it time to eat?"

Naruto rubbed his sleep-fatigued eyes, sat up straight, turned his head to look, and found that a large group of people were missing from the classroom.

"Eh? Hinata, did everyone hand in their papers and go eat lunch?"

Hyuga Hinata beside him was feeling anxious for Naruto, and upon hearing his question, she quickly and quietly repeated the rules Morino Ibiki had just announced.

"... That's how it is, Naruto-kun, if you don't give up, you might be a Genin for life."

Hinata pressed her two index fingers together, her voice growing smaller and smaller.

Morino Ibiki also noticed Naruto who had woken up at this time.

Oh! You're finally awake!

Remembering that this kid had cursed him as a big bald head on the test paper earlier, the fire in Morino Ibiki's heart flared up.

He immediately walked up to Naruto and looked down at him:

"Since you're awake, make a decision quickly! If you don't want to be a Genin for life, raise your hand right now!"

The audience's gaze focused on Naruto.

Shikamaru pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered trouble to himself.

With Naruto's brain, he definitely couldn't solve these questions, but with his stubborn streak, how could he obediently admit defeat?

At the same time, an Amegakure Genin diagonally behind Naruto simply couldn't withstand the aura emitted by Ibiki.

He trembled as he raised his right arm, preparing to speak up and abstain.

Naruto looked at the fierce-looking Morino Ibiki.

"So naggy, how annoying!"

As Naruto stood up, his right palm slammed onto the desk!

With this slap, that desk was directly smashed to pieces by Naruto!

Hinata, who was sitting next to Naruto, let out an exclamation and subconsciously raised her arms to block her face.

More than twenty Konoha Chunin in the aisles on both sides reacted extremely quickly, pulling out Kunai one after another and adopting defensive stances.

What are you doing, Lord Ibiki!

If this Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is forced into a backlash and goes berserk, none of us brothers will be able to walk out of this room today!

The Amegakure Genin who was about to raise his hand earlier was so startled that his hand stiffened in mid-air, forgetting what he was supposed to do.

The dust cleared.

Naruto put his left hand on his hip, pointed his right hand at Morino Ibiki's nose, and started chewing him out:

"Stop trying to scare people with such boring tricks over there!"

"Kazama-sensei told me! If a true strong person doesn't even have the courage to throw a punch when facing adversity, what's the difference between them and a salted fish?"

"Isn't it just being a Genin for life? What's there to be afraid of!"

"Even if I'm a Genin for life, This Great One can punch through the Shinobi World with my bare fists and snatch the title of Hokage!"

"Want to make This Great One abstain and become a deserter? Keep dreaming! Whatever difficult problems you have, bring them on!"

Sakura let out a chuckle: "As expected of Naruto, though his brain doesn't work well, his voice is quite loud."

Sasuke snorted, turned his head to look out the window, and relaxed his tense shoulders.

Shikamaru in the back row let out a breath: "Great, with this idiot stirring things up, no one can think of quitting anymore."

Morino Ibiki looked at the wood shavings all over the floor, and then at the dozens of Genin in the exam room who had regained their spirits.

"I'll ask one last time, is there anyone else who wants to change their mind?"

No one answered.

Among the remaining 78 examinees, not a single person raised their hand again.

Morino Ibiki withdrew his gaze:

"Good! You've got backbone!"

"Since no one is quitting anymore, then I announce: Everyone still remaining in this classroom, the first exam, you all pass!"