Chapter 77 Chunin Exam pt 3

Information gathering. That was the real test of this exam. You, as a shinobi, was expected to gather information in enemy territory without getting caught. Getting caught had consequences, most of them deadly. Having a test like this in a safe environment was the best for everyone.

I glanced at Naruto, who was glaring at the paper, trying to put a hole in it.

It had already started.

Realizing there was no way to finish this exam without cheating, everyone set about finding the answers. Those with dojutsu activated the power in their eyes and searched for answers. Gaara distracted a student with sand and used his third eye to see directly onto their page before writing his answers. Soft barks could be heard behind me as Kiba and Akamaru cooperated. I even saw Shino's bugs making their rounds. The sound ninjas, which were still a thing, tap rhythmically and pass the answers to their teammates.

Of course, there were a few less discreet things, like outright glancing at other people's papers. A kunai flew past me and onto a sand ninja's paper; he got caught making hand signs.

"You're out," Ibiki announced, and his teammates cursed as they, too, were escorted out.

"You're out," rang through the room as Genins were caught left and right. I sat still, not writing on my test, as chaos rained around me.

Madara was muttering about the answers in my mind, and I could only sigh.

I would need operation hivemind, after all.

I closed my eyes and focused on the people around me. Their chakras were like little blue flames dancing in the darkness. Walking through the water-covered floor, I searched for the fire burning purple. Like a flower in a field of weeds, I found her and stopped. Reaching out, I gently touched it feeling its heat and connecting with the chakra wave lent, connecting our minds. Suddenly I was in a grand hall, sitting around a round table. I created a place for a scenario like this, but it was jarring to suddenly switch environments.

"What the!? What's going on?" Ino yelped, looking around the room, confused. Her eyes locked on me, and she glared.

"You did this, didn't you," She accused. "What's wrong? Couldn't finish the test on your own?" she was smug despite her unease.

"Do you even know the answer to question one?" I asked.

"Of course I do!" she declared. "My father is in the intelligence department. I know a lot of things."

"Then this should be easy," I smiled. "I'll be the anchor, so connect our minds."

Just then, the flames of Konoha twelve ignite in their respective seats, each a different color.

"That's not too much for a Yamanaka, right?"

Ino frowned at me.

"If they catch cheating," she started.

"Who's going to catch us cheating?" I asked. Ibiki might know about the mind transfer technique, but Ino wasn't proficient in it, and he had to know that. That was why I was the anchor and created the space for us to converse in my mindscape.

Typically, entering another person's mind while conscious meant asking to become a vegetable. But I was harmless. Ino looked around at the table and closed her eyes in concentration. One after the other, our classmates appeared around the table. Neji, Sasuke, and Shikamaru were calm and adapted to the situation quickly. The others, not so much.

"What is this!?" Lee exclaimed, leaping onto the table. "What is this!"

"Sit down," I commanded, and chains dragged him down into his seat and held him there.

"I was right in the middle of getting some answers," Kiba whined, and Akamaru barked.

"Ahh, I thought they caught me!" Naruto yelped. "Sakura, don't do that to me."

They were all loud. The shadows behind me twitch, and I assert my authority.

"Quite," I commanded, and the pressure of my mind weighed them down. "This is no time for your whining."

The room became quiet as they gritted their teeth. My killing intent was something they were used to, but here, I was a god. I signed and released my pressure once they all realized what was happening.

"So, what's your plan?" Shikamaru asked in the quiet.

"We're gonna cheat, of course," I assured them. "Most of the questions are common knowledge from another village. We have no choice but to cheat."

"We were already doing that," Hinata said.

"Yeah, but not everyone is capable of cheating as effectively," We all stared at Naruto, who rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

I looked over at Ino, who was struggling a bit. I was almost out of time.

"I'll transfer the relevant information to you and then send you back," I said. I opened the scroll of Madara's compiled information. It felt like a meeting as I handed out copies of the relative information. Shikamaru opened the scroll and read through it before frowning at me.

"How do you know all this information?" He asked.

I conquered the illusion of many eyes glancing at them from the darkness. To put it mildly, it was unnerving.

"I have eyes everywhere," I said simply. Now off you go before Ibiki suspects me." Before they could complain, I clapped my hand as they disappeared from the table, leaving me alone. Well, not completely alone.

"You're putting in a lot of effort for something that doesn't matter," Madara said, coming from the darkness to stand behind me. I sighed and leaned back.

"I can't say for sure that it's useless. Ibiki might make this test worthwhile since he despises me.

"That would be petty,"

"Ibiki is very petty."

He placed a hand on my shoulder, and I looked up at him in question.

"It's almost time," he sounded worried. I placed my hand atop him in comfort.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you," I tease. I didn't need to say how nervous I was, either.

"Times up!" Ibiki shouted, making the genins flinch, someone even dropping their pencil. Someone tried to write one more word and received a kunai to the paper. He got escorted out of the room along with his teammates.

Once they were out of the room, Ibiki smiled; or what he thought was a smile, at us.

"Now that the distractions are out of the way, it's time for the final question," he announced. The room erupted into shouts of displeasure. The test was hard enough; now, there was more. Ibiki initiated a smile as the genins fell for his plan.

He raised a hand, and everyone quieted down out of fear.

"Now, now; this is the best part," he assured them. "If you answer this question correctly, you will receive full marks regardless of what's on the paper."

"What's the catch," Gaara asked.

"If you fail, you will be disqualified and banned from Chunin exams forever!" Ibiki declared. He really knew how to rally the crowd.

Chaos erupted once more, with Genin's objections.

"You can't do that!"

"Banning us from taking the exams, that's impossible!"

"Our Kage won't let this stand!"

Ibiki stood and let them waste their breaths as the invigilators collected our test papers. He said nothing even when the Genins became violet. Jutsus were moulding, and still, he only smirked at them. A cloud ninja, annoyed by Ibiki's smug look, erupted into electricity and leaped for him.

The boy's fist stopped an inch away from Ibiki's smirking face. Lighting sparked around his muscles as he strained to reach the man, but his body wasn't moving.

"Your interference isn't necessary," Ibiki sighed once he saw that the boy wouldn't reach him. "Sakura."

My fingers trembled, holding the wild brat back with chakra strings. The brat wasn't as fast as Sasuke, but he moved too quickly for me to use wire strings. I glared at the suicidal brat; because of him, I had to reveal my hand.

"Tsk," I pulled him back harder than I needed to. "I've never seen someone so stupid and suicidal." I punched him as soon as he was close enough, burying him in the ground and destroying the desk. The Genins sitting beside me made themselves scarce. I wouldn't have bothered saving him if he was just another extra. Omoi glared at me with dark eyes.

"If you wanna die that badly," I grabbed his neck and raised him from the ground; he choked, trying to pry my hands away. "If you wanna commit kamikaze, do it somewhere I can't see."

Cold steel pressed against my neck as his comrades surrounded me.

"Drop him," One said. Looking over, I say it was the same boy that swore vengeance. His hair was as black as his eyes, with a purple mark under his right eye. I grinned at him.

"There seems to be some kind of misunderstanding," I said innocently. "I'm the bad guy here."

Their bodies went rigid as Shikamarus's shadow held them in place. Already I could see my comrades gearing up for war.

"That's quite enough," Ibiki said once he gathered all the test papers. "Sakura, it's not your job to protect them. Let him be put to death for assaulting an invigilator." Omoi looked horrified, his dark skin turning pastel.

I dropped him once realization dawned on him. That was the perk of hosting the exams; complete immunity. When your life was in jeopardy, you could carry out executions, and the host wasn't held accountable for the genin's deaths during the examinations.

Just then, Ibiki was planning on making an example of the boy, but he was a side character, so I could have him die so pathetically.

"Alright, everyone, settle down," Ibiki called, clapping his hands. The invigilators walked over to us and picked Omoi up, carrying him back to his desk. The ruined desk was sealed away and replaced immediately with another, and the earth benders fixed the ground. "Now that we have all that out of the way, I'll continue."

Shikamaru leaned his head on his desk and returned my nod as I sat down.

"The final question is optional," Ibiki said. He pouted when no one rose to the bait. "If you leave now, you will be disqualified but have the opportunity to do the exams next year. If you stay and fail, however, you will be banned from the exams forever. "

The room was silent, unlike before. The knowledge that they could die at any time; started to set in. Those not confident in themselves slowly rose from their seats and walked out of the room. The genins weren't allowed to take the exam without their team, so everyone was disqualified.

Three by three, they left the room. The share amount of them giving up and living made others go. Peer pressure was no joke. Ibiki really was a manipulative bastard; I felt sorry for whatever crazy woman married him. Inoichi and Shikaku had a relatively normal family life; maybe Ibiki would get lucky.

I began thinking about all the women in his life and who would be a good match. Even as I considered it, Anko would be the only woman that could handle his sadistic behaviour. She survived Orochimaru after all.

When the room became quiet, I refocused my attention on the classroom. The cowards had left, and only those with confidence and determination remained.

"What? No one else wanna run away?' Ibiki tease. I stared at him blankly. "Well, if that's all." he paused for dramatic effect.

"You pass."

"WHAT!?"

The Genins were back to being outraged as Ibiki imitated a smile.

"The exam was to test your information-gathering skills. With invigilators watching your every move, you had to think outside the box to cheat without getting caught. Those that foolishly cheated naturally were disqualified."

He took off the headband that covered his head, to reveal a burn scar that covered his scope.

Ibiki's head is always covered to conceal a collection of burn marks, punctures from where screws were used, and long slash marks. He was tortured so many times for information that those scars were his trophy for enduring it all.

"Anyone that wants information must risk their life for it."

The Genins were in awe.

"Spoken like the true head of Konoha Torture and Interrogation Force," I said. Our eyes locked. "Is this why you are single? When a girl tries to 'get to know you,' you take her to the torture chamber and integrate her."

"That happened twice, actually," he said shamelessly: putting on his headband. "She was a spy from Kumokakure trying to get information from our shinobis; it was only her bad luck that she chose me as a target."

"Bad luck, suuure~" I leaned back." I'm sure it was bad luck that you just happened to run into each other in the liberty of a place. I swear it was awkward seeing you smile at her like that knowing what you were gonna do."

"You were there?" he asked, surprised.

"It was the public liberty Ibiki," I frowned at him.

He laughs and rubs his head sheepishly.

"I didn't realize you knew who I was," he laughed; or imitated one. I'm pretty sure he has no emotions.

The genins became even more uncomfortable. The could genins refused to make eye contact.

"Ahem," he coughed it off. "The final question was the core issue of this exam. Needless to say, it's a difficult decision to make. Those who choose not to take the last question would fail, along with their whole square. However, if they took the question and failed, the results would be the same with dire consequences. It really is an unfair question.

"But how come we past just by taking the question," someone asked.

"Let's say you became a Chunin," Ibiki began to explain. "You are then assigned a mission to steal a vital enemy document. Knowing nothing of the enemy's skills, military strength, or readiness for war. You may have to cross into their territory, which is filled with minds and a variety of traps. Now do you accept your mission, or do you reject it?"

Anyone that sends their people into such a place with no information; is a tyrant.

"Rather than place your own life or the lives of your companions at risk, could any chunin get away with only taking on a safe mission?" Ibiki stared us down. "Of course not!"

"No matter how dangerous the risk, there will be missions you can't decline. A shinobi must demonstrate valor that inspires those around them. Helping all others overcome their fears; that is the talent we value in the commander of a Chunin squad." Ibiki smiled.

He might have smiled for real that time.

"Those who can't gamble with their fate, who would trade today's certain risk for tomorrow's uncertain future, never taking the chance that lies before them, are weaklings who only make weak and easy decisions. In my opinion, they don't belong in the rank of chunin!" His passion boiled over. "By choosing to answer the final question, you have passed the first stage of the chunin exams. If you keep this mindset, I have no doubt you will overcome maybe of life challenges."

A resounding sigh of relief echoed through the room.

"It's over."

"I thought I was doomed there."

"This guy is a sadist."

Of course, there were few cheers, Genins hugging the stranger next to them in shared joy.

"Look at these guys relaxing already," I muttered as I felt her chakra approaching.

Suddenly the windows imploded, and a black cloth barreled in. All the shinobis rose to their feet, expecting a fight when two kunai pinned the cloth to the ceiling.

"Newly arrived second chief officer," read the black cloth as it served as a backdrop for Anko.

"This is no time to relax!" She yelled, flashing a dramatic pose. "I'm the second examination officer Mitarashi Anko! From now on, you're mine!"

Next Chapter

February 28