"Next, the examinees whose names I call, please leave the examination hall... Those who have questions about their respective scores can view their own results on the screen in the main hall. Every single detail of this exam, in dealing with every single examinee, has upheld the principles of fairness and impartiality. Every action during the examination process can be verified..."
Once the results were announced, Inoichi Yamanaka began clearing people out one by one, and the number of people in the classroom visibly decreased.
In the end, only 36 people remained, comprising a total of 12 Ninja squads. Among them, there were 4 squads from Konoha, 2 from the Hidden Sand Village, and the other small Ninja Villages accounted for the remaining 6 squads... Sweeping his gaze over these teams that had passed the exam, Inoichi Yamanaka suddenly grinned: "Congratulations, you have passed the first stage of the Chunin Exams. The location for the second stage of the Chunin Exams is the Forest of Death—please wait here next..."
After Inoichi Yamanaka finished speaking, he gave a slight nod, turned around, and left the examination hall. Inuzuka Tsume gave Kuro Maru a pat, then patted Ino.
"Alright, Kuro Maru, it's our turn!" she laughed "haha," but Kuro Maru tilted his head and asked Ino, "Ino, do you want to come along?"
"Is that allowed?"
"Of course it is—get on!"
Kuro Maru directly answered for Inuzuka Tsume, letting Ino get on his back. As soon as Ino was riding on Kuro Maru's back, Kuro Maru stirred up a gust of wind. Ino felt as if she were swimming through viscous wind, and in the blink of an eye, they arrived at the examination hall.
Bang!
Kuro Maru pushed the door open with one paw, his overwhelmingly imposing figure filling the podium, looking down condescendingly at the examinees present.
The little fairy on his back didn't diminish his ferocity in the slightest; instead, it made him even more imposing.
"It seems the proctor for the first exam was too soft-hearted. 36 people, that's far too many left... troublesome."
"I, am the proctor for your second exam..."
..."'s dog!"
Inuzuka Tsume's person and voice arrived simultaneously, one hand casually pressing down on the dog's head—this guy, always scaring the kids for no reason.
Her vertical pupils swept over the Genin who had passed the exam, and Inuzuka Tsume said unhurriedly, "Let me introduce myself, I am the proctor for the second exam. The location for the second exam is the Forest of Death... Let me state in advance, the second exam includes combat elements, and you must also survive for a certain period in a wilderness environment. It carries significant danger..."
"So—"
"If you don't want to die as worthless as trash and be discarded, it's still not too late to give up now."
"People, it is valuable to have self-awareness. A Ninja who knows how to correctly assess their own strength is a qualified Ninja—while those who are always eager to fight and brawl, who lack a proper understanding of their own abilities, will not only get their comrades killed but will also lead to mission failure—listen, this is not about one person's courageous persistence."
"This is about one person's stupidity causing the Village to lose mission completion rates, causing comrades to die unfortunate deaths because of your foolishness, and causing your parents to spend the latter half of their lives in the pain of losing a child."
"If any of you have such teammates... then... truly unfortunate, I sympathize with you..."
...This speech, however, wasn't pre-arranged; it was Inuzuka Tsume's impromptu 'just skilled from practice' performance. With just a few sentences, she plunged these Genin examinees into a state of inner conflict.
Kuro Maru teamed up with his master: "Maybe they're not just foolish, but foolish cowards... Ino, do you know what a foolish coward is?"
"Oh? What is a foolish coward?"
"It's someone who is a very, very foolish coward—they aren't simply unable to face their own abilities; they are afraid to face their own abilities. They fear mockery from their teammates, they fear the self that is actually unaccomplished and mediocre from the start."
"That's really stupid!"
..."I—Yamashin, I'm sorry..."
A Ninja with blue spiky hair broke down, crying as he raised his hand and gave up on this exam. The 12 teams became 11.
"As the saying goes, 'He who understands the times is a great man.' Giving up isn't necessarily the wrong choice. Having faced your own problems, next time you will stand on the stage of the Chunin Exams with a completely different attitude and prove yourselves. So, are there any others among you who wish to withdraw?" Inuzuka Tsume crossed her arms, leaning against the table on the podium in an extremely languid posture, putting pressure on this group of Genin.
Choice—
What a tangled, despair-inducing thing it is.
"I, give up!"
Another small team gave up on the exam.
"Hmm, very good... However, there isn't much time left before the second exam. You have ten more minutes to choose..."
"I give up..."
"I choose to give up..."
Inuzuka Tsume:...The 12 teams directly became 7 teams. Two squads from Konoha gave up, no one from the Hidden Sand Village gave up, and the remaining three squads were one from the Takigakure, one from Amegakure, and one from the Kusagakure.
From 12 to 7, Inuzuka Tsume's heart was panicking like crazy... She was just improvising a bit, applying some psychological pressure, how did so many more people drop out all of a sudden? How is she supposed to run the second exam now?
"These kids are way too easy to scare. Not nearly as fun as Ino... Look at that kid, she's not even afraid of Kuro Maru!"
But on the surface, she still maintained sufficient authority, as if reducing the number to this level was her goal all along.
Hmm, putting on a confident 'goal achieved' smile, Inuzuka Tsume nodded and said, "Very good... Everyone, follow me—the location for the second exam is the Forest of Death."
Inuzuka Tsume directly jumped out the window, throwing her inner panic behind her. Kuro Maru let out a "woof" and, carrying Ino, leaped out as well.
Upon landing, he silently jumped again, landing on the roof ridge, and began leaping swiftly across the tops of buildings.
Before long, they arrived outside the Forest of Death.
Inuzuka Tsume turned around and stood waiting outside a tent. Inside the green tent were tables, scrolls, and Ninja seated within.
Ino took one look and confirmed this was an old tradition she had seen in the comics in her "previous life"—the Heaven and Earth Scrolls, of course.
Sure enough, after all the examinees arrived, Inuzuka Tsume explained the rules for the second exam.
"The second exam is a survival trial. All participating squads will receive a scroll as a unit. The scrolls are divided into two types: Heaven and Earth. We will randomly distribute Heaven and Earth Scrolls among the 11 squads. A Ninja squad that collects both a Heaven and an Earth scroll and reaches the Central Tower will be considered to have passed the assessment. Additionally, the maximum duration for the second exam is 7 days. Those who fail to pass within 7 days will be considered to have failed..."
..."Oh, and one more thing, a friendly reminder—"
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