Escape From Konoha

"hateful!"

"Asshole!"

"In other words, is this the only choice?"

"Then what's the point of working hard on the questions before?"

An atmosphere of despair and sadness immediately enveloped the entire venue, and many candidates expressed their frustration.

"As long as you give up on the tenth question, the results of your previous efforts will indeed be meaningless."

Yi Bixi said very cruel words.

His words made many candidates angry and wanted to beat him up.

The results they obtained by cheating in every possible way are meaningless once they give up on the tenth question, and the results are nothing.

Isn't this just entertaining and playing with them?

This guy is an absolute sadist! Psychopath! The candidates thought so.

Ibiki continued to speak: "Now tell me your decision. Should you continue the exam or give up this Chunin exam? I will give you two minutes to think. Remember, any hesitation will bring consequences on the battlefield. Death, a ninja must make a choice that suits his identity as a ninja at the right time. This is my advice to you."

Continue to force the candidates and give them pressure.

Asuka didn't believe a word of Ibiki's words.

After all, the other party claimed to be the head of the Konoha Torture Department from the beginning. People who are familiar with the basics of ninjas should know what kind of department it is.

To put it simply, it is not only the ability of the ninja itself that needs to be tested, but also the mentality of the ninja.

The first one is in line with the standards of the Chunin Examination, and the second test is a method of psychological pressure that ninjas from the Torture Department often use when interrogating prisoners.

Now the other party just combined some of the rules of the Torture Department with this Chunin Exam.

The so-called tenth question may not exist at all, and this choice is the tenth question.

Because the first nine questions are not questions that a genin can answer at all.

If the tenth question is too simple, there will be no point in taking the test.

If the tenth question is more difficult than the previous nine questions, then there is no point in taking the exam either.

Therefore, Asuka speculated that the tenth question did not exist at all, and the two options of 'take the test or not take the test' given by Ibiki were the tenth question itself.

It is very in line with the evil hobby of torture ninja.

That being the case, let me also add a fire. Asuka thought so.

As a result, the female genin from Moon Country stood up immediately.

"I give up this exam. Sorry, I'd better wait until next year to take the Chunin exam again..."

It seemed that he could still hear the other party crying quietly, and then left the examination room.

Her two teammates had no choice but to stand up and leave together. The moment they left the examination room, they felt much more relaxed.

However, this leading role has made many candidates silent about it, with painful expressions on their faces, as if they were going through a difficult psychological struggle.

Then, one after another, the candidates raised their hands, stood up from their positions, and left the examination room on their own initiative.

Pressure is on everyone.

Seeing this effect, Yibixi was both satisfied and a little disappointed.

In it, he saw a lot of Shinobi Konoha.

Sure enough, the focus is on these little guys? Ibiki's eyes glanced at Sasuke, Shikamaru and others intentionally or unintentionally.

At this moment, he saw a man raising his hand tremblingly.

Uzumaki Naruto? Is he going to give up the exam?

Seeing Ibiki raising his hand, his heart suddenly tightened.

I feel that the tenth question I set is a bit too much.

But according to the information Kakashi gave him, didn't he say that the other party was a guy who was fearless?

This is nothing like it...

Just when Ibiki was surprised, Naruto suddenly put his raised hand on the table and slapped it hard.

The thumping sound startled everyone.

"Idiot, do you think I will give up the exam? This little trick can't scare me at all! Even if I am a genin for the rest of my life, I will become Hokage in the future and gain everyone's approval!"

The sonorous and powerful words made the atmosphere in the classroom quiet.

Even the proctors looked at Naruto in surprise, not expecting him to say these words under such circumstances.

Looking at Naruto who suddenly became extremely confident, Ibiki opened his mouth and closed it after a long time.

"Really? Is that your answer?"

"That's right!"

Naruto looked at Ibiki without fear.

"You know, it is very stupid to bet your future life on such an uncertain exam. Moreover, genin cannot be recommended to become Hokage. Only by becoming a Jonin can you be qualified to become a Hokage candidate. !”

Ibiki said this not just to Naruto, but to all the candidates present.

"Then I will say it again, I will become a genin and eventually become Hokage! I swear by this forehead protector!"

Naruto held the Konoha ninja forehead protector on his forehead, without any confusion in his eyes.

"You are really speaking like an idiot. So, what about your decision? Is it the same as this idiot?"

Ibixi glanced at the other candidates and continued to ask.

But this time Ibixi's psychological pressure failed to have any substantial effect.

Perhaps Naruto's words were so shocking that even the genin candidates who were originally hesitant calmed down and had the idea of ​​taking a chance on this uncertain fate.

This guy... Sai is right, he is a very interesting ninja. Staring at Naruto's back, Asuka felt unhappy, but also had to admire Naruto's appeal.

Not only that, but it also disrupted his previous steps of putting pressure on the other candidates.

Fortunately, the expected effect has been achieved. Feiniao estimates that the number of candidates who passed the first exam will definitely not exceed half of the original number.

Eliminating about one hundred and fifty people is enough.

Sure enough, after the silence in the classroom lasted for more than ten seconds, Ibixi sighed and then smiled.

"In this case, all the candidates staying here... I declare that you have passed the tenth question!"

"What!?"

The sudden turn of events caused many serious candidates to be stunned. They did not close their mouths for a long time, falling into shock and unable to extricate themselves.

"Qualified? What does this mean?"

Naruto asked stupidly, without responding.

"Haha, that..."

The smile on Ibixi's face also became brighter, no longer as grim and cold as before.

"Actually, I just want to test your mentality as ninjas. The so-called tenth question does not exist at all. In other words, the choice you just made is the tenth question. Choosing the person to stay is equivalent to giving the tenth question. The perfect answer."

Such a contrast still catches many people off guard.

"Then what are the previous exams?"

"Although the scores are also important, the previous questions are also to test your intelligence gathering and information transmission abilities, as well as to see the 'tacit understanding' between you and your teammates. Because those questions are not something that genin can do, so, I have arranged six chuunin disguised as genin inside, dispersed in various positions to provide you with space for 'cheating'."

Ibi said happily.

But his playful smile still made many candidates want to go up and beat him up.

"Intelligence is sometimes more important to ninjas than life. Half-hearted cheating is tantamount to self-destruction. This is not a joke. Although sometimes, the information you obtain may not be correct. Even the enemy deliberately gave wrong answers to mislead your actions and make you pay huge sacrifices..."

Ibiki glanced at Asuka, then looked away.

"What's the meaning?"

One candidate asked blankly.

Ibixi did not answer and continued: "There are three test points this time. The first is your own brain power, the second is the ability to transmit and collect information. As for the third point, which is the tenth question...yes The most important assessment.”

"Question 10? An important test?"

Some candidates were confused.

"Yes, it seems like a simple question of whether to take the test or not. In fact, the essence is not just a test, but the attitude of the ninja when performing tasks. Guys who are not determined will not be qualified to become ninjas at all. Compared with Those candidates who are caught cheating are even more disgraceful."

Ibixi's eyes gradually became colder, and when he mentioned these candidates, he gave an 'extremely poor' evaluation.

The genin candidates pondered the meaning.

"Guys who don't even dare to gamble in 'life', once this kind of person sets foot on the battlefield, they will definitely be the first choice for deserters. They are referred to as garbage in the ninja world. Since you have become ninja, it means that no matter how difficult you are facing The task must also be done with gritted teeth, instead of feeling sorry for yourself. Those who cannot bring courage and trust to their companions are not worthy of the position of Chunin Squad Leader!"

Listening to the jounin's life motto of Ibiki, although some parts are too harsh to agree with, there is one sentence that is right.

Those who cannot bring courage and trust to their companions are indeed not qualified to become chuunin.

Many candidates who passed the tenth question in a daze never thought that a simple written test would involve so many test points.

Especially for the genin who choose not to take the third test point - the tenth question, this test will definitely become an indelible stain in their lives.

They deeply understood the cruelty of the Chunin Exam.

"That means we have passed the exam now, right?"

One candidate couldn't help but ask.

Yibixi shook his head and smiled: "No, the test just now can only prove that you have answered the tenth question correctly, and each of you will get a positive score. As for whether you can pass the level, there are also elimination rules for the total score and the average score. If you can stand out from those two areas, you will truly pass the first exam.”

Hearing Ibixi's words, the candidates who were originally very excited immediately calmed down, and then they remembered that they had just answered the answer to the tenth question. As for the elimination rules, there are still two that have not been implemented.

As Ibiki said, ability and mentality are the main purposes of this exam.

Mentally they may have passed the test, but if their abilities are not up to par, they will still be eliminated.

"But don't be discouraged. Even if you fail this exam, you have learned a lot of useful things from this exam. This will become a valuable experience in your life. As long as you always hold this strong and fearless Mentality is half the battle on the road to chunin."

Seeing some frustrated candidates, Ibixi encouraged them, so that the candidates looked at him less disgustingly than at first.

"Then, you can leave the examination room. Now we have to collect and mark the test papers. At two o'clock in the afternoon, we will announce the list of those who passed the first exam on the bulletin board of the Ninja School."

Finally, Ibixi said these words, which also meant that the first exam was truly over.

Under the arrangements of the invigilators, all candidates left Classroom 301 in an orderly manner.

◎

Hinata's family.

"Father."

After the first exam, Neji separated from his teammates Rock Lee and Tenten and returned to his family to say hello to his father Hyuuga Hizashi.

"Looking at you, your first exam should go well."

Seeing that Neji had passed the baptism of the first exam without any worry in his eyes, Hizashi held a teacup in his hand, sat on a soft cushion in the room, and spoke.

"Yes."

Neji also knelt down and nodded to his father. For him, the content of the first exam was indeed too simple.

Even the tenth question, which Ibishina puts pressure on many candidates, in his eyes, is only of this level.

He won't be intimidated by that level of difficulty.

"Then you will come back directly after the exam. Do you want to see me for anything?"

The day difference asked.

Neji hesitated for a moment, then said: "I saw a guy with a Byakugan among the genin of the Demon Kingdom. Father, I want to know what is going on? Why does the Demon Kingdom have a blood succession limit like the Byakugan? ? Byakugan...isn’t it Konoha’s unique blood inheritance limit?”

Neji's question was met with a brief silence from Hizashi.

He knew that once he came into contact with the ninjas of the Ghost Country, Neji would definitely ask such a question.

Coupled with the deliberate concealment of the family and the village, there are indeed some things that new generation ninjas like Neji cannot know.

"When Konoha was founded, and until the Third Ninja War, Byakugan was indeed Konoha's unique blood inheritance limit. Our Hyuga clan, like the Konoha Uchiha clan that has disappeared, have established a foundation for the village. He made countless contributions and rushed to the most dangerous frontier of the battlefield to resist the aggression of the enemy country."

Ri almost nodded in reply.

"Then what happened in the third ninja war?"

Ning Ci knelt on the floor, staring closely at his father's face with complicated expressions, which seemed to hide countless thoughts and secrets.

He is no stranger to the Third Ninja World War. He remembered that when he was four or five years old, Konoha had a war with Cloud Hidden Village in the Land of Thunder.

After that, the two countries ceased fighting and signed an armistice agreement in Konoha. Because of that incident, the Hyuga clan was framed by Kumogakure, and the Hyuga clan was pushed to the forefront. His father also almost lost his life in that diplomacy.

Later, due to the tough attitude of the village's senior management, the dignity of the Hyuga clan was restored, and Yunyin Village's plot to frame the Hyuga clan was destroyed.

The third ninja war lasted intermittently for about ten years.

Konoha has lost countless ninjas in this war. In order to supply war supplies, the Land of Fire has brought its domestic development to a standstill for several years.

Even after the war, the development of the Fire Nation can be described as slow. It is because the scale of the third ninja war is larger than the second and first ninja war.

And this is only a corner of the war that Neci knows, and more things have been hidden.

For example, the country of ghosts, a neutral country that did not have a high appearance rate in the third ninja world war.

A few years after the war, it became the sixth largest country in the Ninja world, breaking the ninja world pattern dominated by the five major countries for hundreds of years.

"On the eve of the outbreak of the war, some ninjas from the clan defected."

Riza looked into Neji's eyes and told the secret.

"Defection? Separate the family?"

Neji opened his mouth wide, feeling incredible.

How can a separated family defect from being trapped by a caged bird?

To Ningji, this was undoubtedly as ridiculous as a fantasy.

"I knew the news at the time, and just like you, I was puzzled." Hizashi saw Neci's confused look and spoke his mind, and then continued: "But it was a premeditated attack. During the defection operation, the defected ninja from the branch released the Caged Bird Curse Seal on their bodies."

After hearing what Hizashi said, Neji stood up from his seat with an expression of disbelief.

"The branch families that have unlocked the curse seal are naturally no longer restricted by the clan. Taking advantage of the early stage of the war, when the strength of the village was at its weakest, and with the help of other helpers that night, the defected branch families went smoothly. He escaped the pursuit of the village and his family and disappeared without a trace."

Hizashi sighed.

"The country of ghosts..."

"That was something I found out later. The ninjas from the Uchiha clan who defected together with those ninjas from the separate clans were causing a stir in the city at that time. The senior officials spent a lot of energy to block the news. As a result, in the early stages of the war, we were unable to successfully resist the invading forces from the enemy country, and suffered successive defeats."

Because this is not just a matter of losing a few ninjas, but a crisis of trust between two wealthy ninja clans and the village.

In the first year leading up to the war, most of the Uchiha and Hinata ninjas basically could only stay in the village, under surveillance, and were unable to go to the battlefield for support.

Without the power of Byakugan and Sharingan, Konoha's power to resist foreign enemies is very difficult.

Especially the joint attack of Sunagakure and Iwagakure, even if the Sannin rushed to the front line, they were retreating steadily and could only delay the enemy's attack.

"Is that so?"

Neji muttered absently.

He didn't expect that something like this happened within the Hyuga clan in the past. And not only the Hyuga clan, but also the Uchiha clan has problems.

For Konoha, which was preparing to participate in the war at the time, the large-scale defection of the two clans of ninjas was undoubtedly an added insult to the situation.

"Then a war broke out between the Kingdom of Ghosts and the Country of Wind. At that time, the village knew that the defected branch families and the ninjas of the Uchiha clan had settled in the Kingdom of Ghosts. But it was already too late. The morale has been established. Because during the Third Ninja War, the Kingdom of Demons used loans to various countries to sell large amounts of medical supplies and arms to achieve economic development. Then it used this money to rapidly expand in the military field, defeating the After the Kingdom of Wind, it quickly became a new great country.”

Although there were only a few words, Neji was shocked to hear them.

Behind the seemingly brief words, there must have been countless bloody storms.

He didn't believe that the village would be indifferent to the strong rise of the Kingdom of Ghosts.

But the Kingdom of Ghosts still broke the blockade of the great powers. This issue is worth pondering.

The village definitely took action, but in the end it failed and suffered heavy losses, and had to admit its status as a ghost country.

In Neji's opinion, this is the truth.

"So, the leader of the Hyuga clan in the Kingdom of Demons is..."

Neji's mind suddenly moved and he thought of something.

"Hyuga Ayane. It is said that her son, also representing the Kingdom of Demons, participated in this joint chuunin exam, with a big agenda. The Byakugan genin of the Kingdom of Demons you saw is her and Chiba Shiraishi's. Son."

Hizashi said.

Hinata Ayane, Neji heard this name from the clan leader Hiashi.

But... Chiba Shiraishi? Neji frowned, sensing something was wrong.

If he remembered correctly, the Genin of the Demon Country named Uchiha Asuka was also the son of the Minister of Military Affairs of the Demon Country, Chiba Shiraishi.

But the other party's maternal lineage was obviously from Uchiha.

Are these two half-brothers?

This is the only guess that is most consistent with the facts.

"Father, what is the clan's attitude toward the Hyuga clan in the Kingdom of Demons? They can't be indifferent to the defecting branch clan, right?"

Neji asked again.

"Although I have the intention to eradicate it, at present, it is a bit unrealistic. After all, the current comprehensive strength of the Demon Country has probably surpassed the Fire Nation. If you want to eliminate the Hyuga clan over there, you must first defeat the Demon Country military. .”

This is the balance of power between countries.

If we were to make a direct comparison between Oni Country and Konoha, the gap would be even greater.

The Demon Country's military, which has the full support of the entire country, is by no means comparable to Konoha.

Let's not talk about the competition between the two sides' frontal combat capabilities. In terms of logistics, Konoha will definitely suffer in a war of attrition.

Hizashi, who was born into a wealthy family, naturally understood that the Land of Fire was the Land of Fire and Konoha was Konoha, and the two could not be confused in many cases.

The separation of military and political power is not enough to describe the relationship between the village and the state. To be more precise, it is a separation of military and political power.

After listening to the day's difference, Neji's mood was very complicated.

He has accepted the traditional thinking of the Hyuga clan since he was a child. He is loyal to the family and the clan. The affairs of the clan are the unshirkable obligations and responsibilities of the family.

As a result, the majesty of the clan grew day by day in the family. Ningji always had an attitude of fear and respect for the elders of the clan who dominated the family, so he kept away from them.

But now that he heard the news from Hizashi, it turned out that even the clansmen who were majestic and majestic in his impression actually had a powerless side.

From this point of view, the so-called supreme majesty of the Zong family can only be displayed when facing the branch family controlled by the caged bird.

Once encounters exceed the limits of their rule, even they, who are at a high level, are just ordinary mortals.

Thinking of those foreign people who had been freed from their shackles, for some reason, Neji felt envy and yearning in his heart.

It turns out that the caged bird also has the ability to break free from the cage and fly into the sky?

This is something he never imagined.

However, Neji did not immerse himself in such complicated emotions for too long. He came back to his senses and said to Hizashi: "Since fate has caused compatriots with the same blood to go against each other irreversibly, there is nothing we can do about it. Things. I will go and meet the Hyuga clan in the Kingdom of Demons for a while. If possible, I hope that my father will also go to the Kingdom of Demons this time to watch my third game."

This is the main purpose of his return so soon.

After the list of qualified candidates is announced in the afternoon, they will immediately leave for the Kingdom of Wind to prepare for the second exam.

He hoped that Hizashi could witness his growth over the years.

Rizai paused to drink tea slightly.

"Are you so confident that you can pass the second test smoothly, Neji?"

"Yes."

Ning Ci was firm, with no wavering in his eyes.

Seeing Ningci's attitude, Hizashi sighed. Unlike him, although Ningci had accepted the idea of ​​loyalty to the clan since he was a child, he was still young and energetic and had a rebellious character. He didn't know that Ningci could be so rash. Is it good or bad for the Hyuga clan ninjas who come into contact with the Demon Country?

However, since this is the order of the Zong family, as a ninja of the branch family, we really cannot refute it.

Sometimes, he didn't quite understand his brother's thoughts.

Too gentle when you are gentle, too cruel when you are cruel.

Hizashi had almost forgotten what his brother looked like in his childhood memories.

"Although I also hope to watch your third game, my family will arrange important tasks for me next, so I'm sorry, Neji, but I can't go and cheer you on."

Hizashi said regretfully.

"Is it an important mission? That's it. Please forgive me for being rude, father."

Neji's eyes immediately flashed with a look of disappointment.

Since there are tasks arranged by the Sou family next, this is indeed a higher priority than the Chunin exam.