Konoha Academy – Room 301
The moment Ibiki Morino finished speaking, silence swelled like a balloon ready to burst.
Rows of desks lined the large classroom, and a stack of paper sat ominously at the front.
Some genin shifted uncomfortably. Others stared straight ahead, unwilling to give anything away.
Team 7 moved like gears in a machine. Quiet. Focused.
Michio narrowed his eyes, studying Ibiki. The man's scarred face looked like it had been carved by a kunai. Not a shred of warmth. Just hard lines and colder eyes.
'This guy isn't here to test our math skills,' Michio thought. 'He's here to break us.'
---
Instructions
"You will each be handed a written test," Ibiki said. "There are ten questions in total. You start with zero points. The ninth question will be given fifteen minutes before the exam ends. The tenth question… is special."
He let that word hang like a noose.
"If you're caught cheating more than three times, you're out. Your team is disqualified."
Murmurs rippled.
Naruto immediately began sweating.
Ibiki's assistants began passing out test papers. Michio accepted his with a calm nod and leaned back slightly, scanning the questions.
---
Question One:
A shinobi is caught behind enemy lines. They have critical information. What is the protocol to ensure village security is maintained?
'That's not a question. That's a morality test,' Michio thought.
He glanced sideways. Sasuke's eyes were narrowed. Naruto looked like someone had handed him a scroll written in chicken scratch.
But Michio?
He wasn't worried.
He was watching.
---
The Real Test
He could feel it—the pressure wasn't about the questions. It was the eyes. Proctors on every side. Every movement scrutinized. Every shift, every glance.
This wasn't about getting the answers.
It was about how you got them.
From the corner of his eye, he saw a boy with thick glasses subtly angle his mirror on a kunai to read someone else's paper.
Another genin coughed twice—long pause—then once more.
Code.
Ibiki's voice cut through the air.
"Candidate 016. Third strike. You're done."
The kid froze. His teammates stared in horror.
"Team 5 — disqualified."
The room collectively tensed as the team was dragged out.
'This is psychological warfare,' Michio realized. 'They want to see who cracks. Who cheats smart. Who panics.'
---
Michio's Strategy
He didn't write anything at first.
Instead, he began timing the intervals between the proctors' glances.
Every ten seconds, counterclockwise sweep.
Seven-second delay in the back-left corner.
'Got it.'
He activated a pulse of chakra in his legs, just enough to shift the desk by millimeters.
One of the screws creaked.
He tapped his pencil twice. Paused. Scribbled a nonsense line.
Sasuke, without looking, adjusted the angle of his paper.
Michio saw the answer to Question 4 in the tilt.
He smiled.
---
Meanwhile…
Naruto was dying.
The paper stared at him like it wanted his soul.
'Is this a trick? Are we supposed to just guess? What if I write "Believe it!" for every answer?! Wait—no! Calm down, Naruto. Focus. Think. THINK.'
He glanced at Hinata a few rows over.
She was shaking too.
He gave her a thumbs-up and a goofy grin.
She nearly fainted.
Michio saw it and nearly chuckled.
'Even in mind games, Naruto finds a way to be Naruto.'
---
Fifteen Minutes Left
Ibiki stepped forward.
"Now," he said, voice dropping, "the ninth question."
Everyone froze.
"But before I give it to you…" He smiled.
It wasn't a kind smile.
"You must agree to the rules of the tenth question… or you forfeit. And if you forfeit, your entire team is out."
More murmurs. Tension climbed the walls like fire.
"If you choose to accept the tenth question and fail it… you can never take the Chūnin Exams again."
Silence.
He wasn't bluffing.
This was psychological war.
---
Michio didn't blink.
He leaned forward, fingers tapping lightly on his desk. His face calm, unreadable.
Naruto looked terrified.
Sasuke looked furious.
But Michio?
He looked ready.
'This is the real test. The rest was just setup. The tenth question is choice. Willpower. If you fold here, you're not ready to be a shinobi.'
Ibiki let the silence stretch.
One hand went up. Then another. Three teams quit.
Someone cried as they left.
Ibiki didn't flinch.
---
And then—
"Alright," Naruto shouted, standing up suddenly. "I don't care what the tenth question is! I'm not quitting! I'll find a way to pass, even if I don't get a single question right!"
The room was stunned into silence.
Ibiki raised an eyebrow. "Even if you risk everything?"
Naruto stared at him, eyes blazing.
"Believe it."
A few chuckles rippled through the room.
But no one else raised their hand.
Not after that.
Ibiki scanned the class… and slowly nodded.
"Good."
And with that…
He tore the test in half.
"You all pass."
---
Journal Entry 12:
> Not everything's about the right answer.
Sometimes it's about having the guts to keep playing.
Even when the rules say you shouldn't.
That's what it means to gamble like a shinobi.