All pairs were now standing in separate rooms, each under the watchful eye of a samurai. The samurai stood stoically in the corner, arms crossed, eyes sharp, ready to intervene only if someone attempted to use genjutsu — otherwise, the interrogation would proceed without interference.
Yuto's gaze settled on the genin from the Stone Village standing before him. He wasn't from Kurotsuchi's team, but from another squad. The Stone genin had a cocky smirk plastered across his face, arms crossed confidently. He was practically radiating arrogance, as if he'd already claimed victory before the match even started.
'Tch, cocky bastard,' Yuto thought, narrowing his eyes. 'He clearly didn't see me in the first round... or maybe he's just that stupid.'
The Stone genin's smirk widened as he met Yuto's gaze. "Heh, this'll be over quick," he sneered.
Yuto's expression remained cold. 'I'm not in the mood to play around.'
The examiner raised his hand. "Begin!"
Yuto's Kamigan activated instantly, his green eyes shifting to a glowing crimson red. The atmosphere in the room darkened as the intensity of his chakra filled the space. Without hesitation, Yuto pulled out a scroll from his pouch and unfurled it. A flick of his wrist sent chakra surging into the scroll, pulling out suppression seals that was absorbed into the massive rune circle summoned by Yuto beneath the Stone genin's feet.
"What the—?!" The Stone genin's smirk twisted into panic as the glowing red runes spread across the floor and climbed up his body. He struggled to move, but his limbs locked up, completely frozen. His earlier confidence vanished in an instant.
"What... what is this?!" the Stone genin growled, trying to shake free.
Yuto's eyes sharpened. "Resistance is pointless."
The Stone genin's muscles strained as he tried to tear himself free, but the rune circle held him firm. Sweat began to form on his forehead as the realization hit him — he was completely trapped.
Yuto reached into his pouch, pulled out a seal tag, and pressed it to the genin's forehead. The moment the seal made contact, the tag glowed ominously as black markings spread across the genin's face.
"Alright," Yuto said calmly, his voice devoid of emotion. "Give me the three codes."
"Fuck You!" the Stone genin spat, glaring at Yuto with defiance.
Yuto's eyes darkened. "Not interested." He formed a single handsign.
The seal tag flared with light as tendrils of lightning sparked and shot through the genin's body. The Stone genin screamed as his muscles seized up, his body shaking violently under the electric shock. The rune circle glowed brighter, feeding off the kinetic energy of the genin's involuntary spasms.
"AHHHH!" the genin screamed, collapsing to his knees as the current stopped after five long seconds. His breath was ragged, his limbs twitching.
Yuto crouched down, his crimson eyes glowing menacingly. "I'll keep shocking you as long as it takes," he said coolly. "The rune circle you're standing in absorbs kinetic energy — from the electricity, from your movements, from your heartbeat. If you try to give me false codes, I'll overload the circle... and you'll blow up."
The Stone genin's eyes widened in terror. "You're bluffing!"
Yuto's gaze sharpened. "Try me."
A crackle of lightning sparked from the tag, causing the genin to flinch.
"Let's see how long you last," Yuto said, forming another handsign.
Lightning surged again, wracking the Stone genin's body with painful jolts. The genin screamed, his body convulsing under the assault. His breaths came in short gasps as his body slumped, sweat dripping from his chin.
"T-This is insane!" he gasped.
Yuto's face remained impassive. "Codes."
"I... I don't..."
BZZZT!
"AARGHHHH!"
"Codes."
After fifteen grueling minutes of continuous electric therapy, the Stone genin's defiance finally crumbled. Tears welled up in his eyes as he trembled, his body close to collapse.
"Okay! Okay! Here—!" the Stone genin wheezed, his voice shaky. He muttered out the three codes.
Yuto's Kamigan glowed as he scanned the genin's face, analyzing him with Scanner. 'He's telling the truth.'
Yuto glanced toward the examiner. "Are the codes correct?"
The examiner checked the list in his hand and nodded. "Confirmed."
Yuto deactivated his Kamigan and stood, releasing the rune circle. The Stone genin collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath, his body twitching uncontrollably.
Yuto crouched down beside him. "See? That wasn't so hard."
The Stone genin glared at him weakly. "Y-You're a... monster..."
Yuto smirked. "If that's what it takes to win... then yeah."
He stood up and turned toward the door, walking away as the examiner noted his victory. The Stone genin remained on the floor, trembling, his pride shattered.
'One down,' Yuto thought, 'Now... let's see how Naruko and Hitomi are doing.'
When Yuto arrived at the room where the examiner was stationed, he was surprised to see that he wasn't the first one to finish. Gaara, Naruko, Hitomi, and Haku were already there, having clearly passed before him.
Gaara was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, eyes closed, his expression unreadable.
Yuto's gaze shifted to Naruko, Hitomi, and Haku standing together. Naruko grinned triumphantly the moment she saw Yuto.
"Heh! I passed before you!" Naruko said, flashing a toothy smile.
Hitomi smirked at Naruko. "Yeah? Well, I passed before both you and Yuto."
Naruko's smile twitched, and a tick mark appeared on her forehead. "Oh yeah?! Well, it's not like you passed that much earlier!"
Hitomi's smirk widened. "Earlier than you, though."
"Tch!" Naruko's fists clenched. "You wanna go, Teme?!"
"Anytime, Blondie," Hitomi replied, stepping closer.
Somehow, the argument quickly shifted from who passed first to something entirely different.
"Well, at least my hair looks better than yours!" Naruko snapped, flipping her twin ponytails.
Hitomi's eyes narrowed. "Excuse me? Everyone knows my hair is way prettier!"
"Oh, please! Mine's shinier!"
"Mine's smoother!"
"Mine bounces better!"
Yuto sighed and tuned them out. 'They're seriously fighting over hair now?' He walked over to Haku, who was standing nearby with a calm smile.
"Hey," Yuto said, scratching the back of his head.
Haku smiled gently. "It's nice to see you, Yuto. I didn't get to talk to you much after the first day."
"Yeah... I kinda ran into some trouble," Yuto said with an awkward laugh. His face twitched slightly as an unpleasant memory surfaced.
He mentally shuddered, recalling the horrifying moment when he accidentally kissed Yugito — all because Guy-sensei had sent him flying into her with a mistimed training kick. And of course, Yugito hadn't taken it well. Yuto could still feel the murderous intent in her eyes as she chased after him through half the village.
'Yeah... never again... probably.'
Shaking off the memory, Yuto glanced at Haku. "So… how'd you get the codes?"
Haku's smile remained serene, but there was a dangerous glint in her eyes. "Oh, nothing complicated. I froze my opponent at the start of the match."
Yuto raised an eyebrow. "You froze him?"
Haku nodded sweetly. "Completely. Only his head was left unfrozen."
Yuto's looked confused. "And… how'd you get him to talk?"
Haku's smile didn't waver. "I let him suffer for three minutes. Then I kindly reminded him how fragile the male anatomy can be… especially when encased in ice."
Yuto's eyes widened. His hands reflexively twitched toward his crotch before he forced himself to stop.
Haku's smile grew softer. "I mentioned that if I just happened to apply the tiniest bit of pressure to the ice near his… sensitive area, well… accidents happen."
'Dear god…' Yuto's face paled.
Naruko and Hitomi stopped arguing the moment they heard Haku's explanation.
"Oh! That's kinda what I did!" Naruko said, grinning. "When the match started, I summoned 30 clones."
Yuto blinked. "30?"
Naruko nodded enthusiastically. "Four of them held my opponent against the wall, and the rest started throwing kunai at him like a dartboard!"
Yuto's eyes twitched. "Let me guess…"
Naruko smirked. "Most of them aimed for the crotch. Missed by this much," she said, holding her fingers an inch apart.
Hitomi scoffed. "That's nothing. My opponent, Zaku, lunged at me right at the start."
Naruko tilted her head. "And?"
Hitomi's eyes flashed with dark amusement. "So I kicked him in the balls."
Yuto winced.
"And when he didn't spill the codes," Hitomi continued, "I smashed one of them while damaging the other. He gave me the codes after that."
"Y-You… smashed it?" Yuto stammered.
Hitomi shrugged. "He deserved it.....i think?"
Naruko and Hitomi exchanged satisfied smiles while Haku nodded approvingly.
Yuto, meanwhile, took a cautious step back. He glanced toward Gaara, who had opened his eyes and was now looking at the girls with a slightly disturbed expression.
Their eyes met.
In that moment, an unspoken understanding passed between them — a bond of mutual fear and respect.
'Girls are scary,' Yuto thought.
'Very scary,' Gaara silently agreed.
The two boys stood side by side, wordlessly deciding to keep their distance from the terrifying trio in front of them.