Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

Chapter 1221 Elimination
More than twenty minutes later.

It was almost six o'clock, as he had set.

Suddenly, a series of heavy and slightly disordered footsteps came from ahead.

Soon, two small figures appeared in the woods in front of him.

Qingming saw the two of them, and the two of them saw him too.

When the two of them saw that he was all alone, their eyes lit up.

At the same time, I also breathed a sigh of relief.

Qingming knew what they were thinking, but he didn't point it out.

The two of them, barely holding on to their last breath, stumbled to his side, panting, "T-Teacher, we...we've arrived."

"Ah."

Qingming replied indifferently.

After that, he didn't say much, but just stood there quietly with his arms crossed, his eyes fixed on the direction they had come from, as if waiting for something.

The two followed his gaze and immediately understood what he meant, their hearts filled with unease.

Time passes minute by minute.

Soon, another half hour passed.

Finally, the third figure appeared.

Cheng Ye Dazhi walked out of the jungle and looked at Qingming standing in front of him, as well as Uchiha Qinghua, who had recovered some strength, and another teammate beside him. He couldn't help but pause.

Although he had guessed this might be the outcome when he fell into the trap, he was still somewhat unwilling to accept it, which is why he forced himself to come here.

Now that everything has settled, he felt a loss of energy, and his legs went weak, almost causing him to collapse to the ground.

However, just as he fell, a figure suddenly appeared and grabbed him by the back of the neck.

Then, the man picked him up and, in a flash, arrived beside Qingming.

This person was none other than the shadow clone that Qingming had previously created.

Not only this one, but two other shadow clones also appeared one after another.

Ignoring the inquiring and curious gazes of the three, Qingming moved his mind and directly deactivated the 'Shadow Clone Technique,' causing the three shadow clones in front of him to disintegrate and dissipate.

Immediately, the memories of the three people surfaced in his mind.

Qingming paused slightly, and in just a few breaths, he used his immense mental power to digest the memories of the three shadow clones over the past six hours.

After waiting a while longer, and until Cheng Ye and Da Zhi had recovered some of their strength, Qing Ming clapped his hands to attract the attention of the three of them.

Then he said, "Next, I will read out your assessment results."

Upon hearing this, the three of them immediately felt their hearts leap into their throats. Even Cheng Ye Dazhi, who had already been eliminated, hoped for a miracle to happen.

However, Qingming's next words struck them like a thunderbolt.

"You are all unqualified!"

"what?!"

"Why? Didn't we pass the test?"

The previous sentence was a question raised by Uchiha Aoka.

The next sentence was a question posed by the boy who arrived with her and was the weakest in physical condition.

Qingming's gaze swept past Uchiha Aoka and fixed on the boy. A slight aura emanated from him, rendering the boy unable to move.

At that moment, Kondo felt short of breath, as if he was about to suffocate.

Fortunately, this feeling came quickly and went quickly.

However, there was a hint of fear in his gaze as he looked at Qingming.

Ignoring the fear in the other person's eyes, Qingming looked directly at them and said, "That's right, you and Qinghua have met the requirements I mentioned earlier, but who said that means you've passed the test?"

"You...you're lying!"

Kondo argued forcefully based on reason.

"good."

Qingming nodded and admitted, "It is indeed deception! But you must understand that the essence of a ninja is deception—deceiving opponents, deceiving teammates, and even deceiving oneself. However, these are not the most important things. The most important thing is what you are deceiving for."

At this point, he pointed at the other person and said, "You, in order to pass the test, deceived Cheng Ye Dazhi from the very beginning, wasting your own energy to help you travel."

Later, in order to secure two more spots, they tricked the other party into falling into your trap, which wasted a lot of time.

From beginning to end, you've only thought of yourself; you've been selfish and self-serving.

Kondo Yu was so flustered by his words that he wanted to argue, but when he met Qingming's gaze, he immediately swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

Looking back now, was it really right for me to lie about being exhausted and have the other person carry me on their back from time to time during the first leg of the journey, in order to conserve energy and also to deplete the energy of Cheng Ye Dazhi, who had the best physical condition?
Furthermore, in the second leg of the journey, in order to eliminate the other party, he took the initiative to approach the other party after agreeing that they should each rely on their own abilities. Through sweet talk, he tricked the other party into falling into his trap, thus wasting a lot of time.

Just as Qingming said, all of this was so that he could pass the test.

Large beads of sweat rolled down his forehead. He didn't know what to say for a moment, as if he himself hadn't expected to do such a thing.

Seeing the other party's reaction, Qingming roughly guessed what they were thinking.

In fact, the other party's choice is reasonable. Although it may seem selfish, it is actually a way of maximizing their own advantages.

If the assessment is carried out strictly according to the requirements, given that the other person has the weakest physical condition among the three, they are most likely to be eliminated.

After all, the two points he marked were drawn according to the physical limits of Cheng Ye Dazhi, who was at his best.

Given Kondo's physical abilities, without external assistance, it would be impossible for him to catch up with the other two.

Now, by taking advantage of his own cleverness and the personality flaws of the other two, he has achieved his goal.

If Danzo had placed someone with such a mindset within the Root organization, he might have been more respected.

After all, if the assessment content were changed to a task objective, then it would be to complete the task by any means necessary, and such a person is best suited to be a tool.

Unfortunately, Danzo had already been dealt with by him, and Root had been disbanded long ago, so Danzo's special talents could not be fully utilized.

Various thoughts flashed through Qingming's mind. She pulled herself together, turned to look at Qinghua, and said, "And you..."
From beginning to end, you lacked any independent thought and were basically just being pushed around. If Kondo hadn't worried that I, being from the same clan as you, might be dissatisfied with the assessment results, you might have been the one most likely to be sacrificed.

Upon hearing this, Uchiha Aohana's already pale face, already grim from being eliminated, turned deathly white as she looked at Kondo Yu in disbelief.

Upon seeing the other person's evasive gaze, she knew that her cousin from the same clan was right.

In fact, this was also the reason why Qingming initially mentioned that he and Uchiha Aoka belonged to the same clan.

Unfortunately, Kondo did not do that.

Qingming finally turned his gaze to Cheng Ye Dazhi.

Meeting his gaze, Cheng Ye Dazhi's eyes darted away, as if he were afraid of being taught a lesson himself.

However, Qingming simply said to him, "You have no brains. Remember to find a more reliable teammate in the future."

These words made Cheng Ye Dazhi's face turn red with embarrassment. He wanted to refute them, but he didn't know where to begin.

This isn't just Qingming talking nonsense.

Although the other party is still young, the fact that they could believe Kondo Yu's almost blatant trap and his flawed explanation is an understatement; to say they have no brains would be an understatement.

Such a person, unless he encounters a good teammate and a good teacher, will only lower the average lifespan of a ninja.

After the evaluation, everyone fell silent.

After a long silence, Kondo Yu said with red eyes, "Then, teacher, what do we need to do to truly pass your test?"

Upon hearing this, the other two also turned their attention to him.

Meeting the gazes of the three, Qingming said calmly, "Don't forget, from the beginning, you were a team. Since you are a team, how can you abandon your teammates?"

“But wouldn’t that violate the rules you set, teacher?” Kondo Yudo asked.

Upon hearing this, Qingming's aura suddenly intensified, and he said in a deep voice, "Remember, in the ninja world, those who break the rules are trash, but those who don't know how to cherish their comrades are even worse than trash!"

That's right, Qingming directly plagiarized the famous quotes of Uchiha Obito and Kakashi.

This is Konoha's political correctness; using this reason to eliminate students, no one can find fault with it.

"Those who break the rules are useless, and those who don't cherish their companions are even worse than useless."

Upon hearing Qingming's words, the three of them shuddered, muttering to themselves involuntarily, their eyes flashing with thoughtful expressions.

At this moment, they seemed to understand what Qingming was testing them on.

Unfortunately, it's too late!
(End of this chapter)