Inside the examination hall, time trickled away; the atmosphere was so oppressive it felt ready to wring water from the air.
The nine perversely difficult questions on the paper left most candidates drenched in cold sweat, yet none dared show it.
Question Ten had yet to be revealed, but the terrifying rule—'one wrong answer eliminates you and dooms your teammates'—hung overhead like Damocles' sword.
In the seemingly hopeless silence, Konoha's Rookies quietly set their 'special methods' in motion.
Mind Transfer Jutsu, release.
Ino glanced around; once she judged her target had finished the nine questions, she struck with the Mind Transfer Jutsu.
Her consciousness seized the boy's body, guided his gaze, and openly 'read' the answers on his paper, memorizing them at lightning speed.
The moment she had what she needed, Ino yanked her mind back; the boy blinked, dazed, assuming he'd merely zoned out for a second.
Waving away a nearby bug, he studied his own filled-out sheet and began theatrically 'answering' the questions.
After reviewing the answers, Ino tried the Mind Transfer again—this time to steer Naruto into writing for her.
To her shock, her Mind Transfer failed.
A tremor ran through her psyche; brief bewilderment flashed across her face.
Her technique wasn't top-tier, but she'd never been rebuffed so cleanly.
Since when had Naruto learned to guard against this?
After a moment's confusion, Ino pouted in frustration but had to let it go.
She turned to her real teammates—this was business.
Hands sealing again, her mind smoothly linked to Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Choji.
Using the Mind Transfer and the answers she'd stolen, she silently nudged Shikamaru's uncertain choices and fed the utterly lost Choji the key points.
At the same moment, Akamaru perched on Inuzuka Kiba's head locked onto a speed-writer, then barked the answers to Kiba.
Shino's insects fluttered to the Ninja Naruto had mentioned earlier, peeked at his paper, and relayed the intel back to Shino.
Hyuga Neji's approach was the most direct and domineering.
Seated, the veins at the corners of his eyes quietly bulged.
Byakugan—activate!
Its powerful sight ignored distance and obstacles; his vision pierced rows of bodies and desks and landed squarely on the bespectacled candidate Ino had 'visited'.
The crisp handwriting lay bare in his all-white field of view.
He had only to 'look'—the answers were his.
Uchiha Sasuke stayed on high alert.
His dark eyes seemed downcast, yet from the corners he watched every shift nearby.
When Ino, two seats to his right, suddenly drooped as if exhausted, then snapped upright and wrote like a fiend, Sasuke knew.
'Mind Transfer from the Yamanaka… she's scored.'
Instantly he read her odd behavior.
Without hesitation, a faint red glint sparked in his eyes.
Sharingan—activate!
Three tomoe slowly spun within crimson irises.
The Sharingan's dynamic vision and copying power snapped into play.
His gaze locked on Ino's writing hand, recording every micro-motion, every sweep of her pen, every likely answer choice.
Then he lowered his head and, mimicking her rhythm, began transcribing onto his own sheet.
Though he couldn't 'see' her paper, replicating her movements gave him roughly seventy-percent accuracy.
Across the room, Tenten's method was more delicate.
Unnoticed, several nearly invisible threads had wrapped her right fingers.
One end clung to her digits; the other stretched up, adhering to the four mirrors on the ceiling.
She sat straight, eyes forward, apparently absorbed in the questions.
Yet minute finger twitches, transmitted through Chakra threads, subtly tilted a ceiling mirror.
A sidelong peek at the angled mirror reflected the paper of an 'examinee' who reeked of hidden proctor.
Her heart pounded, but she stayed calm: reading the reflected answers while calmly copying them.
Her moves were fluid; unless watched closely, nothing seemed amiss.
Once finished, her fingers shifted the mirror again.
Not far away, Rock Lee suddenly tied on his forehead protector.
A casual gesture, but one of the code signs agreed upon via the Mind Link.
It told Tenten that Lee had seen the mirror's reflection.
After one glance, Lee buckled down and copied furiously.
He would NOT be the reason his team failed!
While candidates wielded Sharingan, Puppet threads, super-sight, Byakugan, Ninken scouts, insect spies, mind control—every trick imaginable—in this battle of information gathering—
three examinees looked strikingly 'plain'.
Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuga Hinata, Haruno Sakura.
From the start they'd neither glanced around nor used any special Ninjutsu or tools.
Heads down, brows knit, they pondered, wrote, focused.
Simple reason: they actually knew the answers.
Feeling the barrier nearby, the Shadow Clone disguised as Menma exhaled in relief.
'Searched all Konoha—it should be here.'
Frankly, Konoha's internal security was full of holes; the clone moved through the village's underbelly like a fish in water.
'Bright and shiny on the surface, but plenty of rat-holes underneath…'
The clone filed the observation away.
One last glance at what looked like a Root base, then the clone dispersed itself.
Instantly its memories flooded into the Naruto taking the exam.
Found it.
A sharp gleam flashed in Naruto's eyes.
Everything was ready; now they only needed Orochimaru's Konoha Crush Plan to blow the starting whistle.
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