Inside the exam hall, time ticked away second by second, the atmosphere so oppressive it felt like it could be wrung out like water.
The nine tricky, almost perverted questions on the test paper made the vast majority of examinees break into a cold sweat, yet they dared not show it.
The tenth question had not yet been announced, but the terrifying rule of "a wrong answer means elimination, and teammates are implicated" hung over their heads like the Sword of Damocles.
In the seemingly desperate silence, the "special means" of the Konoha rookies were quietly being put into operation.
Mind Transfer Jutsu deactivated.
Ino observed for a moment, and after confirming that the other person had likely finished the nine questions on the test paper, she immediately used the Mind Transfer Jutsu.
Ino's consciousness took over the other person's body, controlling his line of sight, and openly "looked" at the test paper on his desk, quickly memorizing the answers to those nine questions.
After succeeding, Ino's consciousness quickly withdrew. The examinee shook his head, looking around in a daze, seemingly thinking he had just zoned out for a moment.
Swatting away the bugs around him, he looked at the filled-out test paper in front of him and began to pretend to answer the questions.
After seeing the answers, Ino prepared to use the Mind Transfer Jutsu again to control Naruto and help him answer the questions.
Unexpectedly, her Mind Transfer Jutsu failed.
Ino's spirit jolted slightly, and a flash of brief astonishment crossed her face.
Although her Mind Transfer Jutsu was not considered top-tier, she had never encountered such a clean and decisive rejection before.
Since when had Naruto started guarding against this?
After a brief moment of shock and suspicion, Ino pouted, feeling a bit annoyed, but she had no choice but to give up.
She turned her target toward her own teammates—this was serious business, after all.
She formed hand seals again, and this time, her Mental Energy skillfully connected with Shikamaru and Choji.
Through the assistance of the Mind Transfer Jutsu and the answers she had just memorized, she began to silently "help" Shikamaru correct some uncertain options and "convey" key information to Choji, who was completely out of the loop.
At the same time, Akamaru lay on Kiba's head, quickly locking onto someone who was writing rapidly, and then conveyed the answers to Kiba through barking.
Meanwhile, Shino's bugs quietly flew over to the Shinobi Naruto had previously mentioned, peeked at the test paper, and conveyed the information to Shino.
As for Neji, his method was the most direct and overbearing.
He sat in his seat, and the veins at the corners of his eyes quietly emerged.
Byakugan, activate!
The powerful X-ray ability ignored distance and obstacles, its gaze penetrating the bodies and desks of the examinees several rows ahead, finally landing directly on the test paper of the bespectacled examinee whom Ino had "visited."
The clear handwriting was visible at a glance within his pure white vision.
He only needed to "look," and the answers were all in his sight.
Uchiha Sasuke had been maintaining a high level of vigilance.
His pitch-black eyes appeared lowered, but in reality, he was keenly observing his surroundings with his peripheral vision.
When he noticed Ino to his front right, who at one moment suddenly slumped on the desk as if mentally exhausted, only to immediately start writing furiously as if she had been injected with adrenaline, Sasuke immediately formed a judgment in his mind.
'The Yamanaka Clan's Mind Transfer Jutsu... it seems she succeeded.'
He instantly understood what Ino's abnormal behavior just now meant.
Without the slightest hesitation, a red light flashed in Sasuke's eyes.
Sharingan, activate!
The three-tomoe slowly rotated within his crimson pupils.
The Sharingan's powerful dynamic vision and copying ability activated instantly!
Sasuke's gaze was firmly locked onto Ino's right hand as she wrote, clearly capturing and imprinting every subtle movement of her pen, the trajectory of the nib, and even the possible corresponding answer options into his mind.
Following that, Sasuke lowered his head and began to mimic Ino's movements and rhythm from just now, writing rapidly on his own test paper.
Although he could not directly "see" the text on Ino's test paper, by precisely mimicking her writing movements, Sasuke was seventy to eighty percent confident that he could copy out the correct options.
On the other side, Tenten's operation appeared even more meticulous.
At some point, several almost transparent threads had quietly wrapped around her right-hand fingers.
One end of these threads was connected to her fingers, while the other end extended silently upward, adhering to the four mirrors on the ceiling of the exam hall.
Tenten sat upright, looking straight ahead, as if she were fully focused on reviewing the questions.
However, her right-hand fingers were trembling extremely slightly, using those transparent Chakra threads to precisely manipulate the mirrors on the ceiling, adjusting their tilt angles.
When she glanced with her peripheral vision at the mirror controlled by the threads, it happened to reflect the test paper of an "examinee-disguised proctor" who was suspected of knowing the inside story.
Tenten's heart was pounding, but she forced herself to remain calm, "reading" the answers in the mirror with her peripheral vision while her hands kept moving, quickly transcribing them onto her own test paper.
Her movements were smooth and natural; if one did not observe carefully, one could not see any abnormality at all.
After Tenten finished writing, her right hand began to control the position of the mirror.
Suddenly, Rock Lee, sitting not far away, solemnly put on his headband.
This action seemed casual, but it was one of the agreed-upon signals for the Mind Transfer Jutsu.
This represented that Lee had already seen the image from the mirror Tenten was controlling.
After seeing the test paper in the mirror, Lee's expression turned serious, and he began to copy furiously.
He absolutely could not let himself be the reason his team was eliminated!
Just as the various examinees were showing off their respective talents, utilizing the Sharingan, Puppet threads, extraordinary vision, Byakugan, Ninja Dog reconnaissance, insect surveillance, mental control, and other miscellaneous methods to fight hard in this assessment of "information gathering ability"—
There were three people in the exam hall whose style appeared exceptionally "plain."
Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura.
The three of them, except for when the exam first started, neither looked around nor used any special Ninjutsu or tools.
They just lowered their heads, brows slightly furrowed, occasionally thinking, occasionally writing, their expressions focused and serious.
The reason was simple.
These questions... they actually knew how to write them.
Feeling the barrier not far away.
The Shadow Clone, disguised as Menma, heaved a sigh of relief.
Having searched the entire Konoha, this should be the place.
I have to say, the internal defense here in Konoha Village is really not very good; Naruto's Shadow Clone moved as freely as a dragon in the underground of Konoha.
'Konoha, which looks bright and shiny on the surface, has quite a few holes underground that need patching...'
The Shadow Clone secretly noted this point.
Taking one last look at this place suspected to be the Root base, the Shadow Clone dispelled itself.
At the same time, the Shadow Clone's memories were transmitted to the mind of Naruto, who was taking the exam.
Found it.
A sharp glint flashed in Naruto's eyes.
Now everything is ready; all that's missing is the east wind of Orochimaru's Konoha Crush Plan.