"0286, five strikes, eliminated! 0672 and 0891, eliminated by association."
The three genin wearing Kusagakure forehead protectors got to their feet awkwardly. The other two looked at 0286 with eyes full of resentment.
Naruto's heart sank.
Oh my god! The exam had only been going for ten minutes, and someone had already been caught cheating five times! What do I do, what do I do? I seriously can't understand a single word of these damn questions!
Beside him, with one empty seat between them, Hinata had already written quite a few answers on her paper with the help of her Byakugan.
Although Hinata could not answer the questions herself, the Byakugan's x-ray vision allowed her to discover that there were three different sets of answers in the examination room.
Two of those sets differed by half, while the third belonged to Sakura. Half of Sakura's answer matched the first set, and the other half matched the second.
So she decisively chose to trust Sakura's answer.
Compared to the people from other villages, Sakura was practically a cheat code to this generation of Konoha students. That was the advantage of being Konoha ninja.
Watching Naruto's anxious expression, Hinata recalled how he had stepped in to help whenever others bullied her as a child. On top of that, Naruto called Senya "big brother" all day long, so she deliberately coughed twice, intending to help Naruto out for once.
She directly exposed half of her exam paper over the edge of her desk.
The chunin nearby saw this and merely marked down one strike for Hinata.
Naruto looked toward the coughs and turned to see Hinata's somewhat kindly expression. His heart leaped with joy, and he was just about to start writing when an jonin behind him spoke.
"You! Eliminated!"
Naruto was just