Impossible, How Could He?

Neji Hyuga, his Byakugan possesses high purity, and his chakra flow is steady and refined; he is a true genius.

Rock Lee, the chakra pathways within his body differ from those of an ordinary person, with almost all energy concentrated at key nodes; this must be the so-called Eight Inner Gates.

The guys from Otogakure have undergone deep physical modifications, and their chakra flow is bizarre—is this the handiwork of Orochimaru?

Ling Xuan calmly marked every object of interest in his mind.

Soon, the proctor for the first exam, Ibiki Morino, a man with a face covered in scars, stepped onto the podium.

His oppressive aura instantly silenced the entire classroom.

"Everyone, welcome to the Chunin Selection Exams." Ibiki's voice was deep and cold. "I am the proctor for this first exam, Ibiki Morino. Now, I shall announce the rules."

The rules were simple: everyone had a test paper in front of them with nine questions. The exam used a point-deduction system; one point was deducted for every wrong answer, and if anyone in a team scored zero, the entire team would be disqualified.

And the most critical part was the tenth question.

This question would be announced forty-five minutes after the exam began, and everyone would have to choose whether to answer it or not.

If one chose not to answer, both the individual and their teammates would be immediately disqualified. If one chose to answer but got it wrong, that person would lose the qualification to take the Chunin Exams forever!

"The exam time is one hour." Ibiki swept his sharp gaze over every examinee present. "Now, the exam begins!"

At his command, the examinees immediately flipped over their test papers.

In an instant, the sound of sharp intakes of breath echoed throughout the classroom.

The difficulty of the questions on the paper far exceeded the scope of what a genin could understand: code-breaking, calculations, strategic terrain analysis...

These questions, let alone for genin, might not even be fully answerable by experienced chunin or even jonin.

It was clear that this exam was not meant for the examinees to "answer" using their own knowledge.

Instead, it was a test of how they could obtain information from the answer-holders hidden among the examinees without being caught by the proctors—in other words, cheating.

For a moment, the entire exam hall was filled with undercurrents.

All sorts of strange and bizarre cheating methods began to unfold quietly.

Kiba Inuzuka had his ninja dog, Akamaru, lie on top of his head to secretly observe others' answers.

Shino Aburame utilized his tiny Kikaichū to crawl silently onto the test papers of other examinees.

Ino Yamanaka prepared to use her clan's secret Mind Transfer Technique to possess someone else's body.

Sasuke waited for the right moment, ready to use his Sharingan to copy the writing movements of others.

Meanwhile, Naruto stared at the test paper as if it were written in a foreign language, sweating profusely, unable to understand a single word.

The entire exam hall had turned into a silent war of intelligence and counter-surveillance.

However, in this battlefield of shifting undercurrents, one person seemed completely out of place.

Ling Xuan.

From start to finish, he made no unnecessary movements; he simply picked up his pen and began to answer the questions.

His movements were not fast, yet they were exceptionally fluid, without any pauses or hesitation, as if these tricky and bizarre questions were as simple as one plus one equals two to him.

Sasuke, sitting in front, was just about to activate his Sharingan when he caught a glimpse of Ling Xuan's movements out of the corner of his eye and froze.

He is... answering the questions? Impossible, these problems...

Sasuke's heart was filled with confusion. He knew Ling Xuan was strong and smart, but this level of knowledge already exceeded the scope of being "smart."

Neji Hyuga, sitting not far from Ling Xuan, also quietly activated his Byakugan. He saw Ling Xuan writing down answers with the fluidity of flowing water, and for the first time, a grave expression appeared in his eyes.

Proctor Ibiki Morino, standing on the podium, took all of this in. He naturally noticed Ling Xuan, this anomaly.

Oh? Someone is actually answering based on their own ability? Ibiki sneered inwardly. Have they given up? Or is it that...

He signaled to a chunin proctor beside him.

The proctor understood and walked silently behind Ling Xuan, leaning down to look at his test paper.

After just one glance, the chunin's pupils constricted violently!

On the paper, Ling Xuan had not only provided the correct answer for every question, but he had also used smaller handwriting next to the answers to write out detailed steps for the solutions, as well as optimization suggestions for the questions themselves.

For example, regarding the ballistic calculation question, Ling Xuan had not only calculated the result but also noted on the side: [This ballistic calculation does not account for the attenuation of the Kunai's rotational speed due to air humidity and crosswinds. If applied in actual combat, the deviation rate will be uncontrollable. The corrected model should be...]

Or the code-breaking question; he had not only cracked the code but also written: [This is the Third Generation encryption method of Konoha; the logic of its key generation contains vulnerabilities that can be reverse-engineered. It is recommended to upgrade to the Fourth Generation Spiral encryption method to improve intelligence security.]

Cold sweat broke out on the proctor's forehead. He wasn't looking at a test paper; it was as if he were looking at an assessment report issued by the highest-level strategic analysis department of Konoha!

Who... exactly is this boy?

He dared not look any further and hurriedly retreated to the podium, casting a look of utter shock at Ibiki Morino.

Ibiki's brows furrowed tightly as well. He realized that he might have severely underestimated a certain examinee in this year's batch.

Time ticked away, second by second.

In the classroom, examinees were constantly being disqualified for being caught cheating, and along with their teammates, they were expelled from the hall. The atmosphere became increasingly oppressive.

Finally, forty-five minutes passed.

Ibiki looked at the people remaining in the classroom and spoke with a cold sneer: "Alright, now I will announce the tenth question."

Everyone's heart was in their throat.

"Before I announce the questions, you must first make a choice." Ibiki's voice was heavy with both temptation and pressure. "You may choose to answer or choose to quit. Those who choose to answer but get it wrong will lose their eligibility for the Chunin Exams forever. Now, those who wish to quit may raise their hands."

A tremendous pressure instantly enveloped the entire classroom.

Losing eligibility forever! This price was far too heavy!

Candidates began to tremble under the weight of the pressure and raised their hands. Their numbers were recorded, and they left the classroom dejectedly alongside their teammates.

One, two, three...

More and more people were leaving.

Naruto was so nervous that his palms were slick with sweat. He couldn't answer a single question; if he chose to answer, he would almost certainly get it wrong. But if he chose to quit, then Sasuke, Sakura, and Ling Xuan would all be dragged down by him...

Just as he was locked in an internal struggle and on the verge of raising his hand, A voice suddenly appeared in his mind.