Cheating

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Kanna first looked at the first question.

Write out the hand seals for the Water Release: Water Clone Technique, and explain the consequences of reversing this sequence.

This first question stunned Kanna. It wasn't because it was difficult, but because it was a trap.

Generally speaking, a ninja would not attempt to reverse the effects of a jutsu for no reason, just as we don't usually stop to ponder why one plus one equals two. In a situation where the vast majority of people have no idea what would happen if the seals were reversed, many would surely try it on the spot.

And the consequences of that attempt...

"Ugh!"

"Cough, cough."

Sure enough, not long after, Kanna heard a series of retching sounds. He looked up slightly to see many people clutching their abdomens, vomiting large mouthfuls of clear water.

The Water Clone Technique involves condensing chakra, expelling it from the body, converting it into water, and then shaping it. If the hand seals are reversed, the effect is that the chakra retracts into the abdomen, converts into water, and flows throughout the body. It is equivalent to washing the inside of the abdomen out, so naturally, they would vomit.

Swish, swish. The proctors nearby began writing in their record books.

It seems this question includes a test of one's ability to judge the authenticity of information. Those who tried to reverse the jutsu without checking first will likely have a significant number of points deducted.

Today it is just a reversed jutsu, but if one were on the battlefield and received a fake military plan from the enemy, and blindly accepted it as true without verifying it, wouldn't that bring a massive disaster upon one's own side?

Kanna's heart tightened, and he increased his level of focus for this exam.

He buried his head and wrote the hand seals for the Water Clone Technique on the paper: Horse-Ram-Snake-Tiger-Hare. Then he wrote: "Reversing the hand seals for Water Release: Water Clone Technique causes a large amount of uncontrollable water to form in the user's abdomen, leading to symptoms such as vomiting, bloating, and diarrhea."

Setting a big trap on the very first question and catching so many people—is this because the written exam is generally difficult, or is the first question specifically designed to be this hard to increase the pressure on the candidates?

Kanna skipped directly to the last question to gauge the difficulty coefficient of the paper.

The question was: Assume you are a squad leader. While leading several members on a mission, one member is unfortunately captured. However, while you are leading the team in a breakout, you suddenly encounter this member again. In this situation, what would you do, and explain your reasoning.

An open-ended, comprehensive question? Testing a ninja's execution, judgment, and ability to make trade-offs?

The question asks: if you encounter a member who should have been captured, do you adopt a strategy of observing whether it is truly them before considering acceptance, or do you isolate them immediately, or perhaps even expel them from the squad or kill them?

How do you determine if this member has been bought by the enemy? Whether it is an enemy disguised using the Transformation Technique, or if the enemy intentionally let them escape to track your route, uncover your codes, or even find your hideout?

This question completely exceeds the scope of a genin's thinking; it is a problem only a captain-level figure is qualified to consider. To be honest, Kanna could not write a perfect answer.

A ten-point question only has a right or wrong outcome, and if you are wrong, you lose points. So, as expected, cheating is necessary!

If Kanna's guess is correct, there should be a fixed solution within Kirigakure for this problem—a method summarized by predecessors as the most optimal approach.

As for the target of his plagiarism, Kanna already had a candidate: Momochi Zabuza. This guy must have received training in this area since joining the Anbu; his answer shouldn't be wrong!

However, it was still early, and Zabuza likely hadn't reached this question yet, so Kanna simply looked at the second-to-last question.

The question was: Jutsu hand seals are combined to exert different effects. The hand seals for the B-rank jutsu Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique are: Ox-Monkey-Hare-Rat-Boar-Bird-Ox-Horse-Bird-Rat-Tiger-Dog-Tiger-Snake-Ox-Ram-Snake-Boar-Ram-Rat-Dragon-Monkey-Bird-Dragon-Bird-Ox-Horse-Ram-Tiger-Snake-Rat-Monkey-Hare-Boar-Dragon-Ram-Rat-Ox-Monkey-Bird-Dragon-Rat-Boar-Bird. That is a total of forty-four seals. Please write out which hand seals combine to exert the effect in this jutsu, and describe that effect.

Kanna frowned and pondered to himself.

He had once drawn an S-rank Water Release jutsu, the Great Shark Bullet Technique. That was a top-tier Water Release; if he fully understood it, breaking down the Water Dragon Bullet Technique would be child's play. Kanna certainly didn't fully understand it, but he could infer some of the hand seal effects from it. However, that was far from enough; if the answer wasn't completely correct, it would be invalid!

Deducing a jutsu purely from hand seals is too difficult. If he had the chakra circulation pattern, muscle movements, internal organ activity, and even the hair movement patterns for the Water Dragon Bullet Technique, perhaps Kanna could arrive at the answer, but unfortunately, the examiner didn't provide them.

A complete analysis of a jutsu can generally be divided into three aspects: hand seals, chakra circulation, and physical coordination. Take Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique, for example: one performs seals, circulates chakra, and simultaneously expands the abdominal cavity, inhales, and uses a breathing technique to channel chakra to the throat, finally exhaling to convert it into fire. That is the most typical Fire Release. The Water Dragon Bullet Technique is much more complex; a genin without enough experience cannot analyze it just by looking at the hand seals.

"Hmph, as expected, a ninja exam isn't something you can solve by honestly doing the work." Kanna spun his pen and began to survey the surroundings.

To his slight surprise, there were already many candidates in the exam hall like him—not doing the questions, but secretly observing the answers of those around them. They were all looking to cheat.

At that moment, Kanna felt a slight numbness at his waist, as if he had been electrocuted. He looked down nonchalantly and saw a thin strand of hair resting on his waist.

Kanna knew this was a signal from Ringo Ameyuri, so he pretended to be casual as he reached out with his right hand, his fingers quickly coiling and wrapping around the strand.

Shielding his right hand with the wide sleeve of his left, Kanna held his breath and gave the hair a gentle tug. The next moment, a jolt of electricity traveled along the strand.

Swish! Stimulated by the current, Kanna's right hand involuntarily flicked, writing a horizontal stroke on the paper, followed by a slash, a horizontal, and a hook.

Kanna didn't resist, letting Ameyuri take control. Soon, a few words appeared on the paper.

"Cannot."

Kanna, who almost laughed out loud, looked at the position of the sun outside the window, then tucked his hands in front of his chest, hiding them with his collar, and formed the "Ram" seal.

At his feet, Kanna's shadow twisted, stretched into a strip, and spread toward the person behind him, precisely hitting Ringo Ameyuri's shadow.

Ameyuri, who was sitting still, stiffened, and her right hand began to move on its own.

"Wait a moment."

"This guy..." Ameyuri smiled slightly and waited.

On the other side, Kanna used the Shadow Possession Jutsu again, aiming at Zabuza's position, and the shadow shot out.

"Hmm?" Zabuza was doing the questions absent-mindedly when he suddenly felt his body become much heavier. He immediately realized something was wrong!

Regardless of which side holds the initiative in the Shadow Possession Jutsu, it is equivalent to using one's own strength to move two bodies. This is only in a non-resisting state; if one were to resist with physical strength or chakra, the result would likely be a stalemate. A sword master like Zabuza has superb control over his power, so he could naturally sense that something was amiss.

Zabuza stopped his pen and was about to react when, suddenly, his right hand automatically began to write on the paper.

I'll see who exactly you are! Zabuza sneered inwardly and simply watched.

"You've been found out, Zabuza. But the first exam should be very easy for you, right? Do you mind if I copy? I have to pass the written exam to enter the later stages, and I want to have a good fight with you during the practical exam! Kanna."

After finishing this dialogue, Zabuza's right hand automatically picked up an eraser and wiped the text away.

"Oh? Kanna?"

Zabuza's eyebrows shot up as he immediately recalled who Kanna was.

So, you were the only guy who didn't get killed by me during the graduation exam?

"Interesting! Since you want revenge, I'll give you that chance! If a guy who managed to escape from my hands gets blocked by a pedantic test like this, it would be far too boring." Zabuza's lips curled into a cold, icy smile. Ignoring the chakra coming from Kanna, he began to answer the questions on his own.

Seeing his right hand move under Zabuza's guidance, Kanna breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the exam had been restructured this year, the questions were much harder. Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible to pass. Even Ringo Ameyuri, having never received theoretical training at the Chunin level, was helpless in this regard and could only wait to see just how much capacity Zabuza truly had.

The result was quite decent; Zabuza was clearly not the type to be petty. This exam could be considered secure.

Next, Kanna relaxed his entire body, relying on Zabuza's guidance to write out answer after answer on the test paper. He took the opportunity to mock the unlucky fools who were caught cheating, and paid special attention to the solution for the final question.

"Since the team member in question was previously captured, the computational power and resources required to verify their identity, investigate whether they have defected, and determine if it is an enemy trap are significantly greater than other methods. Therefore, in a critical situation, it is recommended to abandon the team member immediately. If the team member shows any signs of entanglement, they may be executed on the spot!"

Kanna frowned at the blood-chilling text. This solution was likely the recommended protocol for the Anbu, and it exposed a specific ideology within Kirigakure.

Better to kill the innocent than to let a traitor escape!

In the original story, Kisame executed this philosophy quite thoroughly. When the Intelligence Department members he was escorting, who carried sensitive codes, were surrounded by Konohagakure, he made a split-second decision. Without considering breakout strategies, he killed his teammates directly before diving into the river to escape.

Having obtained the "correct" answer, Kanna understood what this question was truly testing: that in the process of executing a mission, everything must be subordinate to the highest principle of completing the objective.

It was cruel, but it was the rule followed by the entire ninja world.

Just as Kanna finished the question and prepared to withdraw his shadow, his right hand paused, then heavily wrote down five characters.

"I'll be waiting for you!"

On the other side, Ringo Ameyuri, who had been using Lightning Release chakra to pierce through her hair and capture the signals from Kanna's hand muscles and joint movements, successfully deciphered all the text. Naturally, she also saw this declaration.

A surge of fighting spirit welled up in her heart. Ringo Ameyuri's expression turned serious as she surged her chakra, transforming it into pulses of electricity to stimulate Kanna's fingers, forcing them to write a sentence on the paper.

"I am Ringo Ameyuri! I am waiting for you all as well!"

"Hehehe," Kanna narrowed his eyes. He suppressed all his excitement using the mental cultivation method of the Silent Killing Technique, waiting only to unleash it during the final exam.

Gripping his pencil tightly, Kanna scribbled down a challenge of his own.

"Everyone! See you at the final exam!"