Are You Having a Hand Spasm?

At once, everyone in the room stood up and entered the exam hall in the order they had been assigned.

Uchiha Sora and Hinata were teammates, so naturally they were seated together.

As soon as he entered, Uchiha Sora instinctively looked around.

He spotted Sasuke, the famous one, there too.

There were also plenty of other famous faces from Konoha, including the Ino-Shika-Cho trio and Shino Aburame.

They were all old acquaintances.

Uchiha Sora even spotted the suspicious-looking Orochimaru trio lurking in a corner.

For some reason, that put him on his guard.

Orochimaru will get involved during the second exam. I'll have to find a way to stop him then!

A flicker of resolve crossed Uchiha Sora's eyes. He knew Orochimaru was the greatest threat at the moment!

Once everyone was seated, the examiners began handing out the papers.

Soon, everyone was staring at the sheets in front of them, overwhelmed by the densely packed questions.

"What the hell is this? We were told this was the Chunin Ninja Exams. Why are we taking a written test?"

Naruto was dumbfounded. He was a complete illiterate.

Doing these questions was as good as asking him to give up his life.

Sasuke was faring a little better, but his eyelids still twitched.

"Who knew it'd be a written test? Good thing my big brother warned me in advance and tutored me for months!"

After Uchiha Sora had crossed over, he'd discovered that he was Sasuke's older brother.

He'd been training Sasuke ever since, even helping him predict what would be on the exam.

They'd studied the material exactly as it was.

So when Sasuke saw the questions, he didn't panic at all. Instead, he marveled, As expected of my big brother—he can see everything coming!

The others, however, were in for a rough time.

The Ino-Shika-Cho trio stared at the papers, eyes wide.

"Damn it! What idiot came up with these questions? Making ninjas take a written test is such a waste of our talents!"

Choji was indignant.

Fortunately, Ino gritted her teeth and said,

"I can barely understand some of these. I'll sneak you the answers later!"

And so, the exam began amid everyone's complaints and grumbling.

The room was instantly filled with tension.

At first, none of these ninjas had imagined that the Chunin Ninja Exams would involve a written test.

Most of them were completely unprepared.

The questions might as well have been written in another language. Even after half an hour, plenty of people still hadn't put pen to paper.

Fortunately, before long, some of them began to figure it out.

This exam was designed to let them cheat!

Shikamaru was the first to frown. He'd felt that something about the exam was strange.

"Before the exam, the examiner specifically said twice that cheating was forbidden. Could that be a hint?"

"And why are there so many unfamiliar faces in this classroom? Every one of them is writing like their pen's on fire..."

"I get it! This exam is testing how well we can cheat!"

Shikamaru was thrilled. Without another word, he used Shadow Possession Jutsu to secretly imitate someone else's movements.

Sure enough, he was able to solve many of the questions.

With one person taking the lead, everyone else began using their own methods.

Neji Hyuga used his Byakugan to see through people and read their papers.

Shino Aburame released a few flies. After seeing the correct answers, he mimicked them with their flight paths.

Gaara released a little sand and sensed the writing on the paper through the way the sand flowed through the air.

Before long, he'd answered several questions too.

Watching the examinees use all kinds of flashy techniques to cheat, examiner Ibiki nodded with satisfaction and praised them silently.

"These candidates are impressive. Compared to previous years, they figured out that the exam is about cheating much faster. It took them only about half an incense stick's worth of time."

"And they're all showing off their skills. The one controlling insects must be from the Aburame Clan. He's got excellent control over them!"

"There's even a Byakugan user. Judging by how developed it is, they must have reached a decent level. Pity they're not from the main branch."

"The Uchiha descendant is impressive too, though he seems to have worked out the answers himself. Could Sasuke really be a genius who excels at everything?"

"It's just a shame that, supposedly, Sasuke's cousin is a good-for-nothing!"

As he thought this, Ibiki's gaze naturally settled on Uchiha Sora.

He wanted to see just how useless this Uchiha could be.

But the moment he looked, his eyes widened!

"Damn!"

"What the hell? Is this guy's hand cramping up?"

Uchiha Sora wasn't using chakra or any flashy technique.

He was simply resting his fingers on the desk and tapping away as if his hand were cramping.

And yet his expression was extremely serious, as if concentrating with all his might was necessary just to keep his hand cramping!

"No way! Is this Uchiha really an idiot?"

Ibiki sucked in a breath, then froze again.

Because Uchiha Sora wasn't the only one whose hand seemed to be cramping.

Hinata and Rock Lee were doing it too!

"What the hell? Have these three lost their minds?"

As the examiner, Ibiki was also responsible for the exam's security.

He had good reason to suspect that Uchiha Sora and the other two had fallen under some kind of jutsu.

So he walked over to Uchiha Sora, his gaze sharp, and glanced at his paper.

What he saw shocked him even more.

The answers were written neatly and clearly across the paper.

And every one of them was correct.

He'd only answered the multiple-choice questions, but that was still enough to pass.

Ibiki was stunned. He turned sharply and glanced at Hinata's and Rock Lee's papers too.

Then he finally understood.

"They've all got the same answers, and they answered the questions in exactly the same order!"

"Could it be... those hand-cramping movements are actually some kind of code?"

Ibiki sucked in a breath. He decided Uchiha Sora was a natural talent for the Anbu!

He was so young, yet he'd invented his own code?

Ibiki listened intently for a long time, but still couldn't figure out the pattern.

After a while, he could only marvel at how extraordinary Uchiha Sora was.

Especially after listening for a bit longer, Ibiki was surprised to realize that the code didn't seem complete.

Or rather, Uchiha Sora wasn't using all of it, only a part.

Because the code was so clever, with a pattern all its own!

Others might not notice, but as a member of the Anbu, Ibiki could tell at a glance that this was a complete cipher system!

And the full version could contain much more—perhaps even enough to replace all written language!

In other words, Uchiha Sora might have invented an entire system of coded speech!

What was frightening was that the whole system relied on sound alone.

It didn't require even a trace of chakra!

It was truly outrageous!

In the Ninja World, the existence of supernatural abilities meant that many things weren't especially sophisticated.

People simply used chakra to get things done. Without chakra, the technology of the Hokage world would probably still be prehistoric.

So the sheer shock of seeing a complete modern cipher system made Ibiki suck in a cold breath!