Theory Exam: Nothing Wrong with Having a Wood Clone Take It for Me, Right?

The infirmary's stretcher soon appeared on the training field.

Several teachers had to exert tremendous effort before they managed to "pry" the unconscious Big Bear off the wall.

The scene was awkward for a while.

From that day onward, Sen Senju's status at the Ninja Academy underwent a dramatic change.

He went from "useless trash with nothing but chakra" to a "monster born with supernatural strength."

As he walked around, no upperclassmen foolish enough to pick a fight with him remained.

Even the way people looked at him carried a hint of awe and fear.

"Sen, you're a celebrity at our school now."

Ishikawa walked beside Sen with a proud expression.

"Girls from the class next door were secretly asking me for your autograph yesterday."

"A celebrity?"

Sen sighed and pulled his straw hat lower over his head.

"I'd rather be an unnoticed nobody."

Fame meant trouble.

Trouble meant he could not peacefully bask in the sun.

That completely went against his original goal of lying low until the end.

"No, I need to find a way to turn this 'monster' persona back into a 'good-for-nothing' one."

Sen quietly plotted to himself.

Soon, an opportunity arrived.

That afternoon, Class One, First Year.

Iruka entered the classroom carrying a thick stack of test papers, his face grave.

"Students, this afternoon, we will be holding the first major theory examination since the start of school."

"The test will cover ninja history, basic tactical analysis, ninja tool identification, and more."

"The results of this exam will be directly included in your final evaluations, so I hope everyone takes it seriously."

A chorus of wails instantly erupted throughout the classroom.

For this bunch of six- and seven-year-old brats, being sent onto a battlefield with swords might have been easier than sitting down to answer a test.

Naruto directly slumped onto his desk, looking utterly devoid of hope.

"A theory exam? This thing's harder than training the Rasengan..."

Sen looked at the densely printed test papers handed out to them and felt a headache coming on.

It was not that he did not know the answers.

The superbrain granted to him by the Divine Tree Origin gave him a photographic memory.

He could recite every word Iruka taught in class flawlessly, even in his sleep.

But the problem was that he did not want to write.

Just thinking about spending over an hour writing on such a boring test made his whole body feel uncomfortable.

"I've got it!"

Sen's eyes suddenly lit up as a brilliant idea took shape in his mind.

"This is the perfect chance to reinforce my 'poor student' persona."

The examination bell rang.

Only the rustling of pens filled the classroom.

Sitting at the podium, Iruka occasionally glanced toward the figure daydreaming in the last row.

"Sen Senju is a monster when it comes to taijutsu. His theoretical knowledge must be a complete mess, right?"

Iruka quietly guessed to himself.

"Perfect. This test will also make him understand that brute strength alone cannot make an outstanding ninja."

Just then, Iruka saw Sen move.

Rather than picking up his pen to answer the questions, he lazily yawned.

Then...

He directly laid his head on the desk, using his hands as a pillow.

He fell asleep?!

Iruka's eye twitched violently twice.

This kid was far too arrogant!

The entire class was writing furiously, yet he was openly sleeping during an exam?

Iruka was so angry he nearly crushed the chalk in his hand.

But after giving it some thought, he held himself back.

"Forget it. Let him be. He was destined to hand in a blank paper anyway."

"Good. Let him learn how miserable the consequences of not studying properly can be."

What Iruka did not know was that the moment Sen lowered his head.

His right hand, hidden beneath the desk, quietly formed an extremely tiny hand seal.

A wisp of nearly negligible Wood Release chakra overflowed from his fingertips.

A Wood Clone seed smaller than a grain of rice silently fell into a crack in the floor by his feet.

The next second.

A vine thinner than a strand of hair sprouted from the seed.

The vine silently crawled up Sen's pant leg and along his back.

Then, from the gap between his arm resting on the desk and the test paper, something extremely tiny made of wood emerged...

A pencil tip?

That was right. It was an automatic pencil made entirely of Wood Release chakra.

The original body slept soundly, enjoying the afternoon sunlight.

Meanwhile, the "automatic pencil" controlled by the Wood Clone seed began rapidly moving across the test paper.

The Divine Tree Origin's superbrain ran at full capacity.

Questions that appeared exceptionally complicated and mind-numbing to others did not require even a second of thought in Sen's mind.

[Question One: Briefly describe the causes of the First Shinobi World War and the major participating nations.]

The wooden pencil tip paused over the paper.

"Writing this many words is such a pain."

Sen's clone grumbled inwardly, but still quickly wrote down the answer.

"Cause: Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha disagreed in ideology and split the spoils unevenly, triggering a chain reaction among the Five Great Nations..."

[Question Two: Analyze the advantages and disadvantages of the Ino-Shika-Cho formation in squad tactics.]

"Advantages: A perfect theoretical triangle of control, perception, and damage output. Disadvantages: As long as one of the three families has someone whose brain does not work properly, they are all doomed."

[Question Three: When facing an enemy skilled in Water Release in an environment without water, which nature transformation should be considered first to counter them?]

"Use Earth Release to make a dam, then use Fire Release to boil the water dry, and finally use Wind Release to blow the steam into their face. Or just punch them unconscious."

The wooden pencil tip flew across the paper, and the answers it wrote were not only incredibly accurate, but even carried Sen's uniquely irreverent style of commentary.

The hour-and-a-half exam soon came to an end.

"Pens down! Time's up!"

Iruka rose to his feet and began collecting the papers from the first row.

Sen, who had been lying on his desk, "woke up" at just the right moment.

He rubbed his sleepy eyes and gave a huge stretch, the drool at the corner of his mouth still glistening.

The wooden pencil tip also silently retreated into the crack in the floor and turned into an ordinary speck of dust.

"Huh? It's over?"

Sen put on a dazed, just-awakened expression as he looked at Iruka, who had arrived before him.

"Teacher, I haven't written anything yet."

Seeing the state he was in, Iruka's anger flared up.

"Now you know to panic? Who told you to sleep during the exam!"

He grabbed the test paper from Sen's desk, originally intending only to take a look at the disastrous blank sheet and mock him properly.

However, the instant his gaze fell upon the paper.

His entire body froze.

"This... this is..."

The hand Iruka used to hold the paper began trembling slightly.

How was this a blank paper?

It was clearly a perfect answer sheet filled to the brim, without even a single blank space left!

The handwriting was so neat it looked printed.

Not only was every answer completely correct, each one had even been expanded upon and analyzed from different angles.

The logic was rigorous, and the viewpoints were incisive.

Forget a mere chunin like him—even if this were brought to the Hokage Building and shown to the advisory elders, they would not be able to find a single flaw in it!

Could this really have been written by a six-year-old child?

This was practically a walking ninja tactics textbook!

At that moment, Iruka felt his entire worldview utterly collapse.

He raised his head and stared fixedly at the boy still wiping drool from his mouth with an expression as though he had seen a ghost.

"You... you..."

Iruka pointed at the paper, then at Sen, his tongue nearly tying itself into knots.

"Weren't you asleep? Who... who wrote this test?!"

Sen looked at Iruka's expression, as though he were about to faint.

Oh no, I overdid the showing off.

He quickly blinked his innocent eyes and scratched his head.

"Teacher, I don't know either."

He pointed at his own head with a pure expression.

"Maybe while I was dreaming, I dreamed that Duke of Zhou helped me write it."