After gaining a basic understanding of the breakthroughs and central approaches to several of the toughest problems, Shikaku did not keep them to himself. He used a rudimentary, non-controlling application of his clan's secret art-the Shadow Imitation Technique.
Rather than controlling anyone, he carefully and exquisitely extended the shadow beneath his desk a short distance toward Choza Akimichi beside him, moving it with extreme slowness like a living tendril of darkness. Then he lightly, almost imperceptibly, touched the edge of Choza's shadow, which was particularly broad because of his build.
Choza was frowning over a complex calculation involving the relationship between a Ration Pill's energy conversion efficiency and its chakra replenishment rate. He was almost ready to give up when he suddenly felt an almost nonexistent sensation at his ankle, like the brush of a feather.
He paused, instinctively looking toward Shikaku. Beneath the desk, Shikaku's hand quickly and discreetly flashed a few simple signals they had used since childhood and knew by heart. They meant, "Core approach: law of conservation of energy. Key parameter: chakra catalytic efficiency ratio. Ignore secondary interference factors."
Choza looked blank at first, then his eyes lit up with sudden understanding! Although he still had to work through the calculations himself, that hint about the key approach and central formula was like a lighthouse shining through the fog. He instantly found the right course, sparing himself the waste of precious time and effort on incorrect calculations.
On the other side, Shibi Aburame's solution was more unusual and discreet, bearing his clan's distinctive touch of working in harmony with insects.
His cuff shifted slightly, and several miniature kikaichū, barely larger than dust and almost invisible to the naked eye, silently flew out. Their goal was not to peek directly at the exam papers of nearby classmates-that would be extremely risky and easily detected, and their limited viewing angles might not yield useful information.
Specially trained and selected by the Aburame Clan, these insects were extraordinarily sensitive to chakra traces, especially those left behind during writing that carried the user's personal signature. As lightly as dust stirred by a breeze, they landed on the blackboard at the front of the classroom, where Teacher Kakumatsu had just written a complex example-though the example itself was baffling-and on the edges of the lesson-plan sheets he had seemingly left carelessly on the lectern, "inadvertently" exposing a few words and complicated calculations.
The kikaichū greedily and silently absorbed Teacher Kakumatsu's lingering chakra traces from his writing, particularly the specific chakra rhythms and habitual patterns of thought he had infused into each stroke. Through these unique energy remnants, the kikaichū could relay some hazy information to Shibi. Combining this with the scattered formulas and symbols briefly glimpsed on the lesson-plan sheets, Shibi undertook the difficult work of reverse deduction, filling in logical gaps, and piecing together fragments in his mind. He pushed up the sunglasses on his nose, hiding any look that might betray his emotions, and began writing slowly but steadily on his exam paper. His handwriting was neat and meticulous, as though he already had everything worked out and was merely being cautious with his pen.
Tsume Inuzuka's method was more direct and feral, unmistakably in the style of the Inuzuka Clan.
Pretending to bend down to adjust her Ninja Tool Pouch, she barely moved her lips as she breathed several complex instructions to Kuromaru, who waited patiently beneath her desk. At the same time, she stroked his furry head several times in a particular rhythm. This was her clan's unique technique for communicating with their ninja dogs beyond words.
Kuromaru's ears twitched lightly, adjusting their angles like the most precise radar. The Inuzuka Clan's ninja dogs possessed hearing and a sense of smell beyond human limits. They could distinguish extremely subtle differences in sound waves and could even, to a degree, "sniff out" which answer sections contained more certain, confident information through the freshness of the ink and the emotional hormones writers unconsciously released while holding their pens. Kuromaru closed his eyes and focused all his senses on distinguishing the particular sound patterns made by pen tips scraping against stiff exam paper as several nearby students he considered "reliable," such as Minato and Shikaku, wrote. He also listened for the indistinct fragments of keywords they occasionally muttered unconsciously while deep in thought.
He could not understand those profound theories of ninjutsu, but through the secret bond passed down through generations of the Inuzuka Clan, he could relay these fragments he "heard" and "smelled" to his partner, Tsume, in real time. Drawing on her knowledge and understanding, which were not particularly deep but flexible enough, Tsume rapidly assessed and filtered the flood of jumbled information, separating the false from the true before selectively "consulting" and "borrowing" from it-or, more directly and efficiently, copying it down. The process was extremely risky, putting Tsume's ability to process information instantly and Kuromaru's precision in sensing and relaying it to the test. A mistake by either of them could bring all their efforts to nothing.
At first, Kushina Uzumaki tried to tackle the questions head-on with her own abilities and the pitiful theoretical foundation she had picked up from Shinji and Minato's occasional "tutoring" lately. She soon realized that it was utterly futile.
She was not someone who admitted defeat easily, but she also knew how to assess the situation and seek another path when something could not be done. Watching her classmates, especially that blond honor student Minato Namikaze, who always seemed so composed, she saw his pen flying across an exam paper already covered in neat writing. Her refusal to lose and an inexplicable agitation burned inside her like flames.
"Hmph, show-off! All you've got are a few clever little tricks!" She puffed out her cheeks in annoyance, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration. Although the restrictions imposed by her seal and age prevented her from freely unleashing the full extent of her terrifyingly vast chakra, she could still just about manage to carefully guide a tiny sliver out for crude, wide-ranging environmental sensing and energy detection.
Beneath her desk, she quietly formed an extremely simple hand seal, with barely any visible movement of her fingers. Centered on herself, invisible, intangible yet incredibly resilient Chakra Threads spread silently in every direction like a spider's hunting web suddenly unfurling. This was no delicate operation. Instead, she used an almost domineering approach to roughly sense every flow, gathering, vibration, and abnormal fluctuation of chakra in the surrounding space.
She vaguely "felt" the steady, regular fluctuations of chakra codes coming from Minato, the cold and secretive energy trail of Shikaku's extending shadow, and the almost negligible chakra ripples stirred up by Shibi's insects. She even faintly detected the distinctive, gently rippling mental energy field Inoichi produced as he concentrated on sensing.
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