Murder in the Written Exam

The Third Training Ground had been converted into a written examination venue-a huge enclosed building with a tiered classroom that could hold five hundred people. A barrier surrounded the venue to prevent cheating and interference.

When Lin Ye and Karin arrived, hundreds of genin from various ninja villages had already gathered outside. He spotted familiar faces: Team 7's Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura; Team 10's Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino; and Team 3's Neji, Rock Lee, and Tenten. Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro from Sunagakure were there too. Gaara had recovered, but his face was pale. It seemed the Sealing had yet to stabilize completely.

"Big Brother Ye!" Naruto waved excitedly. "You're taking the exam too! Wow, who's the red-haired girl?"

"Karin Uzumaki, my..." Lin Ye paused. "My student."

"Your student?" Sasuke looked over, studying Karin with his Sharingan, which had one tomoe. "The Uzumaki Clan? The clan that specializes in Sealing Jutsu?"

"Y-yes," Karin said quietly.

"Sasuke, don't scare her," Sakura said, then gave Karin a friendly smile. "Hi, I'm Sakura Haruno. Just call me Sakura. Good luck on the exam."

"Th-thank you."

After introducing themselves, everyone entered the examination room. Lin Ye's seat was in the middle of the third row, with Karin on his left and an unfamiliar Amegakure Genin on his right. Team 7 sat in front of him, and Team 10 behind him.

The chief proctor was Ibiki Morino, a scar-faced man with an imposing presence. He announced the rules: ten questions worth a hundred points in total. Each instance of cheating would cost two points. If a candidate's score dropped to zero, their entire team would be eliminated. The exam would last one hour.

"Also," Ibiki added, "the final question will be announced forty-five minutes into the exam. It's the most important question. If you answer incorrectly... you'll be permanently barred from the Chunin Ninja Exams."

Gasps filled the room. Permanent disqualification was devastating for a ninja.

"Now, begin!"

The papers were handed out, and Lin Ye glanced over his. There were ten questions. The first nine were difficult theoretical questions involving ninjutsu principles, tactical analysis, geography, history, and more. The last question was blank; they would have to wait forty-five minutes to learn what it was.

These questions were not difficult for Lin Ye. With an adult's mind and the Mangekyo's perceptiveness, he could see the answers at a glance. But instead of writing them down immediately, he activated his Sharingan and surveyed the room.

In his vision, a massive sealing formation beneath the examination room was slowly operating, absorbing chakra from the air. Its core lay beneath the lectern. The formation's markings were so well concealed that he would never have noticed them without knowing about them beforehand.

Danzo's men haven't activated it yet... Lin Ye thought. What are they waiting for? The announcement of the final question?

He looked at Karin. She gave him a slight nod, signaling that she had sensed the sealing formation too.

Time ticked by. All sorts of cheating methods emerged throughout the room: Sunagakure's Puppet Technique, Konoha's Byakugan, Amegakure's Water Mirror Technique... The chunin proctors moved around catching offenders, and the atmosphere grew tense.

By the thirtieth minute, Lin Ye had finished all nine questions. He closed his eyes to rest, but kept his senses fully alert, monitoring the sealing formation beneath them.

Suddenly, the Sealing Formation began operating faster.

Here it comes.

At the fortieth minute, Ibiki stepped up to the lectern. "Now, I'll announce the tenth question."

Everyone's attention shifted to him. At that very moment, the underground sealing formation erupted!

Hummm-

An invisible pulse swept through the entire room. Every genin felt their chakra falter, becoming difficult to circulate. Several candidates who were cheating had their techniques cut off and were caught red-handed.

"What's going on?!" Naruto cried. "My chakra..."

"It's a Suppression Barrier!" Sasuke gritted his teeth, struggling even to maintain his Sharingan.

Ibiki and the chunin proctors were affected too, but as jonin, they had greater resistance. Ibiki's expression changed. "Someone has activated a sealing formation! Everyone, stay calm!"

But it was already too late.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The walls around the room suddenly exploded, and twelve Root members wearing animal masks charged inside, heading straight for Lin Ye and Karin.

"Uchiha Ye, Karin Uzumaki. Come with us!" the lead Root member ordered coldly.

"Not a chance!" Sasuke forced himself to his feet and threw his shuriken, but with his chakra suppressed, the weapons lacked force and were easily knocked aside.

"Stay out of this, Sharingan brat." The Root member sent Sasuke flying with a kick.

Naruto roared, "Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!" But he produced only three clones; his chakra was severely depleted.

"Divine Dominion!" Lin Ye activated his defensive field, blocking the incoming kunai. But the sealing formation's suppression was too strong, leaving Divine Dominion at only a third of its usual strength.

"Karin, now!"

"Reverse Sealing Formation: Release!"

Karin bit her finger and pressed both hands to the floor. Red chakra surged from her palms, spreading across the ground and clashing with the sealing formation below. As the two forces struggled, the room's suppressive force began to fluctuate.

"What? She can counter the sealing formation?" a Root member exclaimed.

"Move!" Lin Ye seized the opening and rushed out, activating the Body Flicker Technique. Though his speed had dropped considerably, he was still faster than an ordinary genin. He punched the nearest Root member away, snatched his kunai, and drove it backhanded toward a second attacker.

"Stop him!"

Six Root members surrounded Lin Ye, while the other six lunged at Karin. But Sakura, Ino, and Tenten had already positioned themselves in front of her. Their chakra might have been suppressed, but they could still use taijutsu.

"Don't underestimate girls!" Sakura punched a Root member away. Her Monster Strength Fist required little chakra; it relied on sheer physical strength.

Amid the chaos, Ibiki and the chunin proctors began fighting back. But the Root members were all elites and had come prepared, leaving the two sides deadlocked.

Just then, a figure slowly rose from the sealing formation's core beneath the lectern.

It was Danzo.

His right hand was wrapped in bandages, and his lone eye regarded Lin Ye coldly. "Uchiha Ye, stop resisting. Come with me, and I guarantee Karin Uzumaki's safety."

"Danzo, you dare attack in front of all these witnesses?" Ibiki demanded furiously.

"An incident occurred during the Chunin Ninja Exams, and Root promptly intervened to suppress it. Perfectly reasonable," Danzo said indifferently. "The report will state that unknown forces attacked the examination venue, and Root acted to protect the candidates. As for Uchiha Ye and Karin Uzumaki, they 'disappeared' in the chaos. Quite plausible."

"You!" Ibiki tried to charge forward, but two Root members blocked him.

Lin Ye looked at Danzo and suddenly smiled. "Danzo, you think you've already won?"

"Haven't I?" Danzo replied. "The sealing formation has suppressed everyone's chakra. I have twelve Root operatives, while you have only a handful of genin and a few suppressed jonin. What can you possibly fight back with?"

"This."

Lin Ye pressed his palms together, his Mangekyō Sharingan spinning wildly. He normally kept his Mangekyo hidden, but now he held nothing back. Eerie patterns bloomed in his eyes, and terrifying Eye Power erupted, briefly breaking through the sealing formation's suppression.

"The Mangekyo?!" Danzo's pupil contracted. "So you really did awaken it! Excellent. Those eyes will be mine!"

"Only if you can take them." Lin Ye formed hand seals. "Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"

This Fire Release attack was smaller than usual, but far more concentrated. Instead of spreading outward, the flames formed a dragon that lunged straight at Danzo. Danzo neither dodged nor retreated. The bandages on his right hand burst apart, revealing an arm implanted with Sharingan and Hashirama cells.

"Wood Release: Nativity of a World of Trees!"

Trees surged from the ground and collided with the fire dragon. Boom! The blast hurled nearby desks, chairs, and candidates into the air.

"Everyone, get out of the examination room!" Ibiki shouted.

The genin scrambled to retreat. Naruto wanted to stay and help, but Kakashi suddenly appeared and grabbed him. "Go! This isn't a battle you can take part in!"

"But Big Brother Ye-"

"Trust him."

The room soon emptied, leaving only Lin Ye, Karin, Ibiki, and a few chunin proctors facing Danzo and twelve Root members.

"Karin, keep maintaining the Reverse Sealing Formation and disrupting their formation," Lin Ye said. "Ibiki, you and the others handle the Root members. Leave Danzo to me."

"Alone?" Ibiki frowned.

"I can handle him."

Danzo sneered. "Arrogant. Even with the Mangekyo, you're only a nine-year-old child. I am Konoha's root, a kage-level fighter. What do you have that could possibly match me?"

"The Uchiha's dying wishes, and the resolve to break the curse." The Mangekyo in Lin Ye's eyes spun at full speed. "Divine Dominion: Full Release!"

The absolute defensive field expanded to three meters, enclosing him completely. At the same time, he formed hand seals-not to attack, but to support himself.

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

Four shadow clones appeared, not to fight, but to form hand seals. The four clones and his original body each formed a different sequence at the same time.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball!"

"Lightning Release: Earth Flow!"

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

Ninjutsu of all five chakra natures, unleashed simultaneously! Only someone with the Sharingan's copying ability and supreme chakra control could accomplish such a feat. The five techniques collided and fused in midair, forming a storm of combined ninjutsu that blasted toward Danzo.

"Five Release: Great Combo Technique!" Danzo recognized it as one of the Third Hokage's signature techniques. "How do you know..."

"The Sharingan copies everything," Lin Ye said coldly.

The combined ninjutsu storm collided with Danzo's Wood Release, shaking the entire examination room. Walls cracked, chunks of ceiling fell, and the barrier teetered on the verge of collapse.

"I'm not done yet." Lin Ye's original body rushed forward, gathering a spinning sphere of chakra in his hand-a Rasengan. This time, however, lightning coiled around its surface.

"Lightning Release: Rasengan!"

He had developed this variation himself during training, incorporating lightning release chakra into the Rasengan to increase its penetrating and destructive power.

Danzo hastily defended with Wood Release, but lightning overcame wood. The Rasengan tore through his wooden shield and drove straight into his chest. Danzo had no choice but to use Izanagi. The Sharingan on his chest flashed, rewriting reality, and the Rasengan "passed through" his body without harming him.

"Izanagi... So you really did implant Sharingan." Lin Ye's gaze grew colder.

"The Uchiha's Sharingan can only realize its true worth in my hands," Danzo said. "You are wasting those eyes. Give them to me, and I'll use them to protect Konoha."

"Protect it through theft and murder?" Lin Ye scoffed. "Danzo, your so-called protection is nothing but an excuse to satisfy your ambitions. Today, I'll seek justice for the dead of the Uchiha."

"You?"

"Me."

Lin Ye drew a deep breath and poured all his Eye Power into the Mangekyo. The patterns in his eyes began changing, evolving from intricate designs toward a more ancient form. Though they had not yet reached the Rinnegan, they had already touched a certain threshold.

"This is..." Danzo sensed danger.

"An Uchiha forbidden jutsu. I only just learned it myself." Lin Ye formed an ancient hand seal. "With the Mangekyo as the conduit, dying wishes as the offering, and the curse as fuel-Forbidden Jutsu: Kekkei Genkai Extraction!"

This was a forbidden jutsu he had learned from a scroll in the Forbidden Grounds. It could temporarily strip a target of their kekkei genkai, but placed an immense burden on the caster. Each use permanently cost a portion of their Eye Power.

But Lin Ye could no longer worry about that. Danzo's Izanagi was too troublesome. Unless he stripped away Danzo's Sharingan, he would never be able to kill him.

Red light shot from Lin Ye's eyes, enveloping Danzo. Danzo felt a sharp pain in the Sharingan on his arm as their Eye Power drained away.

"You... How dare you!" Shocked and furious, Danzo tried to break free, but the red light held him fast, leaving him unable to move.

"You don't deserve the Uchiha's Sharingan." Lin Ye gritted his teeth, pouring out Eye Power. His eyes began bleeding and his vision blurred, but he refused to stop.

One, two, three... The Sharingan on Danzo's arm closed, went blind, and fell away one after another. When the last Sharingan fell off, Danzo screamed. The Hashirama cells in his arm also began running wild, cracking his skin and leaking black blood.

"No... Impossible..." Danzo sank to his knees. Without the Sharingan to suppress them, the Hashirama cells began turning against his body.

"It's over, Danzo." Lin Ye walked up to him and pressed a kunai to his throat.

"Kill me, and Konoha will descend into civil war..." Danzo rasped. "Root won't let this go. They'll avenge me..."

"Then let them come," Lin Ye said coldly. "I'll deal with them one by one. Konoha's darkness ends here."

The kunai plunged down.

But at that very instant, something unexpected happened.

Danzo's body suddenly turned into a piece of wood.

The Substitution Technique!

No, it was not the Substitution Technique, but something more advanced-another application of Izanagi. By sacrificing a Sharingan, he created a "death substitute" while his true body revived elsewhere.

"Cough, cough..." Danzo's voice came from the examination room's entrance. He stood there, pale-faced, his right arm bare. All its Sharingan had been stripped away moments earlier. Now he had only his left eye.

"Uchiha Ye, I underestimated you," Danzo panted. "But you've reached your limit too, haven't you? After overusing the Mangekyo, how much sight do you have left?"

Lin Ye truly had reached his limit. Repeated use of the Mangekyo, combined with the forbidden jutsu's backlash, had blurred his vision until he could make out only silhouettes. He had little chakra left, either.

"Enough to kill you." Lin Ye gritted his teeth, preparing for one final gamble.

Suddenly, a voice rang out. "That's enough."

The Third Hokage had appeared in the examination room without anyone noticing. Behind him stood Jiraiya, Tsunade, Kakashi, and a large contingent of Anbu.

"Danzo, you're under arrest." The Third Hokage's voice was icy. "For treason against the village, murder, and human experimentation, you are sentenced to death on all counts. The sentence will be carried out immediately."

Danzo looked at the Third Hokage and suddenly laughed. "Sarutobi, you've finally made up your mind. But do you think killing me will end everything? Konoha's darkness is rooted in the very nature of this world. As long as the ninja system remains, as long as conflict exists, darkness will endure."

"That still doesn't justify your crimes." The Third Hokage waved his hand. "Take him."

The Anbu surged forward. Danzo did not resist. He merely looked at Lin Ye and spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear. "Uchiha Ye, you think you've won? No, the game has only just begun. Orochimaru, Akatsuki, Obito, Madara... They're all watching you. This world's darkness will swallow you, just as it swallowed me."

"It won't." Lin Ye met his gaze. "Because I have people I want to protect and dying wishes I must fulfill. You have neither. All you have is hollow ambition and twisted obsession."

Danzo fell silent, then the Anbu led him away.

News of Danzo's arrest soon spread throughout Konoha. Root was disbanded, and its members were placed under investigation. Because of the incident, the first round of the Chunin Ninja Exams was suspended and postponed until the next day.

But a greater storm had only just begun.