The examination hall instantly fell silent, and every candidate's gaze swung toward the informant and Chino.
The proctors, too, had to stop patrolling and look toward the center of the dispute with stern faces.
The candidate who had reported her pointed at Chino, his voice agitated. "That blonde girl has been cheating the whole time! She hasn't stopped since the exam started!"
Everyone followed his finger, turning in unison toward Chino's seat.
In the corner, Izumi and Itachi raised their hands to their foreheads almost simultaneously. As her teammates, they were both mortified.
They had seen Chino's clumsy note-passing perfectly clearly, and their toes curled with secondhand embarrassment.
Not far away, Mei Terumi had been chewing on her pen while pondering a question. When she saw this, she nearly burst out laughing.
She quickly lowered her head and pretended to study her paper, but her shoulders trembled slightly.
Suddenly exposed, Chino froze, her mind going completely blank.
Her hand was still suspended in midair with the note in it. She had been caught red-handed.
Then shame immediately burned across her cheeks, turning her entire face bright red.
She hurriedly lowered her head, wishing she could bury her face in her exam paper.
It's over, it's over! Master was counting on us to make Konoha proud in the Chunin Ninja Exams.
And now I'm going to ruin everything in the very first written test.
The real problem is that just looking at these questions gives me a headache. I genuinely don't know the answers! What am I supposed to do if I don't copy?
Under countless watching eyes, a proctor had no choice but to walk over to Chino.
Overwhelmed by shame and fear, Chino almost blurted out a confession on the spot. "I... I didn't..."
Just as she was about