Naruto: The Shadow Lord of the Nara Clan

This year's Chunin Exams written test includes one hundred basic ninja knowledge questions and ten subjective essay questions.

Its difficulty level is among the highest in the written exams over the years.

For an ordinary genin, even if they have mastered most of the knowledge points, it would still take at least an hour to complete the test.

But in Lu Ying's eyes, these questions don't even require thinking; the answer is immediately apparent upon seeing the question.

Therefore, when he finished the exam, ended the exam early, and got up to walk outside, almost all the candidates were stunned and opened their mouths.

—Did you finish so quickly?

—Are we doing the same set of questions?

Feeling the doubtful and disbelieving gazes, Lu Ying smiled indifferently.

All he wants to know now is who will be able to copy his answer sheet later.

His exam paper wasn't something you could simply copy.

……

The door closed gently.

Silence fell over the examination room once again.

Those who were confident in their academic abilities were disturbed by Lu Ying's behavior. Their breathing became tense and rapid, their foreheads were slightly sweaty, and even their hands holding the pen were trembling slightly.

They began to doubt their problem-solving approach.

Meanwhile, another group of ninjas, who were clueless about the subject, had their eyes shining and kept glancing at the Deer Shadow's exam paper.

Regardless of whether they believe Lu Ying is a fabrication.

In short, with such a well-written answer sheet, it's hard for them not to have ulterior motives.

A candidate sitting behind Lu Ying made no attempt to hide his surprise, because from his position, he only needed to raise his head and subtly glance at Lu Ying's answers to get a clear view of them.

However, when his gaze fell on Lu Ying's answer sheet, he could not see any writing or symbols.

All that came into view was a pitch-black shadow, as if it had been soaked in ink.

——?

He rubbed his eyes and looked again, puzzled.

It was still a blurry, gray expanse.

—What a damn guy!

—I thought he was a genius because he didn't write anything!

The candidates behind him were indignant and muttered curses under their breath.

Perhaps his performance was too conspicuous and blatant, for the proctor raised his eyes and stared at him coldly.

"Candidate number 36 cheated in public!"

"You're eliminated!"

Candidate number 36 stared wide-eyed, about to get up and explain, when he found his mouth was firmly locked shut.

At the same time, several Konoha ninjas with cold demeanor slowly walked over from the corner and carried examinee number 36 out without saying a word.

This swift and decisive approach immediately shocked 90% of the candidates who were hoping for a lucky break.

Some quick-witted individuals, based on the environment and the performance of candidate number 36, vaguely deduced the correct solution to this written test.

Cheating!

You can pass this exam by using clever, undetectable cheating methods!

No wonder the written test was so difficult!

No wonder some people can solve problems so quickly!

The deer shadow is the "standard answer" arranged in advance by the examiners!

There was no intention to make them do the questions honestly on their own.

The written test actually assesses the ninja's ninjutsu skills!

Once they realized this, the quiet examination room began to stir.

Since only Lu Ying has finished the questions so far, almost everyone (except for those candidates who are still confident that they can finish the questions themselves) has focused their attention on exam paper number 35.

Soon they noticed the unusual way Lu Ying answered the questions.

Like candidate number 36, they also found that Lu Ying's answer sheet was shrouded in shadow, making it impossible to see the specific answers.

However, unlike candidate number 36, they did not believe that the deer shadow was just random scribbles.

The shadow that loomed over the answer sheet was clearly the chakra left by the deer shadow and injected into the answer sheet.

As long as they can "break through" the chakra of this ambiguous answer, they will be able to obtain the key to the next level!

Shibuki scratched his head and looked away from the test paper, because he didn't know how to answer any of the questions!

The longer he looked and the deeper he thought, the more his brain ached.

Although he didn't want to rely on Shikakage's wisdom, Shibuki quickly convinced himself that the other party might be the "answer" specially arranged by Konoha.

He first manipulated chakra, condensing a small water mirror in his palm.

The image reflected in the mirror is exactly what the deer's shadow answered.

But above the water, all that could be seen was shadow.

—That Nara Shikakage is really annoying!

—The answer has already been pre-arranged, and they still want to disgust us!

Shemu sighed in annoyance, puffed out his chest, and suddenly spat out a water needle.

The water needles were very fine, shimmering faintly in the air.

It may not seem very powerful, but Shibuki is very confident in his ninjutsu.

This is his family's ancestral Takigaku-ryu style!

However, this water needle, which he had placed his confidence in, vanished without a trace, failing to create even the slightest ripple in the shadows.

At first, Shibuki thought he had made a mistake.

But after his repeated attempts ended in failure, Shibuki finally realized that the seemingly thin film of shadow was actually incredibly hard.

With his abilities, there is absolutely no way he could break through the Shadow Chakra without attracting the proctor's attention!

Upon realizing this, Shibuki's face turned red and then black, his heart filled with shock, disbelief, and a deep sense of defeat.

Seeing that Shibuki had repeatedly run into obstacles, Daimaru from Sunagakure snorted disdainfully, looking down on Shibuki in his heart.

—A mere junior ninja from Takigakure, nothing special.

Hiding his hands under the table, Daimaru quickly formed hand seals, then parted his lips and whispered:

"Earth Release: Sand Dance".

As soon as he finished speaking, dust gently danced in the air on the exam floor, and particles of powder scattered onto Lu Ying's answer sheet.

By controlling the sand particles to shake and gather them in the recessed areas of the writing, the answer to the deer shadow can be deduced by sensing the arrangement of the sand particles.

The idea is good.

But when it came to actually doing it, Daimaru discovered that there seemed to be a barrier on Luying's answer sheet, refusing any sand or dust to get close.

No matter how he tried to control the sand grains, he couldn't get them to land on the scroll. Every millimeter of distance would cause them to inexplicably deviate from their original positions.

The more he failed, the angrier Daimaru became.

The angrier he got, the more he wanted to try.

"How could a mere Nara Shikakage possibly be a match for me, Lord Daimaru!"

He refused to believe that he couldn't handle a test paper by Lu Ying!

After repeated attempts, he did indeed discover a way to crack the Deer Shadow test paper.

No matter how resilient the shadow chakra that the deer shadow infused into the exam paper was, without a main body, this cloud of shadow chakra was ultimately finite.

Once you wear it down completely, the answers on the exam paper will naturally be revealed.

Daimaru's actions have made more people aware of this.

And so, a scene that the Konoha examiners had never seen before unfolded.

Eighty percent of the people in the entire examination room were working together to "attack" an empty examination table.

Masaki glanced up at the strange scene, marveling at the power of the deer shadow, before burying himself in answering the questions again.

—Konoha is indeed a place where hidden talents abound.

Kabuto Yakushi was secretly observing everything before him, waiting for the moment when the remaining chakra of the deer shadow would be completely exhausted.

A clever hunter will only strike at the most crucial moment.

Hinata Natsumi and Inuzuka Hana's feelings were extremely complicated at this moment.

Because they discovered that their drafts were already filled with answers.

As for when these answers appeared, they couldn't remember.

All they knew was that when they came to their senses, the answer was right in front of them.

They can get full marks anytime they want.

They looked at each other and saw the same meaning in each other's eyes.

—Lu Ying is even more outstanding than she was in school…