Separating the Wheat from the Chaff

The proctors who appeared swiftly put an end to the private skirmish between the Sound ninjas and Kabuto, and publicly announced the rules of the examination room.

The rules were just as Daimaru remembered: the total exam time was one hour, with the final question revealed forty-five minutes in, and a negative marking system in place. Incorrect answers and caught cheating would result in point deductions, and if any team member scored zero, the whole team would be disqualified.

The rules were straightforward. Sakura Haruno and Shikamaru Nara posed some questions but received no answers. Getting through the first phase wasn't difficult; doing nothing would suffice.

However, to avoid the off chance of failure, and considering that Naruto's blank paper strategy might not work for everyone, Daimaru thought it a good idea to deepen his image as brash and reckless to mislead other competitors in the upcoming tests. Prior knowledge was valuable, but one couldn't rely solely on following the "plot."

After careful consideration, Daimaru lazily raised his hand, asking with a touch of flippancy, "Proctor, if I abide by all the rules, might I try to make other examinees lose more points, perhaps even expel them from the exam early?"

Cheating of a lowly nature would be recorded by the proctors, with each act of cheating resulting in a two-point deduction. While acquiring answers through espionage-like methods might be tolerated to some extent, what if someone deliberately prevented others from cheating or exposed them?

The nervous examinees, already tense from the exam rules, now turned their attention to Daimaru's smirking face.

Ibiki Morino's expression hardened, "You're the Sand puppeteer Daimaru, right? Always a troublemaker. You're so confident you'll pass my test you even want to kick out the competition early?"

"You misunderstand, proctor. I just feel it's unfair for so many unworthy candidates to scrape through such an easy test. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Interesting!" Ibiki sneered, "I won't repeat the rules I've already announced. The proctors are here to enforce order. If you can do as you say, I'd be intrigued to witness it."

"Then I'll give it a try!" Daimaru smiled unabashedly, undeterred by the murderous glares from over a hundred pairs of eyes.

At 3:30 PM, as the clock struck the half-hour, Ibiki commenced the exam.

Daimaru casually flipped through the test paper, glancing over the questions that were indeed tricky, beyond the scope of even a well-educated middle schooler.

For the Genin of the ninja world, these questions were virtually impossible to comprehend—yet for Daimaru, they were manageable.

His left fingers twitched, and the puppet on his shoulder rose, grasping the pencil Daimaru had casually thrown on the table and began to answer the questions in a credible manner.

"Using a puppet to write answers? To avoid mimicry of certain jutsu, like...," thought the proctor, amused, glancing at Sasuke Uchiha two rows behind and to the right of Daimaru.

What the proctor didn't see was the ring of sand under Daimaru's right hand on the desk, spelling out: "Copy me!"

Yoru, seated in the front row corner, widened his pupils as if he'd discovered something, then began to answer with a look of joy.

Senza, also waiting patiently, suddenly caught a flicker of light, like the fleeting refraction of a spinning droplet.

"Right hand, northeast direction!"

Prepared, Senza reached out his right hand, swiping at the empty air and catching an invisible thread.

The thread extended up his arm to the back of his neck, then pierced it. Senza instantly lost control of his right arm.

"Manipulating Art: Human Puppet Skill! To master such a secret technique without guidance and remain unnoticed. Was this planned in advance for today?"

For any Sand ninja, the indispensable puppeteer secret technique was the Manipulating Art: Human Puppet Skill, essential for collaboration with puppeteers on the battlefield.

Originally, this jutsu was born from the sorrowful necessity of puppeteers manipulating the corpses of comrades to continue fighting after their puppets were destroyed. Nowadays, it's not widely practiced in the Sand.

Young puppeteers didn't favor this technique, as even manipulating a living person required absolute trust in the puppeteer and couldn't be coordinated without practice.

In today's restless Sand, who would bother learning such an unrewarding technique that rarely proved useful, even if it was A-rank?

Less than ten minutes into the exam, while other examinees were just realizing they couldn't possibly answer the questions on their own and had to resort to undetected cheating, Daimaru, Yoru, and Senza had already completed the nine questions, turning over their papers to prevent prying eyes.

"The rest of the time is mine!" Ibiki had made it clear that attacking others was grounds for disqualification, so any interference had to be indirect.

Daimaru was looking for a target, while the proctors watching the Sound team realized there was nothing left to monitor. Those unfortunate enough to attract Daimaru's attention were truly unlucky.

Shino Aburame, who tried to peek at Daimaru's paper, was the first to be 'educated' as one insect after another was killed by tiny gusts of wind flicked from Daimaru's fingertips.

Above, a small mirror attached to nearly invisible steel wires wobbled slightly, the other end held in Tenten's palm.

Daimaru smiled faintly, a layer of fine sand covering the mirror's surface, dashing Tenten and Rock Lee's hopes of copying.

Kiba Inuzuka's blatant use of ninja dogs to spy was too obvious, and if the proctors didn't act, Daimaru couldn't either.

Then there was the Byakugan, brazenly copying with nothing the proctors could say.

Skipping over the academically challenged Naruto who had turned in a blank paper, and Sakura and Hinata who were answering on their own, and ignoring the nameless extras, the only ones left who could be disrupted were the Genin of Team 10.

Senza, who had stopped writing early with a relaxed demeanor, was the bait carefully prepared by Daimaru.

Sure enough, Senza soon caught the eye of the eager Ino Yamanaka.

It wasn't until the blonde girl collapsed on her desk that Senza, momentarily taken aback, allowed Daimaru's smug smile to surface.

"Gotcha, fool."

With a slight tremor of his palm, the Manipulating Art: Human Puppet Skill's threads severed the link between Senza's mind and body. Coupled with Senza's mental pressure, the invading spirit of Ino Yamanaka was trapped, unable to form seals to return to her own body.