Alliance and Points

As Iruka explained the rules of the final exam from the podium, the students below began to take them in.

"So it really is a field exercise."

Shinji was a little surprised.

He'd thought the higher-ups wouldn't dare let a target like Naruto, who was already being watched by the Akatsuki Organization, leave the village so easily. He hadn't expected them to be so determined this time.

Beside him, Haku quietly analyzed the situation. "Hunting down rogue ninja tests not only our combat ability, but also our ability to gather intelligence and track targets. Compared to previous exams, this one is definitely much harder!"

Karin nodded. "And every team has been given the same wanted list. That could lead to several teams targeting the same person and competing over who gets them."

"Heh."

Shinji chuckled softly.

It was clear that the village's higher-ups had put a lot of thought into this exam so they could thoroughly assess all the promising students.

Combat strength, intelligence gathering and analysis, tracking and countertracking, even evaluating the situation and handling the unexpected—the exam tested all of it.

Shinji's team wasn't the only one to realize this.

Soon, the hall grew noisy again as everyone discussed the rules at once.

Having understood the rules, Sasuke silently weighed his options as he surveyed the other students in the hall.

Under these rules, the student teams weren't entirely at odds with each other. To some extent, cooperation between them was possible.

Shikamaru leaned toward Choji and Ino and said quietly, "The rules explicitly forbid teams from cooperating, so we can actually form an alliance with another team in secret!"

"That's great!" Ino exclaimed.

Choji also breathed a sigh of relief. If the three of them had to hunt down criminals in a foreign country all by themselves,