Caught in a Two-Sided Sandwich!

Each team sent one person forward to draw their starting base number and corresponding team flag.

Qingyu drew "C-7," which was presumably the seventh building in the third row on the west side of the complex.

Shikamaru drew "B-4," next to Team Gaara's "A-1."

"This assignment..." Qingyu analyzed quickly.

"Area A is near the entrance, easy to attack but hard to defend. Area B is in the center, surrounded on all sides but with convenient routes. Area C is on the edge, relatively secluded but far from the high-value targets."

"Good for defense and counterattacks," Tobirama said.

"Good for launching attacks and making a quick retreat," Izuna added.

For once, the two of them actually agreed.

Qingyu returned to his team, where Yamada and Nakamura came over.

"What do we do?" Nakamura asked. "Defend or attack?"

"First, we check the building's layout," Qingyu said. "If it's easy to defend, we'll focus on holding it and send people out to collect scrolls. If it's easy to attack but hard to defend, we'll take the initiative and move the battlefield outside."

Yamada scratched his head. "Captain, you analyze things like one of Konoha's old-timers..."

Nakamura murmured, "I think our captain's starting to sound more and more like a Konoha bureaucrat..."

Qingyu: "...You two, shut up."

Once the drawing was over, the teams were led to their assigned bases.

C-7 was a three-story brick-and-stone building that looked like an abandoned shop.

The first floor was a spacious hall, the second had four rooms, and the third was an attic and rooftop.

"Not a bad base," Tobirama remarked. "The brick-and-stone structure is fire-resistant, the windows are well positioned for observation and shooting, the narrow staircase is easy to defend, and the rooftop offers a clear view."

"But there are too many entrances," Izuna pointed out. "The front and back doors, four windows, and the rooftop fire escape all need to be secured."

Qingyu had Yamada and Nakamura inspect the inside of the building while he climbed up to the third-floor rooftop to survey the surroundings.

Labyrinth City lived up to its name. Its winding streets and buildings of varying heights offered countless hiding places and ambush points.

From above, he could see the other teams moving about their respective bases.

"Once the match starts, there'll be two stages," Qingyu explained to his teammates.

"For the first two hours, it'll be the exploration period. The teams will cautiously probe the area and collect nearby scrolls. After two hours, the first high-value targets will appear, and the fighting will intensify."

"So we go out and collect scrolls during the first two hours?" Yamada asked.

"Of course... not!" Qingyu shook his head.

Qingyu: You want to risk your life, but I don't!

"We'll stay here for the first two hours, set up defenses, and observe how the other teams operate.

"Once they start fighting over the high-value targets, we'll make our move. We'll target teams that have strayed too far from their bases to return in time to defend them."

"Raid their home base?" Nakamura's eyes lit up.

"Or intercept whoever they send back with the scrolls," Qingyu said. "Low risk, high reward."

"Agreed." The two voices in his head spoke at the same time.

Qingyu smiled.

Let's camp the bridge!

At exactly nine in the morning, a shrill whistle rang across the exam grounds.

"Second exam: begin!"

The first half hour was unusually quiet.

All the teams chose to play it safe. Only a few bold ones sent scouts to explore the area.

Team Qingyu set up defenses as planned. Yamada rigged tripwires and bell traps in the first-floor hall, Nakamura reinforced the front and back doors with Earth Release, and Qingyu set up shuriken-triggered mechanisms by the second-floor windows and on the rooftop.

As they worked, Yamada accidentally kicked a bell. It rang out loudly, and the entire team froze.

Qingyu's face darkened. "Yamada, are you trying to give the enemy our location ahead of time?"

Yamada looked embarrassed. "Captain, I didn't mean to..."

You'd better not!

"That building in the upper left," Izuna suddenly said. "Someone's watching us from a third-floor window. Black hair. It's that Uchiha kid."

Qingyu peered through a gap in the window. Sure enough, Sasuke was watching them through binoculars from a window in the building diagonally across from them.

"He's gathering intelligence," Tobirama analyzed. "Smart. He's figuring out the nearby teams' base locations and defensive habits first."

"But he's given away his own position," Izuna scoffed. "Uchiha pride. They always think no one can spot them."

Qingyu said nothing, silently noting Sasuke's location.

Qingyu received that with a salute to the cutest, bravest, most passionate, kindest Uchiha people... Love you all!

Aren't you an Uchiha?

Actually, I'm not. I just studied there?

You studied at the Uchiha Clan Compound over New Year's?!

An hour later, the first scroll was found.

An explosion sounded to the southeast, followed by flashes of colliding ninjutsu. Two teams had started fighting over a scroll.

The fight ended quickly. The winning team withdrew to its base with the scroll.

"Sunagakure team. They used Wind Release and Puppet Technique," Tobirama recapped in Qingyu's mind. "Their opponents were from Amegakure, using Water Release and explosive tags. Sunagakure won thanks to better teamwork, but they used up a fair amount of their strength."

"We can mark them as a potential target," Izuna said.

Qingyu wrote it all down in the little notebook he carried.

Tobirama had insisted on it, saying it was "the foundation of data analysis."

Two hours passed. Seven or eight minor clashes broke out across the exam grounds, but no teams were eliminated.

Then, three blue columns of light rose simultaneously in the center, north, and east of the exam grounds.

The high-value target points had appeared!

In an instant, more than half the teams sprang into action.

"The fun's starting," Qingyu said, getting to his feet. "Yamada, stay here and guard the base. Nakamura, come with me."

"Which way?" Nakamura asked.

"The center." Qingyu looked out the window. "It's the farthest from us, but the competition will be fiercest there!"

"The perfect place to fish in troubled waters."

The two of them slipped out of the back door without a sound.

The streets were empty, but Qingyu could sense eyes watching from the shadows.

"Someone's at the alley up ahead on the left," Tobirama warned. "Their chakra is faint. They're lying in wait."

"Go around," Izuna said. "Take the rooftops."

Qingyu gestured, and he and Nakamura leaped onto a roof, moving quickly above the buildings.

Five minutes later, they reached the central area.

Below them, the fight in the plaza was fierce.

Three teams were engaged in a melee: an unnamed Konoha team, a Kirigakure team, and Temari and Kankuro from Sunagakure (Gaara hadn't come, of all people).

Gaara: I'll kill you two in three days!

Kankuro & Temari: We'll just stay out of this, then~

A glowing scroll lay on a platform in the center of the plaza.

"Here's our chance," Qingyu said, crouching at the edge of the rooftop. "We'll wait until they've worn each other down..."

Before he could finish, everything suddenly changed.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

The Kirigakure and Sunagakure teams suddenly turned their attacks on Konoha, working together.

The three Konoha shinobi were caught off guard. The ninjutsu blasted them away and sent them crashing into a nearby building, knocking them out of the fight.

"Damn it," Qingyu thought, his heart sinking. "They'd already formed an alliance."

"That's normal," Izuna said. "Temporary alliances were the norm during the Warring States period."

"But this is an exam..." Nakamura said quietly.

"An exam is a war too." Qingyu stared down at the plaza. "Get ready to retreat. They've spotted us."

Sure enough, Temari glanced toward them and swung her fan, sending a blade of wind slicing their way.

Qingyu grabbed Nakamura and leaped backward. The rooftop where they'd been crouching was sliced in half.

"Konoha rats," a Kirigakure ninja sneered. "Since you're here, you're not leaving!"

The two were forced back down to the ground, trapped between the enemy on either side.

They were caught in a two-sided sandwich!

"Two against four," Nakamura said through gritted teeth. "Should we fight?"

"No." Qingyu quickly surveyed the surroundings. "There's a way."

"We'll have to use our legs!"

"Our legs?"

They both looked confused.

"Run for it!"

Yamada & Nakamura: "..."