Hatake Ziyan looked at Shikamaru and nodded in agreement!
Seeing Hatake Ziyan nod, Shikamaru had the answer he wanted, and the outline of a plan began to form in his mind!
Shikamaru stopped dwelling on whether the assessment was fair, sat down, and began working out his plan!
"Shikamaru, have you figured something out? Tell us! If your plan doesn't make sense, we'll have to use mine!" Naruto turned to Shikamaru and said.
"Exactly! Don't think you can order me around just because you're smart! I don't need your plan! I'll beat them outright! I don't need their approval!" Sasuke declared, acting as though only heaven and earth ranked above him.
When Shikamaru looked at him, Hatake Ziyan knew the boy was worried about his presence. He didn't want Ziyan to learn his scheme and intervene, ruining his plan!
"All right! Since you have no more questions, I'll be going! I still need to tell your predecessors about this!" Hatake Ziyan told the children, then left without disturbing their discussion any further!
After Hatake Ziyan left, Shikamaru stood up, looked at Naruto and Sasuke, and said, "This is our graduation exam, and failing it will have serious consequences! Are you sure you still want to fight me for the captain's position? Are you confident you can make plans for every teammate and ensure they all pass?"
Sasuke was momentarily speechless. Fighting head-on was one thing, but asking him to arrange battle plans for everyone really was asking too much of him!
"What is there to arrange? We just have to beat them all!" Sasuke stood up and shouted.
Silence fell after Sasuke spoke. No one agreed with his plan!
After hearing Shikamaru's question and Sasuke's answer, Naruto quietly worked through a plan in his head, then called out to Shikamaru,