As Iruka explained the rules of the final assessment from the stage, the students below began processing the information.
"It's actually a real combat mission…"
Shinji was slightly surprised.
For someone like Naruto, who was already a target of the Akatsuki, Shinji had assumed the village leadership wouldn't dare let him leave the village so easily. Yet, to his surprise, they had made such a bold decision this time.
Haku, standing nearby, quietly analyzed, "Capturing rogue shinobi doesn't just test our combat skills—it also tests our ability to gather intelligence and track targets. Compared to past assessments, this one is significantly more challenging!"
Karin nodded lightly. "And the wanted lists distributed to us are all the same, which could lead to multiple teams targeting the same individual, creating competition for targets."
"Heh."
Shinji let out a soft chuckle.
It was clear that the village leadership had put considerable thought into this assessment to thoroughly evaluate the potential of each student.
Combat prowess, intelligence gathering and analysis, tracking and counter-tracking skills, and even the ability to assess situations and handle unexpected events—this assessment covered it all.
Shinji's team wasn't the only one to realize this.
Soon, the auditorium grew noisy again as students began discussing the rules in groups.
Having understood the rules, Sasuke pondered silently while scanning the other students in the hall with his gaze.
Under these assessment rules, the teams weren't entirely adversaries. To some extent, there was room for cooperation between them.
Shikamaru, meanwhile, spoke quietly to Choji and Ino. "The rules don't explicitly prohibit cooperation between teams, so we could secretly form an alliance with another team!"
Ino's eyes lit up. "That's great!"
Choji also breathed a sigh of relief. The thought of just the three of them pursuing criminals in a foreign land had made him uneasy.
Ino's gaze flickered between Shinji and Sasuke before she suggested, "Then let's ally with Shinji's team!"
"Shinji, huh?" Shikamaru weighed the option, then shook his head. "No way!"
Ino frowned, displeased. "Why not?"
Shikamaru explained, "Sure, Yakumo and Sasuke are rising stars now, but Shinji has always been the top performer in academy assessments. That makes his team a likely target for Sasuke and Yakumo's teams to hunt down. Allying with Shinji would be asking for trouble!"
"You're right!"
Ino sighed.
Everyone knew that Yakumo, now proficient in Wood Release, and Sasuke, who had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, were likely stronger than Shinji by now.
But regardless, Shinji was the reigning champion of past academy assessments. If Yakumo or Sasuke wanted to claim the title of top student legitimately, they would have to defeat Shinji outright in this assessment!
Choji asked, "So, who do we ally with?"
Shikamaru said, "Those geniuses are competing with each other, so allying with them is too risky. We need to pick a suitable team!"
Ino looked around at the other students, muttering, "Who's suitable?"
"This assessment heavily tests a team's scouting and tracking abilities, so…" Shikamaru smirked. "Hinata, Kiba, and Shino's team is our best choice for an alliance!"
"Yes!"
Thinking of Hinata, Kiba, and Shino's scouting abilities, Ino and Choji nodded enthusiastically.
Shikamaru continued, "If we plan carefully and manage to avoid those geniuses, we might even have a shot at first place!"
Ino and Choji's eyes sparkled.
In the auditorium, as one of the most watched students, Yakumo naturally drew countless gazes from both students and teachers.
But she didn't care, showing no signs of nervousness.
Shion, standing beside her, studied the wanted list, seemingly picking out targets, while Kimimaro kept his head lowered, lost in thought.
Neji's team was more low-key, discussing quietly in a corner.
Lee said, "Neji, there are actually Jonin-level rogue shinobi on this list, and their points are so high!"
Neji nodded.
According to the annotations on the wanted list, Jonin-level rogue shinobi were worth nearly 100 points, while Chunin-level ones ranged from 10 to 20 points, and Genin-level ones were only 1 to 5 points. This clearly encouraged students to target stronger opponents.
Tenten was somewhat speechless. "We haven't even graduated from the academy or become Genin, and they're sending us to hunt Jonin-level rogue shinobi? This is way too extreme!"
The rules were blatantly a calculated move.
Capturing one Jonin-level rogue shinobi was equivalent to capturing five to ten Chunin-level ones, or dozens to hundreds of Genin-level ones. For teams capable of taking down Jonin-level targets, this was an enormous temptation.
Even Neji couldn't help but feel a bit tempted.
In a monitoring room beside the auditorium, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kakashi, Gai, Asuma, Kurenai, and other Hidden Leaf Jonin were gathered, observing the students' reactions through various angles of surveillance.
Seeing the students dive into heated discussions after learning the rules, the Jonin in the monitoring room began whispering among themselves.
Kurenai expressed concern. "Including Jonin-level targets on the list— isn't that too risky?"
Asuma smiled. "Relax, those Jonin-level rogue shinobi have been carefully screened. None of them are from the five great shinobi villages."
In the shinobi world, the distinctions between Genin, Chunin, and Jonin weren't always strict.
In smaller villages, a shinobi with moderate skill might be promoted to Jonin. In contrast, Jonin from the five great shinobi villages, with their rigorous systems and selection processes, were generally far stronger than those from smaller villages.
The Jonin-level rogue shinobi on this wanted list were all from smaller villages like the Hidden Waterfall Village, Hidden Grass Village, Hidden Rain Village, Hidden Snow Village, Hidden Star Village, or Hidden Artisan Village—none of them were particularly formidable.
Knock, knock.
Tsunade lightly tapped the table.
The discussing Jonin all stopped and turned to her.
Tsunade said, "Everyone clear on their assignments?"
"Yes!"
Including Jiraiya, the Jonin nodded in unison.
During the assessment, they would serve as both referees and protectors of the students' safety. Like the students in the auditorium, these village elites were fully armed and ready!
At the Root base, a group of Root shinobi knelt on the ground, awaiting orders.
At that moment, Danzo emerged from the shadows, leaning on his cane. "Capture them if you can. If not, eliminate them on the spot!"
"Yes!"
The Root shinobi responded with a surge of killing intent!