COTE x Naruto: New Beginnings

Chapter 16: The Uninhabited Island Exam

The second Kakashi learned that there was a special exam happening, he knew exactly what to do. It was time to usurp Katsuragi. He just had to find a way to waste his class's points without anyone catching on.

He went through the manual, going over the list of rules for the exam.

'You can earn one point by occupying a spot each time. Occupied spots can be used freely.'

'A specialized key card is required to occupy a spot.'

'You will receive a fifty-point penalty if you use a spot occupied by another class without permission.'

'Only a designated leader can use the key card.'

'It is impossible to change the leader without suitable justification.'

'In the event of a class having zero points, they can not go into negative.'

'At the last roll call, a class may earn 50 points for guessing a leader of another class. However, they will lose 50 points if they guess wrong.'

The rules of this exam allowed an individual to sabotage the class easily. Kakashi didn't think it was necessary to make his class waste all 300 of their points, only enough so that they'd end up in third or fourth place.

It wouldn't be quite enough to undermine Katsuragi completely, but it would lower his popularity by a bit if Class A suffered a loss that resulted in other classes closing in on them.

The worst case scenario here would be a class like Class D winning a lot of points, which probably wouldn't alarm the average Class A student much. In the end though, only a blunder from Katsuragi himself could result in a complete change of leadership.

Currently, their class was quickly putting up tents in a spot that Katsuragi spotted from the boat which had looked like a good camping place. There was a small river, so it definitely did seem like a nice place.

Kakashi approached Hashimoto, who was sitting in a shade beneath a tree just outside the camp.

"Yo, Hashimoto," Kakashi greeted with a lazy wave, alerting the other boy to his presence.

"Oh, hey, Hatake. What's up?" Hashimoto asked lightly, gesturing Kakashi over to sit down next to him.

Kakashi sat down and looked across the camp where Katsuragi was discussing something with one of his biggest supporters.

"Has Arisu spoken to you about any plans?" He asked, making Hashimoto stiffen.

"Well, I guess it's no use hiding it from you. You're on her side anyway. Yes, I'm to sabotage Katsuragi as much as possible. So far, I've thought of misusing the spots another class claims."

"How many points do we want to end up with anyway?" Hashimoto then asked Kakashi, knowing that he'd have the same goal.

Kakashi thoughtfully looked into the distance, then opened the manual.

"I don't think of it in terms of points rather than final placement. That's what will really resonate with the class - being beaten by another class. Even if it's only by ten points. And based on the costs of the items in the manual, I'd say that the other classes will spend at least 150 points on necessities. We should count on 100 points in case one class is capable of hunting for food. That being said, they'll probably be able to earn 40 points by occupying considering you can earn four points per day per spot. In that case, I'd aim for 150 class points total."

Hashimoto nodded along. "That isn't a bad idea. However, there is something else the princess mentioned... If everything goes right, some guy from Class C should approach Katsuragi any time with an offer. The plan is for this person to pretend to be Katsuragi's ally and make him do something damaging to Class A. We need to find out the details of this agreement to correctly estimate the points spent."