The 6th year spanned 41 weeks, with the Genin graduation exam held once during the 41st week.
During the first 4 weeks, most of it was spent on sparring and theory, mostly geography of the Land of Fire and the surrounding villages. Iruka also went into the trade specialties of various villages, and although it seemed useless, it allowed shinobi to easily spot inconsistencies when on missions.
In the following 8th to 20th week, the class moved on to formation training and scouting in one of the mountainous regions surrounding the Hidden Leaf Village.
Kudo teamed up mostly with Sarutobi Ai and Yorisuke Enya. Kudo realized that these two might be his Genin team when he graduates. Sarutobi Ai still held her competitiveness against Sasuke, but that is not to say she hated him. In fact, the person she most hated was Tanehiko Kudo; he was recognized as the strongest and best in their class, but he never gave it his all, and it infuriated her, as if he was mocking her effort. Sarutobi Ai wanted to be a Kage shinobi much like Hiruzen Sarutobi, the 3rd hokage, because, although the Sarutobi clan held some power, it was nothing when compared to the Uchiha and Hyuga; even the ghosts of the senju held more prestige than the Sarutobi clan.
The one with the most visible improvement was Naruto, alongside Yorisuke Enya, after his welcoming into the main branch of the Yamanaka clan; he currently ranked 11th just outside the top ten. Hinata, despite her fragile nature, was 10th, but her clan held her in contempt since she was not 1st ranked.
Week 19th, within a mountain west of the village. 30 students stood in a clearing, looking at the 5 teachers handing out the week's outdoor exercise."In your groups of 3, come and fetch these arm ribbons. Each team will have 3 ribbons, and the mission is to obtain any 2 ribbons from the same team. Therefore, you can only have 2 red ribbons, not a yellow and red ribbon. You will be armed with wooden kunai, shuriken, and senbon. The task is 48 hours long, and each team will have the same rations for about a day, and you will have to scavenge the rest in the mountain, so use them wisely. Line up." Iruka motioned for the students to come forward.
After 15 minutes, each team had collected their arm bands. Naruto teamed up with Sasuke and Sakura. The Ino-shika-cho were grouped together.Each instructor took two groups and led them to separate starting points.
As time marched on, the hour hit ten in the morning. "You may begin." The teacher dispersed into smoke.Sarutobi Ai was about to rush ahead when a hand on her shoulder stopped her. "What is it?" "Strategy," Kudo spoke, surveying the area. Enya, next to them, nodded slightly."Fine, what do you propose?" She sighed and turned to face them.
"Yorisuke-kun, how good are you at sensing?" Kudo said as they leaped, hiding in the treetops."I can sense a chakra signature at a radius of 100 meters around me," Enya spoke in his voice. Kudo nodded. "You are responsible for sensing; I will cover blind spots. Sarutobi-kun, you will be our main attacker, preferably use your fire style to ambush, and I will incapacitate them with my lightning style." "Just call me Ai, it's faster that way. I agree, so let's get going already." She said to keep an eye on the surroundings. "Ok, let's move. I plan to get as many bands as possible, so be ready. Use your chakra wisely. We head east." Kudo said, and with a hand signal, they flashed north, disappearing into the thicket of trees.
A couple of seconds later, 'Good, no one was listening to us.' Kudo thought as they leaped between trees. The talk was bait for anyone listening in on them.
On the west side of the training area,
"Naruto! Just listen to Sasuke, don't do anything stupid." Sakura barked as they made their way through the forest. "Why, though? He is not the leader; I should be the leader!" Naruto grumbled behind them."Shut it both of you, or we will be discovered." Sasuke barked suddenly, hiding behind a tree and making hand signals ahead of them. There were 10 teams spread throughout the forest: Team Purple, Kudo's team, Team Red, Sasuke's team, Team Orange, Hinata Hyuga, Kiba, and Shino.Team blue: Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji. Team yellow: Manemi Hatake, Date Koreyoshi, and Chiba Yono. Team Green: Chikariyo Hushiba, Amano Sukeyo, Isshiki Kunisada. Along with teams white, black, brown, and grey.
In the northern part of the training group, "Stop, there is a team ahead of us, I'm sensing 3 chakra signatures." Enya said, Kudo looked over his shoulder, "Split up, Ai take center, I will take the left, and Enya take the right side. Enya, you are the surprise attack, keep them cautious and take advantage of openings." "Ai, be careful of traps. Let's go." They vanished, racing towards the enemies. Up ahead, 'Someone is coming!' Chiba Yono thought, "Hey, someone is coming. Hurry up." Koreyoshi Date flicked his wrist, sending a shuriken with a wire around trees, making a net.
"I'm do—" Date jumped midsentence as a fireball rushed towards him."Fire style: Burning Ash jutsu." Ai made fast hand seals and jumped back, "Fire style jutsu: fireball." The fireball set the ash aflame."BOOM!" Dust and debris were sent flying, masking sight. 'Right there,' Kudo threw wooden shuriken, striking the chakra signature to his right."Substitution jutsu." Date dashed away, aiming to stay clear of the dust.
"Wind style: Wild wind dance." Chiba Yono blew out gusts of wind as the trees swayed fiercely, causing everyone to jump down. Kudo drew a kunai and dashed towards Date, "Ai, cover left, watch out for their 3rd member."Ai threw shuriken at Chiba Yono, who dodged while heaving. Most of her chakra was used up. Ai also chased, trying to keep her breathing steady. She had used 2 D and a C rank jutsu. Kudo superior physically closed in fast on Date and threw an overhead kick. Date ducked and struck with a Kunai. Kudo twisted mid-air and backflipped, landing in front of Date. Kudo rushed forward, "Thuck-Thuck." Wooden kunai struck against each other as they moved between the trees.
A few meters behind them, "Almost got me!" Enya jumped, dodging a wooden sword aimed at his neck."Tsk." Manemi Hatake closed in, 'I can't have him using that jutsu.' "You underestimate me." Enya said, "Earth style: Quicksand." Both jumped onto the trees. Manemi put away his sword; he wasn't proficient enough to use it above the ground.
"Not bad." Manemi did a set of hand seals, "Lighting style: Flash." A brilliant light eclipsed the sun as Manemi rushed towards Enya, who had his eyes closed, but Enya closed in as well.