"Right." Hiro conceded, "If yesterday's battle had been for real... I probably wouldn't be alive right now."<br/><br/>He let out a nervous laugh, but then shook his head, "What I mean is... on the way over here, I was thinking about it again. Hima-taichou said that I needed to be more proactive and less reactionary, Iku more aggressive and less passive, and Ume needed to be less reckless. But in truth... our biggest failing was being unable to work as a team."<br/><br/>The boy offered his hands up with a shrug, "It's understandable, considering we all had our own teams up until this point."<br/><br/>He knelt down in the sand and began to draw in it with his finger- circles to represent each of them as they stood together during the exercise the day prior.<br/><br/>"When Hima-taichou first attacked us, we split up. Being ambushed immediately put us at the enemy's pace, but we could have recovered from that with a coordinated counter attack. Ume did so with that lightning bolt technique of hers, which disrupted the waterfall. Iku then shot an arrow. Neither of which were very effective. Given that I was her target, I thought to buy us time by hiding. Against any other person but a Hyuuga, this might have worked... but I shouldn't have underestimated our opponent. An Inuzuka or an Aburame could have found me easily, and who knows what sort of sensors might be working for our enemies in the future?"<br/><br/>"Ume attacked again and it struck, but again- wasn't the lethal blow you might have expected." He washed his hand over the mock battlefield in the sand, "Then our opponent dropped a smoke bomb. Nothing fancy, but generally a shinobi will only hide when they are at a disadvantage or need some time to recuperate. We didn't know it at the time, but Hima-taichou could see right through it. The smoke did not disadvantage her in the slightest, but made it impossible for us to coordinate our efforts... We all retreated or acted passively to buy time. But when your opponent does something like drop a smoke bomb, that's the<em>worst </em>thing you can do."<br/><br/>"Against an opponent like Hima-taichou, who was able to shrug off all of our attacks and see through all of our tricks... an unconventional strategy must be adopted."<br/><br/>He redrew them on the map. Himawari was in the center, the same place she was after casting her genjutsu on Hiro. Surrounding her were the three chuunin, "If we had attacked all at once in coordination." He explained, "Ume's straight forward sword technique might prompt the opponent to dodge or avoid the attack." He redrew a marker for Ume and then wiped away the imprint he made for their captain, placing it not too far away to simulate a replacement jutsu, "Even so, they'll be unprepared for the following two attacks." He wiped away the drawings of Iku and himself, placing them next to the new Himawari, "The objective isn't to hurt our opponent, since straight-up damage has proven ineffective. Rather, we must immobilize them- or prepare them for a lethal blow."<br/><br/>"If I provided a secondary diversion and feinted an attack to catch her off guard, Iku could grab our opponent from below using Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu." He explained, "Or the reverse- if either of you can provide a suitable diversion... I would be capable of immobilizing our opponent with Fuinjutsu. I wish I could formulate a better plan than that... but I don't know your capabilities very well, Ume."<br/><br/>He stood up and brushed his hands free of dirt. Then he closed his eyes and smiled, "That's my take on it, at least."