Chapter 19: The Lesson of Teamwork
"All four of you have failed the assessment!"
Kurenai looked at them sternly, her expression deeply disappointed.
"What?! Why!" Kiba snarled, waving his fists in frustration. "Fine, we didn't get the bells! But that doesn't mean we should fail completely!"
Kurenai's face was cold, her beautiful features seeming to be covered in frost. She stared at Kiba disdainfully. "Shouting is pointless. None of you are qualified to be ninja."
Even the normally unflappable Aburame Shino was affected. He clenched his fists, his eyes behind the sunglasses burning with frustration and anger. He tried to restrain his emotions, but the indignation burned within him. For a member of the Aburame clan, failing to become a ninja would be a lifelong disgrace.
Hinata, with her timid nature, didn't speak. Instead, she bit her lower lip in quiet anguish, silently resisting Kurenai's verdict.
"You're just children, after all," Kurenai said, shaking her head in disappointment, her tone growing colder. "No wonder you failed. From start to finish, not one of you gave a single thought to teamwork."
"Teamwork?"
The four genin were taken aback. They thought back and realized they had, indeed, been acting entirely on their own, with no coordination whatsoever.
"Inuzuka Kiba is brave but impulsive. Aburame Shino is calm, but he overestimated his own abilities. Hinata possesses the Byakugan, but her personality is too introverted. And Aizen," she turned her gaze to him, "while you showed some intent to cooperate, you used Hinata as bait."
Kurenai laid out their weaknesses one by one, leaving them with no retort.
"Do you know why I chose this forest as our meeting point? Because in an environment like this, you could have covered for one another, set up ambushes, and worked as a unit. If the four of you had fought together, I wouldn't have been able to pick you off one by one. You might have even gotten a bell."
Kurenai revealed her true intention: the core of this test was teamwork.
"Likewise, now that you are a team, your relationship is no longer just that of classmates. You are comrades. For a ninja, the most important thing is the bond with your partners!"
Kurenai's face flushed with passion as she voiced the conviction in her heart.
"Tch..." Kiba let out a heavy sigh, his head drooping. The others were similarly dejected. They wanted to argue, but they had no grounds. Kurenai was right; they had been soundly defeated.
"Go on. The Ninja Academy is where you belong now." Kurenai waved her hand dismissively, expelling them from her sight.
The four looked at one another, filled with unwillingness but powerless to change the outcome. They could only watch as Kurenai's figure walked further and further away, eventually disappearing into the forest.
A heavy silence fell over the group. After a moment, Aizen was the one to break it, stepping forward. "Let's not be too discouraged. Teacher Kurenai is right. There was no teamwork between us."
"Yes, I have to agree," Shino said, pushing his sunglasses up. "The advantage of my Aburame clan is insect control. I could have relayed messages to all of you through them. But I acted alone, and in the end, I failed."
"I was selfish, too," Kiba admitted, scratching his head awkwardly. "My senses are sharper than most. I caught Kurenai-sensei's scent early on, but I just charged in recklessly by myself." His impulsive nature had made him the first to be eliminated.
"If... if I had stayed by your side," Hinata murmured, her voice barely a whisper, her head still bowed, "I could have used my Byakugan to watch for blind spots and cover for you..." She shyly admitted her own failing, her cheeks stained with two red clouds of embarrassment.
"We had superior senses, all-seeing vision, insects that could scout the entire forest, and powerful ninjutsu," Aizen summarized, "and we still failed. Kurenai-sensei's judgment was correct. We lacked teamwork, so our elimination was justified. Failure isn't terrible. What's terrible is being unable to see our own weaknesses."
He continued to comfort and encourage the other three. His earnestness gradually rekindled their fighting spirit. The earlier frustration began to lift, replaced by a renewed sense of resolve.
Just as the four of them, their confidence somewhat restored, turned to leave, a voice like a clear bell rang out once more behind them.
"Very good, kids."
They spun around to see Kurenai emerging from the trees, a gentle, approving smile on her face.
"It seems you have realized the importance of teamwork and understand how to utilize each member's strengths. This is the very purpose of forming Team 8." She looked at each of them in turn. "Since you can reflect on your mistakes and find the root cause, I have decided... all four of you pass the assessment! You are now qualified Genin!"