The Leaf Village buzzed with citizens delving through the streets.
Today was the day of the Chūnin Exams finals. All roads led toward the heart of the village where the stadium was.
Outside it, vendors offered snacks as their voices yelled over the crowd's chatter. Groups huddled around stands and poured money like it was nothing.
"Ten thousand ryō on that Alex kid!" a portly man bellowed. "That prodigy from the Hyūga clan's got fire in his eyes! Can't imagine anyone else taking this!"
"You're crazy," a wiry woman scoffed. "Sasuke's been training with the Copy Ninja Kakashi! Ya hear? The ninja who fought in a war!"
"Kakashi or not?" another man chimed in. "My money's on Jasper. No one likes him, but he's definitely made a name for himself."
Meanwhile, within the confines of a high-rise overlooking the village, two solitary figures stood gazing at the scene below.
"Are you sure this is the only way?" one man murmured to the other.
"Yes… We'll need to make an example in front of everyone."
The two then vanished from sight.
✟
Elsewhere, Arthur drew closer to stands that lined the perimeter of the stadium.
A short line snaked its way toward a registration booth, with a group of some of the participants waiting their turn. He recognized all their faces: Hinata, Margaret, Alex, and Jasper.
When Alice greeted him from behind with a bubbly grin, he forced a smile.
"Ready to make history?" she happily asked.
"Ready as I'll ever be."
There wasn't much to talk about while waiting in line with the others. He only considered how different these finals were compared to what he remembered. For instance, Hinata was not supposed to be here.
It wasn't long until his turn arrived.
A Chūnin scrutinized his ID to confirm his participation. After a simple nod, he then waved Arthur through.
Already, in the center of the stadium, everyone who had won the preliminaries was lined up side-by-side.
Jada caught his attention from across the field. She waved with a warm smile.
Arthur waved back.
Then he caught a glimpse of Naruto. This was perhaps the only Leaf ninja who fit the picture. As for Sasuke, he was more or less with Kakashi, still practicing the Chidori.
Who piqued Arthur's interest the most was Hayate Gekko. Him being here only furthered the idea that Orochimaru's invasion wouldn't take place.
"Welcome, participants," he announced to the Genin, "to the finals of the Chūnin Exams…" He then coughed before continuing. "You've all fought your way through to get this far. Today, you will face each other in a series of one-on-one battles to determine whether you're capable of becoming Chūnin or not."
Waves of excitement continued to pass through the crowd. Clans cheered, friends exchanged nervous glances, and the tension quickly began to show.
High above them, on a specially constructed platform, stood the Hokage himself. To no surprise, the Kazekage—who was meant to be Orochimaru in disguise—was not present.
A sense of calm authority emanated from Hiruzen as he raised his hand to silence the crowd.
Then he loudly declared, "The time has come…! May your skills shine, may your strategies be brilliant, and may the strongest Genin prevail! Sit back, all of you, and enjoy this spectacle!"
A roar of approval followed.
Hayate soon turned back toward the Genin. "Alright, listen clearly. There have been a few last-minute changes." Arthur already knew what he would announce. "Due to unforeseen circumstances involving a wanted ninja named Orochimaru, the Sand Village has offered their sincerest apologies and has respectfully withdrawn from the competition."
All this happened because the others had successfully rehabilitated Gaara.
"This means," Hayate continued, "that Naruto Uzumaki, originally scheduled to face Gaara of the Sand, will be given a bye for the first round."
Naruto let out a relieved whoop.
Hayate then showed who everyone would be fighting.
Everything remained the same, only with the absence of Gaara. Hinata would face Margaret, Alex against Jasper, Alice against Jada, and Arthur against Sasuke.
But before Arthur could fully formulate another thought, the crowd came to a sudden hush as a figure emerged from the shadows on the far side of the arena.
"Sasuke?!" almost everyone gasped.
"Hey, Sasuke!" Naruto screamed, pointing at him. "Why are you so late? You could have gotten disqualified!"
Sasuke just smirked as Hayate cleared his throat.
"Sasuke Uchiha," he said, "it seems you've made it just in time. Due to the changes, the first match was rescheduled…"
Hayate's voice trailed off as Sasuke's eyes locked onto Arthur's.
"I hope it's you and I," Alice said to Jada.
Jada smiled before Margaret blurted out, "Get real. I'm winning this whole thing."
"The first match will be…" Hayate finally addressed, "Sasuke Uchiha versus Arthur Bennett."
Just about everyone was surprised to hear this. They all looked at Arthur, only to see that he was undeterred.
Hayate soon ushered the remaining participants toward a designated waiting area.
Only Jada looked a little nervous about Arthur. Still, she gave him an encouraging gesture.
When Arthur and Sasuke finally came to the center, they stood resolute in their respective spots.
"You sure all that training with Kakashi's gonna pay off?" Arthur probed.
"So you knew all this time?" Sasuke smirked.
"Let's just say it won't help you."
Both of their gazes hardened. Hayate stood just before them, ready to announce their fight.
But before he could, a group of ninjas suddenly materialized around Arthur!
All of them were recognizable: the Yamanaka clan, the Nara clan, and even Anbu Black Ops.
Many gasped as the suddenness of their arrival sent a shock through the whole stadium.
Razor-sharp short swords were held mere inches from Arthur's throat, and a network of shadows connected to his own to keep him bound.
"Don't even think about moving," one of the Anbu hissed in his ear.
Shouts of "What's going on?" and "Why are they doing that to him?" mingled with gasps of shock.
Arthur's eyes darted to the sidelines. But even those from earth, with their shocked expressions, appeared not to be the cause of this.
Hayate, speechless for a moment, finally bellowed, "What is the meaning of this?!"
Inoichi and Shikaku stepped forward.
"Arthur Bennett is under arrest," Inoichi announced, "under the suspicous of murdering my daughter."
"And my son," Shikaku added.
Unease spread through the crowd like wildfire.
Murder? What could that mean?
All eyes turned to the Hokage as Hiruzen rose to his feet. "Explain yourselves!"
Shikaku hesitated for a moment before finally admitting, "We have investigated a ninja who was involved during Orochimaru's time in the second round of the Exams…" Disbelief filled the crowd as he pointed at Arthur. "That ninja is the one you see bound before you!"
This was serious. Arthur had made a grave mistake.
Yet despite being caught in the center of this storm, he managed to quickly calm himself down.
Shikaku continued, "There is a viable reason for this situation…"
"Speak your mind," demanded Hiruzen.
"During the Forest of Death stage, we read reports detailing a Sound ninja making contact with Orochimaru days before Sasuke Uchiha received his curse mark."
"Following this communication," Inoichi continued, "Orochimaru's movements deviated from the patterns we were informed of. We were led to believe he would target Sasuke during the first day of the second exam, but that did not occur."
Inoichi paused for a moment to let his words sink in.
"Unfortunately," he said, "our investigation took a tragic turn. We discovered the bodies of Ino Yamanaka and Shikamaru Nara… burnt beyond recognition."
Arthur furrowed his brow. This was the mistake he made: he relied on nature to dispose of the bodies when he should have done it himself!
Parents in the stadium clutched their children closer as others huddled together.
"Chōji Akimichi," Inoichi continued, "was found wandering the Forest of Death in a state of shock, and he had little memory of the events that had transpired, so the reports claimed."
Hiruzen's face hardened. "What happened to Chōji?"
"The interrogation squad employed our mind-reading jutsu," Inoichi explained. "Through Chōji's memories, we discovered their team's scrolls were stolen by an unknown participant. But one thing was certain: those scrolls were used to advance to the preliminaries."
"As you know," Shikaku added, "given Orochimaru's involvement, we were granted full jurisdiction to analyze the scrolls from everyone that qualified for the preliminaries."
He then gestured toward Inoichi, who held up a pouch containing several scrolls, including the ones belonging to Teams 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10.
"During our analysis," Shikaku revealed, his gaze meeting Arthur's, "we discovered fingerprints that did not belong to the original owners on the scroll given to my son'a team." The spectators held their breath. "And out of all the participants, there was only one whose fingerprints were identified: Arthur Bennett."
Arthur slowly closed his eyes. He knew a day like this would come. But to think it would happen during an event where killing was permitted.
"Hold on!" Jada screamed from the sideline. "Arthur's a Genin of the Leaf! What possible reason can you have to believe he's working with Orochimaru?!"
"Yeah!" William hollered from the stands. "There's no way he would do something like that!"
Even the rest of the crowd became doubtful. So Shikaku held up a hand to silence everyone.
"Unfortunately," he declared, "Chōji's memories revealed a deeper picture because, according to those memories, the attacker used the transformation jutsu!"
Transformation techniques, while not uncommon, were often associated with deception. The notion that Arthur had used one to attack his fellow Genin was plausible.
"And what about Arthur's teammates?!" Alex boomed from the side.
"That's the most troubling aspect," Shikaku answered. "According to official reports, Arthur's teammates vanished sometime during the Forest of Death stage. Their whereabouts remained unknown."
"However," Inoichi added, "based on the evidence gathered, including the presence of Arthur's fingerprints on the stolen scroll and the lack of any other attacker in Chōji's memories, a logical conclusion can be drawn."
Shikaku's eyes narrowed as he focused on Arthur. "He abandoned his teammates to warn Orochimaru the moment things started, only to come back and discover their scroll was taken by my son. So what does he do? He kills his own teammates and hunts down my son's team in cold blood!"
The clan heads were right: he had done all those things.
Arthur had lost.
Asuma couldn't believe what he was hearing. Even Kakashi was uncertain about things.
Meanwhile, Hiruzen was carrying the weight of the situation. He knew Arthur was a capable ninja, someone who could help fuel the Will of Fire. But the accusations were too insane to seem far-fetched.
That is, until Hiruzen remembered the Anbu, the same Anbu he had ordered to follow Arthur for safety. That Anbu had never returned.
Everyone looked at one another, searching for some sign, some explanation from Arthur to deny these bold claims.
"Arthur!" Margaret cried. "Tell them it's all a lie!"
How could he? He was trapped. They caught him.
So he slowly opened his eyes and spoke with a clear voice that everyone heard.
"What more can I say? You build these tests, but do you ever stop to consider the cost? All part of your twisted entertainment in the name of science..." Little did the others know, he was referring to the creators of this world. "You paint yourselves as noble protectors, but I see you for what you are: devils manipulating others for your own greedy amusement."
He then locked eyes with where Asuma, Kakashi, Might Guy, and Kurenai stood.
"I came here with a purpose, of which you have no understanding." Then he faced the rest of the Rookie Nine. "Continue in this village and know that your days are numbered."
Afterwards, he turned to those from earth.
"You pride yourselves so much. But let me tell you that Christ is the reason how I got this far. Go against me, and you'll experience something far more terrifying than you can possibly imagine…"
Jada's eyes were filled with tears as Jasper and Alex saw the dawning awareness of his authority.
In that moment, all their perceptions of him had shifted. Who they now saw was a guilty man.
Head slowly tilting toward Hiruzen, Arthur spoke his final words in a tone that sent shivers down everyone's spines: "The world will regret having made me the villain…"
Ka-boom!
A thunderous roar had suddenly erupted from the opposite end of the village!
The ground shuddered violently, sending tremours through the stadium stands as dust billowed into the air, momentarily obscuring where the Hokage was. A plume of black smoke then rose from the heart of the village.
Was this Arthur's doing?
No, Orochimaru had finally made his move!
When the masses turned to where Arthur was, his head was down. Only his lips could be seen moving: because even in this world...
"God still hears my prayers."