The Leaf Village buzzed with citizens delving through the streets.
Today was the day of the Chūnin Exams finals. All roads led toward the towering structure at the heart of the village known simply as the Stadium.
Outside, it was the unofficial pre-match betting floor. Vendors offered trinkets and snacks as their voices yelled over the crowd's enthusiastic chatter. Groups huddled around stands and poured money like it was nothing.
"Ten thousand ryō on that Alex kid!" a portly man bellowed with excitement. "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."
Groups of citizens continued to shuffle their way past the gambling tents and into the stadium.
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."
Then the two vanished from sight.
Elsewhere, sunlight filtered through the cracks in Arthur's window. He rose, filled his weapon pouch with everything essential, and departed.
As he drew closer, the pre-match buzz grew louder. Booths lined the perimeter of the stadium, and excitement filled the air. 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.
He offered a noncommittal chuckle. "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 manned the registration booth, scrutinizing his ID and confirming his participation in the finals. With a simple nod, he waved Arthur through.
Arthur scanned the growing crowd as he made his way toward the center of the stadium. Already, everyone who had won the preliminaries was lined up side-by-side.
Jada caught his attention from across the field. She waved enthusiastically with a warm smile. Arthur responded with a light wave.
Then he caught a glimpse of Naruto. This was perhaps the only character who fit the picture. As for his rival, Sasuke, he was more or less with Kakashi, still practicing the Chidori.
Who piqued Arthur's interest the most was the proctor, Hayate Gekko. This character was written to have died before the finals. Him being here only furthered the idea that Orochimaru's invasion wouldn't take place.
"Welcome, participants," Hayate announced to the Genin, "to the finals of the Chūnin Exams…" He then coughed before continuing. "You have all fought your way through a grueling competition, proving your skills and determination. 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…! Let the Chūnin Exams finals commence! 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 erupted from the crowd.
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. That in turn led Orochimaru to be chased out.
"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. His grin cut through the tension, making everyone believe this was for the best.
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.
A figure emerged from the shadows on the far side of the arena, his movements ever so calm. As he stepped into the light, it was revealed to be none other than Sasuke with a confident smirk across his face.
His arrival stole the spotlight, pushing the Sand Village's withdrawal to the back of everyone's mind.
"Hey, Sasuke!" Naruto screamed, pointing at him. "Why are you so late? You could have gotten disqualified!"
Sasuke remained calm, brushing the question aside as Hayate, momentarily flustered, cleared his throat. "Sasuke Uchiha, 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 dark eyes locked onto Arthur across the field.
"I hope it's you and I," Alice said to Jada.
Jada smiled as Margaret said, "Get real. I'm winning this whole thing."
Hayate, oblivious to their rivalry, finished his sentence: "The first match will be... Sasuke Uchiha versus Arthur Bennett."
Just about everyone was surprised to hear this. They all looked at Arthur, only to see him with a straight face, undeterred by their gazes.
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.
Arthur and Sasuke finally came to the center, where they stood frozen in their respective spots.
"You sure all that training with Kakashi's gonna pay off?" Arthur probed.
Sasuke smirked. "So you knew all this time?"
"Let's just say it won't help you."
Both of their gazes hardened. Hayate stood just before them, ready to announce their fight.
Suddenly, as Hayate was about to initiate the match, a group of figures swiftly materialized around Arthur!
It was a mixed contingent—ninjas from the Yamanaka clan, easily identifiable by their distinctive blonde ponytails, flanked by Nara clan members, and a group of Anbu Black Ops.
Many gasped as everyone turned their attention to the unfolding scene. The suddenness of their arrival sent a shock through the whole stadium. Even Sasuke, his initial focus on Arthur momentarily forgotten, shifted his gaze, breaching his usual stoic expression.
Razor-sharp short swords were held mere inches from Arthur's throat. A network of shadows connected to his own from the Nara clan member, further binding him.
"Don't even think about moving," one of the Anbu hissed in his ear.
The entire stadium erupted in confusion. Shouts of "What's going on?" and "Why are they doing that to him?" mingled with gasps of shock.
Arthur glanced at the other players. Their expressions told him that they were just as shocked. None of them appeared to be the cause of this.
Hayate, speechless for a moment, finally bellowed, "What is the meaning of this?!"
Inoichi, head of the Yamanaka clan, and Shikaku, head of the Nara clan, stepped forward.
"Arthur Bennett is under arrest, suspected of murdering my daughter," Inoichi responded in a flat, emotionless tone.
"And my son," Shikaku added.
Unease spread through the crowd like wildfire.
Murder? What could that mean? All eyes turned to the Hokage. Hiruzen rose to his feet. Then he looked directly at the clan heads and commanded, "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. "That ninja is the one you see bound before you!"
The clan heads were insinuating that Arthur was involved with Orochimaru and the killing of Ino and Shikamaru.
Arthur had made a grave mistake. This was serious. Yet despite being caught in the center of this storm, he remained calm and collected.
Shikaku continued, "There is a viable reason for this situation…"
"Speak your mind, Shikaku," demanded Hiruzen.
"During the Forest of Death stage of the Exams," Shikaku explained, "we read reports detailing a Sound ninja making contact with Orochimaru days before Sasuke Uchiha received his curse mark."
Jasper squinted his eyes. It was clear the other players weren't aware of any other Sound ninja's involvement in the story.
"Following this communication," Shikaku continued, "Orochimaru's movements became erratic, deviating 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."
Shikaku 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, tears welling up in their eyes. Others huddled together, their faces pale with fear, confusion, and doubt.
"Chōji Akimichi," Inoichi continued, acting as the next spokesman, "was found wandering the Forest of Death in a state of shock. He had little memory of the events that 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, one that wasn't registered for the Exams. That didn't add up. But one thing was certain: those scrolls were used to advance to the preliminaries."
"As you know," Shikaku said, "given Orochimaru's involvement, we were granted full jurisdiction to analyze the recovered scrolls from all registered participants 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 scrolls given to my son, Ino, and Chōji." 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 promising 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, silencing everyone.
"Unfortunately," he declared, "Chōji's memories revealed a grim picture." Shikaku pointed toward Arthur. "According to those memories, the attacker used the transformation jutsu!"
Transformation techniques, while not uncommon, were often associated with deception and treachery. 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 of this situation," Shikaku answered. "According to official reports, Arthur's teammates vanished sometime during the Forest of Death stage. Their whereabouts remain 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 to his teammates and discover their scroll was taken by my son. So what does he do? He kills his teammates and hunts down my son's team in cold blood!"
The clan heads were right: he had done all those things. But to think they could link it all back to him.
It would have been impossible on earth, yet easy for highly skilled ninjas who could read thoughts and perform thorough analyses. Worst of all was how they linked two unknown participants to be one and the same person.
He had left too much evidence behind, believing that slaying a couple of characters wouldn't trace back to him.
Arthur was wrong to have done that. They caught him. He had lost.
Asuma, with a face full of confusion, looked down at Arthur. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
Meanwhile, Hiruzen was carrying the weight of the situation, each word pressing down on him. 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. Yet that Anbu never returned.
Everyone looked at one another, searching for some sign, some explanation from Arthur to deny these bold claims. Even the veteran Jōnin, who had never even heard of Arthur, had eyes full of uncertainty.
"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? Lives lost, dreams shattered. All part of your twisted entertainment in the name of science..." Little did the others know, he was referring to Elysium. "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 made-up fantasy and know that your days are numbered."
Afterwards, he turned to the other players.
"You pride yourselves on the notion that this is real. 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…"
His gaze swept over them, landing on Jada, whose tear-filled eyes reflected the shock of his authority. He also saw the dawning awareness in both Jasper's and Alex's eyes. In that moment, all their perceptions of him had shifted.
They no longer saw a fellow player. All they saw was a guilty man. But their false judgments meant little compared to the unseen threat that loomed large.
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…"
Suddenly, a thunderous roar erupted from the opposite end of the village!
The ground shuddered violently, sending tremours through the stadium stands. Dust billowed into the air, momentarily obscuring where the Hokage was. A plume of black smoke rose from the heart of the village, the unmistakable signature of a large-scale technique.
Was this Arthur's doing? No. Orochimaru had finally made his move. But how? They chased the Sannin out of the country. Or so they thought.
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."
End of Book I