The silence that followed the attack was more terrifying than any scream.
The six Sound ninja stood motionless before Kabuto's form, his glasses shattered into a thousand fragments on the floor. The stares from everyone present weighed on them like blades: surprise, tension, suspicion. The air in the classroom was so dense it felt impossible to breathe.
Arata slowly lowered his hand, feeling the tremor in his fingers. The sound of the impact, the echo of his own chakra vibrating in the air… it all still resonated in his mind. He had trained with Dosu, learned to control that high-frequency vibration, but he had never used it in such a confined space. His head throbbed.
It's done. I did it. I changed it.
His heart hammered against his ribs.
The canon… is broken.
Before anyone could speak, a powerful presence entered the room, severing the chaos at its root.
"SILENCE!" roared a deep, gruff, authoritative voice.
All heads turned toward the entrance.
A tall man in a long dark coat, a bandana covering part of his face, strode forward with firm steps. His gaze was hard, cold—the kind that could disarm a genin with a single look.
Ibiki Morino, head of Konoha's Interrogation Division.
The uproar ceased immediately. Even the Sound ninja took a step back. Ibiki's eyes swept over Kabuto on the floor, then over the six aggressors, and for a moment, the silence weighed like lead.
"Is this what you call shinobi discipline?" his voice boomed through the classroom. "If you want to kill each other, do it after the exam. In here, I am the authority."
Dosu gave a slight bow, his tone laden with forced respect. "A misunderstanding, sir. Our comrade merely wished to test the competition's capabilities. Nothing more."
Ibiki observed him for a few seconds longer, then shifted his gaze to Kabuto, who was now rising, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth. "Heh… no problem," Kabuto said with a strained smile, raising his hands. "They're ninja from the Sound, aren't they? Always so impulsive."
That smile.
Arata knew it all too well.
It was the smile of someone cataloging every detail for later use.
Ibiki said no more. He simply walked to the front, his mere presence stabilizing the tension.
"Good. Now that everyone is here, we will begin." His voice rang out like a gavel.
"I am Ibiki Morino, and I will be the examiner for the first test of the Chunin Exams.
If you are afraid, leave now. No one will stop you."
A murmur spread through the participants, but no one moved. Ibiki offered a faint, almost expected, smile.
Arata returned to his seat beside Dosu's team, his heart still racing. He felt the gaze of several ninja upon him, especially Kabuto's. His reflection in the cracked lenses was like a shadow stalking him.
This wasn't how it was supposed to happen.
In his mind, scenes from the anime clashed with what had just occurred. He remembered clearly: Kabuto was attacked only by Dosu's team, not by six ninja. He wasn't supposed to be there. His presence had changed the dynamic, the movements, the reactions. Small details… but enough to alter the natural order of events.
They proceeded to the classroom where the first test would be administered.
For Arata, passing this test would be easy; he knew its true nature. Yet, a deep-seated nervousness persisted.
Ibiki began distributing the exam papers. Arata took his with trembling hands.
The sound of pencils scratching, paper rustling, chairs creaking… it was all oppressive. This wasn't just an exam.
It was a psychological minefield.
If I change something else… what else could happen?
The thought pierced his mind like an icy needle.
He lifted his gaze.
Kabuto, from a few rows ahead, was looking back over his shoulder, offering the faintest of smiles.
A calm smile… but one laden with unspoken intent.
The examination had only just begun,
but the true test had already started.
The ticking of the clock marked the seconds with cruel precision. Each click resonated in Arata's head like a physical blow. Exam papers lay spread across the desks, and Ibiki Morino's voice thundered throughout the classroom:
"No talking. No cheating. If you are caught five times, you are out.
And if you fail to answer the questions… you are also out."
Arata gripped his pencil tightly.
Before him, the questions seemed written in an alien language. They were intellectual traps, impossible riddles for a mere genin.
The atmosphere around him was suffocating.
Some genin were sweating; others tried to conceal their desperation.
Even Naruto, seated a few rows ahead, was squirming with nerves, his lips moving as if praying to some non-existent ninja god.
I remember this now… Arata thought. This is the most psychological of all the exams.
He remembered every scene from the anime: how Ibiki used fear as a weapon, how the true purpose of the test wasn't to answer, but to endure. He also remembered that Naruto, in the end, wouldn't answer anything.
And that would be enough.
He could do the same.
He could stay still, wait for the end, and pass with ease.
But a part of him… refused.
I didn't come all this way just to watch the same things I already know happen.
I want to feel it. I want to live it.
He clenched his jaw.
If he was going to survive in this world, he had to behave like a shinobi.
And a ninja doesn't just obey the rules.
He bends them.
He closed his eyes, concentrating.
The sound of breathing, the scratching of pencils, the heartbeats of the nervous…
It all formed a chaotic symphony.
But within that noise, there were patterns.
He thought of Dosu.
He remembered how he could listen through vibrations, capture sound waves and transform that information into an advantage. He didn't have his sonic amplifier, but he had his own chakra.
And something deep within his body told him he could do it.
He placed his hand flat on the desk, letting a thin layer of chakra expand from his fingers, invisible.
The sound changed.
The murmurs in the classroom grew sharper.
As if every breath, every rustle of paper and pencil, had a distinct echo.
There.
To the left, a Sand ninja was moving his lips almost imperceptibly.
Two rows back, a Leaf ninja was writing with too much confidence.
And in the corner… a genin who couldn't stop glancing at the proctors.
One of Ibiki's plants.
Arata observed him without moving his head.
That man knew the answers.
He remembered him from the anime.
He let his chakra continue to flow, amplifying his hearing until he could catch the vibrations from the plant's pencil.
Every stroke, every pause, every slight movement.
It was clumsy, imprecise, but he began to decipher the rhythm.
Number by number. Letter by letter.
His hand moved slowly, copying the information.
It wasn't perfect, but it was enough.
"You." A voice boomed suddenly.
Arata's heart leaped into his throat.
He looked up.
One of the chunin proctors was staring in his direction.
Silence stretched.
The ninja approached, his eyes scanning the students… then moved right past him.
Arata let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.
That was too close.
A cold sweat coated his skin, but his mind burned.
The sensation of risk enveloped him.
This wasn't a simulation.
It wasn't a TV episode.
It was his life, his chakra, his will on the line.
Time marched on, and Arata continued, growing more confident.
He used the vibrations of the environment as an extension of his senses.
He deciphered another answer. And another.
Until the questions began to make a twisted kind of sense.
When the clock marked the final minutes, Ibiki spoke again.
"The time has come for the final question.
But before you hear it… you must decide if you wish to continue.
If you choose to stay and fail, you will never be allowed to take the Chunin Exams again.
You may remain genin… but you will never advance."
The classroom filled with murmurs.
The fear was palpable.
One after another, ninja raised their hands to withdraw. Cries of frustration and defeat filled the air.
Arata remained motionless.
He knew what was coming.
He knew that question was a trap.
That there was no answer.
That it only sought to test their resolve.
He looked around.
Hinata trembled, but held her ground.
Sasuke watched with calm intensity.
And Naruto…
Naruto looked in absolute panic, sweating, his leg bouncing nervously.
Come on, Naruto… do it, Arata thought, unable to stop himself.
Do what defines you.
And then it happened.
Naruto shot to his feet with a force that shattered the tense air.
"I won't give up! I don't care what the question is, I'll answer it! I never go back on my word, that's my ninja way!"
His voice echoed through the classroom.
Some scoffed; others smiled in spite of themselves.
Even Ibiki looked at him with that half-smile that hid a thread of respect.
Arata watched him, feeling a mixture of admiration and sorrow.
That shout, that blind faith… was what had made him love this world.
And now he was hearing it with his own ears.
Ibiki sighed.
"Fine. Everyone passes.
That was the real test."
The room erupted in murmurs and sighs of relief.
Naruto threw his arms up, shouting with joy.
Arata slumped back in his chair, exhausted, staring at the ceiling.
He had passed.
Without breaking the canon… but by changing it, just a little.
He had used new abilities. He had tested his own ninja way.
And deep inside, something had awoken.
Not just his chakra…
but the desire to truly live in this world, beyond the script he already knew.