Show higher tenure on Resume?

I worked at company X from 2016-2021. Left March 2021, but the next thing I joined was in late 2022. Between that time, first I was preparing for Masters, got in, but ultimately decided to not go. It took 8 months as the market was really bad and I was unprepared.

Now, when I am looking to switch from current job, I have gotten a couple of queries around why the gap etc. I originally thought I will explain the situation but now to prevent getting filtered out in screening, is it okay to write company X tenure from March 2021 to March 2022, reducing the gap?

All help/inputs from experienced folks is appreciated 🙏🏽