With a 6" system having a CSA of about 28sq", you could get away with a burn tunnel that is 5.75" tall and 5" wide. Normally the bricks making up the burn tunnel are offset so you can make it 5" wide and 24" long (assuming a 16" feed and 48" riser for standard 1-1.5-3 ratio). If these bricks are standard dense firebrick (not the light insulated ones) then the thinner size can be helpful as you'd normally want some insulation surrounding the burn tunnel like perlite, so less heat is absorbed in the tunnel vs reaching the bell/stratification chamber.
Since the whole setup is usually covered with
cob or some other finish, the internals don't matter as much. Edit: unless you're planning a minimal size burn tunnel, without much mass/insulation? I've only ever seen a burn tunnel for a rocket oven made using dense brick splits like yours with insulation fiberboard around it, with a metal outer shell to protect it. So if that's the plan then definitely I'd cut the splits to exact length to avoid any protrusions.