Naruto: This Genius is Somewhat Ordinary-Chapter 351

Uchiha Fugaku finally took in his surroundings.

...So this was inside the Nine-Tails.

And beyond that—

His gaze moved to the massive armor encasing the beast. Fugaku had wielded Susanoo himself. He recognized it instantly.

That armor was Susanoo.

Not a partial construct. Not a projection.

The real thing.

That alone told him everything he needed to know about Sasuke’s current strength. A quiet sense of relief settled in his chest, and for the first time since being summoned, Fugaku smiled faintly.

"So," he asked, "what did you want to see me for?"

Sasuke looked at him.

His expression was distant. Controlled. Cold.

The moment he heard that tone, Fugaku closed his eyes in pain.

"...It seems you still can’t forgive what I did," he said softly.

Sasuke was silent for a long moment. Then he spoke, his voice tight.

"Back then... if you had wanted to stop Itachi, you could have, couldn’t you?"

"...Perhaps."

"But you didn’t," Sasuke said, his eyes reddening. "You chose to die without resisting."

Even if Fugaku wasn’t Itachi’s equal, resistance would have mattered. Even delaying could have saved some of the clan. Children. Infants. Anyone the village might have allowed to live.

But Fugaku had done nothing.

He had sat in that house, waited for the massacre to finish, and died without lifting a hand.

To Sasuke, it was the worst possible choice.

As long as someone lived, there was hope. Death erased everything.

If Fugaku truly wanted to shoulder the blame, then he should have fought to the end after saving even a handful of lives.

Instead, he left Sasuke alone with the aftermath.

Fugaku opened his mouth.

No words came.

Because Sasuke was right.

Back then, Fugaku had already given up. He had chosen an ending over a struggle—and burdened his youngest son with everything that followed.

"...I’m sorry," Fugaku said at last, opening his eyes. "I made you suffer."

"You shouldn’t be apologizing to me," Sasuke replied. "I lived. You should apologize to the people who could have lived too."

The guilt in Fugaku’s eyes deepened.

"...Do you still intend to revive the clan?" he asked quietly.

"Yes," Sasuke said without hesitation. "But not the old Uchiha. I’ll rebuild it my way—and take it down a path completely different from before."

Fugaku stared at him, heart aching.

"...That’s a heavy burden," he said. "If it ever becomes too much—"

He trailed off.

He didn’t want to crush Sasuke’s resolve, but he also didn’t want to see his son destroyed by an impossible goal.

Sasuke understood what he meant.

"I won’t give up," he said calmly. "And I think I’ve already found a path. Until it proves impossible, I’ll walk it."

"...I see."

Fugaku didn’t ask what that path was. He knew he couldn’t help anymore.

Silence fell between them.

Then Fugaku spoke again, his voice thick with regret.

"You’ve grown up, Sasuke."

"...Yeah."

Sasuke felt his emotions settle. The edge in his voice dulled.

"I wasn’t a good clan head," Fugaku continued, closing his eyes. "And I couldn’t help you revive the clan. I’m sorry."

Sasuke said nothing.

Forgiveness wasn’t something he could offer. Not yet.

For a brief moment, Fugaku’s eyes shifted into Mangekyō Sharingan—then faded back.

"...You’re still living in our old house, aren’t you?" he asked.

Sasuke nodded, puzzled.

Fugaku smiled faintly.

"In my room. Beneath the bookshelf. I left something there. It’s the last thing I can give you."

Sasuke opened his mouth to refuse.

"Don’t," Fugaku said gently. "This is all I have left—as a father."

He looked at Sasuke with quiet hope.

After a moment, Sasuke nodded.

"...Alright."

Fugaku smiled fully for the first time.

"Then seal me," he said. "I’ve said everything I needed to."

Sasuke formed the hand signs clumsily—sealing had never been his specialty—and sealed Fugaku away as he smiled.

While Sasuke spoke with his father, Naruto never stopped moving.

The armored Nine-Tails clashed again and again with the other tailed beasts. Teeth and claws struck its body, but Susanoo armor turned most of it aside. Only direct hits from fully formed Tailed Beast Bombs posed real danger.

Naruto’s shadow clones leapt onto the nearest beast, grabbing at the black receivers embedded in its flesh.

They wouldn’t budge.

The moment he touched them, his chakra spiraled out of control, making it impossible to pull them free.

"So you noticed," the masked man sneered. "But it’s useless. You don’t have the ability to remove them."

Naruto stared at the receivers, thinking.

They disrupted chakra on contact...

Then don’t touch them.

A clone dispelled, its insight flowing back.

Naruto immediately created two more.

One was carried by the armored Nine-Tails to the receiver’s location. The other dove straight into the beast’s mouth.

"What is he doing...?" the masked man muttered, unease creeping in.

Inside, Naruto confirmed the position—then focused.

"Frog Kata!"

Without making contact, chakra struck the beast’s internal wall.

The receiver was blasted free.

The masked man’s eyes widened.

But before Naruto could celebrate, a chain shot from the Demonic Statue’s mouth, hooking the Four-Tails and dragging it back inside.

"What?!" Naruto shouted. "There’s more than one?!"

The masked man was already forming seals. He couldn’t risk surprises.

Still... even he was shaken.

This was eight complete tailed beasts against one Nine-Tails—and yet they were barely holding ground.

If Naruto weren’t trying to save them, this fight might already be over.

That realization unsettled him deeply.

Naruto was suddenly pulled into a familiar space.

"...Kurama?" he asked.

Inside the inner world, the Nine-Tails grinned.

"Time to stop holding back," Kurama said. "Use all my tails. Grab every single one of them."

"But then I won’t be able to—"

"It doesn’t matter," Kurama interrupted. "Their chakra is already bound to the Ten-Tails. Even if you pull every receiver out, they’ll still be taken."

Naruto’s shoulders slumped.

"...That’s cruel."

"Tch. Listen to me."

Naruto clenched his fists.

"Alright!"

In the real world, nine golden tails surged outward like massive hands, seizing every tailed beast at once.

Shadow clones raced along them, gripping the receivers.

This time, with Kurama’s chakra shielding him, Naruto felt the disruption weaken.

They could be pulled out.

And then—

Naruto found himself standing in a vast inner space.

All nine tailed beasts were there.

And so were their former jinchūriki.

"...We’ve been waiting," they said.

Kurama’s voice echoed calmly.

"This is the inner world of the tailed beasts. You reached it by synchronizing with me completely."

Kurama looked at Naruto and smiled.

There was no doubt anymore.

This was the one they had been waiting for.