Naruto: This Genius is Somewhat Ordinary-Chapter 377

As Madara’s words fell, dozens of black, void-like cores ignited in the sky.

Gravity surged.

The ground trembled, cracked, then tore itself apart. Chunks of earth and stone ripped free, dragged upward by overwhelming attraction. They collided, fused, compressed—

In moments, dozens of colossal spheres hung in the sky, each formed from compressed mountains of rock and soil.

Chibaku Tensei.

And every single one was far larger than anything Nagato had ever created.

If even a few of them fell like a meteor shower, the result wouldn’t be destruction. It would be extinction.

Madara watched Fujimoto Tōma carefully. He knew these constructs wouldn’t kill him. That wasn’t the point.

If they fell toward the Allied Forces instead, they would buy Madara time.

Time to let the Divine Tree bloom.

Time for the Moon Eye Plan to reach completion.

At this point, Madara understood the truth. He was no longer Tōma’s equal.

And yet, he didn’t resent it.

Madara had never feared admitting defeat when it came honestly. And though Tōma hadn’t finished him yet, Madara already accepted that his power surpassed his own.

So this was his final gamble.

If the Divine Tree’s flower bloomed and reflected upon the crimson moon, the world would fall into the Moon Eye. Even Tōma wouldn’t be able to stop it.

At least, that was what Madara believed.

Tōma looked up at the sky full of collapsing stars. Then at Madara. Then at the ancient Divine Tree behind him.

He stretched lazily.

Bones cracked as his body tightened, chakra locking into a perfect combat state.

Testing’s done, he thought calmly. Time to end this.

The Black Shadow Blade appeared in his hand once more.

Its surface trembled, emitting a strange, muted light. Space itself seemed to recoil from the blade’s edge, as if instinctively avoiding it.

"I’ll finish this in one go," Tōma said.

Madara’s eyes widened.

That sense of dread surged instantly. Tōma didn’t bluff. If he said it, it meant the attack coming next would be his most lethal yet.

Madara reacted immediately.

Four Limbo shadows spread out, positioned for instant swapping. Blue chakra flames erupted as five complete Susanoo formed at once. Truth-Seeking Orbs shifted into a defensive formation around Madara’s true body.

Everything was layered.

Everything was ready.

None of it mattered.

The disturbance in spacetime had already been fixed.

No one could block the next strike.

"Dimensional Slash."

Tōma inhaled, then opened his eyes.

The world stopped.

Not metaphorically. Truly.

Time stretched infinitely thin in Tōma’s perception. Every instant became a vast, silent expanse. This was the realm of absolute speed, where action preceded reaction.

Tōma vanished.

A white arc flashed.

Every Chibaku Tensei sphere was pierced in the same instant, their mountain shells offering no more resistance than paper. The gravitational cores at their centers were cleaved cleanly, and the moment they broke, their pull vanished.

The spheres began to collapse.

But collapse took time.

And in Tōma’s world, time was abundant.

Madara sensed something wrong.

Even as his Rinnegan strained, he couldn’t tell when it had happened—or how.

Then he saw it.

A white blade of light filled his vision.

Under that slash, the sky lost color. Space itself fractured, layers peeling apart as if reality couldn’t endure the cut.

It’s coming from... somewhere else, Madara realized dimly. Like a strike from another dimension.

The Susanoo shattered instantly, sliced apart without resistance.

The Truth-Seeking Orbs moved on instinct, interposing themselves.

For the first time, Madara felt uncertainty.

And then—

They were cut.

Cleanly. Perfectly.

The orbs split as if carved by an ordinary blade.

There was no time to speak.

No time to shout.

Madara tried to switch places with his Limbo shadows.

And failed.

In that same instant, all four shadows were severed, erased before the thought could complete.

Every defense had been breached.

Every escape closed.

The white slash swallowed him whole.

A second slash followed, cutting straight through the Divine Tree.

Silence.

Tōma reappeared where he had started, as if he’d never moved.

His body trembled violently.

He exhaled sharply.

Even now, chaining true dimensional slashes tore at his body, ripping him apart from the inside. His regeneration stitched him back together just as fast—but not fast enough to do this endlessly.

Still—

"That," he murmured, eyes burning with exhilaration, "is the real Dimensional Slash."

The Chibaku Tensei spheres finally disintegrated, raining harmless debris across the land.

The Susanoo vanished.

Then the sky itself split open.

Countless delayed slashes detonated at once, shredding the air into fractured panes like broken glass. Space was carved into pieces, recovery slow and unstable.

Everyone stared.

Even now, they were still learning how fragile reality truly was.

Madara’s body fell from the sky.

Not whole.

Cut vertically, he’d managed to move just enough to preserve his upper body.

For Tōma, such damage would be survivable.

For Madara, it should have been fatal.

Yet his consciousness lingered.

As he fell, Madara gazed at the shattered sky.

"...It’s almost beautiful," he thought dimly.

Perhaps dying to such a strike wasn’t so bad.

But then—

So close...

The Divine Tree loomed nearer.

And then he heard it.

A voice, echoing directly inside his mind.

"Absorb us."

"What...?" Madara’s vision blurred.

"Devour the tree. Devour the Ten Tails. Devour everything."

Madara’s remaining arm reached out.

The Divine Tree collapsed toward him—and melted.

Like liquid, it poured into his body.

Flesh regrew. Limbs reformed. Power surged beyond anything before.

When the absorption ended, Madara stood whole once more.

He looked down at his hands. At his body.

Then he felt it.

The eye opening on his forehead.

Understanding dawned.

"So that’s it," Madara laughed softly. "You were the tree itself all along."

His laughter rose, sharp and exultant.

"Sixth Hokage," Madara roared, tearing away the horned crown on his head, "thanks to you, I’ve reached this power!"

The vertical eye opened fully.

A crimson Rinnegan, marked with nine tomoe, stared out at the world.

Madara’s chakra exploded.

"Come," he declared, eyes blazing. "Let’s continue."

Nine-Tomoe Crimson Rinnegan Madara had entered the battlefield.