Naruto: This Genius is Somewhat Ordinary-Chapter 379
As the earth-shaking battle raged on, a lone spectator watched from the shadows.
Black Zetsu let out a low, rasping chuckle.
Right now, he was firmly on Fujimoto Tōma’s side. After all, only if Tōma killed Uchiha Madara could his mother, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, truly revive by taking over Madara’s body.
Originally, that task had been Black Zetsu’s responsibility. The plan had been simple. Earn Madara’s trust, then strike from behind at the critical moment. One clean betrayal. One fatal blow.
But reality had other ideas.
In his current state, Black Zetsu didn’t have a suitable body. Obito’s corpse would have been perfect. A Six Paths-level vessel, strong enough to pierce Madara’s defenses if caught off guard.
Unfortunately, Tōma had taken that body long ago.
Without a usable vessel, Black Zetsu had no choice but to place all his hopes on this battle.
Win, he urged silently. But don’t win too fast.
Despite his absolute faith in his mother’s power, Tōma had unsettled him too many times. The safest outcome was simple.
Let Madara and Tōma tear each other apart.
Even if Tōma won, he needed to be exhausted. Drained. On his last legs.
That way, when Kaguya revived, killing Tōma would be effortless. Only then could the world truly be unified under her rule.
"Fight," Black Zetsu whispered eagerly. "Fight until neither of you can stand."
High above, two figures collided at speeds far beyond human sight, their clashes cracking the air itself.
"Senjutsu: Yin Release—Lightning Dispatch!"
Madara fixed his gaze on Tōma and, for the first time since becoming the Ten-Tails’ jinchūriki, unleashed a true Yin Release technique.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t been able to use it before. Against Tōma, using senjutsu earlier would have been pointless. Even Six Paths-level techniques had felt crude by comparison.
But now, with his chakra reserves swollen to absurd levels, every technique he used had undergone a qualitative leap.
From between Madara’s palms, branching violet lightning surged forward like living tendrils, tearing toward Tōma.
"Senjutsu?" Tōma murmured, unimpressed.
He didn’t think much of Madara’s senjutsu itself. The problem was the chakra fueling it. With reserves this vast, even a low-tier jutsu in Madara’s hands hit harder than most Kage-level techniques.
But Tōma wasn’t a Kage.
White lightning erupted around his body, violent and condensed, generating a magnetic field so dense it made the surrounding space feel heavy.
A chunk of metal snapped into existence within that field. Quietly, Tōma embedded a Truth-Seeking Orb inside it.
"Senjutsu: Lightning Release—Super Electromagnetic Cannon."
He flicked his finger.
The blast that followed roared like a starship’s main gun, an unstoppable beam ripping through the battlefield.
The moment it collided with Madara’s Yin lightning, the branching arcs shattered instantly, erased without resistance.
Madara’s eyes narrowed.
Stronger than mine? That shouldn’t be possible—
Then his forehead eye saw it.
At the very tip of the beam was a Truth-Seeking Orb.
"So that’s it," Madara realized.
With its trajectory laid bare to his perception, he sidestepped effortlessly.
But as the beam swept past—
Tōma appeared behind him.
In his hand burned a crimson sphere, swirling like molten magma.
"Senjutsu: Great Flame Rasengan!"
He slammed it down.
The explosion swallowed Madara in a torrent of blazing heat and flowing magma.
Yet Tōma didn’t relax.
He turned sharply.
Madara had already reappeared elsewhere, having swapped places with one of his Limbo shadows at the last instant.
As expected.
Using the electromagnetic cannon to deliver a Truth-Seeking Orb, then marking it for Flying Thunder God, had all happened in a blink.
Still, Madara had reacted.
Tch.
The drawback was clear. The projectile’s core had been the Truth-Seeking Orb. The metal shell was just a trigger, instantly destroyed on launch. Without the ability to apply Shadow Shuriken techniques to a Truth-Seeking Orb, the attack was easier to evade than Tōma would have liked.
At least it wasn’t a total loss.
One of Madara’s Limbo shadows had been caught in the Great Flame Rasengan. At that range, survival was impossible.
Still, that cost Tōma another card in his hand.
Madara steadied himself, heart pounding. The attack had nearly landed. Scorch marks still smoldered on his back.
Flying Thunder God... and he’s using Truth-Seeking Orbs as markers.
This wasn’t something Tōma had just improvised. He’d been hiding it. Waiting.
A nasty surprise.
But now—
Madara’s eyes sharpened.
Tōma had landed between him and his remaining three shadows.
Surrounded.
Madara formed a seal with one hand.
"Senjutsu: Storm Release—Light Fang."
A violet beam erupted from his mouth.
At the same time, identical beams fired from his three shadows, converging on Tōma from all directions.
Blindingly fast.
For most, there would’ve been no time to react.
But to Tōma, the world slowed to a crawl.
Four Truth-Seeking Orbs shifted instantly, forming shields in the beams’ paths.
Then—
Crack.
The orbs shattered.
Tōma’s pupils shrank.
Madara’s Light Fang pierced straight through, especially the one fired by his true body. The orb split like fragile glass, the beam racing toward Tōma’s forehead.
At the last possible instant, Tōma vanished, reappearing beside another Truth-Seeking Orb.
He’d escaped again.
"Damn," Madara muttered. "You’re not that easy to kill."
Even now, with chakra flooding into him endlessly from the Divine Tree, Tōma remained impossible to pin down.
A troubling question surfaced in Madara’s mind.
How did he get this strong?
Without the Ten-Tails... was it really possible for a human to reach this level?
If Tōma could answer, he’d say no. His path wasn’t something anyone else could replicate—at least not yet.
But someday, if his plan succeeded, it would be.
Limits wouldn’t be locked by chakra anymore.
Bloodlines would be a shortcut, not a requirement.
Madara didn’t have time to dwell on it.
Something felt wrong.
His body was... full.
Too full.
The Divine Tree kept pouring chakra into him nonstop, ignoring his will entirely. His capacity had reached saturation, yet the flow didn’t slow.
This wasn’t normal.
But Tōma wouldn’t give him time to investigate.
If chakra was overflowing, then he’d expend it.
A black sphere rapidly expanded before Madara.
A Tailed Beast Ball.
Tōma blinked.
Why?
That attack was meaningless against him. A waste of chakra.
Still, the sphere fired.
Tōma caught it with one hand.
In the next moment, it vanished—teleported far out to sea.
A distant explosion followed, carving a massive whirlpool into the ocean.
Impressive.
Useless.
Tōma frowned as he turned back.
Madara wasn’t following up.
Now that was strange.
Then Tōma understood.
Even a Tailed Beast Ball couldn’t burn through the excess fast enough.
Madara’s face darkened.
If this continued, his body might burst from chakra overload.
Grinding his teeth, Madara acted again.
"Fire Release: Dragon Flame Singe!"
He and his three shadows moved in unison.
Sixteen massive fire dragons erupted into the sky, roaring as they closed in, sealing every possible escape route.
The attack filled the entire space.
Tōma frowned again.
Strong, yes.
Meaningful? No.
Truth-Seeking Orbs would block it easily.
Unless—
Is he trying to force me into defense? To hide my senses?
Tōma hesitated.
Then chose a different answer.
A crimson bead appeared in his palm.
"Senjutsu: Blaze Release—Vermilion Bird."
Flames swallowed him whole.
A majestic fire avatar emerged, wings unfurled, its cry shaking the heavens.
The fire dragons rushed it without hesitation.
The instant they touched the Vermilion Bird, they dissolved—stripped down to pure flame and absorbed, strengthening its form instead.
"So that’s what you’re doing," Tōma murmured, watching Madara closely. "I don’t know your endgame..."
His eyes sharpened.
"But I won’t hold back."
From within the blazing Vermilion Bird, Tōma stood like a sovereign of fire. With a single gesture, the massive wings beat, leaving burning trails across the sky as the fire avatar surged straight toward Madara.
The next exchange would decide everything.
