Naruto: This Genius is Somewhat Ordinary-Chapter 373

"So... this is as far as I go, huh?"

Fujimoto Tōma coughed up blood, forcing a crooked smile as he looked down at the Six Paths staff piercing his chest. He had already imagined this ending the moment he committed to the final clash.

From the start, he’d known the gap.

His combat power had reached the Six Paths tier, yes—but only in pieces. As a manifested shadow clone, he had never truly crossed that final threshold. Betting everything on the Undying Phoenix and forcing this result was already beyond expectation.

"I won," Madara said quietly, gazing at Tōma with something close to admiration.

A man with no bloodline, no legendary clan, no inherited destiny—yet he had fought a Ten Tails jinchūriki, someone wielding power on par with the Sage of Six Paths, and nearly erased him with a hidden Truth Seeking Orb detonation.

Madara respected that.

And regretted it.

Because once Tōma fell, this world would have no one left to oppose him.

Naruto and Sasuke were promising, but they were not this.

"Yes," Tōma said calmly. "You won."

He felt no bitterness admitting it.

For a shadow clone, reaching this point was already enough.

From the very beginning, the only aspect of him that truly touched Six Paths level had been Yin Release. Truth Seeking Orbs, compressed Susanoo, the final phoenix—all of it relied on that single pillar. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Even that had limits.

A shadow clone couldn’t sustain compressed Susanoo without the Nine Tails’ chakra cloak reinforcing it. Without that, he wouldn’t have lasted long even against Obito.

The Undying Phoenix itself had been a Susanoo construct shaped entirely by Six Paths Yin Release—true Six Paths power, but only in that one direction.

In the end, it wasn’t enough.

Madara surpassed him in every category.

And even then, Madara hadn’t been at full strength. One Limbo shadow had already been destroyed. If it were still present, this conversation might not even be possible.

Truthfully, even without the fatal strike, this body was already nearing collapse.

"Sixth Hokage," Madara said solemnly. "Fujimoto Tōma. I will remember your name."

When the light finally faded and the sky cleared, the battlefield fell into a terrible silence.

Everyone saw it.

The Sixth Hokage... had fallen.

Hope collapsed in an instant.

This was it. The end of the world, written plainly in the sky.

Why had they fought so hard? Why had they endured this far?

Despair spread like a tide.

Then—

Boom.

A violent, crimson chakra erupted into the sky.

Naruto.

His body was engulfed in seething red chakra. Nine tails burst forth, his eyes burning with raw fury. His skin began to crack under the pressure as flesh and bone shaped themselves around him—the Nine Tails forcing its way out.

"Snap out of it, Naruto!" the Yang Nine Tails roared inside him.

But it was useless.

Naruto’s rage drowned everything.

Once, Naruto had feared being consumed by the Nine Tails’ hatred. Now, it was the reverse—his fury dragged the beast down with him.

The seal strained.

Nearby, Sasuke stared blankly at the sky, at the staff protruding from Tōma’s chest.

Memories surfaced unbidden.

The day he’d challenged Tōma as a kid and got smacked on the head for sneaking a weapon. The first person who truly understood his revenge—and then helped him walk his own path, not the one Itachi had left behind.

Everything had been moving forward.

So why... why did it end like this?

Sasuke touched his forehead.

The pain came rushing back.

Something cracked inside him.

Dark chakra surged outward, thick and ominous. His Rinnegan filled with blood-red veins, a tomoe flickering into view.

Tsunade clutched her chest, frozen. She saw ghosts—Nawaki, Dan, and now Tōma.

No.

Not him.

He was strong. Strong enough to survive this. He had to be.

Jiraiya stared in silence, heart twisting.

He’d never believed himself a good teacher. Always chasing prophecy, always absent. And yet Tōma had grown into someone extraordinary—someone who had carried the world on his back.

"This can’t be real," Fukasaku muttered, eyes wide. "No way..."

Neither he nor Shima realized it yet.

The summoning contract was still intact.

Orochimaru clicked his tongue, a hollow smile on his face. "So even ordinary people can’t reach the end, huh..."

Disappointment flickered in his eyes. Quietly, he released the Edo Tensei and vanished from the battlefield, unnoticed.

Who could stop Madara now?

Naruto was losing control. Sasuke’s chakra felt wrong. Charging in would only mean meaningless deaths.

"Is this... the end?" the Fourth Raikage muttered, voice heavy.

"Maybe," Mei replied bitterly.

Gaara and Ōnoki clenched their fists, powerless.

Shikamaru’s mind went blank.

Then—something caught his eye.

Ino.

She didn’t look devastated.

If anything, she looked... puzzled.

Shikamaru frowned, walked over, and forced a steady tone. "Ino... you don’t have to hold it in."

She blinked. "Huh?"

Then glanced at Naruto, at Sasuke. "Shouldn’t you be stopping those two?"

"...What?"

"And why would I be crying?" she added, genuinely confused. "It was just a shadow clone."

Shikamaru froze.

"...He was stabbed through the heart," he said slowly.

Ino looked around at the despair-stricken faces and finally understood.

"...Wait. He didn’t tell you?"

She explained.

Before the final clash, Tōma had warned her. He was only a shadow clone. He didn’t want her panicking.

He just hadn’t told anyone else.

"...That idiot," Shikamaru laughed weakly, clutching his head. "That absolute idiot..."

Relief, frustration, disbelief—it all hit at once.

But there was no time.

Naruto and Sasuke were on the brink.

High above, Madara narrowed his eyes.

"I will remember you."

Tōma smiled faintly. "No. We’ll meet again. Very soon."

Then he let go.

With a soft poof, his body dissolved into white smoke.

Madara’s eyes widened.

A shadow clone.

From the dispersing smoke, the Yin Nine Tails emerged, confirming the truth beyond doubt.

Madara and the beast stared at each other in stunned silence.

The battlefield, once drowning in despair, stood on the edge of something else entirely.