Naruto: This Genius is Somewhat Ordinary-Chapter 389

Inside the origin space, wrapped tight by warped space-time itself, light had nearly vanished.

All that remained was the blinding white outline of a colossal space-time dragon, its core burning with blood-red Eight Gates chakra, and before it, the enormous expanding Truth-Seeking Orb.

They collided in an instant.

The dragon lunged forward, jaws snapping shut around the black sphere.

BOOM!

For a heartbeat, it looked like a stalemate.

But the moment contact was made, overwhelming space-time force flooded outward, completely enveloping the expanding Truth-Seeking Orb. Space twisted violently, collapsing inward again and again, subjecting the orb to the most absolute and merciless form of pressure imaginable.

Even so, the orb resisted.

Cracks spread across its surface, deepening by the second. That alone was proof of how terrifying its power truly was.

And then—

From within the dragon, Tōma struck.

With no hesitation, no retreat, he drove a full-force kick straight into the collapsing Truth-Seeking Orb.

A weapon that erased everything it touched.

A power that annihilated existence itself.

And he hit it with bare flesh.

CRACK!

The already fractured orb shattered completely.

The restraint vanished, and the energy inside detonated outward in a chaotic explosion that threatened to devour the entire origin space.

Yet the blood-red aura around Tōma held firm.

Scattered, unfocused destruction could not breach the Eight Gates at full release.

"Hah!"

Tōma roared, his kick never slowing. If anything, it accelerated.

Behind him, the space-time dragon grew faint, its power nearly exhausted, but it still surged forward, roaring alongside him.

Nothing remained to block the path.

Ōtsutsuki Kaguya was exposed.

"No... impossible!" she screamed, staring in disbelief as her final technique was torn apart.

To Tōma, this outcome was inevitable.

Space-time techniques had always been the natural enemy of Truth-Seeking Orbs. Even the Ten-Tails, even Kaguya herself, had been countered by space-time interference before.

And neither Amenominaka nor Yomotsu Hirasaka could undo this kind of lock. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"Mother..." Black Zetsu whispered, staring at the dragon behind Tōma in sheer terror.

There was nothing left to suggest.

The space itself was sealed.

Even if Tōma couldn’t maintain this state for long, at this speed, seconds were more than enough.

Kaguya froze.

Not because she couldn’t act.

But because she didn’t know how.

That hesitation was fatal.

"Mother!" Black Zetsu screamed.

Kaguya finally snapped back to reality, only to see Tōma closing in. For the first time in her existence, fear surfaced in her eyes.

Real fear.

And Tōma saw it.

So you can feel this too, he thought, exhilaration flaring in his chest.

Just like everyone else.

He remembered his own fear when he first realized what kind of world he was in.

A world of monsters.

A world where bloodlines ruled everything.

And now, the greatest monster of them all was afraid of him.

"Yomotsu Hirasaka!" Kaguya cried desperately.

Black portals tore open again and again, only to be crushed instantly by warped space around them. Even so, Tōma had to admit—forcing open space at all under this lock was terrifying in its own right.

But it wasn’t enough.

There was nowhere left to run.

Kaguya’s face twisted. Gray bones erupted from her body, forming desperate barriers.

"Kekkei Mōra—All-Killing Ash Bones!"

They vanished on contact.

The blood-red aura tore through them like mist.

The dragon roared again.

Black Zetsu threw himself in front of Kaguya without hesitation.

Tōma didn’t slow.

His kick pierced straight through Black Zetsu’s body and landed solidly.

"Gah—!"

Kaguya screamed as she was driven downward, smashed from the sky toward the ground with unstoppable force.

"This ends now," Tōma said quietly.

The power didn’t stop.

He kept driving forward.

The dragon followed.

They plunged straight through the earth, as if intent on piercing the origin space itself.

Then—

Silence.

The red aura vanished.

The dragon disappeared.

Sound, wind, even space-time fluctuations ceased.

For a long moment, nothing existed.

At last, a figure stumbled forward in the empty world.

Tōma.

He took two steps before collapsing face-first onto the ground.

His body looked like burned charcoal, cracked and smoldering, faint embers still flickering across his skin. The Gate of Death was still consuming him. When it reached his heart, it would be over.

And yet—

He laughed.

"Heh... hahaha..."

Kaguya wasn’t dead.

Far away, a tiny fragment of flesh pulsed weakly, greedily absorbing chakra.

That was all that remained of her.

At the last possible instant, she had forced open Yomotsu Hirasaka just enough to eject that fragment. Not enough to escape herself. Just enough to preserve a seed.

A desperate instinct.

An immortal’s trick.

Tōma laughed harder.

Her power was overwhelming, far beyond Six Paths Madara. But her combat instincts were crude, her methods rigid. Once her abilities were understood, she became manageable.

Hard to kill—but not impossible.

"If I die here," Tōma muttered, "then I still lose."

But he didn’t sound worried.

The Eight Gates didn’t guarantee death. Might Guy had survived, saved by Yang Release.

Tōma’s Yang Release wasn’t that refined yet. It could only delay the end.

But he smiled anyway.

"...Then I’ll just raise it to that level now."