Naruto: This Genius is Somewhat Ordinary-Chapter 444

Fujimoto Tōma walked through what felt like an endless desert.

There were no landmarks. No terrain changes. Nothing to mark distance or direction. Even with his perception, the only thing he could confirm was that he wasn’t walking in circles.

How long had it been since he arrived here? Hard to say.

Hueco Mundo had no day or night. The same pale moon hung overhead without moving, casting cold light over the sand.

Another Hollow lunged from beneath the dunes.

Tōma cut it down casually, his blade slicing through its mask. The creature screamed as its body fractured and scattered into particles.

He frowned.

This wasn’t what he’d come for.

Tōma hadn’t entered Hueco Mundo just to kill Hollows. He was here to study them. To test a hypothesis.

If shinobi could force Hollow-like transformations... then could Hollows move in the opposite direction?

He knew of artificial hybrids created through forbidden means. He wasn’t trying to recreate that. What interested him was the moment itself, the instant a mask broke and a Hollow’s structure collapsed. That transition fascinated him.

Unfortunately, most of what he encountered were weak Hollows.

Mid-tier Hollows were rare. High-level ones even rarer.

He’d encountered a few Gillian-class giants, but anything beyond that? Nothing. No Adjuchas. No signs of the highest-tier beings spoken of only in records.

That, in itself, told him something.

Hueco Mundo was vast, but its hierarchy was brutal.

Ordinary Hollows were everywhere. Gillians required hundreds of Hollows devouring one another over long periods just to form. Most of them never developed individuality and existed only as raw instinct.

Adjuchas required more. Talent. Self-awareness. Strength far beyond their peers.

As for the highest tier... the conditions were so strict that even Tōma hadn’t expected to find one.

"...This is inefficient," he muttered.

Still, quitting early wasn’t his style.

As he continued forward, his awareness slipped inward.

To an outside observer, it looked like a lone figure crossing the desert. But beside him walked another presence, her steps leaving no footprints.

Mirrorshard.

"How does it feel?" Tōma asked quietly.

"...No significant change," she replied after a pause.

His brow creased.

That didn’t make sense.

In the Living World, she’d shown faint signs of adapting. Here, surrounded by Hollow energy, the process should have accelerated. Instead, it felt stagnant. The same as in the shinobi world.

"Something in the Living World sped things up," Tōma murmured. "But what?"

Low ambient energy didn’t explain it. Hollows themselves thrived on this power.

Mirrorshard hesitated again.

"If you have something to say, say it," Tōma said.

"...When we were near Urahara’s shop," she said slowly, "the change felt easier."

Tōma stopped walking.

"...Urahara’s shop?"

She nodded. "It could be coincidence."

"No," Tōma said, eyes narrowing. "It probably isn’t."

The difference was obvious now that he thought about it.

The Hōgyoku.

Even sealed, even incomplete, its influence wouldn’t disappear entirely. It existed to blur boundaries, to break rigid definitions between power systems.

Hybridization.

Evolution under pressure.

That explained everything.

"Next time you notice something like that," Tōma said, "tell me immediately."

"I will," Mirrorshard replied. "I only noticed clearly after we left."

"That’s on me," Tōma admitted. "I forgot too much."

He’d drilled himself endlessly on shinobi history in his previous life. This world’s details had faded through neglect.

"Should we return to the Living World, then?" Mirrorshard asked.

"Not yet," Tōma replied. "Moon Sprite still needs rest. And I want to keep looking."

"...Will we spar?" she asked, almost hopeful.

He glanced at her and smiled faintly. "Training doesn’t stop just because the scenery changes."

She brightened.

With no worthy opponents around, that meant he’d choose her.

They trained. They crossed blades. They refined technique.

Even so, Tōma knew the truth. Sparring with her helped, but the gains were limited. She was close to him, but always a step behind.

That wasn’t her fault.

It was his talent.

He resumed walking.

Ordinary Hollows no longer even tried to attack. They prostrated themselves in the sand, instinctively surrendering to the pressure he radiated. Killing them served no purpose. Breaking their masks proved nothing.

Days passed.

He found a few more Gillians. Some screamed after their masks shattered, fragments of memory surfacing before collapse. Others died instantly.

That inconsistency intrigued him.

"If an Adjuchas reacted differently..." he murmured.

Still, none appeared.

Eventually, Tōma sighed.

"If this continues, we head back."

Several more days passed.

Nothing.

"Moon Sprite," he said at last.

The small creature appeared, tilting its head.

"We’re going back—"

He stopped mid-sentence.

His eyes snapped toward the horizon.

At the very edge of his perception, something enormous moved.

The pressure alone dwarfed captain-level shinobi.

"...That’s not Adjuchas," Tōma said, pulse quickening. "That’s beyond."

A true apex predator.

"A Vasto Lorde-class Hollow," he concluded. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Even Unohana might see only a handful in a thousand years.

Now it made sense.

Why this region was empty. Why no Adjuchas roamed nearby.

They’d been suppressed.

Tōma laughed softly. "So my luck wasn’t bad after all."

He dismissed Moon Sprite back into space and turned toward the pressure.

The presence noticed him too.

Neither rushed. Neither hid.

Eventually, they stood facing each other across the sand.

And they both froze.

Because neither of them wore a Hollow mask.