Naruto: This Genius is Somewhat Ordinary-Chapter 450

"Are you going to try it now?"

Fujimoto Tōma looked at Ulquiorra with unconcealed anticipation.

"Yes," Ulquiorra replied seriously.

Under the watchful eyes of Tōma and Starrk, Ulquiorra raised his hand and grabbed his own mask.

Then he tore it off.

The white mask cracked and fell away, revealing short black hair, pale skin, and deep green tear-like markings running down his face.

"...That’s it?" Starrk stared, stunned. "That was way too easy."

If that really counted, then splitting his soul in half suddenly felt like a very bad joke.

"No," Tōma said calmly. "That’s not it. The mask will regenerate. Your power hasn’t changed."

Ulquiorra nodded. "Correct. I don’t know how to stop it from coming back."

Tōma turned to Starrk. Of the three of them, only Starrk had completed the transformation before.

"I don’t know either," Starrk admitted. "I just wanted a companion badly enough that I split my soul and poured part of it into my weapon. After that... it just happened."

Tōma frowned slightly.

"Then the key is probably the weapon," he said. "Returning the blade. That means forming a blade in the first place."

He explained his theory to both of them.

Ulquiorra considered it, then nodded. "That makes sense."

"I’ll try again."

The mask rapidly regenerated under Ulquiorra’s control. This time, he hesitated.

What kind of weapon should he form?

His gaze moved between Starrk’s twin guns and Tōma’s sword.

In the end, he chose the latter.

A blade suited him better.

The mask began to fade again, dissolving into white fragments. At the same time, a katana-like sword took shape in Ulquiorra’s hand.

Tōma pushed his perception to its limit.

Ulquiorra’s energy surged and fluctuated violently. Vast Hollow power churned within him, but mixed into it was something else.

Something familiar.

"...There it is," Tōma muttered, eyes shining.

The powers weren’t opposed. They were merging.

So it really was possible.

Not through some once-in-a-lifetime accident, but naturally.

Ulquiorra wasn’t a fluke. Starrk wasn’t either.

That meant the boundary between Hollow and Shinigami wasn’t absolute.

For a moment, Tōma realized something else.

If his blade completed its own transformation one day, then what he would wield wouldn’t be all that different from the monstrous power he remembered from another story.

The difference was simple.

He didn’t plan to lose control.

"I’m actually starting to look forward to this," Tōma murmured.

Then Ulquiorra’s attempt collapsed.

The sword shattered. The fading mask snapped back into place.

"...Did it fail?" Starrk asked, frowning.

"Not really," Tōma said. "You just don’t have full control yet."

Ulquiorra nodded. "That new power is... unstable."

His presence had weakened noticeably. The attempt had drained him heavily.

He looked ready to try again, but Tōma stopped him.

"After you recover. No rush."

"...Alright."

Tōma watched him for a moment.

He was unusually obedient.

Was that just his nature?

"So," Starrk asked lazily, "where to next?"

"I don’t really have a destination anymore," Tōma replied. "We can just wander."

"Are you still looking for strong companions?" Ulquiorra asked.

"That was the plan," Starrk said with a yawn. "Finding you kind of finished that goal."

"So... no more searching?"

"Unless you know someone," Tōma said, glancing at him.

Ulquiorra paused. "I heard something. From the ones who rejected me."

"Where?" Starrk asked, suddenly alert.

"In the very center of the great sand sea," Ulquiorra said. "There’s a palace. Las Noches. They say the king of Hueco Mundo lives there."

"...The king?" Starrk blinked. "Since when did I get a king?"

Tōma exchanged a glance with him.

They’d wandered the desert for ages and never seen anything like that.

Still, Ulquiorra didn’t strike them as someone who lied.

"Want to take a look?" Starrk asked.

"Why not," Tōma replied, amused. "I’m curious about this ’king’ too."

"And your power control?" Tōma added casually.

"...Uh—" Starrk scratched his head.

Tōma drew his blade.

A moment later, Starrk was flat on the ground again, crushed under overwhelming sword pressure.

"...Yeah. No improvement," Tōma said, sheathing his sword.

"That’s because you got stronger again," Starrk muttered.

Ulquiorra watched closely, eyes fixed on the invisible pressure radiating from Tōma’s swings.

So that’s the gap.

"Ulquiorra," Tōma said, "you’ll handle sparring with Starrk from now on. You’re closer in level. You’ll both grow faster."

"Understood," Ulquiorra replied.

Starrk frowned. "Why do you listen to him so easily?"

"Because he’s stronger," Ulquiorra answered simply. "Isn’t that obvious?"

"...Fair enough."

"One thing," Ulquiorra said after a pause. "Your presence feels different from ours. Why?" 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"Because I’m a Shinigami," Tōma replied.

"A what?"

Starrk took over, explaining humans, Hollows, and Shinigami, and the balance between them.

"So you’re supposed to be our enemy," Ulquiorra concluded.

"No," Starrk said. "There’s no real hostility. If balance collapses, Hueco Mundo goes with it."

"So Shinigami maintain balance... because they’re stronger," Ulquiorra said.

Tōma nodded. "Exactly."

They continued toward the center of the sand sea.

Along the way, Starrk and Ulquiorra sparred repeatedly. Starrk won every time.

Tōma wasn’t surprised. Until Ulquiorra completed his transformation, the gap was inevitable.

Finally, a massive structure emerged.

"So this is Las Noches," Tōma said. "Without a guide, we’d never find it."

"There aren’t many Hollows around," Starrk noted. "Strange for a king’s palace."

"I’ve only heard stories," Ulquiorra said.

"There’s at least one Vast Lorde inside," Tōma said calmly.

"Then let’s see this king," Starrk said.

They entered.

No one stopped them. Starrk’s restrained pressure alone was enough to clear the way.

Inside, the palace was bleak. Bare stone. Crude pillars. Nothing that deserved the name "palace."

And then they saw him.

Seated upon a throne.

A skeleton wearing a crown, its body engulfed in black flames, staring at them with pure hostility.

The so-called King of Hueco Mundo.

...

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