Naruto: This Genius is Somewhat Ordinary-Chapter 357

Tōma was still calculating when the flames around Madara finally died out.

The damage was obvious. Parts of Madara’s torso had been burned clean through, leaving hollow gaps that were already regenerating at a steady pace. His crimson armor was gone as well, revealing something far stranger beneath.

A face.

Another human face embedded in his chest.

Onoki froze.

That face was unmistakable to him. The First Hokage’s features, preserved with obscene precision, grafted onto Madara’s Edo body through Orochimaru’s experiments.

The younger shinobi didn’t recognize it. They only knew one thing.

Madara Uchiha just kept getting worse.

Madara laughed, wild and unrestrained, clutching his battered head as his body continued repairing itself.

"Sixth Hokage," he said loudly, voice echoing across the battlefield. "During all that close combat, you avoided striking these exact spots."

He pointed at several areas on his torso.

"I figured it out eventually. Those were your Flying Thunder God marks, weren’t they? You held back because you were afraid your own strength would destroy them."

His grin widened. "Am I wrong?"

Tōma didn’t answer.

He vanished instead.

In a flash, he reappeared in front of Madara, chakra surging. If Madara was still unstable, there was a chance to seal him now.

"Wishful thinking," Madara snarled.

His hands flew through seals.

"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"

The ground exploded.

Colossal tree trunks erupted upward, thicker than houses, spreading outward like a living sea. The growth was violent, overwhelming, suffocating.

Tōma halted mid-air, staring at the forest swallowing the battlefield.

So this is his Wood Release, he thought grimly. Nothing like Yamato’s.

"Wind Style: Vacuum Barrage."

He exhaled sharply.

Hundreds of invisible blades screamed forward, shredding through the advancing trees. Trunks snapped and collapsed, but Tōma frowned.

Too tough.

Too many.

The trees were overflowing with vitality. Each one took multiple cuts to bring down, and there were thousands more behind them.

Then he saw it.

Flower buds blooming along the remaining branches.

"...Troublesome."

He recognized the technique immediately. Poison pollen. Deadly to anyone without extreme resistance.

Tōma could ignore it.

The Allied Shinobi Forces couldn’t. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

He raised a hand.

"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"

A sea of fire crashed into the forest, igniting it instantly. Buds burst open mid-burn, releasing clouds of pollen that ignited almost immediately.

Not enough.

Tōma followed up without hesitation.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

A massive gale roared through the inferno.

The flames surged violently, swelling into a towering firestorm. The entire forest was consumed in seconds. Pollen detonated inside the blaze, chain explosions swallowed whole by the fire.

Nothing escaped.

Nothing survived.

"You let yourself get distracted."

Madara’s voice whispered behind him.

Tōma turned.

Madara stood fully restored, encased in a complete Susanoo.

Wings spread wide. Twin swords drawn. A towering, armored war god looming over the battlefield.

Madara swung.

Tōma teleported away instantly.

The blade stopped midair.

The wind did not.

The shockwave tore across the land, carving a massive canyon into the earth. Pure physical force. No trickery. No chakra gimmicks.

Tōma exhaled slowly.

If that hit directly... even the Third Raikage wouldn’t walk away.

"Still that technique," Madara muttered. "Tobirama really loved inventing annoying things."

Then Tōma spoke.

"Madara. Did you know there’s only one Uchiha left alive now?"

Madara raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"I just thought I’d mention it," Tōma said calmly. "In my opinion, he’s better than you."

Madara’s eyes narrowed.

"Absurd."

Tōma smiled faintly.

"You awakened your Mangekyō by killing someone you loved, didn’t you?"

"That is the rule," Madara replied coldly. "The Uchiha way."

"And if I told you he awakened his without doing that?"

Silence.

Madara’s expression darkened. "Impossible."

"I’m not lying," Tōma said. "Your clan treated your method as absolute truth. That belief crippled them."

Madara scoffed. "And your point?"

"I used his body once," Tōma said casually. "With his consent."

Madara stiffened.

"...Why?"

"To understand Susanoo."

Tōma’s chakra flared.

"The Sharingan is just an advanced Yin Release construct," he continued. "It makes creation easier, not exclusive. The techniques it manifests aren’t locked to blood alone."

He clasped his hands together.

"And Yin Release excels at one thing."

Creation from nothing.

Flames erupted around him.

They twisted, screamed, took shape.

A colossal phoenix of fire rose into the sky, wings spread wide, burning brighter with each passing second. It grew larger. Larger still.

Until it stood eye to eye with Madara’s Susanoo.

The phoenix screamed and surged forward.

Madara cleaved through the flames with both blades.

And froze.

The phoenix vanished.

In its place stood something else.

A gigantic armored figure forged of fire, wings blazing, a sword resting at its waist. Its form burned constantly, radiating heat like a living sun.

A Susanoo.

Not blue.

Not chakra-shaped.

Fire.

Madara stared.

"...You actually did it."

Tōma stood atop the flaming construct’s head, looking down at him.

"Old man used to say," he remarked dryly, "if someone brings a giant, you bring a giant too."

The two titans faced each other.

The battlefield held its breath.