Rogue Ninja Josuke

Josuke stopped in his tracks, immediately drawing the attention of Kakashi and the others. They looked at him in confusion.

Naruto especially seemed puzzled and asked,

"Josuke, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Josuke didn't answer. He glanced at the scroll. They should be about there...

Three. Two. One...

Here it comes.

A woman shouted,

"Crystal Style: Goshindō no Jutsu!"

A line of crystals formed in the ground, attacking the enemy from below.

They were so fast and powerful that there was no time to defend against them.

Gaara, Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee were all injured by the Crystal Style, losing their ability to fight.

"Everyone, get out of the way!"

Kakashi shouted urgently. As he spoke, he formed Hand Seals. "Earth Release: Earth Style: Earth Wall!"

The wall made of earth temporarily blocked the attack.

Josuke spotted Orochimaru in the distance. Orochimaru smiled at him, too.

"Long time no see, Josuke."

Orochimaru's voice was as cold as ever. No wonder he was known as the Cold-blooded Orochimaru.

Not long ago, Orochimaru had come to contact Josuke and ask when he would be ready to leave. After thinking it over, Josuke had settled on this time.

As luck would have it, Orochimaru and his people had a mission in Sunagakure, so Josuke's defection began right here.

He was finally going to become a Rogue Ninja. Just thinking about it made him a little excited—ehehe.

Truth be told, he felt a little guilty. After all, although there were some bad people in Konoha, most of them were good...

Josuke slowly walked over to Orochimaru.

By then, Kakashi had broken through the Crystal Style attack. Orochimaru's group and Josuke were now exposed to everyone's view.

Everyone was stunned. They had no idea what Josuke was doing.

Naruto in particular stared at Josuke in disbelief.

"Josuke, what are you doing?"

Naruto's question echoed the thoughts of nearly everyone there. Was Josuke really going to follow the same path Sasuke had?

How could that be?

Almost nobody believed it.

That just wasn't like Josuke...

But as Josuke drew closer to Orochimaru, everyone began to realize how serious the situation was.

Kakashi and Might Guy stepped forward, trying to stop Josuke, but a sudden attack from a snake hand caught them off guard.

Orochimaru looked at them with a cold, amused gaze. Don't blame me. Your Josuke has been in contact with me for three years. What a pity. Of course, those were only his inner thoughts.

What would Josuke do if he said that out loud?

He'd probably tear him to shreds on the spot, so Orochimaru naturally kept it to himself.

Kakashi looked at Orochimaru and Guren blocking their way. He knew that he and Might Guy probably wouldn't be able to get free.

"Josuke, come back! Orochimaru's no good!"

Naruto's expression was a jumble of emotions: anger, confusion, shock, sadness... He didn't understand. Why? Why was this happening?

With Might Guy and Kakashi tied up, Naruto was the only one who could stop Josuke.

But that was more than enough. Gaara, Tenten, Rock Lee, and Neji had already been put out of action by the attack, while Sakura was busy treating everyone and couldn't get away.

"Josuke, meet us at the agreed location."

Orochimaru summoned several giant snakes to hold Kakashi and Might Guy back, then turned to Josuke and spoke.

Josuke understood. He checked the direction to make sure he had it right, then hurried off that way.

Seeing this, Naruto immediately chased after him.

The view grew more and more distant. Soon, Naruto was the only one behind him; everything else had disappeared from sight. The scenery changed from desert to hills, then from hills to a riverbank.

The broad river forced Josuke to stop for the moment.

Naruto caught up with him then.

"Josuke, come back to Konoha with me! Orochimaru's no good!"

Naruto reached out to stop him.

Josuke turned around. His Perfect Form Three Tomoe Sharingan appeared, and he laughed aloud.

"Why do you think Konoha is so great? The Third Hokage was a complete failure. Have they brainwashed you or something? This is ridiculous."

Naruto couldn't believe Josuke had said those words.

His beloved Third Grandpa had just been slandered like that, and by his closest friend.

"You..."

Naruto didn't know how to argue back.

He murmured,

"Don't go. Please, Josuke... I... I can give up on my dream of becoming Hokage..."

Hearing that, Josuke raised a hand and slapped Naruto. "Why are you so pathetic?"

Josuke was suffering terribly inside, too. He and Naruto had been together for so long that they were practically brothers. They were true friends.

"You'd just give up on your dream like that? That's shameful."

With that, he turned to leave.

"No... Josuke, please, don't do this... I've already lost Sasuke. I can't lose you too!!!"

As he spoke, Naruto dropped to his knees.

Josuke was stunned. For some reason, anger surged through him. He punched Naruto hard in the bridge of the nose, and blood poured from Naruto's face.

Then a storm of punches came raining down on Naruto.

(ORA ORA ORA)

Naruto was beaten until he was covered in blood, but he didn't make a sound.

Finally, after who knew how many punches, Josuke grew tired. He angrily kicked Naruto.

"Why? Why won't you fight back? Why?"

He kicked him several more times.

Then he turned to leave, but Naruto grabbed his left foot. Beaten and weak, Naruto could barely hold on.

"Don't... don't go. Please."

An indescribable feeling welled up inside him. Naruto, don't be like this. Don't make me kill you, Josuke thought. Blood ran from the Sharingan in his eyes.

This only happened when a member of the Uchiha clan experienced intense negative emotions.

I'm not going back to Konoha...

Then Josuke stopped. Naruto thought he'd changed his mind, but instead a Rasengan struck him in the back.

Of course, Josuke had reduced its power. Naruto was fine, though his stomach hurt a lot.

"I've been pretending to be a good person for long enough. I'm sick of it. Let me tell you, Naruto: everything you've seen from me was an act. To me, you're a loser, trash, a stinking fox demon, an unwanted orphan!!"

"I looked down on you from the start, you know? It's ridiculous. You've been fooled all this time and never even realized it. You wag your tail like a dog, begging its master to forgive it,

what a pathetic little worm!"

No... That's not true... Josuke isn't like that!

Naruto was hurt, but that didn't mean he couldn't hear. Josuke's insults and slander pierced Naruto's fragile heart like blades.

Even now, Naruto couldn't believe Josuke was like this.

Josuke: You're weirdly good at guessing, kid. (sly grin)