Awakening

(The next few days will be a little update spree: two chapters a day, hehe. I was back in my hometown for a few days. The novel's stats in the author dashboard have been pretty good, but nobody's leaving comments QAQ. Okay, okay, enough of that. I'll get back to updating properly. Let's go, all right!!)

The downside was that the host needed to have both powerful vitality and the strength to suppress the Hashirama Cells!!

That was why the improved Hashirama Cells had never been put to widespread use. Josuke was the perfect test subject.

He had shown extraordinary strength from a young age. Thinking of this, Orochimaru let his long tongue slip out as he remembered the first time he'd met Josuke.

The Konoha Crush Plan.

That kid had stopped him to buy his teammates time to escape.

What a fine little brat.

It was just a question of whether he could hold out to the very end.

Orochimaru didn't know that beneath Josuke's tightly shut eyelids, the Sharingan had vanished. In its place was a pair of striking, crimson eyes shaped like Fuma Shuriken.

Back to the battle between Naruto and Josuke.

Their battle had torn up the ground. Josuke didn't want to fight Naruto, but he had no choice. Given the strength he'd shown so far,

that bastard Danzo would never let him go. He'd definitely do whatever it took to drag him into Root—or take his eyes.

So Josuke couldn't stay in Konoha. Besides, he still needed to get stronger, so he absolutely couldn't linger there. Just look at what kind of shinobi Konoha had.

Aside from Kakashi, Might Guy, and Naruto, who else was worth mentioning? Seriously.

So what if he became a Rogue Ninja? Josuke could clear his name later, so he didn't care. And sure, Orochimaru had been a bit of a bastard in the early days.

But he turned over a new leaf later, okay? My Orochimaru is a great, upstanding citizen.

The battle with Naruto reached its climax. Amid the flurry of fists, they could see glimpses of the moments they'd shared as children—but none of it could ever come back.

It wasn't only physical pain. The agony of the soul was far worse. Josuke finally understood, at least a little, the pain Itachi had felt.

Both of them were nearly out of Chakra. Their final strike would decide the winner.

Josuke formed a Chidori in his right hand, while Naruto shaped a Rasengan. They faced off for one final clash. But Naruto had forgotten that Josuke was an Uchiha, and the Sharingan could cast Genjutsu.

At the peak of their strength, such a trick would have been useless against Naruto. But now, when they both felt close to running on empty, the odds were in Josuke's favor.

The Sharingan activated, and the Genjutsu left Naruto dizzy. Josuke's Chidori struck him, and Naruto fell to the ground, badly wounded. Josuke wasn't much better off.

His Chakra was depleted, and using the Sharingan by force had left blood streaming from his eyes. Meanwhile, Naruto's Rasengan had struck Josuke in the chest.

Josuke felt as though his life were flashing before his eyes: Naruto, Sasuke, his parents, his family... Ino...

A strange emotion welled up inside him. His Sharingan spun rapidly in its sockets. Blood obscured it, but even that couldn't hide its terrifying Chakra.

By now, Josuke was completely exhausted. He fought on purely by instinct, and without his realizing it, the battle ended—and his Mangekyo awakened.

It sounded ridiculous, but it was true: the Mangekyo had awakened without Josuke even knowing.

Back in the laboratory.

The Hashirama Cells kept churning restlessly. But once the cells in Josuke's body sensed their arrival, they gradually began to merge with them.

The process was incredibly arduous, but Josuke ultimately overcame the Hashirama Cells. It took three days and three nights...

Back in Konoha, after Orochimaru retreated from the battlefield, Kakashi and the others followed him and eventually reached the spot where Josuke and Naruto had fought.

Kakashi saw Naruto lying unconscious on the ground and immediately reported what had happened to Konoha.

After some basic treatment, Naruto's injuries were no longer so serious. It was hard not to marvel at the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki's terrifying ability to heal.

But Josuke had still slipped away. This was a serious problem: he was the last surviving member of the Uchiha Clan.

Kakashi reported everything to Tsunade, who was deeply shocked when she heard the news.

She couldn't help remembering what her great-grandfather had said: "Uchiha kids are all born evil little Uchiha brats..."

Tsunade took the matter extremely seriously and immediately listed Josuke as an S-rank Konoha fugitive.

The news sent the village into an uproar. Most of the Twelve Rookie Shinobi found it impossible to believe, especially Ino. At first, she refused to believe it. Then Sakura told her the whole story.

Ino was stunned. It felt as though all the strength had drained out of her.

Two streams of tears ran down her cheeks.

Why? Why had this happened?

Of course, Ino didn't say any of that aloud. She kept her questions in her heart, waiting for the day she would meet Josuke again.

In a private room at Konoha Hospital, Naruto jolted awake from a nightmare. He'd dreamed of fighting Josuke and being thoroughly beaten.

Just as Josuke was about to kill him, Naruto suddenly woke with a start. He gasped for breath and looked around at his surroundings, realizing that his mission had failed.

He hadn't managed to bring Josuke back. He...

"Naruto, you're awake?"

Who else could it be but Kakashi, sitting on a chair beside him?

Kakashi gazed at Naruto with concern in his eyes. Physical injuries could heal, but the wounds left in the heart were much harder to mend.

Looking at Kakashi's handsome face, Naruto asked him,

"Kakashi-sensei... Josuke..."

Kakashi naturally knew what Naruto was thinking, but he couldn't tell him yet. At least not for a few days.

When Kakashi didn't answer, Naruto didn't say anything more. He simply stared silently out the window at the beautiful scenery.

Josuke's defection brought both joy and sorrow. The one who was happiest, of course, was Danzo. He'd long since heard his subordinates speak of Josuke's great reputation.

He'd been thinking of bringing him into Root and making him his most loyal killer—or having Josuke hand over his Sharingan. Hahaha!!

The arm wrapped in white bandages looked eerie. Only a few people knew what was really inside. Danzo thought it over, then decided to follow through with that plan...