Forced Fusion of Hashirama Cells

Uchiha Qiu Yang set down Nadeshiko, whom he had been carrying, but suddenly felt the world go black and noticed a dull, throbbing pain in his back.

It was only then that he realized he must have been poisoned by that old fox, Sasori.

He could have cried, if only he had the tears.

Had he known Deidara's resistance to genjutsu was so weak, he should have used the Flying Thunder God to close the five-meter gap and launch a genjutsu immediately.

Instead, he had been forced into a desperate situation where Sasori's tail had suddenly extended, leaving him with a nasty gash.

What now? This kind of poison was notoriously lethal in the original story...

Uchiha Qiu Yang's hands trembled as he tried to reach for his antidote, but as he lifted his arm, he realized his consciousness was already blurring and he lacked the strength to move.

And so... he simply tipped over, falling gracefully into Nadeshiko's arms.

Nadeshiko was still busy calming her nerves after their brush with death when a large head suddenly slammed into her chest, igniting her fury:

"What time do you think it is, Uchiha Qiu Yang? How dare you pull something like this?"

If not for the fact that this guy had just saved her life, Nadeshiko would have been tempted to pull out a kunai and fight him to the death right then and there.

After all, the noble tradition of her village was: life is precious, but a woman's integrity is worth even more.

The wretched lecher.

She pushed hard against the person on her chest, sending poor Uchiha Qiu Yang tumbling onto the cold floor, his head hitting the ground with a crisp thud.

Only then did Nadeshiko realize something was wrong. She hurriedly knelt, flipped him over, and rested his head on her lap to observe him, noticing that the lecher's lips had turned a pale, sickly blue.

This was... a sign of poisoning!

Panicked, Nadeshiko tapped his face gently with her small hand:

"Hey, Uchiha Qiu Yang, how are you poisoned? Hey, wake up!"

"In the left... left pocket..."

Left pocket? Did he mean there was an antidote in his left pocket?

Nadeshiko, no longer caring about the boundaries between men and women, frantically searched him and actually found a few scrolls and a syringe filled with a murky liquid.

Did he mean for her to inject this as an antidote? Nadeshiko picked up the syringe and waved it in front of him:

"Is this what you meant?"

Unfortunately, Uchiha Qiu Yang had already closed his eyes and lay there peacefully, unable to answer.

No matter. His pulse was growing weaker by the second.

After checking his pulse, Nadeshiko opened the syringe and injected the entire tube of liquid into the man's body.

If Uchiha Qiu Yang had even a shred of consciousness left, he would have definitely screamed:

"Deng Yixia, Deng Yixia..."

And then told Nadeshiko that he actually wanted her to take the antidote stored in the scrolls and use that on him.

Instead of injecting this tube of Hashirama Cells...

He wasn't ready for this, yet through a twist of fate, he had become the first test subject.

The Sage of Six Paths recorded in the Uchiha Clan's stone tablet that combining Yin Release chakra with Yang Release chakra could grant the power of all creation.

Uchiha Madara was the first to attempt and practice this, and by doing so, he successfully awakened the Rinnegan in his old age.

Obito didn't count as the second; his case involved White Zetsu actively merging with his body, rather than his entire body accepting the Hashirama Cells.

Now, Uchiha Qiu Yang had passively become the second person in the true sense to attempt to fuse Yin and Yang Release.

Extreme pain during this process was inevitable!

As soon as the Hashirama Cells were injected, Uchiha Qiu Yang's body began to writhe:

"Ugh, ah..."

The greatest characteristic of these cells was their incredibly tenacious vitality. Once injected into Uchiha Qiu Yang's body, they proliferated at an unbelievable speed.

They rapidly occupied every part of his body, squeezing out the space for his original cells to survive.

An ordinary person would have been unable to bear it and would have either exploded or had their body become nutrients for the Hashirama Cells, turning from a living human into a lush, leafy tree.

Just like the white mice and rabbits he had experimented on.

But Uchiha Qiu Yang was of the Uchiha Clan, possessing the bloodline of the Sage of Six Paths, and was relatively resistant to such cells.

Furthermore, the Hashirama Cells within him had been modified by the scientist Snake Auntie, so they did not achieve a total victory within his body.

On the contrary, after being suppressed for a time, Uchiha Qiu Yang's original cells actually began to push back...

Gradually, the two sets of cells in his body reached a delicate state of balance.

And the poison from Sasori... happened to cancel out the power of the Cursed Seal planted by Snake Auntie, both becoming nutrients for the expansion of the Hashirama Cells.

It could be considered a blessing in disguise.

Nadeshiko, having finished injecting the Hashirama Cells into Uchiha Qiu Yang, remained unaware of the earth-shattering changes occurring within the man lying on her lap.

When she observed the blue tint on the man's lips fading, she was overjoyed that the poison had truly been neutralized!

But immediately after, Qiuyang's expression turned ferocious, and he twisted his waist in agony, as if enduring immense pain: "Ah..."

At a loss, she hurriedly reached out to cover his mouth, fearing that the sounds Qiuyang was making would reveal their location.

That flying Explosion Release ninja was far too well-suited for reconnaissance, and she felt she couldn't defeat that person either.

Perhaps having heard her nervous inner plea, Qiuyang actually quieted down.

Outside the cave, the sky shifted quietly as the night gently descended.

He still showed no signs of waking up.

By the time Nadeshiko returned to the cave carrying a bucket of water, Qiuyang, whose internal cells were still locked in a stalemate, was experiencing a constant montage of memories from his two lives flashing through his mind.

He began to babble incoherently.

What reached Nadeshiko's ears was a string of phrases like:

"What are you barking about? I asked you what you're barking about?", "Yarimasu da..."

"Answer me, hmm, tell me why, baby, why??"

"Washed some Shine Muscat grapes... ah... delicious... wa..."

These kinds of internet memes from another world that she couldn't understand at all made her feel a spark of curiosity about the man before her.

Tearing off a piece of her clothing, she dipped it in water, wrung it out, and placed it on his forehead to bring his fever down; she had risked exposure to fetch water precisely because she discovered that afternoon that Qiuyang had a fever.

After finishing this, Nadeshiko rested her chin on her hands, observing the man lying on the ground muttering nonsense for the first time with serious intent. In truth, upon closer inspection, this lecher was actually somewhat handsome!

It was just his lecherous personality that wouldn't do; from their first meeting to the enemy attack today, he was always eyeing her and getting handsy.

If she followed what her master had told her before leaving, this man before her was supposed to... Nadeshiko's face burned red, and she hurriedly chased the images from her mind.

She repeatedly admonished herself, telling herself that staying behind to care for him was only because he had saved her, and that both in reason and sentiment, she could not abandon him to leave alone for the time being.

However, she still remembered being molested, so she retaliated by slapping Qiuyang's face twice: "That'll teach you to bully me, hmph!"

By the second half of the night, Nadeshiko was awakened again by a tone-deaf singing voice.

"Left behind the incoherent humming, hiding away all love, hate, and parting, the sunset and evening breeze are cool..."

This folk song was the longing for his original world that Qiuyang kept buried deep in his heart.

"Painting with a long sword on the riverbank, writing of perfection with the bright moon, the long years are but a fleeting moment..."

This was the yearning Qiuyang had held since crossing over, wanting to wield his sword and act as a hero in the Naruto World.

She had never heard these tunes before, Nadeshiko thought as she rubbed her eyes. Looking up, she realized the moonlight outside had long since vanished, leaving only tiny, twinkling stars watching her.

The status of the enemies who had attacked them remained unknown, so she didn't dare light a fire. In the pitch-black environment, she reached out her small hand, feeling her way toward the sound to see if Qiuyang still had a fever.

Her hand first touched his cold arm, startling her into pulling back.

If not for the fact that he was still humming softly, Nadeshiko would have thought he had been dead for a long time.

Just as she was about to pull her hand back, the unconscious Qiuyang suddenly reached out and grabbed it, refusing to let this hard-won source of warmth leave him, and even excessively buried his head in her embrace, rubbing against her:

"I like you so much, don't go."

Nadeshiko felt shy, but no matter how hard she pushed with both hands, she couldn't push him away. Finally, annoyed, she tugged at his hair a few times, but could only helplessly let him hold her like this.

Anyway, this lecher was in a coma; she would just pretend he was... that little puppy her master had given her during her childhood, just someone who liked the sense of security from being held!