Forced to Fuse with Hashirama Cells

Qiuyang suddenly felt his vision go dark as he set Nadeshiko down. Only then did he notice a dull ache in his back.

He realized he must have been poisoned by that old fox Sasori.

He was at a complete loss.

If he'd known Deidara had such weak resistance to genjutsu, he should've used the Flying Thunder God to get within five meters and cast it directly.

Instead, in that critical moment, Sasori's tail had suddenly extended another segment and sliced him open.

What should he do? This poison had been incredibly potent in the original story...

With a trembling hand, Qiuyang tried to take out the antidote he carried with him. But as he raised his arm, he realized his mind was already growing hazy, and he couldn't muster an ounce of strength.

Then... he simply toppled forward into Nadeshiko's arms.

Nadeshiko was still trying to recover from the shock of having narrowly escaped death when a huge head suddenly crashed into her chest. Her temper flared.

"What are you doing at a time like this, Uchiha Qiuyang? How dare you try something!"

If he hadn't just saved her life, Nadeshiko would've been so furious she'd have pulled out her kunai and fought him.

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

You lecher.

She shoved with both hands, and poor Qiuyang was sent sprawling onto the cold floor. The back of his head hit with a sharp crack.

That was when Nadeshiko realized something was wrong. She hurriedly knelt down, rolled Qiuyang over, and laid his head in her lap to get a better look. At some point, the lecher's lips had turned pale blue.

This was... a sign of poisoning!

Panicked, Nadeshiko gently patted his face with her small hand.

"Hey, Uchiha Qiuyang, how did you get poisoned? Hey, wake up!"

"Left... left pocket..."

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

Nadeshiko had no time to worry about propriety. She frantically searched Qiuyang's clothes, and actually found several scrolls and a syringe containing murky liquid.

Did he mean she should inject the antidote with this syringe? Nadeshiko picked it up and waved it in front of him.

"Is this what you mean?"

Unfortunately, Qiuyang had already closed his eyes and settled into a peaceful, prone position. He couldn't answer.

Never mind. His pulse was growing weaker by the second.

After feeling Qiuyang's pulse, Nadeshiko immediately opened the syringe and injected the entire contents into the man's body.

If Qiuyang had been even slightly conscious, he would've shouted:

"Deng Yixia, Deng Yixia..."

Then he would've told Nadeshiko that he'd actually meant for her to take the antidote stored in one of the scrolls and use it on him.

Not inject him with this syringe of Hashirama Cells...

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

The Sage of Six Paths had recorded on the Uchiha Clan's stone tablet: combining Yin Release Chakra and Yang Release Chakra could produce the Power of All Creation.

Uchiha Madara was the first to try it and put it into practice. Thanks to this, he successfully awakened the Rinnegan in his old age.

Obito couldn't be called the second. In his case, White Zetsu had fused with him using its own body; it wasn't his entire body that had received Hashirama Cells.

Now, Qiuyang had been forced to become the second person to attempt fusing Yin Release and Yang Release in the truest sense.

The process was bound to be excruciating!

As soon as the Hashirama Cells were injected, Qiuyang's body twisted.

"Ugh, ah..."

The cells' greatest trait was their astonishing vitality. Once injected into Qiuyang's body, they began multiplying at an unbelievable rate.

They quickly spread through every part of his body, squeezing out the space his original cells needed to survive.

An ordinary person would've been unable to bear it. They'd either burst apart and die, or their body would simply become nourishment for the Hashirama Cells, transforming them from a living person into a tree with lush branches and leaves.

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

But Qiuyang belonged to the Uchiha Clan, who carried the Sage of Six Paths' bloodline, so he had some resistance to these cells.

And the Hashirama Cells in his body had also been modified by that scientist, Snake Auntie. As a result, they couldn't completely overwhelm him.

On the contrary, after Qiuyang's original cells had been suppressed for a while, they slowly began to push back...

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

As for Sasori's poison in his body... it happened to cancel out the power of the Cursed Seal planted by Snake Auntie, and all of it became nourishment for the expanding Hashirama Cells.

You could say he'd gained a tiny bit of good fortune from his misfortune.

Nadeshiko had no idea that a world-shaking change was taking place inside the man lying on her lap after she injected him with the Hashirama Cells.

When she saw the blue tint fade from his lips, she was happy, thinking the poison had really been cured!

But immediately afterward, Qiuyang's expression twisted. He writhed in agony, his waist contorting as if he were in terrible pain.

"Ah..."

At a loss, she hurriedly covered his mouth with her hand, afraid his cries would give away their position.

The flying Explosion Release ninja was perfect for reconnaissance, and she didn't think she could beat him either.

Perhaps he'd heard her anxious thoughts, because Qiuyang really did quiet down.

The sky outside the cave gradually changed as night gently fell.

He still showed no sign of waking.

By the time Nadeshiko returned to the cave with a bucket of water, Qiuyang's cells were still locked in a standoff. The memories of his two lifetimes kept flashing through his mind.

He started babbling nonsense.

What Nadeshiko heard was a string of remarks like:

"What are you barking about? I asked you, what are you barking about?" "The pressure is killing me..."

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

"I washed some Sunshine Green Grapes... ah... delicious... wa..."

She couldn't understand any of these trendy catchphrases from another world, which made her a little curious about the man before her.

She tore off a piece of her clothing, soaked it in water, wrung it out, and placed it on his forehead to cool him down. She'd risked being discovered to fetch water because she'd noticed Qiuyang had a fever that afternoon.

After doing all that, Nadeshiko propped her chin on her hands and, for the first time, took a good look at the man lying on the ground and babbling. If she looked closely, the lecher was actually kind of handsome!

It was just that his lecherous personality wouldn't do. From the moment they'd first met until the enemy attacked today, he'd always stared at her, and even gotten handsy.

If she was to believe what her master had told her before leaving, she and the man in front of her were supposed to... Nadeshiko's face turned red. She hurriedly banished the image from her mind.

She repeatedly reminded herself that she was only staying to look after him because he'd saved her. Under the circumstances, she couldn't just leave him behind.

Still, she hadn't forgotten that he'd groped her. So she gave Qiuyang's face two vengeful slaps.

"That's what you get for bullying me. Hmph!"

Later that night, Nadeshiko was woken again by a tuneless song.

"Leaving behind a soft, wavering tune, burying all love, hate, and partings deep inside. The sunset breeze grows cold..."

This folk song carried Qiuyang's longing for the world he'd left behind, buried deep in his heart.

"With a long sword, I'll paint the riverbank; with the bright moon, I'll capture every flawlessness. The years stretch on, yet pass in a flash..."

This was Qiuyang's dream, after crossing over, of roaming the Naruto World as a swordsman and champion of the downtrodden.

I've never heard these songs before, Nadeshiko thought, rubbing her eyes. She looked up and saw that the moonlight had vanished from outside the cave. Only a few stars twinkled down at her.

The current situation of the enemies who'd attacked them was unknown, and she hadn't dared to light a fire. In the pitch-darkness, she felt her way forward, following the sound, wanting to see if Qiuyang still had a fever.

The first thing she touched was his cold arm. Startled, she quickly pulled her hand back.

If she hadn't heard him softly humming, Nadeshiko would've thought he'd been dead for a long time.

Just as she was about to withdraw her hand, the unconscious Qiuyang suddenly grabbed it, unwilling to let this hard-won source of warmth leave him. Then, shamelessly, he buried his head in her chest again and nuzzled against her.

"I like you so much. Don't go."

Nadeshiko blushed. Even when she pushed with both hands, she couldn't budge him. In the end, she resentfully tugged his hair a few times, then could only give up and let him hold her.

He was unconscious, anyway. She'd just pretend he was... the little puppy her master had given her when she was a child. He simply liked the sense of security that came from being held!