Awakened

Danzō then summoned his subordinates and gave them some unknown instructions. Once they understood, they got up and left.

Josuke's defection caused quite a stir within the Hidden Leaf Village, but because of Tsunade, the matter soon settled down.

People continued living as usual...

As for Josuke, the protagonist of this incident, he finally woke up after it happened...

The moment Josuke opened his eyes, he saw Orochimaru and Kabuto looking at him. Several tubes were connected to his body. Hiss—

His head hurt!

"It's fine, don't worry. A headache is a normal reaction."

Orochimaru said.

As he looked at Josuke, it was as though he were gazing upon a perfect sculpture, filling him with immense excitement. Josuke truly had not disappointed him. He had successfully fused the improved Hashirama Cells perfectly.

The only question was whether he could now use the legendary Wood Release.

After a long while, Josuke finally recovered and asked Orochimaru flatly,

"What happened to the injuries on my body?"

"You treated me, didn't you?"

Josuke's confusion was understandable. After all, his battle with Naruto had left him crippled. Without prompt treatment, he would have been practically half useless.

Yet when he woke up, all the injuries on his body had vanished. Even the scars left behind from past missions were gone.

Orochimaru saw through Josuke's confusion.

He said excitedly,

"That's right. And I implanted a few little things into your body as well, making you even stronger than before!"

A few little things?

Hashirama Cells?

That was the first thing Josuke thought of, but then he reconsidered. If they were Hashirama Cells, shouldn't he have been bleached white?

Yet there was nothing unusual on his body now.

That was pretty strange.

However, Josuke could feel that his chakra reserves had multiplied several times over.

"Hashirama Cells?"

Josuke asked aloud. That was the only possibility he could think of.

Orochimaru, on the other hand, looked at Josuke in surprise. He had never expected Josuke to know about such a thing.

"Heh heh heh, correct. As expected of Josuke-kun, you guessed it right away. But these aren't ordinary Hashirama Cells—they are Hashirama Cells improved by me!!!"

So that was it? Josuke looked at Orochimaru in surprise. That explained everything.

"Thanks. I owe you one."

With that, Josuke removed all the instruments attached to his body, put on his clothes, and got up to leave, leaving Orochimaru and Kabuto standing there.

What Josuke did not know was that Orochimaru had taken a gamble as well.

The fact that he had not croaked was purely because he was capable.

Josuke wandered casually around Orochimaru's base. This was most likely just one of Orochimaru's smaller hideouts. He had not seen his stupid little brother.

Josuke had no idea what the road ahead would bring. The official beginning of the main storyline also meant that the ninja war was drawing closer...

He would just go with the flow, Josuke thought. Oh, right—he remembered there was something else that happened after Gaara was captured.

Thinking about it now, it was probably coming soon.

The Hashirama Cells had fused into Josuke's body, but for the time being, he still could not use Wood Release. He wondered when he would be able to use it. It would probably take time to awaken.

(Drawing a line through the plot here. Josuke did not appear during the Tenchi Bridge incident and was instead recuperating. Kakashi was also recovering because he had overused his eye while rescuing Gaara. The new Team 7 was reactivated as well: Yamato, Naruto, Sakura, and Sai.

During his recovery, Josuke successfully learned Wood Release... The current point in the story was Naruto and the others meeting Sasuke again after three years.)

By then, Josuke had moved from the original base to Orochimaru's main base, but for certain reasons, he had not met Sasuke.

Orochimaru fled back into the base in a sorry state.

Seeing this, Josuke stepped forward and supported Orochimaru.

"You all right?"

Cold sweat streamed down Orochimaru's face. He had suffered considerable injuries in his battle with Naruto. Josuke slowly helped Orochimaru over to a nearby seat.

Kabuto and Sai also walked over.

Josuke looked at Sai. He was fairly handsome and had very pale skin. So you're the one, huh?

An inexplicable fire burned within Josuke. Kishimoto, what kind of manga did you draw? Does this guy deserve it?

Josuke knew that Sai was currently acting as Danzō's dog and a double agent, so he watched Sai warily.

Sai sensed Josuke's hostility, but he did not know whether the person looking at him was Josuke or Sasuke.

Still, he smiled at Josuke and Sasuke.

After resting for quite some time, Orochimaru recovered and said with a smile, "I forgot to introduce him. This is Sai, one of Danzō's men."

Josuke nodded. Orochimaru had not hidden his dealings with Danzō from Josuke, instead telling him about them openly.

Orochimaru trusted Josuke.

Seeing that Orochimaru was fine, Josuke returned to his own room. He had only moved here the day before yesterday, so he still needed plenty of time to familiarize himself with the surroundings.

As for whether he would meet Sasuke, he had not really planned on it. His little brother was currently in his edgy rebellious phase, and no one's words would get through to him.

After Sai finished explaining the matter, he left as well.

He did not linger.

Just like in the original story, he was captured by Yamato and the others, and just like in the original story, he fought Kabuto.

Together with Team 7 led by Yamato, they arrived at Orochimaru's secret base.

Just as the three of them left the outer perimeter, Josuke appeared outside and looked at Kabuto.

"You should be able to undo it yourself, right?"

Josuke said with a smile.

Although he and Kabuto could not be considered friends, they had spent enough time together to exchange a few words and chat.

Just as Josuke had said, Kabuto easily undid the wooden chains binding him.

"How are things down there?"

Kabuto asked.

Josuke thought for a moment.

"Orochimaru told us to act according to the situation."

Kabuto nodded and went to support Orochimaru.

Josuke, meanwhile, arrived at an open area nearby and waited for them to emerge aboveground.

Sure enough, just as Josuke had expected, a loud crash rang out and the ground split apart. Sasuke, Sai, and the others were all exposed to the sunlight.

Josuke knew it was time for him to make his move.

As the smoke cleared,

broken rocks lay scattered everywhere. From far away, Sakura spotted Sasuke standing high above.

Naruto and the others saw him as well.

As Naruto looked at Sasuke, whom he had not seen in a long time, he was overwhelmed with excitement. After being guided by Jiraiya and Kakashi during this time, he had finally emerged from the shadow of Josuke's defection.

He had also made his future goal clear: bring both brothers back to the Hidden Leaf Village. It was that simple.

And now, finally—finally—he had seen the brother he had been thinking about day and night.

"Sasuke!"

Naruto shouted happily.