JJL Chapter 77

Equivalent Exchange and the University Hospital, Part 1 (等価交換と大学病院①) is the seventy-seventh chapter of JoJolion and the nine hundred twenty fourth chapter of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure manga.

Summary
recalls how the Rokakaka fruit discovered in the plateaus of Papua New Guinea was found to have a medical use, although it's a finding that hasn't been published anywhere. was about to retire due to his right shoulder injury but then ate a Rokakaka to trade his healthy lower jaw for his shoulder to be cured. Likewise, Josuke's body was formed by the equivalent exchange of the bodies of and Josefumi Kujo. This was the effect of the New Rokakaka, and he lost his memories as a result.

Joshu threatens Rai for being the one who lit the orchard on fire, suspicious of him for appearing in their house all of a sudden. Norisuke interjects that he was the one who invited Rai to protect their fruit, although Joshu is still wary. Josuke explains to the family that the Higashikata House was attacked because of the Rokakaka, and the branch was stolen by 🇺🇳. Norisuke realizes they were Rock Humans, while Tsurugi and Jobin sweat nervously since they are the true holders of the branch. Jobin cautiously asks whether Josuke is certain that the ambulance drivers have the branch. Calming down once he realizes Josuke truly doesn't know, Jobin states that it shouldn't take long to track the culprits down, as the ambulances would have come from the fire station under jurisdiction of the university hospital. Rai declares that the Rokakaka branch will start to bear fruit in a minimum of 10 days, and that is their new time limit to retrieve it. Joshu doesn't believe that it can bear fruit that quickly and insults the plant appraiser. Apathetic to Joshu's taunts, Rai reveals that it's possible if the branch is grafted to a cactus. Hato wonders what the family will do now that their ancestral orchard was burned down. On that subject, Joshu announces his big plans to create a new business with the burnt land. They could start a " Hunting Tour" in the orchard, where they stick a couple of mushrooms under some leaves. He believes it'll be a big success due to Morioh being full of tourists. He rambles about various attractions they could have until Daiya interrupts to let him know that everybody already left. Nonetheless, she cheers him on because she thinks it's a tradition in the Higashikata family to not get much recognition when you're young.

Alone, Rai reveals to Josuke that he knows that it wasn't Poor Tom nor the ambulance drivers who lit the orchard on fire, but that it was Jobin. Josuke finds this hard to believe, but Rai assures him that Jobin's behavior gave it away. Rai plans to investigate Jobin while he and Josuke also must deal with the two ambulance drivers, as he remembers their ambulance's license plate number.

Meanwhile, Mitsuba Higashikata parks her car at the university hospital garage and heads to the elevator. She lets the elevator doors close without letting an old lady in, either due to her nonchalance or because she didn't hear her. In the 🇺🇳's office, she complains that her right ear can't hear anything, her allergies are acting up, and she's having trouble breathing, even falling unconscious that morning due to the latter. Her doctor is dismissive of her claims, as he eats but agrees to examine her. He pulls her hair back to reveal much of the right portion of her scalp underneath along with her ear has hardened into stone and is crumbling away, but he says she is in perfect health. Mitsuba doesn't believe him but the doctor says she just convinced herself that she can't hear.

Mitsuba mentions that the first time she came to that hospital was because her breasts were sagging and she got a treatment there to lift them. However, all of her teeth became rocks in exchange. She started drooling, nothing she ate tasted good anymore, and she constantly had to cover her mouth while eating. Her doctor interrupts her to drink a silicon-infused water, before assuaging her fears. Mitsuba says she has been keeping everything a secret from her husband Jobin, and he hasn't noticed anything wrong. However, she is worried about Tsurugi noticing and asking why her skin is like that. Begging the doctor to make her look perfect, he makes a quick phone call before saying he has a perfect treatment method for a one-time only situation. He claims he'll do the treatment for 200 million yen and that it is her decision to make.

In the hospital waiting room, Yasuho Hirose hears the news about the fire in the orchard of the Higashikata House. Wondering whether Josuke and Rai are okay, she winces due to menstrual pain. Just then, she notices Mitsuba crossing the hallway in a wheelchair with her ankles crumbling to the bone and her feet turned to stone. 10 days, 19 hours, and 6 minutes remain until the harvest of the Rokakaka fruit.