Doctor Wu and Awaking 3 Leaves (story arc)

Equivalent Exchange and the University Hospital (等価交換と大学病院) is the eighteenth story arc of JoJolion.

It follows the subsequent investigation by the protagonists of Morioh's University Hospital, as well as Yasuho and Mitsuba Higashikata's confrontation against Wu Tomoki.

Summary
In the aftermath of the latest attack on the Higashikata Family, Josuke, Rai and Norisuke explain to the rest of the gathered family sans Mitsuba Higashikata that the Rock Humans have burned down the orchard, taken the Rokakaka branch and that they have 10 days before a new fruit grows and their plan is foiled. Although they plan to investigate the hospital using a license plate as their only lead, Jobin Higashikata's slight insistence about "who" took the branch arouses Rai's suspicion who also plans to watch the eldest son.

Meanwhile, Mitsuba Higashikata goes to the university hospital to complain about her latest affliction: the side of her head is secretly turning into stone. Her physician, Dr. Wu Tomoki, then suspiciously proposes to her a secret new treatment; later Yasuho who has gone to the same hospital, sees Mitsuba without her legs. She calls Josuke and informs him of this, causing Josuke and Rai to worriedly rush to the hospital. Despite their warnings to not interfere, she decides to investigate further.

Following Mitsuba into an examination room, Yasuho explains the situation to Jobin's wife but is soon attacked by Dr. Tomoki, who can disassemble into small pebbles and infiltrate bodies. Thankfully, she manages to extract the fragments before she can be controlled. Mitsuba realizes that she doesn't know what the treatment to her ailments really is, and decides to ally with Yasuho.

Mitsuba only remembers entering a room full of the Rokakaka trees and reveals that she is pregnant. Wishing to investigate what was done to her, Mitsuba decides to fight. Dr. Wu Tomoki stops them from reaching Josuke and Rai in the lobby, but Mitsuba summons her Stand Awaking III Leaves whose vector power keep the pebbles away. Going into an elevator, Mitsuba tries to evacuate the rocks from her body but sees with horror that at least part of the foetus she's carrying has turned into stone. Then the two women are soon caught up by Tomoki.

Horrified and angry, Mitsuba manages to trap most of Wu Tomoki and then tosses him through a window. Resolving to save the baby, Mitsuba puts its fragments back into her body and heads to the examination room. Incidentally, Yasuho meets an old acquaintance of hers, Tooru. She asks Tooru to alert Josuke and Rai of her location, and while the two women investigate the room, looking at a video demonstration of the Rokakaka and opening the vault, Tooru meets with Josuke Rai. Tooru then reveals that he is Yasuho's ex-boyfriend.

In the laboratory containing a garden full of Rokakakas, Mitsuba wastes no time to eat one of the Rokakaka to save her foetus. However, Wu Tomoki has already returned and infiltrated the fruit, taking control of Mitsuba once again. She sends Yasuho flying into one of the laboratory's niches containing deadly diseases and breaks the vials and petri dishes open, threatening to kill anyone in the room. However, Yasuho returns some of the arrows against Tomoki and successfully purges him out of Mitsuba. Although Wu then turns the garden into fragment and tries to forcefeed the women, Josuke barges in and saves them with Soft & Wet, trapping Wu Tomoki inside a bubble mixed with medicinal cement. Wu suffocates due to the cement preventing skin respiration and dies.

Yasuho and Rai see that the stolen Rokakaka branch isn't there and everyone exits the room, but not before destroying the stored trees. Reaching to the conclusion that during their fight with Poor Tom, the branch was switched by a third party, the group begins to suspect Jobin Higashikata. Meanwhile, seeing her petrified nose, Mitsuba smiles as she knows her child is saved.

Chapters

 * 77 (924).
 * 78 (925).
 * 79 (926).
 * 80 (927).
 * 81 (928).
 * 82 (929).

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