Bleach x Naruto: Shinigami in Konoha

"Hmph, then don't forget that I only stayed in your Broken Ninja Village because of the plan you promised." Uchiha Setsuna replied coldly, his words as sharp as ever.

Orochimaru's smile remained unchanged, but he scoffed inwardly. Heh, as if you didn't come crawling here just to escape Konoha's pursuit... and now you make it sound like I begged you to stay.

But naturally, Orochimaru wouldn't voice such thoughts.

"That plan will be implemented soon. Before that… I wonder if you're interested in meeting a certain member of your clan?" Orochimaru asked slyly, changing the subject with a faint smirk.

"What do you mean?" Uchiha Setsuna's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Orochimaru casually spoke two names. The moment the words left his mouth, Setsuna's expression darkened drastically. His fists clenched as he gritted his teeth.

"Where are they?"

"Hehe… I knew you'd be interested. Let's go together. I'm quite eager to meet them too." Orochimaru's lips curled as he turned. Satisfied with Setsuna's reaction, the two left the underground laboratory together...

---

In a small village in the Land of Rice Fields

Nothing had happened overnight. By the next morning, Sasuke and the others arrived at the small village where the couple had last seen their child. Strangely, several families in this village had experienced similar disappearances.

Sasuke, Itachi, and Sai questioned the villagers, but their efforts yielded nothing useful. They agreed to split up to search for clues, with the couple accompanying Itachi to help recognize any signs of their missing child.

Sasuke wandered toward the eastern side of the village. High above, a chakra-enhanced crow—one of Itachi's summon animals—followed him silently.

"Feels good to be on my own again," Sasuke stretched, speaking to himself. "Too bad this mission can't be handled solo."

He didn't like working in groups. Solitary missions were always more efficient… but this one wasn't simple.

"Given Orochimaru's tendencies, any base or lab is likely underground." Sasuke analyzed calmly. If he found something, he planned to call the others. After all, even with his current strength, going against a Kage-level shinobi like Orochimaru solo would be suicide. At least until he mastered Bankai with any of the Zanpakutō.

"Hadō #58: Tenran!"

Sasuke closed his eyes and sensed the area's reiryoku signature. He quickly detected an area beneath the ground where the energy was denser.

Technically, casting Tenran required forming a complete spell circle. But with Sasuke's current proficiency, he could skip that.

"Oi, crow—go tell Nii-san I've found something." Sasuke called to the black avian. It gave a caw and soared away, and Sasuke dashed toward the point of interest.

Back in the southern part of the village, Itachi received the psychic crow's message and immediately rushed toward Sasuke's location. He dispatched another crow to inform Sai. As for the couple, he told them to return home—fighting was likely, and bringing civilians would be a liability.

---

Sasuke arrived at the spot he'd detected. He stood over it, troubled.

His first instinct was to blast the ground open with Hadō, but if the missing children were imprisoned below, it might kill them.

Guess I'll have to find an entrance the old-fashioned way, Sasuke thought with frustration.

He could pinpoint their location underground, but without an entrance, there was no safe way down.

"Sasuke, did you find anything?" Itachi and Sai had just arrived.

"There's a lot of chakra beneath us," Sasuke said, pointing down. "It's too uniform to be natural. I think this place is linked to our mission."

"Wait... Sasuke-kun, you can use detection ninjutsu?" Sai asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Eh, I dabble." Sasuke coughed dryly.

"Anyway, there's probably a basement or tunnel below. We need to find the entrance."

"Leave that to me." Sai pulled out a blank scroll and began sketching with swift precision. Ink mice formed on the paper beneath his brush.

"Ninpō: Super Beast Imitating Drawing!" With a hand sign, the mice came alive and scattered in all directions.

"Rats are good at finding burrows," Sai added casually.

Lately, he'd been plagued with odd feelings—as if he had been absent from missions with Team 7, despite remembering them clearly. It confused him, but he wanted to contribute now, to prove his worth.

Sasuke watched the mice scurry with mild interest. It was refreshing to see Sai not arguing with thin air for once.

In truth, Sasuke used to ask Itachi to put Sai under a genjutsu during missions so Sasuke could complete them solo. But Itachi had grown dissatisfied, saying Sai should pull his own weight. Meanwhile, they'd sit around, drinking tea and eating mochi.

Sasuke sometimes wondered: maybe in the original story, Kisame really did handle all the missions while Itachi loitered at the dango shop.

Soon, the ink mice returned. They ran across the open scroll and transformed into brushstrokes forming words:

[Cave system two kilometers north]

"That's our entrance," Sai said after reading the writing aloud.

"Alright," Itachi nodded. "Sasuke, you scout ahead. Sai, follow. I'll bring up the rear in case of any threats."

"Wait, Mr. Itachi," Sai interjected, "shouldn't I take the lead instead? Sasuke is still technically a genin. It might be dangerous for him."

Sasuke froze briefly, a strange look on his face. Did he figure it out?

Itachi blinked at Sai's suggestion, paused for a second, then nodded. "Alright. Sai, you take point."

Sai, satisfied, moved forward.

The trio quickly reached the cave Sai had discovered. At the entrance, Itachi created a shadow clone and instructed it to remain outside with Sai. He and Sasuke then stepped into the cave together.

Inside, the narrow passage smelled of damp stone. The air was cold and heavy with moisture. But otherwise, the place seemed empty.

"Doesn't look like this leads to a basement either," Sasuke muttered.

The cave was shallow. Moss clung to the walls, but there was no sign of life or structure.

"Keep looking," Itachi said calmly.

He had already noticed something—but he didn't tell Sasuke right away.

Sasuke scanned again, focusing. Eventually, his eyes landed on the far rock wall.

"Hadō #31: Shakkahō!"

A burst of crimson energy exploded forward.