"Hmph. Then don't forget that I only stayed in your pathetic ninja village because of the plan you promised me," Uchiha Setsuna retorted without mercy.
When Orochimaru heard him, he cursed his shamelessness inwardly. Aren't you obviously staying here to avoid Konoha's pursuit? And you're making it sound as if I begged you to stay.
Naturally, Orochimaru did not say any of that aloud.
"That plan will be put into action very soon. Before then, I wonder if you'd be interested in accompanying me to meet your fellow clansmen?" Orochimaru said with a smile, changing the subject as he addressed Uchiha Setsuna.
"What do you mean?" Uchiha Setsuna asked with a frown.
Orochimaru calmly uttered two names. Uchiha Setsuna's expression changed drastically when he heard them, and he asked through clenched teeth:
"Where are they?"
"Heh heh heh heh, I knew you'd be interested in them, Setsuna-kun. Let's go together. I happen to be very interested in them as well." Orochimaru was quite pleased by Uchiha Setsuna's reaction. The two of them then left the underground laboratory one after another...
A small village in the Land of Rice Fields
Nothing had happened throughout the night. Ye Wuyue and the others soon arrived at the village where the couple lived. Their child had gone missing there, and quite a few families in the village had suffered the same fate.
Ye Wuyue and the others questioned some villagers about the couple's village, but they did not obtain any useful information. They had no choice but to split up and search for clues. The couple followed Itachi; if they found any clues, they could help him identify what their missing child looked like.
Ye Wuyue was searching for clues alone on the eastern side of the small village. One of Itachi's summoned crows followed above him.
"I can finally be alone again. This feels great! Too bad I can't complete this mission by myself." Ye Wuyue stretched. He preferred handling missions alone because it gave him more freedom, but this mission could not be done that way.
"Given Orochimaru's habits, his laboratory should be underground." Ye Wuyue pondered for a while. He planned to call Itachi and the others over once he found a clue.
After all, with his current strength, he could not deal with a Kage Level powerhouse like Orochimaru. Things would be different once he completed the Bankai of any Zanpakuto.
"Bakudo #58: Tracking the Sparrow!"
Ye Wuyue closed his eyes and sensed the Spiritual Pressure around him. He soon located an area underground where the Spiritual Pressure was particularly concentrated.
Tracking the Sparrow originally required a formation to be drawn, but after Ye Wuyue had mastered it, that was no longer necessary.
"Hey, crow, tell big brother that I've found a clue." Ye Wuyue called up to the crow in the sky, then ran in a certain direction.
Itachi, who was searching for clues south of the village, received the message from the summoned crow and began heading toward Ye Wuyue. At the same time, he used another summoned crow to notify Sai. In any case, everything Sai saw and sensed could be an illusion he had created, so there was no need to worry about Sai discovering any secrets.
As for the couple, Itachi had sent them home. A battle was very likely to break out next, and bringing them along would be no different from bringing a burden.
Ye Wuyue soon reached the place he had sensed, but he was stumped this time.
He had originally planned to use Hado to blast a hole in the ground and enter directly. But then he reconsidered. If the missing children really were being held underground, they might be caught up in his actions and could even lose their lives as a result.
Do I have to search for an entrance somewhere nearby? Ye Wuyue thought in frustration.
Although he could easily locate people, he had no way to quickly find the entrance to the underground chamber.
"Sasuke, have you found any clues?" Itachi and Sai arrived at the same time.
Ye Wuyue said, "I sensed many Chakra fluctuations beneath us. I think they're probably related to our mission."
"Can Sasuke-kun use sensory ninjutsu?" Sai asked doubtfully.
"Ahem, I know a little. Just a little." Ye Wuyue coughed twice as he replied.
Then he continued, "I think there's an underground chamber below us. We need to find a way to locate its entrance."
"Leave this to me." As Sai spoke, he took out a blank scroll. He then gripped his brush in one hand and quickly drew a series of rats on it.
"Ninja Art: Super Beast Imitating Drawing!" After forming the hand seals, the rats on the scroll left it and became real before scattering in all directions.
"Rats should be better at finding underground tunnels, right?" Sai said.
Lately, Sai did not know what was wrong with him. He always felt as if he had never participated in Team Eleven's missions, yet he possessed the memories of completing those missions with them. This made him feel somewhat strange, while also making him want to contribute and show what he could do during the mission.
Watching the ink rats scatter, Ye Wuyue found it rather novel. This was probably the first time recently that Sai had not been locked in a battle of wits with thin air during a mission.
In the past, whenever they went on missions, Ye Wuyue had his big brother Itachi create an illusion for Sai in which he participated in the mission with them, while Ye Wuyue completed the mission himself.
But having to do this for so long had made Itachi somewhat dissatisfied. He felt they should use an illusion to send Sai off to carry out the mission alone, while the two of them sat down to eat sweets and drink tea.
Ye Wuyue had reason to suspect that, in the original story, the honest Kisame handled every mission by himself while Itachi sat in a dumpling shop eating sweets.
After a while, the rats Sai had released returned. They all bumped into the blank scroll Sai had spread open, then transformed into a line of writing.
[Travel two kilometers north to the cave]
"The entrance to the underground chamber should be here." After reading the writing on the scroll, Sai spoke to Ye Wuyue and Itachi.
"Good. Let's go, then. Sasuke will lead the way, followed by Sai. If anything happens, I can immediately notice it from behind and save you." Itachi spoke to Ye Wuyue and Sai.
"Itachi-sensei, why don't I lead the way instead? Sasuke is still a Genin, after all. It should be unsafe for him to scout ahead." Sai suddenly suggested.
Ye Wuyue's expression turned strange when he heard that. Could he have noticed something?
Itachi also froze for a moment at Sai's words. After hesitating briefly, he agreed to Sai's suggestion.
Thus, Sai walked at the very front "as he wished."
The three of them soon reached the cave Sai had mentioned.
At the cave entrance, Itachi created a Shadow Clone and had it remain outside with Sai, while he and Ye Wuyue entered the cave before them.
After entering the dark, damp cave, Ye Wuyue did not notice anything unusual for the moment.
"There's no path leading to an underground chamber here, either."
The cave was shallow and rather damp, yet nothing grew inside it.
"Look more carefully."
Itachi had already noticed something amiss, but he did not tell Ye Wuyue immediately.
After hearing Itachi's words, Ye Wuyue looked around the cave once more. In the end, his gaze fixed on the rock wall in front of him.
"Destructive Spell #31: Crimson Fire Cannon!"
Before you continue