A.N.: Here goes Sandaime again, he didn't see any action for quite some time. And with him somebody that had been requested.

Disclaimer: I don't own neither Bleach nor Naruto. Why do I have to repeat it every chapter?

Summoning the Shinigami

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Sarutobi was cursing himself inwardly. Why did he allow things to deteriorate that far? Because no matter how he looked at it, the current mess was entirely his fault. Why, oh why had he been so blind to Orochimaru's darker side? And it wasn't like he didn't know about it, he just had convinced himself that it didn't matter, that the prodigy would grow out of it. Whatever had possessed him when he let the Snake Sannin go away once his crimes had been exposed? Did he really think that his favorite student would have a change of heart and renounce his evil ways? How could he so easily disregard all the evidence when it was presented in front of his eyes?

He had to suppress a shudder when he remembered it. The secret underground lab had been truly terrifying. He could never forget the sight of the dissected bodies hanging on the walls, the organs floating in glass jars and the horribly mutilated something, which had only after close observation revealed that it had once been a man. He couldn't even imagine what inhumane procedures had been performed on it to change him into... that.

And now the reminder of his past failures was standing before him, smirking in his typical creepy way and hiding behind the reanimated bodies of his predecessors. He had tried fighting them, but it proved to be above his abilities. He was an old man now while those three were in their prime. His breath was already coming short while they showed no sign of being winded. He suspected they couldn't even run out of energy as long as their master (he shuddered at this word) was alive. A grim predicament indeed, but the Sandaime had no intentions of giving up. He was the Hokage and he was sworn to protect Konoha even if it should kill him. And that was exactly what he intended to do. He didn't regret his upcoming death. He was an old man and this presented him with a way to atone for all his mistakes.

He gathered the necessary chakra and ran his fingers through the required handseals.

"Shiki Fuujin," he announced. He could feel the presence of Death appearing behind his back. He glanced over his shoulder to behold the truly terrifying apparition. The only thought running through his head was that indeed he had never seen anything creepier, and that included Orochimaru.

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Kurotsuchi Mayuri was annoyed. He had been in the middle of a sensitive experiment concerning a captive Quincy when he felt a strange pull and before he could blink, he found himself in a strange place among strange people, who simply didn't understand the value of true science. Didn't they care that he had a specimen on the operation table, his intestines half out and it might die on him before he could finish gathering all the data? He simply couldn't trust the simpleton Nemu to do it all right. Honestly, why did he even create her when she was so completely useless? So he had a good reason to be annoyed and when Captain Kurotsuchi was annoyed, somebody suffered. So who would suffer his wrath first?

He took a closer look at the present assembly. And then he grinned. They might have seen like a boring, ignorant lot at the first glance, but closer observation revealed that it wasn't so. The one furthest from him was in someone else's body, his soul partially merged with its previous occupant's. That was something he hadn't seen before. And not to mention the various chemicals his body was saturated with. He was sure some of them he never heard about before.

Then there were the other two. They were dead souls in artificial bodies, but it was nothing like the gigai he was familiar with. And weren't there living souls in their bodies as well? And how did two dead souls get into the Living World without him hearing abut it? Oh, and were they controlled by the first man? Now that was something that deserved his attention.

The fourth one would have been a completely uninteresting old man, if it wasn't for the fact that he was the one who got him there, and he used neither the Senkaimon nor the Garganta in the process. Such knowledge was something he wanted for himself. Just imagine the possibilities... Oh yes, this was definitely worth the trouble. Forget about the Quincy, there were still several more left in the world and he could always obtain a new specimen. The foursome in front of him presented an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"Nemu!" he called for his lieutant/daughter/slave, before he realized she wasn't there. "Useless whore," he grumbled. "Do I have to do everything myself?" He walked over to the man in the back and grabbed him. Then he was flung back thanks to a fist to his stomach. He bounced off the barrier that didn't look like any Kidou he was familiar with. The man in the stolen body was now facing him, his hands clasped in a strange position.

"Who are you?" Orochimaru asked.

"Research specimens don't speak," Kurotsuchi admonished him.

"I'm not a research specimen," the leader of Otogakure spat, "but you'll make a fine one."

"Don't be ridiculous," Mayuri said getting up from the ground.

"I'm not!" Orochimaru shouted. A snake extended from his mouth and a sword appeared form the snake.

"Most curious," Kurotsuchi muttered observing intently. "I'm looking forward to analyzing it in my lab."

Orochimaru attacked. The blade of Kusanagi whistled through the air and hit the shinigami right in his midsection. It went right through. Kurotsuchi remained unharmed.

"What? Why?" the Snake Sannin was befuddled. "My Kusanagi can cut through everything!"

"It's not a zanpakutou and therefore it cannot harm me," Kurotsuchi explained. The Hebi Sannin smiled.

"Somebody who cannot be harmed? Great! You would be a priceless asset in my quest for immortality! Once I'll capture you..."

"I already told you, research subjects don't speak," Mayuri interrupted him. Then he moved with lightning speed and pushed Orochimaru's soul from his body. It looked startled for a moment, before taking the form of a giant white snake and attacking the closest usable body, which belonged to the Sandaime Hokage, who had been watching the proceedings unfold openmouthed. Seeing the immediate danger woke him from his stupor and he used his staff to bat the monster away. Before Orochimaru's spirit could attack again, he found himself bound in glowing chains that wouldn't budge no matter how hard he struggled.

"Stay here while I collect the others," Kurotsuchi commanded. He then grabbed the two dead souls and the living one. Taking the living one was against the law, but he never let such minuscule details stand in the way of his research. Especially if nobody found out.

"Nemu!" he called again. "You still aren't here? You're such a waste of space." He picked up the bound souls and returned to Seireitei.

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Konoha had won the battle, but for a terrible price. Their beloved Hokage had fallen. He was lying on the rooftop of the arena along with the enemies he had vanquished. All of them had their faces frozen in a grimace of terror. The people of the Hidden Leaf wondered, what so terrible had they seen in their last moments.

Orochimaru, in a lab deep inside the Shinigami Research and Development Institute, could have explained. That is, if he could still speak.