A scream instantly echoed throughout the entire room. People from nearby research rooms couldn't help but peek out, looking towards the warehouse that had suddenly been put into use.
However, when they saw Hatake Satoru standing innocently at the door, the few people who had come out quickly retracted their heads and went back.
Unsurprisingly, Hatake Satoru was messing with people's minds again, just playing tricks as usual, so it was probably nothing serious.
The few people casually went back to work. It was a small thing, and judging by the voice, it sounded like Hozuki Mangetsu, so no big deal.
The briefly paused work went on again.
"Click." With a sound, Hatake Satoru pressed a few buttons next to him.
Most of the light in the area dimmed at once, leaving only the small red and green lights of various instruments flashing.
It had a strange and eerie feeling, and after all the surrounding lights dimmed.
Only the large light next to the iron bed in the center was on, instantly making the faces of the two people look deathly pale.
It was hard to tell if the two of them were already pale with fear, or if it was the bright white light that made their faces look so pale.
Two instruments with red lights were still beeping constantly, and after a piercing scream, the entire room fell into silence.
No one spoke, and even their breathing sounded faint.
The three of them stared at each other in silence, Sasori and Hozuki Mangetsu's hearts were still racing, scared to some extent.
Hatake Satoru leaned against the door, his face faintly illuminated by the white light, his expression revealing a strange innocence.
It was as if none of this had anything to do with him. If it weren't for the few buttons next to him, they might have actually believed he was just a passerby attracted by the scream.
"...You..."
Sasori gritted his teeth and squeezed out a word, finding it hard to break the silence that filled the air.
Actually, he wouldn't have found it so scary to begin with. After all, Sasori had grown up among a pile of puppets.
Puppets are somewhat human-like, and places where puppets are kept for a long time have a strange, creepy feeling.
This place was essentially scary because of the lighting and atmosphere. If the light were a slightly more yellowish color, it wouldn't be so frightening.
Sasori's fear was entirely because of Hozuki Mangetsu.
Not only did he start spreading a scary atmosphere, but he also grabbed his ankle with a trembling hand. Even that scream from earlier was Hozuki Mangetsu shouting behind him first.
In short, he wasn't scared by the place itself, but by Hozuki Mangetsu's scream. That was pretty much it.
"Whoa—you scared me, teacher!"
"This place is supposed to be a warehouse laboratory, why is it so scary!?"
Hozuki Mangetsu paused, then, as if coming back to his senses, put a still trembling hand on Sasori's shoulder and said to Hatake Satoru.
"And... can you turn on the lights? It's really scary..."
Hozuki Mangetsu's shout had some force, but then weakened again. He looked at Hatake Satoru with a bitter face.
This wasn't the first or second time Hatake Satoru had scared him, so Sasori was probably going to be affected too.
Before, maybe because he was still young, Hatake Satoru was quite gentle with him.
Simply put, Hatake Satoru was good with kids, so Hozuki Mangetsu had admired and respected him when he was little.
He was like the strong and admirable adult of his dreams.
But now that he was older and interacting with Hatake Satoru, although it was still fun, Hatake Satoru's mischievous side was almost visible to the naked eye.
Like scaring people like this, and making them do all sorts of outrageous things. In short, Hatake Satoru seemed to enjoy it.
Hozuki Mangetsu was almost equally enjoying it. No matter what kind of task Hatake Satoru gave him, he would do it to the best of his ability, with great interest.
In a way, he had been completely trained by Hatake Satoru in that respect.
But, the fact that he was always being tricked and scared in different ways was a bit too much for Hozuki Mangetsu to handle.
Who knew why Hatake Satoru was so good at teasing people!?
He had this personality trait even when he was little. If he hadn't had a bad relationship with Kakashi back then, the first person to be teased would have been that proud younger brother.
"I'm not trying to scare you~"
"I'm just testing the power source, since the electricity in this place isn't always very stable. After all, it used to be a warehouse that didn't need lights."
"And now the power consumption of many instruments is different. I want to see how many instruments this place can handle running together."
Hatake Satoru tilted his head, showing a sly smile, and waved the notebook in his hand at them mischievously.
"After all, places that haven't been used for a long time can be a bit scary. It'll be better after the doctors come in, right?"
Hatake Satoru turned the switch on again, and the surrounding light became bright again.
Hozuki Mangetsu took a deep breath and quickly pushed Sasori away from that place of trouble. It was too scary.
"Oh, but why does that bed have not only restraints, but also chains?"
Hozuki Mangetsu asked curiously.
Normally, hospital beds wouldn't have chains, right?
"Are you afraid he'll run away?"
Sasori seemed to have some idea, after all, Hidan was not someone to be taken lightly.
Not only did he do that cult sacrifice stuff, although he didn't do it often, but he was also not someone who couldn't use Ninjutsu.
Moreover, his physical strength was definitely better than someone who spent all day doing research here. If he struggled on the operating table, it would be quite difficult.
"Ah, something like that."
Hatake Satoru scratched his head, looking at the pile of instruments in front of him, which were orderly but also looked quite dense.
"After all, these instruments are packed so closely together. If he makes any big movements, he might knock them all over."
"But don't you think the position of the restraints is a bit strange?"
"That's to cover his mouth, the chains are what's really used to restrain him."
Hatake Satoru said matter-of-factly.
"..."
That sounds even worse...
Hozuki Mangetsu and Sasori thought the same thing, and were both speechless for a moment.
"If you've finished cleaning up, call Hidan over."
"There are still many instruments here that need him to test. I'll pick out the right people from the medical staff~"
Hatake Satoru patted both of them on the shoulders and gave them a hearty instruction. Done.
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