Hatake Satoru paused a bit on purpose, then shrugged, looking innocent.
"There's no real 'saying,' just a suggestion. Old people should value their lives a bit more."
"That's all; nothing special."
He couldn't exactly say that he meant if those old guys didn't hand over power to Gaara.
He'd just kill them all, or tell Gaara about Kirigakure's situation.
The reason Hozuki Mangetsu could be so free was that he was the one who actually handled important decisions.
The Mizukage was also important, but as long as things were handed over on time, there wouldn't be any mistakes during the changeover period.
Strictly speaking, Hatake Satoru was the real person in charge of Kirigakure.
Saying something like that would be too dark, and the fewer people who knew, the better. Even if people found out, it wouldn't really matter.
No one would believe it unless they'd really seen Hatake Satoru's power.
Most importantly, looking at Hozuki Mangetsu and Hatake Satoru's relationship.
There was no need to use that to cause trouble between them. Hozuki Mangetsu was probably willingly being Hatake Satoru's tool.
"Could that really be it...?"
"Don't just trick me like that."
That unreliable talk sounded like lies, just nonsense that Hatake Satoru was making up.
Gaara wasn't like Hozuki Mangetsu, believing everything his teacher said unconditionally, even if it was unreasonable.
He didn't really want to investigate this, but he was just curious, so curious.
"You can see the 'I'm just brushing you off' on your face when you answer like that..."
Yamato couldn't help but complain from the side.
Hatake Satoru hadn't changed at all; he still says random things like that.
Not everyone is as easy to trick as Hozuki Mangetsu and him.
"Anyway, things are settled, so what I say doesn't matter~"
"And it's not just your stuff, but some of my own private things too."
Hatake Satoru said thoughtfully.
As soon as they saw Hatake Satoru's casual expression disappear, the two immediately understood. That was enough; they'd asked enough.
It was good enough that Hatake Satoru helped them solve things. If they kept bothering him, he wouldn't say anything else.
Once it involved Hatake Satoru's own affairs, he'd be tight-lipped.
He might even make up a believable lie to trick them, so there was no need to push it.
...
After separating from Gaara and Yamato, Hatake Satoru went back to his room to sleep.
Even though his physical strength was much higher than normal people's because of his curse power and the system.
Even ninja need rest. He'd been going non-stop and was almost at his limit.
More than using curse power, he was using his brainpower.
The less sleep he got, the more brainpower he used. Maybe he was just getting by on those sweets to keep from passing out.
Hatake Satoru went back to the lab and slept for almost two days before getting up.
He woke up a few times in between, and he sensed that someone was near him.
But after confirming that those people weren't hostile and were people he knew, Hatake Satoru just closed his eyes and went back to sleep.
He was too lazy to get up and deal with it, so unless his life was in danger, he wouldn't wake up.
Two days later, Hatake Satoru sat up in bed with a black eye mask on.
Because he'd slept for so long, his mind was slow. Since there was no one around, he let himself sit on the bed like a corpse.
Until Sasori, carrying a pile of wood to get back into sculpting, passed Hatake Satoru's room and saw him sitting there blankly.
"Is he dead...?"
After this thought came to Sasori, he hesitated and tiptoed inside.
He put his things on the table near Hatake Satoru and crept over cautiously.
But whether he waved his hand in front of Hatake Satoru, spoke, or did anything.
Hatake Satoru didn't react at all. He just sat on the bed, his long legs hanging down.
"Hey, hey? Are you awake?"
Sasori couldn't help but climb onto Hatake Satoru's bed, kneel next to him, and shout in his ear.
The height of the body Hatake Satoru designed for him was terrible. He had to stand on his toes on the floor to reach his eye mask.
Usually, anyone would be startled by a sound like that, but Hatake Satoru's body barely moved.
Sasori carefully reached out and lifted Hatake Satoru's eye mask a little, wanting to check his breathing and see if he was still alive.
Then he was startled by the open blue eyes.
How unlucky, to die with your eyes open.
That was Sasori's first thought. Luckily, he didn't say it out loud.
He just muttered it to himself.
But could this person really die? For some reason, Sasori doubted it.
His power was almost at the top, so it was hard to imagine someone like that dying.
But as he was complaining silently, the curled white eyelashes fluttered, and the ice-blue eyes looked at Sasori's face.
"If you want to see if I'm alive or dead, why are you lifting my eye mask?"
Hatake Satoru's teasing and annoying voice rang out.
The silver-white eyelashes fluttered up and down, blinking very obviously in front of Sasori.
His body didn't move at all; only his lips opened slightly, and his eyes, which seemed to suck people in, turned.
Sasori felt a strange feeling in his heart from that look.
Hatake Satoru was handsome because of those eyes, but if you stared at those eyes for too long, you'd get the feeling you were being sucked into a deep place.
Fear, surprise, or some other feeling.
"If you're not dead, move. I was just about to drag you away for research."
"Too bad, you moved."
Sasori let go, and with a "thump," Hatake Satoru's eye mask fell down, completely covering his eyes.
Sure enough, if this guy died, the sun might rise in the west.
But since when did this guy pick up the hobby of pretending to be dead, like Grandma Chiyo?
Sasori rolled his eyes a bit, speechless.
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