With that Shinakawa left.
Haruto looked at her distancing back for a few seconds before he looked back up at Hiruko.
There was an edge to the man that Haruto couldn't quite place. As if there were tightened springs right beneath his skin ready to snap at any moment.
Haruto put on the best smile he could as he spoke in the most courteous manner, "Greetings Hiruko-sama. Will you be my teacher for my time in the R&D department?"
Inwardly however Haruto was cursing.
'He should be about to leave the village… his experiments are about to be discovered… The show wasn't specific about what sort of experiments he was conducting before he got caught, but given the village already conducts some shady experiments the only thing that would've gotten him put on the rogue list are live human experiments.'
'By putting this man in my line of fate, is the Dark God hinting that I take him out?'
'That I sacrifice him for the greater good?'
'...I wonder what reward I'll gain this time…'
'No… I can't focus on the reward… I must focus on the process, the reward will naturally follow. The Dark God isn't stingy with his followers.'
At the same time Hiruko responded to Haruto's question while moving aside and making his way into the R&D department in a silent command for Haruto to follow him.
"Yes Haruto-kun, I will be your teacher for your duration in the R&D department. The Hokage has high expectations from you and he hopes you get a hang of the ropes around here quickly."
Haruto nodded, falling in step with the older man as he looked around in slight awe.
The floor was divided into two levels, the upper levels had what looked like private rooms and the lower level had a common area for researchers to conduct their research with office style cubicles for each researcher.
Various researchers already lived in the lower area, pursuing various academic merits all in their own stages of research. Haruto even spotted a particularly nasty researcher who was pulling out his own hair and dropping it into the trash while looking at a particularly thick scroll.
There were several lab equipments strewn about on tables. Microscopes for analysing samples, centrifuges for handling samples, computers for collecting and analysing data, but the areas that caught Haruto's attention the most were slightly open areas with sealing arrays etched into the surfaces in ink where various specimens floated in glass chambers.
Hiruko noticed Haruto's interest and hummed in response before explaining, "Hmm~ Good eye Haruto-kun. Those are quite important seals, they keep the specimens from waking up and causing a commotion. And those over there, the empty areas with seals on the floor, those are for jutsu testing, one can go in and with the help of another shinobi activate the five seal barrier array to test their new jutsu inside the barrier safely without affecting the work of anyone outside."
Haruto nodded at the new information before focusing back on Hiruko who had already moved with him to a relatively silent area in the R&D department.
"This little section carved out here, is your lab for the foreseeable future. You will carry out the experiments I suggest you do and report back to me with the results." Hiruko introduced a small space with a table and a plain old computer on the table. The computer looked just as ancient as the one he'd previously been using.
There were no fancy instruments or centrifuges, but there was a printer attached to the computer and a scanner for whatever reason.
It was the full set, just like in the data logging department.
"Your graph making software has been moved into this computer here, and I hope you can improve upon it so that I can make my own graphs quickly after the data of my experiments are logged. As all our graphs are currently made by hand, the software will help many in the R&D department so we're all waiting for you." Hiruko explained with a smile.
Haruto nodded with his own smile as he quickly thought of a question, "In case I need to find you, where's your office Hiruko-san?"
Hiruko's smile filled with a warmth that wasn't there before and he nodded gently before pointing in the direction.
Hiruko's office was on the upper level of the R&D department. It was quite large and in a slightly secluded area that gave him secrecy.
Haruto had no doubt that Hiruko used further seals to block out anyone accessing his research in the name of sensitivity.
Once Hiruko was sure Haruto had noted down where his office was, he spoke politely, "That's all for now Haruto-kun. Once you are done with your job, come and find me in my office. I'll be waiting and then we can decide on your next new exciting project."
Haruto nodded, returning the same level of energy before he waved Hiruko a good bye for now and sat down at his desk.
Haruto swept his hands across his desk, feeling his new work place, and nodded in satisfaction.
'Haruto-kun… is that guy the same Hiruko you told me about?' Megumin asked Haruto softly.
Haruto nodded, 'He's the same guy. He has several jutsu at his service, and it should be about this time that he gets caught. I don't know if he's already marked Kakashi with his puppet jutsu but once he does he'll probably leave the village.'
'Puppet jutsu? What does that do?'
'It takes control of the person marked by the jutsu and puts them into a trance, making them obey the caster unquestionably.'
'So dangerous…'
'The casting process can't be detected too… and it can remain dormant for ages without regressing or needing any maintenance from the caster. While it can be broken by a skilled ninja… I don't think I can break it myself.'
Megumin sighed audibly before speaking up, 'Then you must be careful Haruto-kun… don't let him tag you.'
'I will try my best…'
***
"He knows Haruto-kun's only acting nice with him." Kushina said calmly.
Hashirama nodded while Minato just frowned.
It was Sakumo however who brought up the question, "Why does he suspect a R&D department member? Did Madara share some intel with him about this man?"
Tobirama frowned too and kept thinking, but after a few seconds all he said was, "I guess we'll have to wait and watch… but we still have got to do something about the kid's acting skills. If he stays at that level and doesn't improve, any plans we make to guide him will be detected before they even begin."
"But how do we do that? Do we give him another thought like you gave him the Shadow Clone Jutsu Tobi?" Hashirama asked naively.
Tobirama shook his head, "No… we'll wait for now… the boy is slowly reading the academy textbooks, and I'm sure they explain disguises during the clone technique and the transformation technique chapters."
Minato nodded, "Yes, it is best we let Haruto handle it for now and not waste another precious opportunity that we have. The boy is already being attacked by Madara, if we play our cards right we can take down Madara and Obito at once."
Tobirama looked at Minato and saw right through the anger driving him forward but said nothing. He didn't have a child in this world so he wisely kept quiet about the pain of losing the chance to see your child grow up.
***