Sydney
*"Tch."* Damn tunnel vision! He thought to himself, obviously irritated by how easily Saiko was negating their attempts at violence. No matter, the Sarutobi was no stranger to fighting against the odds. How close has he come to death now? After so many , the brain seems to push such grim recollections to the darkest pits of ones mind. This battle was just another platform for them to stand on before it crumbles, and they have to go on to the next. 

 Let the cycle continue.

Niko, using his exceptional speed in conjunction with body flicker, launched himself behind the clone and away from the clutches of Saiko's hair while weaving a sign or two of his own. It's not like he wanted to be smashed between itchy hair and an earthen technique he knows himself! *"Lightning Release: Beast Tracking Fang." (A++) With his exceptional chakra control, he was able to enhance such a basic technique to a wild degree. Its size was slightly bigger, but the most noticeable change was in its density. From his hand, the large hound rushed forward. Opening it's jaws horizontally, it hoped to devour not only clone 4, but prime Saiko too. 

It was obvious that Duplicate-sama was not a strong fighter herself, so rather her experiments fought for her. Getting rid of this dangerous assistant was the primary objective for him. The purple vials were already suspicious, but this man also had the shadow clone technique. Things were getting far too dangerous, should he just collapse this entire underground laboratory and make an effort to save the file cabinet with his paper binding?....No, fight. There were people here undeserving of end, like the child they had came here for. 

S-Rank Speed, Bukijutsu, S-Rank Chakra Control/Pool.
A-Rank Reflexes, Jutsu Speed.
Timothy
Murano cursed softly under his breath as he watched Yuki's sword pass harmlessly through a clone. He'd made an error in his judgement of Saiko, having believed him to be less of a threat than his master. His nervous behavior as they spoke had lowered his guard a bit, a mistake he did not intend to make again. Murano didn't move as the Hair Binding technique moved to trap him, but as it closed around his body the others would notice a startling fact. The once lithe and tired looking rogue was already beginning to change and transform. His skin darkened to a sickly green hue and took on an elastic quality, his body likewise suddenly bulking up as muscles not previously seen appeared to grow and stretch. His head began to tear and morph, two sets of green-slitted eyes erupting across his face and an eerie grin ripping across the lower half of his face. Four tentacle-like tails erupted from his back and raised themselves high above the group, poised to strike. He was, by all account, as much a monster as they've ever developed in their laboratory. 

**"That time already? Guess we want this done quickly."** He laughed in a gravelly voice, more to himself than any of the others around him.

All at once, the newly sprouted tentacles shot forward with alarming speed. One aimed to wrap around Clone 5's leg and pull him and Duplicate back towards the group. Seeing as how Yasu was about to be attacked, the second tentacle would fly forwards towards the arm trying to punch Yasu in an attempt to wrench it out of it's socket. The last two tentacles attempted to wrap around the arms of the clone holding him in place with their hair and tear them off. 

Meanwhile, Yuki was faced with two clones now aiming to take her life with a dangerous combination of flame and wind. She'd attempt to quickly avoid the burst of flame, dashing to the side and hopefully out of its range using her heightened (S) reflexes. Even if she were injured in the attack, assuming she was still capable of moving, her next maneuver would be to lunge forward and impale the fire-wilding clone.

S-rank Technique 'Rip and Tear'
B++ Strength
Chris
While Niko attempted to dissuade him, Saiko managed to retrieve a vial of the purple liquid. He tossed himself sideways to avoid the lightning attack (though he didn't quite move fast enough; the lightning struck him, and he plainly convulsed in pain), and from the ground he stabbed the syringe into his arm before pressing down to inject the fluid.

Saiko tossed his head back with an agonised scream. He stayed knelt on the ground for the moment, evidently needing a moment for his body to take in the substance- whatever it was.

Meanwhile, Clone 4 wasn't so lucky; it couldn't react in time to Niko's quick movements, and was promptly dispelled by the lightning hound.

Clone 1 held still as it worked to maintain the binding around Murano- but as two of his tentacles abruptly grabbed its arms, it was only a matter of moments before- *Poof!* It was gone.

Murano lashed out a tentacle at the section of hair Saiko had sent to attack Niko. In yanking on it, he sent Saiko's convulsing body jerking to the side. His head hit the lab chair with an ugly *Thud*. His eyes- they looked *Wrong*. They rolled around in their sockets, and began to shine. They had been so dark before, but now-

*Electric blue*.

Clone 5 and Duplicate let out their own respective noises (a "Huh?!" And a "Hm," Respectively) as Murano's other tendril grabbed them and forced them back into the room. Clone 5 struggled against the binding while his hands formed a litany of seals, but seemed more concerned about Duplicate- who, in turn, just seemed bored.

As this all went on, Yuki found herself hit dead-on by the force of an enhanced flame attack. Luckily, she had the capabilities to keep going, despite the angry burns already forming across her scaly body. Her stabbing motion was rewarded with a puff of smoke as Clone 2 dissipated in an instant. This left Clone 3 to began weaving handseals, eyeing Yuki nervously.
Sydney
This man could use not just earth, but wind and fire release; somethinghe used to injure Yuki. Murano was not going to let that go, never. "Idiots.." He was indeed someone with a good grasp on the elements, but did he compare to Niko? Only one person knew the truth, which was Saiko himself. How long would it take for the Sarutobi to figure out? 

Trivial thoughts, that's what those were. His technique landed, but Saiko... Was different.

 Seeing the last clone trying to prepare a ninjutsu attack on Yuki, Yasu rushed over. With his speed the time it took to get there didn't matter, his knife was already being swung with vigor at clone 3. "I won't let it happen again, Yuki." These clones were weaker, yes, but they offered too much support to the now unknown Saiko's abilities. Why were his eyes such a color, and what did those purple vials do?! If he had been successful in dispelling the shadow clone, Niko would look over to his partner with worry.

 This was... Just like that one time. The way it spoke, was it really the person he had travelled with here? "Be careful Tekio, allowing an enemy to restrict your movements is troublesome."
Timothy
He could feel his blood boiling, every sound that echoed through the small laboratory a cacophony of noise that drilled into his skull. It'd been so long since he'd used his Curse Mark that he'd forgotten how it felt. He felt the bindings disappear from around his body as the clone disappeared and dropped silently to his feet. His tentacles still wrapped around Duplicate and Clone 5, he'd retract them both at break-neck speeds as he raised both clawed hands to catch them by their necks. The moment he had them in his grips, he'd *Squeeze* In an attempt to crush their necks. He was idly aware of Yasu yelling something at him, telling him to be cautious of an enemy restricting him. Two of his four eyes drifted towards his comrade as he replied in a voice that dripped with malice, **"Who are you to lecture *Me?* If you have the breathe to speak, fight."**

Seeing the opportunity in dividing Clone 3's attention between her and an incoming Yasu, Yuki opened her mouth and shot a spray of venom towards the clone's eyes in an attempt to confuse and temporarily blind him. Assuming they'd be able to deal with the clone, Yuki gave Yasu a nod of thanks before turning her attention back towards the others. 

 - Venom
Chris
It didn't take Murano long at all to *Pop* Clone 5- which was fortunate, because from the look of it, it was nearly done with those handseals. Duplicate, however, wasn't as easy to dispel as a clone. But evidently, she was not as strong as a shinobi; after but a few moments of squeezing, the woman went limp. Her body didn't just crumple, it seemed to . . . Already begin the process of decay. It was like whatever vitality had been powering her before, now that it was put out, there wasn't enough of it left to even preserve her body.

Clone 3 attempted to dive out of the way of Yuki's venom, but between the handseals it was weaving and the speed at which Yuki operated, it dissipated just as easily as the others.

Which left the rogues with Saiko Prime, who was just about done writhing on the floor.

Apart from the glowing blue eyes, there were other *Changes* To his body. Sickly purple lines drew themselves across his body- they appeared to be veins, but whatever filled them certainly wasn't blood. Before Murano and Niko's very eyes, the man's once very human skin now hardened. Forming in patchy spots across his arms and likely under his clothes, his skin took on a rough, hard appearance. It was evocative of tree bark.

Whatever wounds he had had from the momentary scuffles just now were very gone. Despite the blow to his chakra at having all of his clones dissipated, he seemed perfectly reinvigorated. And this wasn't even getting into what Murano sensed with his Sensory:

The change was more than physical. His entire chakra system seemed to *Change*. Every person's chakra system had its own unique identity, like a fingerprint. The metaphorical fingerprint of Saiko's chakra system, though . . . It was completely erased and overwhelmed with this- whatever it was. It burnt with a brighter glow, like a raging wildfire of chakra.

"You . . . Duplicate-sama . . ." Saiko heaved out, staring at his beloved Duplicate-sama's body in Murano's grasp. Then *Rage* Twisted his expression. In a flash, he moved to tackle Murano to the ground, this time with Saiko's hands on Tekio's throat.
A++ Speed
B++ Strength

Meanwhile, behind Murano, the black cocoon's pulsations seemed to quicken- like an egg readying itself to crack open.
Sydney
The skin changed in texture, hm? "Don't ever turn out like that mean four-eyed bastard over there, Yuki." He ignored what Murano had said to him, but was referring to them both in a sense. A human in monster form, and a monster in human form. The duality was comical, but it didn't make him distracted for even a moment. What really took him by surprise was Duplicate-sama's body crumbling faster than her death took, it was obvious to him something was up. He didn't know the specifics, and he had bigger issues in front of him currently. So for now he would take care of the flustered lackey.



Weaving through the needed hand signs whilst also using the body flicker technique, he got closer to Murano and Saiko's position in an instant, releasing a blast of ice chakra that radiated upwards around the man with bark-like skin. The assistants speed was great, but his attack was predictable. His showing of emotion took away his trump card (Hair Pwunch!), and if anyone was exceptionally aware of the temperature within the room they could *Feel* As it dropped rapidly in the vicinity. The Sarutobi's one and only useful ice technique. 



Yasu hoped it would be enough to surprise the assistant, that way Murano could follow up with some sort of killing attack. 
S++ Speed
A-Rank Reflexes
Timothy
Murano let get of the rapidly-decomposing Duplicate with a grunt of disgust. He had little doubt that this 'Duplicate' was simply one of many either in or out of the lab. Chiho had been on the verge of discovering cloning technology when he left Nora, it'd hardly surprise him to find out somebody had succeeded where his research had failed. He was now free to turn his full attention to the rapidly transforming Saiko, who was in the middle of lunging towards Murano in an attempt to strangle him just as he had just done with Saiko's master. He was ready to intercept, but a mix of sensory and his supernatural senses alerted him to Yasu approaching to his flank with a ninjutsu in the works. Instead, he dashed backwards in an attempt to avoid the grab and leave Saiko open to the full brunt of Yasu's ice attack. No matter the outcome of Yasu's attack, it'd be quickly followed by all four of Murano's tentacles slamming down towards Saiko center-mass in a bludgeoning attack. 

S++ Reflexes
S++ Speed 
B++ Strength

Yuki dashed back towards her creator's side ,her sword raised and poised and ready to strike if Saiko made another attempt on Murano's life.
Chris
The rogues worked in beautiful tandem to subjugate their singular opponent; Saiko rolled out of the way to avoid Yasu's ice jutsu, but in the process wasn't quite able to avoid Murano's blindingly quick attack. Two of Murano's tentacles made full contact, but they didn't seem able to penetrate the barky skin Saiko now had. The man grabbed one of these tentacles to try and yank Murano instead-

It was at this moment that the egg hatched.

The writhing black cocoon burst open, spilling some small amount of sickening parasite energy on the ground. Yes, Murano and Niko were well familiar with parasite energy.

The thing that stepped out was . . . Vaguely humanoid. It was so tall that its 'head' almost hit the lab's ceiling (about 10 feet). It had thick, muscle-rippled arms and legs, with broad shoulders. Its entire body was covered with a *Slimy* Substance. Congealed, almost saliva-like, and it hung from its extremities. Its head was almost like that of a malformed alligator's, with a thin film of skin over three pairs of eyes which shone the same bright blue as Saiko exhibited.

It glared out at the group of rogues, but its gaze levelled on Saiko. Its gaping maw opened to screech in his direction. Maybe it was just a trick on the ears, but it almost sounded like a word.

"**SENJUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!**"

The creature hurtled forward to grab Saiko and proceeded to slam him repeatedly into the ground. At least for the moment, it didn't seem to care for Murano or Niko.
Timothy
Instinctively, Murano pulled his tentacles back in an attempt to take them from Saiko's grasp. It was at that moment they all saw *It* Appear. He'd never seen a Horror in person, if you didn't count their encounter with the enigmatic ||Juhi|| but he understood at once why Nasaki had stressed their danger so thoroughly. This was a being that had no right to exist, something that defied the logic of the world. It looked over at them and at once immediately attacked Saiko. He knew this would be their only chance to move, it was now or never. 

Murano dashed towards the filing cabinet and slapped a seal on it. The moment it poofed out of existence, it'd already be stashed into his back pocket. With Yuki following close behind, he motioned for Yasu to follow after him as he attempted to flee through the door Duplicate and Clone 5 had previously been trying to escape to. **"YASU! NOW!"**