Azumi listened to this man as he made his proposal clear: In exchange for an alleged scroll that contained ancient jutsu from some trip to Kumo, she would have to give Scrappa secrets to whatever Reaver had used to make his suit function. Since it seemed that this man and Reaver had been birds of a feather in that one respect.
Azumi's eyes glanced back towards were Reaver had been, then back to Scappa even if she never turned from him as her eyes locked with his once more as it had not taken her long to respond.
"Quite the tempting offer, but that scroll could contain anything. Rare jutsu as you promise, or merely be a blank. I need greater assurance that the scroll has what you claim within it." Azumi replied, as she knew it was very easy to just have a scroll and claim something of value to be on it but she wanted definitive proof it was not just some decoy or blank.
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"I hope not, you are meant to be the safe and responsible one." Tomiko teased back, as the banter and the unintentional subtext behind it had not been noticed only by Iwao, as Naomi had made her playful grin behind her stuffed companion.
"Well not much more I can do. I mean I suppose I can prepare something for you to take to them." Atsuko said as she made her kind offer towards Kasumi feeling she needed to do something to help the woman's selfless work. It was more of a token gesture compared to the real help she provided them but hey a nice meal couldn't hurt or so she said to herself.
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Rika walked away from the restaurant, unaware of Taji getting a lock on her chakra signature as Kenji listened to Taji's question and Kenji thought over a reply to it.
"Yeah, that was my teammate. Rika, we kinda uh observed her in that office." Kenji said, careful to speak with a low tone and to pick her words carefully. Not that he was afraid of secret police or anything but he'd rather not get some scolding if word got back to the Raikage they peeped on him somehow.
"Seems more...down and our than than usual." Kenji further added, noting her sullen demeanor as she walked off and he in spite of his teases could not help but wonder what troubled her. Maybe it was nothing, maybe she got shackled with some work from the Raikage during that meeting and had just dreaded it. But he felt this was something more, though had no way to confirm this gut feeling and he hoped he was just being a bit paranoid in the wake of that crazy mission aftermath.
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Madoka listened to the exchange between Kin and Rasa, to say the least this "partnership" would be an interesting...experiment, to say the very least. She wondered what Tomiko would think if she had been in this situation, what Yasu would think and that thought made another enter in following succession.
Where had Yasu been now? Madoka could not help but dwell on that, as she considered his position and desires which in turn tied to that Suna/Iwa border and tied back to her own little plan she had been in consideration of since the day began. Once this was over she needed to find and talk with him, or at least make the effort.
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Boom!!!!
In a thunderous roar, Zaku's massive airwaves sliced through the entire hall as a responding thud rocked the area as debris was kicked up from the slashed area as Kou seemed to naturally cower behind Kabuto as he braced himself from the shockwave. Not that it was a danger to them, though the differed reactions seemed to pain a picture.
Kabuto, who seemed to view the carnage with a look of disgust if not annoyance.
Kou, who seemed shocked & terrified.
And Orochimaru....whose frantic grin had only grown as if he took joy in the display.
The area was a ruined, battled scarred mess. A display of the power behind Zaku's desperate attack. And surely one that'd finish off his opponent, after all the only thing that seemed to be left was a dismembered arm; sliced off from the force of the blow.
But, as the smoke cleared in the area a surge of chakra was felt. Shockingly, somehow this muscular lab rat was still alive, even with a lost limb as he gradually worked his way to his feet. Once more, in spite of the pain and blood that dripped from head to toe its body cunvulsed once more in response to the blow.
He grew larger, his frame even more muscular and once more that chakra aura grew...enough for some chakra to take shape and move around the severed arm to form a phantom appendage in its place. This caused Kou's eyes to widen in fear and Orochimaru's to widen in pure eager anticipation.
"Splendid, just splendid. But I desire more. Show me the power I trusted you with, show it what you are really made of~" Orochimaru hissed aloud with that maniac grin as it seemed he tried to encourage Zaku to display the power of the mark as the muscular freak of nature began to advance to Zaku once more.