Chapter 155: Poisonous Mist

"Oh, even envious of a girl's toy? Then catch it!" To be honest, Karin had been itching to try it for a long time. If not for her father's repeated instructions and his worries about failing to return to their original time, or returning to find the world drastically altered, she would have rushed up to throw punches long ago.

A steel mechanical arm was tossed over by Karin.

"Hah! Imbued with love and justice, the ultimate romance of a man—Iron Armor Warrior, transform!!!" Baimu raised his right arm high and slid his hand into the Hextech gauntlet.

"Whoosh—"

Accompanied by a steam whistle, a blast of scorching steam erupted from the exhaust vents.

Clack-clack-clack-clack...

With a series of mechanical springs snapping into place, Baimu's entire right arm transformed into a super-alloy gauntlet, though the pale pink coating looked somewhat out of place.

[Hextech gauntlet connection detected...]

[Hero experience mechanism triggered...]

[Acquired all abilities of Vi, the Piltover Enforcer!]

"Well, now we have both male and female elements integrated into one. What do you call this?" Baimu twisted his hips and used the gauntlet to make a V-sign in front of his eyes.

"Hey... can you not be so effeminate!" Even Yura couldn't bear to watch.

The corners of Baimu's mouth curved into a confident, solitary smile. He gave Hiruko a thumbs-up, estimated the distance, and then sharply flipped his thumb downward.

"First... my name is not 'Hey'!"

The steam gauntlet began charging. The nose of the Five-Tails Kokuō's face emblem on the inner side of the gauntlet exhaled two plumes of scorching steam.

[Denting Blow]!!!

Hah!

The extreme speed brought by the jetting scorching steam allowed him to hurl a punch at Hiruko's head in the blink of an eye.

"An interesting little toy." Sasori finally looked at Baimu seriously and crooked his little finger. Hiruko's tail stinger lashed out with equal ferocity.

"Second... I'm not being effeminate, I'm being swaggering!"

[Denting Blow: Second Activation]

Baimu's figure turned into a refracted flash of lightning, suddenly dodging beneath the tail hook, darting to Hiruko's rear, and smashing his fist hard against its ghostly facial back-pattern. Under the heavy blow, skin harder than steel actually fractured with a tiny crack.

Sasori raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised that this bizarre mechanical creation could actually injure his Hiruko. He twitched his ring finger, and Hiruko whipped its head around, instantly spitting out a dozen kunai.

[Explosive Shield]

A layer of light instantly materialized over the steam gauntlet, completely intercepting the flying kunai.

"Is that a Light Shield Seal? I never expected the old hag to be able to make such intricate mechanical weapons." Sasori clearly misunderstood something, assuming the steam gauntlet was made by Granny Chiyo, considering that the most skilled puppeteer in the entire ninja world resided in Sunagakure.

"Third... this boring game should end here, or else I'll dismantle your puppet and sell it for scrap."

[Excessive Force!!]

"Hah! Hah!" Baimu raised his fist high. The exhaust vents at his elbows frantically spewed thick clouds of steam, and the powerful thrust propelled the gauntlet forward, delivering two heavy, consecutive punches to Hiruko's back.

Thud, thud...

A strike that sounded like thunder but produced only a drizzle—it looked like a complete disaster scene.

"It seems Hiruko's defense remains superior after all." Seeing the gauntlet crafted by "Granny Chiyo" had stirred up a tiny surge of competitive spirit, Sasori's lips curled slightly as he crooked his little finger once more. "In that case, I'll take your head."

"This is the first time I've seen Sasori-kun smile... so handsome!" Sara was actually mesmerized by his attractive appearance.

"Witness what is called 'Chinese Kung Fu'! A strike across the mountains!" Even though Hiruko's tail hook was about to graze his neck, Baimu didn't care in the least. With one hand in his pocket, he turned sideways and snapped his fingers.

Snap~

BOOM!!!!

It was as if a stack of explosive tags had been stuffed inside Hiruko. Thick steam spewed from countless cracks, and the internal mechanical parts emitted a shattering cacophony as every component suffered a complete systemic paralysis.

The steel tail hook came to a halt just one centimeter away from Baimu's neck, the chilling frost of its tip transmitting directly onto his skin. Gears shrieked and locked up with a rapid mechanical stutter—no matter how Sasori twitched his little finger, he could not force it forward. This stunt, performed entirely by risking his life, scared Baimu so badly that his back was drenched in cold sweat.

"What?" Sasori never imagined there would be such a move—one capable of bypassing solid armor to directly assault the fragile interior.

"Emergency Repairs!"

Sasori's middle finger flicked out a third chakra thread. Relying on his profound understanding of Hiruko's internal anatomy and his exquisite puppetry skills, he instantly initiated emergency repairs.

Clack-clack-clack-clack... Parts flew through the air.

Within mere seconds, the paralyzed Hiruko was on the verge of regaining power.

"Since that's how it is, don't blame me. You brought this upon yourself by refusing to listen." Baimu grabbed the very tip of Hiruko's tail hook with a reverse grip, the alloy-forged gauntlet completely isolating him from the poison on the stinger.

"Cull the Meek...!!!"

What does it look like when Vi executes a devastating suplex?

Although Hiruko's appearance had nothing to do with a maiden, and Baimu wouldn't dare embrace something drenched in poison, that didn't stop him from dragging Hiruko's tail stinger, spinning it clockwise three times in the air, and smashing it brutally against the rock wall, then counter-clockwise three times before slamming it into the floor.

The entire underground palace shook violently, showering down debris and dust in a flurry. Impact craters bearing spiderweb-like cracks appeared one after another across the walls and floor.

Finally, Baimu let go, hurling Hiruko high into mid-air for one final move!

"Cease and Desist!"

Never feel ashamed; a finishing move must be shouted out loud for its power to reach maximum potential!

The turbocharger inside the gauntlet spun frantically, and the exhaust ports at the elbows blasted high-pressure steam like fighter jet engines, carrying Baimu soaring into the air like a superhero.

A fist as massive as a millstone smashed viciously into Hiruko's abdomen. The immense charge combined with the armor-shattering effect of the explosive heavy punch shattered Hiruko into pieces in a single blow. Fragments and parts rained down like a meteor shower.

"So... so strong!" Maki and Yura looked up, gazing at Baimu soaring across the firmament in utter astonishment.

"Broken is broken, but I'll still take your head. I'll turn you into a human puppet and mount you nicely as a display piece—of course, with your mouth sewn shut." Sasori clenched his fist, and a canister of compressed poisonous gas inside Hiruko instantly ruptured, bursting into a ten-meter-wide green cloud of poison. Baimu had no time to escape and was completely engulfed within it.

"Cough, cough, cough, cough..." Baimu stumbled out of the toxic fog, his entire body dyed green.

"Dad! Your hair is completely green!" Karin was actually shouting in excitement, acting as if she had zero fear that Baimu might be poisoned to death.

"Good grief... this poison... goes straight to the head!" Baimu's legs went weak, and he dropped to a semi-kneeling posture, completely drained of strength. It wasn't just the physical exhaustion from unleashing two ultimate moves in succession, but also the virulent poison raging rapidly through his body, turning a robust and vigorous man into a limp, powerless weakling in mere seconds.

"Damn it... there was still a trick like this!" Maki furrowed his brow deeply. "Sasori's poison is notorious for taking a life within minutes..."

"Is this annoying guy about to die?" Yura gritted her teeth. Facing a formidable enemy like Sasori, what could she possibly do?

"Nurse, aren't you going to save my dad?" Karin quirked her eyebrows mischievously.

"I..." Nono's inner thoughts engaged in a fierce battle.

Save him?

Why save this jerk who constantly exploited her?

Not save him?

Mission accomplished, she could return to Konoha and enjoy her retirement!

Save... not save... save... not save...

"A medical ninja's mission is to save lives, not to pick and choose whose life to save!" After finding an excuse for herself and gritting her teeth, Nono resolutely dashed out, running straight to Baimu's side.

She needed to slice open his ribs and initiate the detoxification technique directly from his heart, the primary pumping source.

"Quickly take off your clothes!!!"

"Take off my clothes? Are you still thinking of preserving the family line for the Bai clan at a time like this? You've really worked hard, nurse." Baimu grinned wickedly, reaching out to pinch Nono's cheek. The poison within his body had already been purified cleanly in the blink of an eye by a mysterious power surging through his bloodline. The toxic green substance in his veins melted away as swiftly as fine snow under the morning sun.

[Cleanse]

[Removes all debuffs and restriction effects from the target.]

"Ahhhhhhh! You perverted lunatic, why on earth did I want to come save this jerk?!" Nono roared frantically in her heart.