Chapter 156: Fatal Taunt

"So you managed to neutralize my poison just like that? I didn't see you inject any antidote. Is it some kind of secret technique?" Sasori looked quietly at Baimu, a trace of surprise showing in his tone.

"If you really want to know, we could actually sit down, brew a cup of hot tea, and have a heart-to-heart talk. There's no need to fight to the death. What I can offer you is definitely much more than what Anrokusan is giving you." Baimu genuinely wanted to avoid fighting any further and tried to take the opportunity to propose a truce.

"Unnecessary. I have no interest whatsoever in such secret techniques." Sasori's fingers brushed across the four scrolls on his back, pondering what to use for his next attack.

"Oh? Whatever you might be interested in, we can always discuss it. How about this?" Baimu tossed over the targeting lens as a gesture of goodwill.

Sasori was not afraid of any traps or similar tricks. He reached out, caught it, and tilted his head to examine the red crystal-like object in his hand. Channelling a bit of chakra into it, a red scanning wave immediately swept across a three-meter radius around him, exposing any trace left behind by living creatures without a doubt.

"A tool resembling a reconnaissance ninjutsu, capable of detecting nearby traps and invisible objects. A rather interesting little trinket," Sasori said flatly.

"Well? Can we talk now?" Baimu asked excitedly.

"No."

Crack. The targeting lens was crushed into pieces by Sasori and tossed onto the ground.

"You've got to be kidding me? You don't think it's good enough?" Baimu was stunned. This was, after all, a product of the system.

"No, I've already learned it." Sasori felt nothing wrong with doing this.

After all, apart from puppet techniques, Chiyo had never taught him any morals, virtues, or proper social conduct. As long as he remained completely devoid of morality, nobody would be able to blackmail him.

"Damn it!" Baimu desperately wanted to greet his mother.

"As a reward, I can let you live a few more minutes." Sasori's fingers lingered on the scrolls marked with fire and water, choosing not to deploy the strongest Third Kazekage.

He believed that the moment the Third Kazekage made a move, these people would instantly become corpses.

"What on earth do you mean by this?!" Baki shouted in anger.

"Idiot, the boss has entered his second phase!" Baimu even harbored a slight worry that the steam armor might be seized by the Third Kazekage.

Bang! A huge iron cylinder resembling a gas tank appeared on the ground, bearing the stern and cautious warning: "Hazardous material, flammable and explosive, handle with care." Sasori effortlessly hoisted it onto his back, connecting two flexible hoses to the ports on his arms.

"Phew... Good thing it's not the Third Kazekage. Is it that flame-spouting skill?" Baimu let out a sigh of relief, then suddenly paused as if a thought had struck him...

There wasn't a single ninjutsu-specialized ninja here!

If Kakuzu were here, none of this would be an issue; putting out a fire would be as effortless as counting money.

But the few of them... they genuinely couldn't handle it!

"Purgatory Prison Sweeping Array: Hell's Descent." Sasori's fire array was driven by chemical fuel, mixed and catalyzed by his own chakra, raising the flame temperature far beyond ordinary Fire Release and lagging not even slightly behind the flames of the dragon vein.

This was the charm of technology.

Baimu's current thought was...

Damn, the name of this move is so insanely cool. Unlike his own brain, which was poisoned by Black Tiger Afu, constantly thinking of things like "tornado destroys short skirt" and "crow sits on Afei"...

Boom!!!!!!!!

Two orange-red pillars of fire spewed from the nozzles on Sasori's palms, shooting straight out over three hundred meters, and showing no signs of reaching their limit. The massive recoil even caused his body to slide backward by two steps.

"Holy cow!!" Baimu used a Deception Trick to leap away, escaping under the cover of the brief few seconds of invisibility.

Sasori remained silent, not uttering another word. He crossed his hands and pulled them apart, weaving the two pillars of fire into a massive curtain of fire. Regardless of invisibility or frantic escape, it directly engulfed dozens of square meters.

"Waah, hot hot hot hot hot..." Wrapped around Baimu, Afei wailed at the top of his lungs. Wooden entities feared fire above all else.

[Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall Technique]

A thick rock wall rose from the ground.

"Over here!" Yugao shouted. She was not only skilled in Scorch Release; she knew a thing or two about basic Earth Release as well. Having played a minor background role ever since entering the desert, it was about time she contributed.

Baimu's backside was practically roasted to a crisp. He hurriedly lunged forward behind the earth flow wall in a clumsy dive, accidentally landing flat on top of Yugao. With no mind to spare for such details, he frantically patted out the flames on his rear.

"Get off!" Yugao almost kicked Baimu flying away.

"Whew... I almost got myself a roasted black butt." Baimu touched his two bare buttocks; his pants had been completely burned through.

"If you have any wicked ideas, use them right now. If you don't, we better start thinking about how to retreat." Yugao frowned, having accidentally been taken advantage of once again.

"Wicked ideas? Where would I get wicked ideas?!" Baimu tugged at his collar. "Did you use Scorch Release? Why is it getting hotter?"

"I didn't! He's burning through the earth flow wall! Where is your Water Release? Didn't you summon an entire ocean right in the middle of the desert?"

"That was because I borrowed Kakuzu's water heart. If Kakuzu were here, do you think I'd be scared of this guy?" Baimu wiped away his sweat.

"Think of something, fast! Use that brain of yours that's always full of dirty jokes to come up with a solution!" Yugao urged.

Baimu reached out to touch the earth flow wall and instantly pulled his hand back with a hiss: "Good grief! This fire can melt even stone. Let me think... Let me think..."

Suddenly, Baimu slapped his hand against his forehead: "I've got it!"

"What is it? Hurry!" Yugao instantly felt a surge of salvation.

"Mom, take out that... that thing." Baimu figured that based on their tacit understanding, Afei should understand what he meant.

"Do you want to eat grilled squid?" Afei spat out a large pile of barbecue sauces.

"Not that! Fufuu's hair!"

They might not be skilled in ninjutsu, but someone else definitely was!

Fufuu, who had entered a dormant state due to chakra exhaustion, should be able to be revived if recharged, right?

And what kind of place was this? The dragon vein!

The dragon vein, reputed to possess infinite chakra!

"That crazy woman?" Yugao was momentarily stunned, then immediately relieved. "If it's her, there's a real possibility... How do we do it?"

"I need to head over to the dragon vein and put Fufuu's hair inside." Baimu dared not throw it casually, lest Sasori burn it to ashes with a single breath, which would waste such a pretty clay doll.

"The dragon vein..." Yugao looked at the towering purple pillar of light several hundred meters away. Crossing Sasori's fiery blockade would be extremely difficult.

"Hey, Brother Baki, shouldn't you be playing some kind of role here too?" Baimu shouted.

"I... I want to as well, if only I could get close to him." Baki felt he had zero way of crossing hundreds of meters of fiery purgatory to chop off Sasori's head with a pitiful Wind Blade.

"Use Talk-No-Jutsu to distract him, you idiot!" Baimu felt the temperature rising even further.

"What?" Baki was stunned.

"Mention his parents, his grandparents, stir up his memories, trigger his emotions, awaken his humanity, appeal to his feelings and reason! Just distract him somehow!" Baimu yelled urgently.

"Tch, how boring." Sasori remained expressionless, his heart as cold as ice. From the moment he betrayed his village, he had abandoned everything. His body wasn't even human anymore; how could he possibly have human emotions?

"Oh oh oh... Sasori, your mom is really something else." Baki seemed to have misunderstood something.

"You're courting death!!" Sasori's anger flared, and he shifted the nozzle in his right hand toward the stone pillar where Baki was hiding.

The distraction effect was exceptionally superb!

"Good brother! Well done!" Baimu's eyebrows twitched happily. "Your wife and daughter will be cared for by me, rest assured..."