Inside a cave within the Land of Fire.
Li Xing was holding Karin and Yugito here. If everything went as planned, this would be the place to seal the Two-Tails. However, he first needed Pain the Heavenly Path to use the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path's summoning jutsu. Only the Rinnegan could summon it, and Li Xing didn't want to expose his own Rinnegan abilities yet.
He first looked at the unconscious Karin. Her injuries had all healed, she had simply fainted from chakra exhaustion, which wasn't a major issue.
Li Xing held Karin with one arm and gently placed his other hand on her chest. A surge of powerful chakra flowed into her body, and he also left a Flying Thunder God Technique mark on her necklace.
With the chakra Li Xing provided, Karin quickly woke up.
"Xing…kun, I… I I I… I'm sorry…"
Karin was so flustered that she couldn't speak coherently. After all, she had tried to capture a Jinchuriki on her own, defying Li Xing's instructions.
Li Xing smiled and stroked Karin's head. "What's there to be sorry about? Take your time to say whatever you need to say. Don't rush. I'm not blaming you."
"Really? Xing-kun isn't mad that I didn't listen to you and inform you?" Karin looked up, her eyes shimmering as she gazed at Li Xing.
"Really, I'm not mad. You captured a Jinchuriki on your own, why would I be mad? I should be praising you. My Karin has grown! You've become a very capable ninja."
Hearing Li Xing's praise, Karin immediately brightened. "Finally, I can finally help Xing-kun!"
Then she remembered being injured by Yugito several times earlier, and Karin became disheartened again. Li Xing noticed her mood shift and pinched her cheek. "What's wrong now? Why are you unhappy again?"
"Xing-kun, I… I was injured several times while fighting the Jinchuriki. I'm sorry. I promised Xing-kun I would take good care of myself."
Li Xing couldn't help it anymore. Karin's slightly foolish demeanor was too endearing. He immediately pulled her into his arms and ruffled her hair, making it messy.
"Silly girl, how can you guarantee not getting injured 100% in a fight? You're not like before, where you would dodge attacks you could dodge but didn't. Alright, don't be sad anymore. You rest well. The rest is my job now."
Li Xing conjured a bed and placed Karin on it, then gently kissed her forehead.
"Goodnight."
Perhaps it was due to extreme exhaustion, but Karin quickly fell asleep. Seeing that she was asleep, Li Xing set up a barrier around her and then walked towards Yugito, who was lying unconscious on the ground nearby.
"Hmm, her skin has some burns, probably from the shockwave of the explosion. Her internal organs are ruptured, similar to overexertion from excessive speed, causing blood to reverse. It seems to be caused by Karin's attacks."
Li Xing carefully examined Yugito's body. The external injuries weren't severe, but the internal injuries were. However, Li Xing only intended to save her life, not fully heal her, to avoid having to fight her again later.
"Alright, let's test my medical ninjutsu this time. It's been a while since I used the Mystical Palm Technique."
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Xing's hands began to glow with a green light. He slowly moved his hands over Yugito's body. Of course, the Mystical Palm Technique didn't require physical contact to heal.
Before long, Li Xing had finished the treatment. However, his medical ninjutsu was a bit too powerful. Yugito's body was almost fully recovered, with only some weakness remaining. Otherwise, there were no major issues.
"Where… where is this? Who are you? Did you save me?"
After Li Xing's treatment, Yugito's eyes gradually opened. The first thing she saw was Li Xing's face. He was sitting on the ground, resting his right cheek on his hand.
"You woke up so quickly. As expected of the Two-Tails Jinchuriki. This is the Land of Fire. I am the husband of the girl you fought earlier. I am now considered your savior. Have you thought about how you will repay me?"
Hearing Li Xing's words, Yugito immediately reacted. She recalled fighting earlier and only remembered being bound by chains before losing consciousness.
Yugito tried to stand up and distance herself from the man in front of her, but her body was so weak that even standing up was a struggle. Escape was impossible.
Seeing Yugito attempt to stand, Li Xing quickly helped her up. "Where are you going? Need to use the restroom? I can help you, though there's no toilet here. You can just do it here."
Yugito glared at Li Xing. "Disgusting. You're just a kid. Who are you? Why did you save me? Your wife was the one who beat me up like this."
Li Xing first conjured two chairs and placed Yugito on one. Then, he created a small table with two teacups and poured some red tea.
"Thirsty? Have some tea." Li Xing didn't answer Yugito's questions, instead taking a sip of his own tea.
Yugito didn't touch the cup of red tea. Instead, she kept staring at Li Xing's face, but couldn't figure anything out.
"Had enough looking? I know I'm handsome, but you don't need to stare at me like that."
Hearing Li Xing's narcissistic remark, Yugito immediately turned away and picked up the red tea, drinking it. She no longer intended to extract any information from Li Xing, only wanting to recover quickly and return to the Hidden Cloud Village.
"Quite proud, aren't we!" Li Xing didn't know much about Yugito, but it seemed she was the type of woman with her own pride. However, such women easily transitioned from pride to tsundere.
"Then I'll introduce myself. My name is Li Xing, an official member of the Akatsuki. My mission is to capture the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, then extract the Tailed Beast from the Jinchuriki, and seal it. The one who fought you is my partner, and also my wife."
Li Xing suddenly stood up and gave Yugito a gentlemanly bow, blurting out his objective.
Yugito's pupils constricted, and she immediately wanted to escape. As expected, they were enemies, not friends.
But Li Xing waved his hand gently, and several chains suddenly emerged from the ground, binding Yugito firmly to the chair.
"You can't escape. You might as well cooperate with me. Let me extract the Tailed Beast from your body now, and you can still survive. Otherwise, when our leader arrives, he uses his methods, and Jinchuriki die after their Tailed Beasts are extracted!"
"Don't worry, I'll be very gentle. You won't be harmed at all. It won't affect you in any way. I've done this before, and there will be no problem."
...