Sakura and the other two stood up, facing Lixing as if facing a great enemy. Having just finished a battle, fighting another unknown person would be disadvantageous for them.
"Two of you in this squad are medical ninjas, meaning you two are disciples of Tsunade, one of the Sannin, right? I can go easy on you, no weapons needed."
Sensing their intention to retreat, Lixing immediately declared he wouldn't use weapons. He then placed his sword in Karin's embrace and extended one hand, signaling they could begin.
The three nodded to each other. After a series of exchanged glances, they decided to leave, as the current situation was unfavorable for combat.
"I won't let you leave. Summoning: Sandstorm, Flame Net."
As soon as the words left his mouth, a sandstorm materialized around Lixing and the three. Flames mixed within the sandstorm, with Lixing at its center, creating a battlefield for them.
"Ninjutsu, Mind Transfer Jutsu!"
Ino was the first to react, intending to control Lixing and allow Choji and Sakura to escape.
However, upon entering Lixing's mindscape, Ino found herself unable to control his body. Instead, she saw a starry sky. In the starry sky, a girl in red was embracing Lixing, both of them looking at Ino with faint smiles.
"Yo! Little sister, what do you think? Isn't the starry sky in my mind beautiful?"
Lixing generously introduced the starry sky behind him. This was a world created by Lixing, and he welcomed the rare visitor to show off.
"What... what is this?"
Ino was astonished. Why had the Mind Transfer Jutsu led her to such a place? Stars were supposed to be in the sky, weren't they? Could this man touch the stars?
Ino's thoughts weren't entirely wrong. Lixing could indeed touch the stars, and not just the stars, but the heavens themselves. The Mind Transfer Jutsu was useless against him; Lixing had merely pulled Ino into his world.
"Riyun, entertain Ino well. I'm going out to play with her friends."
After giving his instructions, Lixing vanished into the starry sky, leaving Riyun and Ino behind. Riyun slowly approached Ino, gently caressing her face with one hand.
"Don't be afraid. Come, let's admire the entire universe together!"
...
Outside the field, Lixing returned to normal. Ino was still unconscious. The other two thought Ino's Mind Transfer Jutsu had succeeded and were about to speak when Lixing charged forward. His demeanor suggested this was not Ino.
"Multi-Size Jutsu!"
Choji immediately went gigantic, resembling an Ultraman. Without a word, Choji threw a punch at Lixing.
Although Choji's punch successfully blocked Lixing, it didn't injure him in the slightest. A white skeletal armor appeared on Lixing's body, forcefully resisting Choji's full-power attack.
"Susano'o!"
Suddenly, the white skeletal armor evolved, gradually reaching its fourth form, which was a level higher than Itachi Uchiha's Tengu form, now capable of standing and walking.
Lixing walked out of the Susano'o, letting it engage Choji. Now, only Sakura remained to fight Lixing.
Sakura looked at the scene before her, remembering the past Seventh Squad, where she always stood behind Naruto and Sasuke. She resolved never to be like that again. One day, she would stand with them and fight together.
Sakura gently placed Ino's body aside, clenched her fist, gathered more chakra, and punched towards Lixing.
"Finally showing some fighting spirit? But you've awakened too late. You've always believed you'd be a burden to the team, which is why you've never truly coordinated your attacks with them. When they fall, your rushed attack will be futile, and you'll truly become the one dragging them down."
"What was the first lesson your teacher gave you? Have you forgotten it already? Teamwork..."
Lixing caught Sakura's fist with one hand and gently twisted it, instantly fracturing her hand and disabling one of her limbs. He then kicked her flying.
"Medical ninjas cannot rush to the front, but they are not meant to hide behind and wait for their teammates to get injured before healing them. Without understanding teamwork, you will always be the one dragging them down."
Lixing arrogantly pointed at Sakura from a teacher's perspective, but his actions were not as restrained as a teacher's. While not using his full power, he could certainly give her a beating.
"Don't underestimate me! Die!" Being berated, Sakura leaped high, channeling chakra with her single usable hand, attempting a desperate final stand.
Lixing was greatly disappointed. Her mind was too slow. In this state, she was still jumping so high.
"Then, how will you dodge my attack in mid-air with only one hand, unable to form hand seals?"
"Sage Art, Water Style, Water Colliding Wave!"
Suddenly, in the middle of the desert, a waterspout like a tornado erupted, shooting straight into the sky. This attack directly repelled Sakura, and the sandstorm dissipated under the Water Style.
Choji had already been knocked unconscious by the Susano'o. Lying on the ground, he was force-fed water, immediately choking awake. Karin, protected by Lixing, was completely untouched, not even by the slightest wind pressure. Of course, Lixing had also secretly protected Ino during that attack; she was still in his world, and it would be problematic if her body were lost.
"That concludes today's lesson. This time, it's on the house. Each of you is as weak as grass by the roadside."
Lixing looked at the three people lying on the ground, unable to get up, and shook his head. They were too weak; even Karin could have soloed them.
He sent a mental command, and Ino was immediately returned to her body. The first thing she did upon waking was look at Lixing, her eyes gleaming with an unknown thought.
This startled Lixing, who felt a sense of unease and immediately flew away with Karin. Feeling Lixing's embrace again, Karin inexplicably began to bleed from her nose.
Lixing, resting in a ruin, immediately entered his mindscape to ask Riyun what she had done.
"I didn't do anything. Star asked me to entertain her well, so I took her to admire the cosmic starry sky. I also boasted about my 'Father,' so it's normal for her to look at you with admiration after she leaves. Oh, and I also gave her a data eye for simple material analysis."
Lixing was completely unconvinced. Given Riyun's mischievous personality, she might have gotten up to something like a bondage session. But Riyun insisted she hadn't done anything else.
Speaking of gifts, Lixing hadn't given Karin any gifts yet. Since he had given Ino a data eye, he should at least give Karin something fun.
"Karin, here, I'll give you a gift." He then gently kissed her on the lips. Karin was instantly stunned.
"Star-kun he... Star-kun finally... to me..."
Karin couldn't hold back any longer and lunged at Lixing, but he stopped her. She was still too young. Karin was barely half a ghost, and her growth depended on Lixing accelerating time to nurture her. It was absolutely not the time.
"Karin, I've given you a Mangekyo Sharingan. Try to see what abilities it has."
Karin knew what a Sharingan was, but she was unfamiliar with the term "Mangekyo." Then, with a blink of her eye, her eyes immediately turned crimson red, with a rose-like pattern in her pupils.
Karin immediately looked at a distant rock. The space ahead distorted, and the rock vanished.
Lixing recognized it as Kamui. He had expected some other ability to manifest. It seemed that bloodline limits created through dataization could only be pupil techniques that already existed in this world.
Lixing then explained the characteristics of this Mangekyo Sharingan to Karin, including abilities like intangibility. As for why he only gave her one eye, Lixing felt that having too many Mangekyo Sharingan would diminish their rarity. Moreover, with Lixing around, nothing could harm Karin, so whether she had one eye or two was irrelevant. This Kamui eye was merely a toy for Karin, and Lixing would bear the responsibility for everything.
(I do not dislike or like Sakura. She is not a fanatic, nor do I subscribe to the Leaf Village conspiracy theories.)