Chiyo immediately thought of the forbidden life jutsu she had been developing.
She looked at Sasori, who was currently touching the puppets of his parents, deeply withdrawn into himself.
"Sasori, I can change this outcome. I have been trying to revive your parents."
Ryou was secretly delighted; he had finally baited the information out.
Sasori, inside Ryou's body, was also listening intently.
"Revive them? Impossible! My parents have been dead for nearly ten years."
Chiyo looked around and then closed the door, acting like a secret agent meeting a contact.
"Sasori, I will reveal to you the Forbidden Jutsu I've been developing recently. I've named it the One's Own Life Reincarnation Jutsu."
"This is a Forbidden Jutsu that converts all of one's Chakra into life force, thereby granting life to a puppet."
The One's Own Life Reincarnation Jutsu wasn't originally intended to revive people; it was meant to give puppets a soul and life.
This was a Forbidden Jutsu developed by Chiyo to make up for the pain of Sasori losing his parents, by granting souls and life to Sasori's "Father" and "Mother" puppets.
She couldn't directly revive Sasori's parents because they had already been buried, and their bodies had turned to bone.
Due to various restrictions, Chiyo had never succeeded.
First, the "Father" and "Mother" puppets were wooden puppets, not human puppets, and lacked the characteristics of Sasori's parents.
Attempting to summon their souls back from the Pure Land into puppets was nothing short of a pipe dream.
Second, Chiyo was only one person. Even if the One's Own Life Reincarnation Jutsu could revive a person, theoretically it could only revive one. Should it be the father or the mother?
Chiyo was inclined toward her own son, but she feared Sasori would have no mother to call for and would go around the Village looking for a mother everywhere.
In the original work, Chiyo being able to revive Gaara actually had many limiting conditions.
One, Gaara had only just died at that time, and his soul had not yet reported to the Pure Land; it was likely still wandering in the crack between life and death.
It was very easy to summon.
Two, Gaara's death was caused by having his Tailed Beast extracted along with his Chakra.
His corpse was still preserved, without any missing parts or damage.
If his head were missing, could Chiyo find a dog's head to sew onto Gaara and revive him?
The short time since death and the lack of significant damage to the body were the key factors that allowed Chiyo to revive Gaara.
But Sasori's parents?
They didn't meet a single condition.
The strongest revival technique in the Ninja World was still the Rinne One's Own Life Reincarnation Jutsu.
Chiyo told Ryou about some of the restrictions of the One's Own Life Reincarnation Jutsu.
First and foremost, Chiyo hadn't finished developing it yet; it was still over a decade before the time she would use the One's Own Life Reincarnation Jutsu in the original work.
Second, Chiyo wasn't sure if she could summon the souls of Sasori's parents from the Pure Land into puppets to revive them.
Third, Chiyo was only one person and could not revive two people.
Ryou frowned after hearing this. How could one summon a soul from the Pure Land to the living world?
Right, Edo Tensei!
Ryou said to Chiyo, "Old woman, I have an idea. Konoha's Edo Tensei can summon a person's soul from the Pure Land to the living world."
Chiyo had an epiphany: "That's right, the Edo Tensei. That's the Second Hokage's Forbidden Jutsu, capable of summoning the dead from the Pure Land."
"When the time comes, we just need to summon your parents' souls and then perform the One's Own Life Reincarnation Jutsu."
Chiyo immediately shook her head again: "But I only have one life. I can only revive one person!"
Chiyo knew her days were numbered. If she could revive Sasori's parents so he wouldn't be lonely anymore, she was willing to sacrifice her old life.
But she only had one life and could only revive one person.
Ryou thought for a moment: "Let Old Man Ebizo learn it too. He doesn't have many years left to live anyway. Let's hurry up and reunite my family of three!"
"Ah?!"
Chiyo looked at Ryou with some shock, feeling that Sasori seemed a bit like a beast at this moment.
This kind of sacrifice was something that could only be offered voluntarily.
Just like giving up a seat to an elderly person on a bus: giving up my seat is my virtue, not my obligation.
Chiyo and Ebizo had no obligation to give their lives for Sasori's parents.
Of course, given their love for Sasori, they were perfectly willing to sacrifice themselves.
But if Sasori was the one to propose such a sacrifice, it would be like forcing them to die.
Of all things in heaven and earth, only what I bestow upon you is yours; what I do not give, you may not take.
Furthermore, the One's Own Life Reincarnation Jutsu was a Yang Release Forbidden Jutsu. Could an average person even learn it?
Although Ebizo was a high-ranking official in Sunagakure, he was a civil official and not skilled in combat. He was responsible for intelligence and espionage work when he was young, and now that he was so old, he was even less capable.
The One's Own Life Reincarnation Jutsu could only be learned by someone with great attainment in Yang Release.
The only person Chiyo could think of was Tsunade.
The persona he was playing had crumbled, so Ryou quickly smoothed it over: "Old woman, teach me the One's Own Life Reincarnation Jutsu; I will find my own way to revive my parents."
Chiyo shook her head: "No, the One's Own Life Reincarnation Jutsu is still in its final stages. I need time to develop it."
"Besides, we must first defeat Uchiha Madara."
If they didn't defeat Madara, the world would end, and reviving Sasori's parents would be in vain.
Ryou's head hurt a bit; Chiyo clearly didn't want to talk to Ryou anymore.
"Sasori, you rest for a while. I'll go see if Ebizo has bought the dog meat yet."
After Chiyo left, Ryou summoned Snowy, Candy, and Matatabi to guard the room.
He then took out Sasori's regeneration core.
"Sasori, you aren't saying a word. Don't you want to revive your parents?"
Sasori snorted and then said, "Even if they are revived, so what? As Sunagakure Ninjas, they would still have to go to the battlefield and would still face the risk of dying in battle."
"..."
Because he feared losing them again, Sasori rejected any beginning.
Ryou stopped talking as well; this was Sasori's own business, and if he didn't want to revive them, so be it.
In any case, Ryou would find a way to obtain Chiyo's One's Own Life Reincarnation Jutsu. In the future, if those around him were accidentally ravaged to death by him, he could use the One's Own Life Reincarnation Jutsu to revive them.
And then ravage them again!
Ryou had five lives and could fully afford the one-life-for-another cost of the One's Own Life Reincarnation Jutsu.
A moment later, Ryou heard the sound of a dog barking, followed by the drifting fragrance of dog meat in Chiyo's courtyard.
Ryou took a deep breath and praised, "Truly, 'once the fragrance of dog meat is smelled, even an immortal would leap over a wall!'"
Dogs are long-term companion animals for humans, and many places prohibit the consumption of dog meat.
Self-proclaimed civilized countries have always considered eating dog meat to be barbaric behavior, believing that sentient beings should be granted the same status as humans.
Why is it that only humans cannot be killed and eaten for their meat?
Because humans are superior to everything else!
I have evolved for millions of years; why on earth should I live in harmony with you? If you haven't climbed to the top of the food chain, then just deal with it.
You have your thoughts, and I have my preferences.
Forcing your own ideas on others is like taking off your own underwear and putting it on someone else's head.
Besides, there is already a type of meat dog specifically raised for human consumption on the market.
People only have so much nonsense to spout because they are too well-fed; if you starved them for a few days, they would scramble to eat their most loyal friends.