Sasori glared at Ryou from atop the Third Kazekage's head. "Uchiha Ryou, are you trying to kill the old woman?"
Ryou smiled at Sasori. "Sasori, so you do still care about your own kin."
"Hmph!"
Beside the Third Kazekage now lay a lifeless corpse—it was Rasa.
"Kazekage-sama!"
Baki's pupils shrank, and his whole body froze as if struck by lightning.
That powerful Kazekage, who could suppress Shukaku with Gold Dust, was dead; Sunagakure's strongest Shinobi had fallen in battle.
In Sunagakure, the eyes of the Anbu who were not controlled by the Candy chakra threads dimmed one by one.
It felt as if an invisible hand was squeezing their hearts tightly, causing a dull, aching pain.
Yet another Kazekage had been killed by Sasori!
"Sasori, you've killed another Kazekage."
Chiyo sighed, her expression numb; she had seen off yet another Kazekage.
Sunagakure seemed to carry an unchangeable curse: none of the successive Kazekage could meet a peaceful end—not the First, the Second, the Third, nor the Fourth.
The Third and Fourth were the most tragic, for they were killed by their own fellow villagers.
Fate seemed to have played a cruel joke on the Sunagakure; in this Village where every breath of wind brought sand, they were all a bunch of losers.
They lost the wars, the Daimyo detested them, and even fate seemed to view them as outcasts.
Sasori snorted coldly. "The Kazekage is nothing more than a pathetic byproduct!"
Despair—everyone in the Sunagakure camp felt despair.
Even the kindest Shinobi Cat, Candy, felt sorrow for this Village.
The Tailed Beast was captured, and the Kazekage was killed.
Their existence seemed to be that of minor characters meant only to highlight the protagonist.
Ryou shook his head; he hadn't said the Kazekage deserved to die, yet he was killed by Sasori just like that.
It wasn't surprising to Ryou that Sasori could defeat Rasa.
In the original work, Rasa had no achievements to speak of; he ambitiously teamed up with Orochimaru to destroy Konoha.
But he was backstabbed by Orochimaru halfway through.
Even with the spy Sasori planted in the Sunagakure high command, trash is still trash; even given time to react, he would still be a waste.
Even when brought back by Edo Tensei, he was sealed by Gaara in just two or three moves.
The only thing worth mentioning was probably using Gold Dust to suppress Shukaku's rampage.
Compared to the Third Kazekage's iron sand, it was far inferior.
Moreover, looking at Rasa's purplish-blue face, he was likely struck by Sasori's deadly poison.
It was quite a pity.
The Shinobi World is a place for battle records; the Shinobi Academy is the place for grades.
If you don't have battle records when you're out in the world, you'd better keep your head down!
...
Little Temari walked alone through the great desert. She didn't know where her father had taken her mother, nor did she know where the Shukaku Altar was.
She knew even less about who this Ryou, disguised as Sasori, was.
She just instinctively felt that this guy would be bad for the Village.
When encountering such things, one should immediately find the Village's Shinobi.
But Temari was still young; she only instinctively wanted to save her mother.
In the vastness of the desert, where could she find her mother?
Temari crouched down in despair.
"Papa! Mama!"
The wind blew, and a sandstorm erupted; it looked as if the gale was about to blow Temari away.
A female Shinobi wearing backless attire caught Temari.
Temari recognized the person and wailed against her chest, "Pakura-sama, my papa took my mama away. He's going to seal Shukaku into the baby in mama's belly!"
"I beg you, please save my mama!"
Pakura patted Temari's back. "Don't cry, Temari, don't cry. I'll take you to save your mother right now."
Shukaku Altar.
Ryou used Wood Release to create an interrogation cabin, using vines to restrain the Sunagakure people.
Then he separated them one by one.
Chiyo and Ebizo were locked together, the Sunagakure Anbu were locked together, and Karura, the siblings Yashamaru, and Gaara were locked together.
Ryou first went to interrogate Chiyo and Ebizo.
Sasori, with its sharp, glowing poison stinger raised, looked coldly at Ryou. Its posture suggested that if Ryou harmed Chiyo,
it would fight Ryou to the death.
Chiyo snorted. "Young Ryou, don't waste your breath. I won't tell you anything."
Ryou looked at Chiyo and said, "Old woman, time is short, and I don't want to say much more to you. I have no interest in any of Sunagakure's intelligence."
"Sunagakure is so weak, what could there possibly be worth my attention?"
"..."
Chiyo didn't know if they were lucky or unlucky.
Unlucky, probably! Because the enemy looked down on them for being too weak, not even wanting to inquire about Sunagakure's secrets.
Sorrow, a great sorrow!
Ebizo asked, "Uchiha Ryou, the reason you kept me and my sister is that you want my sister's Forbidden Jutsu, isn't it?"
Ryou gave Ebizo a thumbs up. "Smart!"
If there was anything left in Sunagakure that could attract Ryou, it could only be Chiyo's Ones Own Life Reincarnation.
This Forbidden Jutsu wasn't known only to Chiyo, nor was it developed by her alone.
The original work mentioned that Sunagakure's Puppet Brigade had long envisioned giving life to puppets so they could better bear the burdens of war.
The origin of the Ones Own Life Reincarnation was war, but because it breached human ethics, the Puppet Brigade banned the development of the technique.
Later, wanting to compensate for Sasori's childhood, Chiyo violated the regulations and continued to develop the Ones Own Life Reincarnation.
Chiyo shook her head vigorously. "Impossible, Uchiha Ryou. It's impossible for me to hand my Forbidden Jutsu over to you."
"You won't?!"
Electric currents crackled and popped in Ryou's hand.
Sasori moved to block him.
Chiyo and Ebizo were both flesh and blood; if they were hit by Ryou's intense current, they would likely perish.
But Ryou didn't shock Chiyo or Ebizo; instead, he shocked Sasori.
Sasori was caught in Ryou's hand, screeching like a scorpion as it was electrocuted.
Sasori wanted to curse Ryou's entire family; what on earth did this beast take it for?
It had just blocked Rasa for him!
Ryou dangled Sasori, laughing wickedly, "Old woman, do you see? Your only grandson is in my hands. If you don't hand over the Forbidden Jutsu, I'll electrocute it to death."
To deal with tough nuts like Chiyo and Ebizo, one must seize their weakness.
In the original work, Chiyo went into seclusion with Ebizo not long after sealing Shukaku inside Gaara.
No matter how big the events in Sunagakure—the Konoha Crush plan, the assassination of the Fourth Kazekage Rasa, the inauguration of the Fifth Kazekage Gaara...
They didn't step out of seclusion until Baki brought news of Sasori.
Sasori was their last relative, the concern they could never let go of.
With Ryou's shock, Chiyo immediately grew anxious.
"Uchiha Ryou, you despicable brat, release Sasori this instant! Use whatever tricks you have on me!"
Even if Sasori was the heinous villain who killed two generations of Kazekage,
in Chiyo's eyes, it would always be her unlovable grandson.
Ryou laughed like a villain, "Old woman, if you don't hand over the Forbidden Jutsu, I'll roast Sasori into a roasted scorpion right in front of you, and then personally feed it to you."
"(ºΔº)."
Chiyo was out of options.
"I'll do as you say. I agree to everything, alright!"
Ryou set Sasori down and smiled. "Wouldn't it have been better to do this earlier? A prisoner should have the awareness of a prisoner."
Chiyo cursed, "Dammit, I've never seen an Uchiha as evil as you. Not even Uchiha Madara was this wicked!"
Ryou chuckled. "Then you simply haven't seen enough!"