Chiyo wanted to pass the Ones Own Life Reincarnation to Ryou, but the key issue was that she hadn't developed it yet!
That day, Chiyo told Ryou, who was disguised as Sasori, that the Ones Own Life Reincarnation still needed time to be developed.
Ryou rubbed his head, feeling a bit of a headache, then waved his hand to let Chiyo and Ebizo down.
Then he used Wood Release to create a table and let the two old folks sit down.
"Old woman, tell me the theory of the Ones Own Life Reincarnation."
"This—"
Chiyo was a bit hesitant; even if a developed technique were placed before an ordinary person, they wouldn't be able to learn it.
But Ryou! The intelligence reports explicitly recorded that he had developed the Immortality Technique.
For instance, his current youthful face looked only two or three years older than Sasori's from three years ago.
Chiyo was certain that Ryou was a master of Yang Release; if she told him the theory, he might even be the first to develop the Ones Own Life Reincarnation.
Seeing Chiyo's hesitation, Ryou grabbed Sasori and used electric currents to shock him until he squealed.
Seeing this, Chiyo quickly gave in: "I'll talk, I'll talk, just don't hurt Sasori!"
Chiyo then explained the principle of the Ones Own Life Reincarnation to Ryou.
It used chakra as a medium to transfer one's own life force to the target.
In the original work, Chiyo performed the Ones Own Life Reincarnation, using her own life force to save the dying Sakura.
Ryou understood this principle quite well.
Ryou's Plunder Rebirth was about plundering others' life force for himself; the difference was that the Ones Own Life Reincarnation could heal or resurrect people.
While Plunder Rebirth could make someone younger.
What Ryou wanted was the concept of the Ones Own Life Reincarnation resurrecting people.
Chiyo said to Ryou, "The purpose of the Ones Own Life Reincarnation is to bestow true life upon puppets..."
Chiyo told Ryou about the origins of the Ones Own Life Reincarnation.
This technique was a proposal from the Sunagakure Puppet Brigade from a long time ago.
Sunagakure was famous for its Puppet Technique, but traditional puppets were always "inanimate objects"—no matter how precise the mechanisms or how strong the chakra threads controlling them, they were just tools, unable to possess independent will, emotions, or a "soul."
Sunagakure wanted puppets to have human-like intelligence, capable of thinking, reacting, and even self-repairing; that way, puppets could replace humans and take on all the duties of war.
Driven by such a philosophy, the Puppeteers of the Puppet Brigade, led by Chiyo, began researching the Ones Own Life Reincarnation.
It wouldn't be accurate to say Chiyo was the sole developer of the Ones Own Life Reincarnation.
Chiyo was simply the one who contributed the most; the technique was the product of long-term research by the Sunagakure Puppet Brigade.
Later, the Sunagakure higher-ups deemed the Ones Own Life Reincarnation too dangerous and unethical, so its development was halted.
Sasori listened intently while in Ryou's hand; he had also been part of the Puppet Brigade and was even a high-ranking commander.
But Sasori had been in the Puppet Brigade during the time of the Third Kazekage; he had never heard of the Ones Own Life Reincarnation in the Puppet Brigade.
Its development was during the time of the Second Kazekage, when the Puppet Brigade was first established.
Sasori hadn't expected the Puppet Brigade to have such an idea of bestowing life upon puppets.
Sasori fell silent for a moment, then asked Chiyo, "Old woman, if a puppet has life, is it a puppet or a person?"
"..."
Ryou, Chiyo, and Ebizo all looked at Sasori.
Ryou was the first to act, shocking Sasori: "Who told you to butt in? Who told you to butt in?"
Chiyo grew anxious and snatched Sasori from Ryou's hand.
"Uchiha Ryou, my Sasori is already like this, yet you're still harming him. You're simply not human."
Ryou scolded Chiyo, "The reason Sasori has become such a depraved monster today is all because you, old woman, spoiled him."
Ryou had probed into Sasori's past; Sasori was a complete beast, beyond redemption.
But why did Sasori become this inhuman monster today?
It was mainly an environmental issue.
Sunagakure was located in the great desert; faced with the extreme environmental pressure of the Land of Wind, the people of the Land of Wind always held the philosophy of doing whatever it took to survive.
Thus, Sunagakure always gave people an impression of being vicious and ruthless.
Sunagakure's cruelty was second only to Kirigakure of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.
Kirigakure's cruelty was purely because the higher-ups had gone insane playing Genshin Impact; Kirigakure's brutality was caused by political factors.
Whereas Sunagakure's cruelty was purely environmental; in this resource-poor country, everything had to be fought for.
Water sources, food, Ninjutsu, mission requests... everything had to be fought for.
If you didn't fight, you couldn't survive.
Sasori's personality of despising human life wasn't unique; many Shinobi in Sunagakure shared this temperament.
Shinobi of the puppet style spent long periods with puppets, poisons, and hidden weapons; even a cheerful person would become gloomy.
Furthermore, when Sasori was young, parents was killed by the White Fang; having lost his familial bonds, he was gradually assimilated by Sunagakure's cruelty and cold-bloodedness.
If Sasori had been born in Konoha, and parents had died, a bit of brainwashing from the Will of Fire would have made all his troubles vanish.
The death of one's parents was worth it; it was for the Village, for the country.
What, you say the parents were killed by the Konoha higher-ups?
Then they deserved to die!
On the other hand, Chiyo's doting was also the source of Sasori's fall.
After Sasori's parents died, Chiyo acted as if she owed him, teaching him all her secret techniques without reservation.
She didn't know how to teach Sasori, how to guide him toward the right path, how to comfort him in his loneliest moments, or how to counsel him.
Chiyo's love for Sasori was one that gave only techniques and no emotion; it was more like a form of indulgence.
In the original story, Sasori turned a deceased companion named Komushi into a puppet, yet Chiyo simply turned a blind eye to it.
Chiyo's logic of love was—Sasori is too pitiful; as long as he's happy, anything goes!
Under such doting, even if Sasori didn't become a murderous demon, he would have become a profligate son.
This kind of person can't be handled just by teaching; they need to be shocked.
Ryou snatched Sasori back again and pointed at Chiyo, saying, "Old woman, Sasori is asking you! If a puppet has life and a soul, is it still a puppet?"
Chiyo said, "Of course, a puppet is ultimately a puppet; they were originally created for war and were bestowed with life for war as well."
Ryou understood: "A tool is always a tool. Then let me ask you, did you want to bestow life upon Sasori's 'Father' and 'Mother' purely because you wanted them as tools to accompany Sasori?"
Sasori looked at Chiyo.
Chiyo looked at Sasori and nodded, "Yes, bestowing life and a soul upon Sasori's 'Father' and 'Mother' was to let Sasori escape his loneliness."
Sasori asked, "Old woman, aren't you even a little sad about the death of your own son and daughter-in-law? Don't you want to resurrect your own kin?"
Chiyo said, "How could I not be sad? But that's just how Shinobi are. In my life, far too many of my kin have died in the chaos of war, not just your parents."
"Do you expect me to resurrect all of them?"
"Humans will eventually die, and a Shinobi's destiny is the battlefield."
Ryou snorted at Chiyo, "You're still doting on Sasori! He's already neither human nor ghost, yet you're still doting on him!"
Chiyo lowered her head, withdrawing into the shadows. "Because he is my last concern!"
"..."
Sasori suddenly stiffened, as if something warm had gently bumped against his heart.
He finally knew why he could never become a true puppet. It was all because of this old woman's unreserved love.
Ryou quickly broke the sentimental atmosphere. "Alright, alright, stop it. You're making me miss my sister and my nephew."