Ryou said to the silent Yashamaru: "Yashamaru, actually, it's for the best that Rasa died! That way, you and Gaara won't have to face such a tragedy."
What did he mean, it's for the best that Rasa died?
Yashamaru was puzzled.
Ryou spun his Sharingan and cast a Genjutsu on Yashamaru.
Yashamaru immediately fell into the Genjutsu world woven by Ryou.
Chiyo succeeded in sealing Shukaku, but it caused Karura to go into premature labor, and her weakened body couldn't withstand the double pain.
Karura died, but before her death, she turned her chakra into sand to protect Gaara.
Gaara was not a stable Jinchuriki; Sunagakure's seal was crude, and Shukaku's violent chakra often affected Gaara.
Whenever Gaara fell asleep, Shukaku would take over his body and break free.
For this reason, the Sunagakure did not allow Gaara to sleep.
Long-term sleep deprivation left Gaara on the verge of a mental breakdown, making his emotions extremely easy to lose control.
This was still okay, after all, Gaara still had his uncle Yashamaru by his side; Yashamaru was Gaara's last shackle.
Gaara's complete descent into darkness happened that day when Rasa and the Sunagakure higher-ups wanted to test Gaara's pressure resistance to determine if he could truly become a qualified Jinchuriki.
Rasa gave Yashamaru an order to assassinate Gaara and tell him his mother hated him.
Yashamaru hated him too.
Yashamaru died at Gaara's hands, and Gaara finally turned dark, even tattooing himself to become an Asura who loved only himself.
After that, Gaara became increasingly fond of blood and screams; no one dared to approach him, as proximity meant death.
And the Sunagakure higher-ups sent more and more people to assassinate Gaara...
Yashamaru watched all this in shock and pain, asking Ryou: "Lord Ryou, is this true?"
Ryou asked Yashamaru: "What do you think? You saw the accident during the sealing earlier, didn't you? Sunagakure's foundation is actually not that deep, yet you delusionsally try to control a power you cannot master."
Yashamaru fell silent.
Previously, Chiyo could have successfully sealed Shukaku in Gaara's stomach, but that would have caused his sister to die.
Shukaku's seal was also crude, and Gaara would very likely have become an Asura who loved only himself, just like in Ryou's Genjutsu.
Rasa would also have abandoned Gaara for the sake of the Village.
In that case, Yashamaru and Karura's family should all be grateful to Ryou.
This was a kindness that could never be repaid in a lifetime.
Rasa should also be grateful to Ryou; after all, he would have been backstabbed by Orochimaru in the future anyway, so dying honorably at Sasori's hands was a good thing.
His skills were inferior; what reason was there to resent others?
He died in battle for the Village, dying with honor.
Ryou patted Yashamaru's shoulder: "Alright! If you want revenge, tell Rasa's children!"
"I hope these poor bugs can give me and Sasori some pleasure!"
Yashamaru quickly shook his head: "No, I will explain it clearly to my sister. I won't let Temari and Kankuro fall into hatred."
"As you wish!"
Ryou had finished what he needed to say, then turned around to pack up Shukaku and prepare to leave.
Ryou placed the Wood Golem on Sunagakure's Shukaku Altar, telling Sunagakure that his power was insurmountable.
As long as they looked at this Wood Golem, he would forever be Sunagakure's strictest father.
Ryou stood on Shukaku's head, using his Sharingan to control Shukaku and prepare to leave.
Candy, Nekomata, and Snowy jumped onto Shukaku one by one.
After Sasori handed over the regeneration core technology to Chiyo, he sealed Rasa's corpse, jumped onto the Third Kazekage Human Puppet with its iron sand wings spread, and followed Ryou.
Ryou waved to Chiyo, Ebizo, and the others: "Goodbye, everyone!"
Confirming Shukaku is on the road, welcome home!
Secret mission to Sunagakure: took down the old lady of Sunagakure in seconds, successfully captured the One-Tail Shukaku, and withdrew with plenty of spoils.
Then Ryou controlled Shukaku to leave the Sunagakure openly.
As they left, several figures appeared on a sand dune.
It was Pakura, Maki, and Temari.
Pakura watched Ryou take Shukaku away through gritted teeth.
"Damn it, that wretched Uchiha still took Shukaku away."
Maki looked at the mountain-high Wood Golem in fear; such Ninjutsu was not something mortals could contend with.
They should perhaps be glad that Ryou didn't release such a technique inside Sunagakure.
Otherwise, his withdrawal would have been accompanied by the honors of clearing the map and being a genius youth.
Temari didn't care about Shukaku; she only cared about her family.
Her eyes searched desperately for her family and saw Yashamaru and Karura.
"Mom, Uncle—"
Karura had already woken up, holding Gaara as she watched Ryou leave with Shukaku with a complex expression.
Yashamaru had already told Karura everything he saw in Ryou's Genjutsu.
After Karura's death, Rasa did not treat Gaara well, basically treating him like an enemy.
Gaara's life was also full of tragedy.
Karura was not surprised; she had trained under the monk Bunpuku.
The monk Bunpuku had never slept well in his life.
Although he could be friends with Shukaku, Shukaku wouldn't become good; Shukaku only recognized the monk Bunpuku.
Given the chance, it still wanted to break the seal.
A high monk like Bunpuku had an extremely high state of mind to endure it, but what did a child like Gaara have to endure Shukaku's erosion?
His fate would very likely be the same as in Ryou's Genjutsu.
In the original work, Karura had guessed what Gaara would experience before she died.
Knowing his future life would never be peaceful, Karura turned all her chakra into sand to protect Gaara.
She couldn't prevent the tragedy of Gaara becoming a Jinchuriki because that was Rasa's decision.
She only used her own way to protect Gaara.
Now, this outcome meant Ryou had saved the mother and son.
But with her husband dead, Karura couldn't possibly celebrate.
Yashamaru heard Temari's shout and reminded Karura: "Sister, look, it's Temari."
Karura looked at the small Temari, a trace of a smile appearing on her lips; she couldn't imagine how much pain Temari and Kankuro would have been in after she passed away.
After she died, Rasa would not have cared for them.
Rasa was dead; from now on, they would be Karura's lifelong concern.
Chiyo, Ebizo, and the others also watched Ryou leave with Shukaku with complex expressions.
They wanted to chase after them to get Shukaku back, but the Wood Golem before them seemed to turn into a great mountain, suppressing everyone's will to fight.
"Sigh... perhaps losing Shukaku is also a good thing!"
Everyone was puzzled and looked at Chiyo together.
Chiyo said as follows.
"Because we simply cannot control Shukaku's power. My sealing is too crude, it cannot compare to the superior Sealing Jutsu of the Uzumaki Clan."
Without Shukaku, Sunagakure lost a lot, but the burden also seemed less heavy.
For a long time, Sunagakure had exhausted itself trying to control Shukaku's power, wasting a large amount of resources.
But looking at this situation, without top-tier Sealing Jutsu or a suitable Jinchuriki, Sunagakure would never be able to control Shukaku's power.
Power that cannot be controlled is a burden!
...
Not long after Ryou left, Sunagakure's main forces rushed to the Shukaku Altar.
Everyone was very puzzled that Chiyo had suddenly become 20 years younger, but Chiyo explained it clearly.
It was a recently developed Secret Technique that restored her appearance.
No one was surprised; the Shinobi World has countless Beyonders, and a Secret Technique to restore youth is not some profound technique.
Konoha's Princess Tsunade has such a technique.
The Transformation Technique can also restore appearance, but the cost is constantly consuming chakra, and the efficiency is too low.