Chiyo thought of Tobirama's Forbidden Jutsu that Ryou had mentioned—Edo Tensei.
This was a technique explicitly capable of summoning souls from the Pure Land.
However, Edo Tensei was a Konoha Forbidden Jutsu; it was impossible for Chiyo to learn it.
But summoning souls wasn't exclusive to Tobirama; the Shinobi World was full of eccentric talents and divine individuals.
Legend had it that some monks or onmyoji could perform Soul Summoning and Spirit Channeling.
Chiyo's Ones Own Life Reincarnation also had a certain degree of Soul Summoning property.
Furthermore, there was no need to summon the entire soul; just a portion of the chakra carried by the soul would suffice.
Chiyo stroked her chin, preparing to approach it from the soul's perspective, thinking of a way to summon the chakra of Sasori's parents.
Sasori interrupted Chiyo's contemplation: "Old woman, don't waste your energy. I've already grown up; I'm no longer that child who needs parental company."
"Sasori..."
Chiyo looked at Sasori, momentarily speechless.
Sasori could see it; Chiyo was nurturing hope just to help it escape its loneliness.
For it, everything was too late—so late that nothing could redeem its lonely soul anymore.
It had long since resided in a world of darkness, long since been in hell.
Seeing Sasori's sentimentality, Ryou released an electric current, making Sasori shriek from the shock.
Chiyo grew anxious again: "Damn it, Uchiha Ryou, you're bullying my grandson again."
Ryou lectured Sasori: "Sasori, you brat, your grandmother isn't saving you; she's saving herself."
"She believes that everything you've become today is her fault. Saving you is also saving herself."
"..."
Chiyo seemed to have her thoughts exposed and was no longer anxious.
Indeed, Chiyo was saving Sasori as well as herself.
It was her overindulgence that made Sasori what he was today; she believed that as long as Sasori's parents returned, Sasori could escape his loneliness.
And return to how he used to be.
But once a crack opens, it can never be mended, just as a shattered mirror cannot return to its original wholeness.
The current Sasori disregarded life and had no ethical concepts.
It killed the Third Kazekage, and it killed the Fourth Kazekage.
Having committed so many evil deeds and killed so many people, was it still that same kind and lively little Sasori?
Sasori couldn't come back; Chiyo was merely deceiving herself!
"Alright, let's stop talking about this. If we continue, Sunagakure's main force will arrive."
Ryou broke the silence.
The previous Shinobi unit was only a vanguard that had reacted first; Sunagakure's main force was still gathering elsewhere.
If they were to assemble—
Ryou wasn't afraid; with the absolute power of the Wood Golem plus Shukaku controlled by the Sharingan...
Even if all of Sunagakure attacked, they wouldn't be a match.
What Ryou feared was trouble; he wasn't someone who killed indiscriminately.
There were bound to be beautiful female Shinobi in the Sunagakure forces; if they died, would Sasori turn them into Human Puppets?
Ryou also understood the concept behind Chiyo's Ones Own Life Reincarnation.
Ryou didn't take the puppet-related concepts; he took the concepts regarding the resurrection of life.
Using chakra to convert into vitality to maintain the connection between the deceased's soul and body.
Ryou could replace the vitality with his own life spores.
What Ryou truly wanted was to maintain the connection between the deceased's soul and body—that is, to break the death rules of the Pure Land and summon the deceased soul back to the world of the living.
Through the concepts Chiyo shared, Ryou already had some ideas in mind.
These thoughts were transmitted in the form of chakra to Amegakure—the secluded place where Ryou's clones developed and practiced techniques.
Letting the clones research how to summon souls?
Some Spore Clones went to consult the records regarding souls in the Hidden Rain Village, as well as legends about Soul Summoning and Spirit Channeling.
The rest was to threaten Chiyo.
Ryou picked Sasori up, his palm generating fire to roast him.
"Old woman, you must develop the Ones Own Life Reincarnation. Stop researching giving life to puppets. I want you to focus on restoring the life of the recently deceased."
Looking at Sasori being threatened by Ryou, Chiyo could only nod: "Fine, I will develop the Ones Own Life Reincarnation for you."
Ryou put Sasori down and then a cocoon-like life spore appeared in his hand, which he shot into Chiyo's body.
Chiyo was shocked: "What is this? What did you drive into my body?"
Both Chiyo and Ebizo thought it was some kind of control method.
Ryou didn't answer and immediately formed hand seals to perform a Forbidden Jutsu: "Forbidden Jutsu—Youth Restore!"
Ryou was testing if his life spores could restore youth; after all, so far, he had only restored Madara to his youth.
He wanted to see if the life spores had the same function.
Ryou's life spores erupted within Chiyo's body, and powerful Yang Release energy acted upon her aged physical form.
This Yang Release energy was vitality, the power of creation.
In an instant—
A massive surge of vitality surged from within, washing over Chiyo's aging body.
The layer of old age on Chiyo dissipated like mist; her hunched back straightened bit by bit, and the wrinkles on her skin slowly smoothed out and faded.
Her lusterless hair was dyed anew with a color full of life, and her cloudy eyes became clear and sharp once more.
Ebizo watched in shock as Chiyo's elegance reappeared.
Even the usually unflappable Sasori was so horrified that its tail stinger stood on end.
No wonder Ryou could restore Madara to his prime!
It turned out he had such a technique that could turn decay into magic, completely transforming an old person into a young one.
In just a moment, the marks left by time on Chiyo faded away entirely, and her whole being seemed to travel back in time, returning to her prime.
Short light-purple hair, with the ends slightly flipped up, revealing a smooth forehead and sharp eyes.
Her skin was fair, and her face was small and delicate; her eyes were lively, carrying a hint of cunning and composure.
Why was Chiyo called the Flower of the Shinobi?
On one hand, it was because of her resilience; on the other hand, the young Chiyo was the "village flower" of Sunagakure.
With such looks, no wonder her grandson was such a handsome person!
Ryou still had a strong preconceived notion about Chiyo, because the impression of her previous old appearance was just too distinct.
If they were to get intimate, he feared it would be like this—
But as soon as Chiyo restored her youth, he felt a bit tempted.
He clearly still held deep-seated notions about Chiyo, constantly telling himself that she was an old woman nearly sixty years old.
Even if she restored her youth, she was still a sixty-year-old woman; it wouldn't do.
But his junk wouldn't listen to him.
Furthermore, Chiyo wasn't actually that much older than Ryou.
She was around 57 now, but Ryou wasn't young either; he was from the same era as Tsunade, making him about thirty-seven or thirty-eight now.
Chiyo was 20 years older than Ryou, which was quite a big difference when calculated.
As the saying goes, "A woman three years older brings a gold brick." Chiyo could bring eight big gold bricks.
This didn't even count his age from his previous life; if that were included, Ryou would be older than Chiyo.
They were around the same age, so what was there to fear?
"Viewing a beauty as a skeleton makes me desireless; viewing a skeleton as a beauty makes me fearless."
Sasori turned to look at Ryou's gaze—not good, the old woman's beauty has hooked this pervert's soul.
This guy wants to be his grandfather!
Sasori hadn't been with Ryou for long, but he had basically seen through his personality; this kind of person was the most shrewd—he'd visit a brothel and then claim he was just reviewing the shop.
Sasori quickly raised his tail stinger and fiercely injected Ryou with venom that suppressed desire-related nerves.
Ryou immediately calmed down a bit. At the very least, a person shouldn't...!
Ryou quickly used Genjutsu to hypnotize himself, seeing Chiyo as she looked before.
It was still that "first impression" concept; if Chiyo had looked like this from the start, Ryou would have controlled her long ago.
Chiyo touched her face, feeling how smooth it was: "I... what happened to me?"
Ebizo said, very happy for Chiyo: "Sister, you've restored your youth."
"Huh?!"