Bad retcon. Gaara/Shukaku was one of the first and best examples of ninja villages having to use human sacrifice for great power. It was even better that Gaara+Shukaku turned into a chimera the village couldn't control. I guess Kishimoto had to explain how Gaara kept his sand powers after losing Shukaku.

At least the character development was okay. And the four Kage were pretty funny.