A wave of deep despair washed over Shukaku's heart. He never expected that even his strongest move, the Tailed Beast Bomb, would fail to harm Simu. Conversely, he felt more helpless than he ever had since facing that man who used Wood Style decades ago.
While Shukaku was trapped in despair, one Simu appeared atop its head. Numerous tentacles bloomed from Simu's back, coiling tightly around Shukaku. By now, the beast had resigned to its fate and offered no resistance, allowing the tentacles imbued with sealing power to bind it firmly.
In order to restrict Shukaku, this specific clone possessed one hundred percent Uzumaki lineage. Its talent in sealing jutsu was far superior to the other clones. Despite having slight shortcomings in other areas, this was irrelevant. After all, the combat-oriented clone was still present. This clone's primary purpose was to complete the upcoming sealing ritual.
As the sealing power released from the tentacles, Shukaku, who already lacked the will to fight, completely withered. Seeing Simu standing before it, the beast finally yielded.
"Brat, I can cooperate with your experiment, but on the condition that—"
Before it could finish, [Desire] appeared behind it. Using its bloated, giant palm, it slammed Shukaku's head heavily into the ground. Simultaneously, [Fear] descended from the sky. Its powerful spiritual power pierced toward Shukaku's soul like a sharp sword.
Shukaku, already scarred from the previous onslaught, trembled violently as countless trails of sand spilled from the cracks in its body. As the beast tried to struggle, Simu's calm and cold voice rang out.
"Mr. Shukaku, you should mind your status. You are currently nothing more than a test subject. You have lost the right to bargain."
"Otherwise, I might carve your soul into pieces and seal them away forever."
After saying this, Simu suddenly flashed a smile and pushed up his glasses.
"Is that clear, my friend?"
Looking at the smiling man before it, a rare chill crept into Shukaku's heart. It knew the intense killing intent from a moment ago had been entirely real.
"I understand. I will cooperate with your experiment."
This time, Shukaku did not ask for any guarantees. It knew it had provoked this man. If it continued, it truly would be sealed away in some unknown place forever! Given this man's terrifying abilities, he might even find a way to kill it permanently in the future. Consequently, Shukaku cowered. It cowered completely.
Sasori watched the subservient Shukaku, feeling a momentary sense of daze. As a former ninja of the Hidden Sand Village, his impression of the One-Tail had always been one of danger, arrogance, and madness. Even facing death, it usually remained defiant. He never imagined it would one day be so servile.
Seeing Shukaku finally settle down, Simu was satisfied. The tentacles wrapped around it erupted with powerful sealing power once more, pinning Shukaku to the ground. This time, however, the beast did not struggle because it already knew what was coming.
Sealing power and a massive amount of Yang Style chakra merged together, forming a giant sealing sword in Simu's hand. He thrust it directly into Shukaku's body. The moment the flame-like blade sank into the beast, its chakra began to boil.
Dark Yin Style chakra poured out of Shukaku. The dark red energy flowed along the blue sealing sword and out of its body, mixing with the Yang Style chakra within Simu. Furthermore, tentacles extending from the Blood Pool in the base connected to Simu's back. They provided a massive amount of chakra to neutralize and control the Tailed Beast chakra flowing into his body.
With the massive loss of Yin Style chakra, Shukaku's soul was involuntarily torn into two portions—one large and one small—by Simu's Yin-Yang Seal. The smaller portion was transferred and sealed into Simu's body along with the chakra. To avoid alerting Nagato, Simu did not split Shukaku into Yin and Yang halves. He merely extracted a portion of Yin Style chakra and a portion of the soul, roughly one-tenth of the total.
As Shukaku was split and transferred, the Apostle of Desire standing nearby opened its ten thousand mouths and began to sing a hymn to the Lord.
"You are the Lord who created all, the omniscient and omnipotent Creator God!"
"You are the source of all greatness; You are the beginning and the end!"
"You are the God of Gods, the Ruler of the Starry Sky, the Master of the Shinobi World!"
"Great Lord, please grant us supreme glory!"
Dense songs of praise echoed from deep within the newly split soul of Shukaku. This unstable, newly formed soul faced a massive challenge the moment it appeared. How could it remain stable under such a spiritual attack?
The answer was that it could not. The mini-Shukaku sealed within Simu's body began to twist. It clutched its head in pain and let out roars, enduring the agony coming from the depths of its soul. Finally, under the shocked gaze of the original Shukaku, the mini-Shukaku lowered its claws and wore an expression of idiocy.
"Praise the Great Jashin!"
The original Shukaku's eyes nearly split from rage upon witnessing this. Even knowing it was no match for Simu, it could not suppress its terrifying fury. It had only agreed to Simu's plan in hopes that a part of its soul would gain freedom. Now, under Simu's influence, it had become a believer of that damn Jashin!
How could Shukaku endure this?
"Brat, you went back on your word!"
Simu gently adjusted his glasses and said indifferently, "Mr. Shukaku, you were the one who went back on your word first."
Indeed, if Shukaku hadn't been the first to tear up the agreement and try to run, Simu wouldn't have had any specific ideas. However, since Shukaku had deceived the Lord, Simu took the opportunity to conduct a small soul experiment while the split soul was still unstable.
"It was just an experiment, Mr. Shukaku."
Shukaku rose in a fury, only to be suppressed by a massive amount of Iron Sand controlled by Sasori. Simu then calmly used sealing jutsu to seal Shukaku back into Gaara's body.
The Shukaku cutting plan was complete. Overall, despite some surprises, the plan stayed within expectations, and the results were quite good. Feeling the mini-Shukaku inside his body constantly praising the Great Jashin, a look of surprise appeared on Simu's face. Regardless, this was a very fine test subject.