Facing a Tailed Beast that radiated an aura of pure destruction and extreme violence, Simu showed no trace of fear. Instead, his face carried a hint of excitement and a powerful urge to dissect and study the massive creature before him.
"If my information is correct, you must be the One-Tailed Shukaku, right?"
Simu pushed up his glasses, his eyes brimming with intense interest.
"A lifeform composed entirely of chakra; it truly is a subject of boundless curiosity."
The One-Tailed Shukaku before him looked like a small, tan mountain. Its appearance was similar to a tanuki with a massive belly. Its sandy-brown body resembled the exposed rock of a desert plateau, covered in numerous black cursed seal markings, with a singular, giant tail swaying constantly behind it.
"Damn brat..."
Shukaku spoke with an incredibly piercing voice. Its star-shaped pupils stared coldly at Simu, this sudden intruder. It could not sense a shred of fear from this human; there was only curiosity and a... burning fervor.
"Brat, how did you get in here?"
Invading someone else's mental world was no easy feat, and entering the subconscious of a Jinchuriki was even harder. Furthermore, it carried immense risk. If one's consciousness was destroyed within another's mental world, the original soul would suffer significant damage. More importantly, Shukaku shared Gaara's field of vision twenty-four hours a day, yet it had detected no signs of a mental intrusion. This meant the opponent's method of entry was exceptionally stealthy.
Could it be that pill?
Shukaku suddenly remembered. If there was a suspect, it could only be the pill Gaara had swallowed moments ago. Conversely, Simu simply pushed up his glasses and began scribbling notes in a notebook.
"The One-Tailed Shukaku possesses a decent intellect in addition to its piercing voice."
Seeing this attitude of being treated entirely as a test subject, Shukaku flew into a towering rage. More importantly, this guy actually dared to comment on its voice!
"A brat like you has no right to judge my voice!"
Shukaku roared. Vast amounts of Wind Style chakra gathered in its mouth, forming a high-pressure, rotating air bullet aimed directly at Simu. Even though it was bound by the surrounding gold dust seal, Shukaku couldn't resist the urge to kill this arrogant brat.
Facing Shukaku's attack, Simu's expression remained unchanged. He even continued to write in his notebook: "Dislikes others commenting on its voice."
"Die!"
Shukaku hissed, enduring the sealing power of Gaara's body as it prepared to fire the air bullet. However, a second before it could fire, Simu's back suddenly burst open. Eight crimson, fleshy tentacles lunged out, tightly binding Shukaku.
"Brat, you think this can—"
Shukaku's words cut off as a powerful sealing force instantly erupted from the tentacles. Under the dual seal of the gold dust and the tentacles, Shukaku's violent chakra immediately withered, and the beast fell back into a state of lethargy.
This was a new technique Simu had created by combining the Sealing Jutsu of the Uzumaki Clan with his own concepts—the Blood Tentacle Seal. In essence, it was no different from the Uzumaki sealing techniques, but utilizing the tentacles made it faster to deploy and easier to capture or restrict an enemy.
To Simu's surprise, the effect of this sealing technique on a Tailed Beast seemed almost too effective. The previously defiant Shukaku could now only stare at him through gritted teeth while suppressed by the tentacles.
While the seal left by the Fourth Kazekage provided significant help in suppressing the beast, the Uzumaki Sealing Jutsu still gave Simu a pleasant surprise.
"You damn brat, are you from the Uzumaki Clan?"
Shukaku glared at Simu. It sensed a familiar aura from the writhing tentacles. Many, many years ago, it had been sealed by a ninja of the Uzumaki Clan. Hearing this, Simu felt even more certain of his hypothesis and noted: "Uzumaki Clan Sealing Jutsu appears to have an excellent suppressive effect on Tailed Beasts."
Faced with Simu's blatant disregard, Shukaku exploded in anger once more!
"Damn brat, you haven't answered my question!"
Unfortunately, its chakra was being constantly absorbed by Simu's eight tentacles. Under the dual seal, it had virtually no power to resist. If it truly wanted to fight back, it would at least have to break the seals on its body first.
Shukaku's piercing roars finally brought Simu back to his senses. He said somewhat apologetically, "My apologies. I was so engrossed that I didn't hear your question. Could you ask it again?"
Shukaku: ...
It was tired. It just wanted everything to end.
Simu wanted to chat more with Shukaku about the Sage of Six Paths, but unfortunately, Shukaku's earlier riot had finally alerted others. He had to temporarily abandon the idea.
"Sorry about that. I have some business to attend to. I'll come see you again next time."
With that, he gave Shukaku a smile and instantly vanished from Gaara's mind. A single insect crawled out of Gaara's body, disappearing through a crack in the wall.
Just as Simu left with a portion of the One-Tailed Shukaku's chakra, the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, appeared before Gaara. Yashamaru and a group of Anbu followed behind him. Rasa immediately grabbed Gaara's wrist, releasing chakra to inspect his body and the seal.
"The body is normal. There are no issues."
After a thorough inspection, Rasa reached this conclusion. If there was anything "wrong," it was simply that Gaara hadn't slept this soundly in a long time; even Rasa's movements hadn't woken him.
Perhaps I'm just being paranoid...
After confirming Gaara's seal was intact, Rasa said coolly, "Disperse."
The Anbu vanished instantly. Rasa gave Gaara a long look before disappearing himself. Once he was gone, Shukaku slowly opened its eyes in the mental world and sneered, "Heh, Rasa... the show is just getting started."
The next morning, Gaara slowly opened his eyes. Sunlight spilled across his cheeks, birds chirped on the utility poles outside, and the aroma of breakfast wafted from outside the room. Gaara felt dazed for a moment before snapping awake. He rushed to the window to confirm the village hadn't been destroyed while he slept.
Seeing the peaceful scene outside, he breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that he hadn't turned into a monster while he slept.