Before Shukaku could even react, the countless twisted faces on that massive mountain of flesh opened their mouths simultaneously: "All sinners who dare to defy the Lord should descend into hell!"
Ten thousand souls let out a roar of fury at the same time. The endless sound waves were like the whispers of an evil god. A powerful spiritual attack instantly descended upon Shukaku's soul.
This soul-level assault had a massive impact on Shukaku. It clutched its head in agony. The encroaching sonic waves caused fine cracks to surface across its body, and its outer shell crumbled into sand under the vibration of the sound.
Shukaku tried to manipulate the surrounding sand to interrupt the Apostle of Desire, but as it looked up, it immediately locked eyes with a giant pupil. In an instant, it felt as though it were falling into an endless abyss, surrounded by darkness without a single sliver of light.
Suddenly, the sky turned blood-red. A figure emerged, opening his eyes to reveal a pair of Rinnegan that erupted with a terrifying aura. Following this, a giant tree soared into the sky within the endless darkness. Hideous, gaping mouths split open on the giant vines, which lashed out to coil around Shukaku's body and pull it toward the giant maws.
No! I don't want to go back, you bastard!
Shukaku used every ounce of its strength, digging its claws fiercely into the ground. It looked down to see that its once-massive body had somehow shrunken, reverting to the juvenile form it held when it was first separated from the God Tree!
With such a body, it was impossible to resist the dragging force of the vines. Shukaku could only watch helplessly as it was pulled toward the giant tree. Suddenly, Shukaku's gaze shifted.
No, this is Genjutsu!
Once it realized this, its aura surged and its chakra boiled, instantly shattering the illusion. Although Shukaku's reaction was fast, the Apostle of Desire had already used that time to bring its mountain-like body right in front of the beast. It raised a massive fist and swung at Shukaku without hesitation.
When Shukaku finally escaped the illusion, the first thing it saw was the Apostle of Desire's rapidly enlarging fist.
"Bang!"
The sudden heavy blow sent Shukaku reeling back several steps in a daze. Simu, seizing the opportunity, was not about to let the beast off so easily. The Apostle of Desire pressed the advantage, growing fist after giant fist from its body surface, raining down a barrage of strikes like a violent storm.
The continuous heavy blows forced Shukaku further and further back.
"That's enough, you damn brat!"
Shukaku was completely enraged. As a dignified Tailed Beast, when had it ever been beaten like this? Unfortunately, the Apostle of Desire didn't care about its anger and landed another punch squarely on its face.
Sasori: ...
This scene... you're telling me the one being thrashed is a Tailed Beast? How surreal.
However, Simu's offensive was far from over. Another human clone emerged slowly from the desert, appearing right beside Simu. Both raised their palms simultaneously and rapidly formed hand signs.
The former gathered surging air currents, compressing them into a high-pressure flow within its mouth. The latter crackled with electricity as surging lightning condensed in its palm, resembling a Spear of the Thunder God ready to be unleashed.
"Wind Style: Pressure Damage!"
"Lightning Style: False Darkness!"
"Combined Ninjutsu: Roar of the Wind and Thunder Gods!"
The extremely compressed airflow and the surging lightning shot out instantly, merging in mid-air. They erupted in a blinding white light that swallowed everything! Shukaku had just recovered from the confusion of the beating when the white light slammed into it.
"Boom!"
The airflow and lightning exploded together, leaving a massive hole in Shukaku's mountain-like body.
"You cursed brat, you think this will—"
Shukaku's threat cut short. In its field of vision, dozens of white lights were streaking toward it like a torrential rain.
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The terrifying thunder claps rang out one after another, like the wrath of a god seeking to ruthlessly sink the world! The expression on Sasori's face shifted from shock to total stagnation as he watched from the sidelines.
It was one thing to summon two terrifying creatures the size of Tailed Beasts, but to be able to release dozens of such powerful combined ninjutsu in one breath without any gap? Just how vast was Simu-senpai's chakra capacity?!! Moreover, with a combined ninjutsu of this intensity, anyone else would struggle to prepare even one in several minutes, yet he fired them in succession without any hesitation!
What kind of monster is this! As expected of Simu-senpai!
Even the naturally cold Sasori couldn't help but want to cheer for Simu's exaggerated performance. When the blinding white light finally vanished and the swirling dust settled, Shukaku's body was... quite tattered. It looked like a mountain violently excavated by dynamite, riddled with gaps and holes.
The gaze in its brown eyes as it looked at Simu was like looking at a freak. This guy was definitely a monster—one more terrifying than a Tailed Beast!
However, Shukaku wanted to make one last struggle. It opened its mouth, and pale blue and dark red chakra rapidly condensed into a dark purple energy sphere.
"Kid, I acknowledge your strength. But, I am the One-Tail!"
Shukaku roared. The fury from years of being sealed combined with the humiliation of the past few days exploded uncontrollably with this Tailed Beast Bomb. A strong aura of destruction enveloped the entire battlefield.
Even facing such a horrifying attack, Simu remained remarkably composed—even nonchalant. Although Sasori trusted Simu-senpai, he couldn't help the tension tightening on his face.
As the Tailed Beast Bomb fell, a terrifying explosion shrouded everything. The shockwave surged into the sky, dispersing the clouds. When everything settled, only a bottomless crater remained where Simu had stood.
"Simu-senpai..."
Sasori looked at the deep pit, a flash of worry crossing his face. However, that worry vanished instantly. Simu patted his shoulder with a palm.
"Don't worry."
Immediately after, another Simu appeared. In truth, dealing with such a large-scale attack wasn't very difficult for Simu. As long as his clones were far enough apart, if one faced an attack, the other could simply use Summoning Jutsu to transfer it away.
Simu had already separated his clones before Shukaku's assault. No matter which clone Shukaku attacked, it couldn't pose a fatal threat to him. Of course, even if both clones died, it wouldn't matter much. But the Great Jashin was nearly drained; it was best to save resources where possible.
As for Shukaku, the moment it saw two Simus standing unharmed on the battlefield, it sank into deep self-doubt.