The Shopkeeper!

As the Tailed Beast Chakra within Gaara's body was continuously extracted, the vitality of his body steadily faded as well.

The entire process of sealing Shukaku lasted seven days. During that time, Simu and the others only needed to maintain the Sealing Technique.

They could even use clones to carry out other tasks. For instance, Konan had her clone travel to Amegakure midway through to handle some matters.

Simu was a little busier than the others. Before the sealing was complete, he had to use Gaara's genes to clone a body capable of accommodating his soul.

For Simu, seven days was enough.

The last drop of Tailed Beast Chakra in Gaara's body was completely absorbed, and the eye on the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path that represented the One-Tail opened to its widest extent.

Simu noticed that the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path had a total of nine eyes. Judging from the current situation, each eye should correspond to a Tailed Beast.

Moreover, it seemed that activating the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path did not require a complete Tailed Beast. Just a portion was enough.

He had cut away one-tenth of Shukaku, yet neither the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path nor Nagato had shown any unusual reaction.

Perhaps he could cut off a little more when handing over Tailed Beasts next time?

He was truly curious—what exactly would happen if all nine Tailed Beasts were gathered...

A cold gleam flashed across Simu's lenses.

"The sealing is complete."

With Pain's calm announcement, the first Tailed Beast captured by the Akatsuki was officially sealed.

The green glow around Simu and the others faded away, and the opened eyes on the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path closed once more.

Yet Simu could clearly sense that after absorbing Shukaku,