Ten-Tails

The Ten-Tails is the embodiment of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki combined with the God Tree, created to reclaim the chakra inherited by her sons, Hagoromo and Hamura. It is regarded as the progenitor of chakra, and is tied to the legend of the Sage of Six Paths and the birth of shinobi. To end the beast's rampage, the Sage became the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki and later split its chakra into the nine tailed beasts to prevent it from causing further harm. Centuries later, its revival became the objective of Madara and Obito Uchiha, who both sought to become the beast's jinchūriki in order to further their objectives.

Long before the founding of the hidden villages, during an era of endless wars between mankind, the God Tree, a tree revered as a deity, bore a chakra fruit once every thousand years. Although it was forbidden to consume the God Tree's fruit, it was eaten by Princess Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, who used the power it granted her to end the wars plaguing the lands. Some time after this, Kaguya gave birth to two sons who became the first people born with chakra. Later, deciding that her children's chakra was rightfully hers, Kaguya combined with the God Tree to become an entity known as the Ten-Tails, which ravaged the land in an attempt to obtain said chakra. However, because Kaguya's true motives were not realised, it was instead believed that the God Tree itself had taken on the form of a monster in an attempt to regain the chakra that Kaguya had stolen. In the final battle between the Ten-Tails and Kaguya's sons, Hagoromo and Hamura, they managed to defeat the beast and sealed it within Hagoromo, making him the first jinchūriki. This act, along with many other great deeds throughout his lifetime, resulted in Hagoromo becoming revered as the "Sage of Six Paths". However, knowing that his death would unleash the Ten-Tails back into the world to continue its rampage and reclaim the chakra he had spread among humanity, Hagoromo separated the monster's chakra from its body and used his Creation of All Things Technique to create the nine tailed beasts. Hagoromo then used Chibaku Tensei to seal the Ten-Tails' husk in what would become the moon. Unbeknownst to the brothers, Kaguya had created Black Zetsu prior to her sealing in order to facilitate her revival. To this end, it spent centuries attempting to unite the chakra of Hagormo's sons, Indra and Asura, in order to cause one of their reincarnations to awaken the Rinnegan. Eventually, thanks to Black Zetsu's machinations, the Rinnegan would once again manifest itself in one of Hagoromo's descendants: Madara Uchiha. With his new power, Madara summoned the empty vessel of the Ten-Tails back into the world and named it the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. Joined by Obito Uchiha, who continued his work after his death, Madara devised a means to reunite the Demonic Statue and the tailed beasts back into their original form so he could use the Ten-Tails to enact his lifelong ambition: the Eye of the Moon Plan.

According to Kurama, the Ten-Tails cannot be sensed through such means as detecting negative emotions as it has no feelings or ideals of its own. Despite this, when it sensed the presence of the tailed beasts' chakra inside Naruto Uzumaki and was reminded of Hagoromo, it reacted by gathering chakra and strengthening itself. It was believed that the Ten-Tails was an incarnation of the God Tree with the singular goal of regathering the chakra that Kaguya had stolen from it but in actuality, it was following Kaguya's will to reclaim all chakra for herself. The Ten-Tails is brown in colour and titanic in size; one of its hands is larger than any of the tailed beasts. While the beast possess multiple forms, common attributes include a single eye, which takes up most of its head, and spiky protrusions growing out of its back in a shape reminiscent of a conch shell. When it was initially revived in an incomplete form, the Ten-Tails possessed a grotesque bulb-like body with long arms and clawed hands, but no visible hind legs, as well as a wide mouth with multiple rows of pointed teeth and a single spike on its chin. Dark veins similar to those of a plant ran along its body, and the endings of its tails resembled leaf buds, which unfurled as it began entering its second form. In its next form, the Ten-Tails took on the shape of an emaciated humanoid with elongated limbs and a twisting neck. It now possessed visible legs, which it used along with its right arm to stand, as its left arm was missing from the elbow down. The beast's head was altered greatly, as its eye remained on the front of its head, it grew a single ear on the right side, and its mouth which now contained straight teeth and bore a grin moved to the left side, with a single triangular nostril appearing above it. Several horns formed on various parts on its head: two above each side of its face, two beneath its eye, and another below its ear. As it transformed, the bud-like attachments on its tails detached, revealing extendable tails which ended in humanoid hands. After further maturing, the Ten-Tails' body became less emaciated, it grew a complete left arm, and it began standing on its hind legs. It later gained an even more muscular appearance and the horns on top of its head grew in size. When Hagoromo and Hamura encountered the Ten-Tails, it strongly resembled this form, albeit with a bloated appearance and additional spikes on its body. After becoming the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki, Obito expelled a construct of the Ten-Tails from his body, which then split open to reveal a gigantic tree, much like the original God Tree. This tree form, which completely dwarfed the Ten-Tails in size, possessed a tall, straight trunk with a single purple bud situated on top, inside of which was the Ten-Tails' eye. This tree form was initially stated to be the God Tree, but it was later referred to as the Ten-Tails. When Kaguya Ōtsutsuki lost control over the tailed beast chakra inside her after being hit by Naruto Uzumaki's attack, she unwillingly transformed into a non-humanoid Ten-Tails that manifested as a bloated, white, rabbit-like form, with the heads of the nine tailed beasts growing from various points on its body. This chakra-based form of the Ten-Tails retained Kaguya's Rinne Sharingan on its forehead as well as ten tails ending in hands.

Kurama

Kurama, more commonly known as the Nine-Tails, is one of the nine tailed beasts. Centuries of being regarded as a mindless monster and sought after as a tool for war caused Kurama to hate humans. After being sealed into Naruto Uzumaki, Kurama attempts to maintain its negative opinions about the world, but with Naruto's insistence on treating it with respect, the fox overturns its hatred and willingly strives to use its power for the world's salvation. Kurama and the tailed beasts first came into being in the waning days of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, who used his Creation of All Things Technique to divide the Ten-Tails' chakra into nine separate bodies and giving each a name. Some time after being created, the Sage explained to the young tailed beasts that a link existed between them despite their separation. He also foretold of a day when they would be brought together again - though not as they were - and that at that time someone would emerge to show them what true power is. After Hagoromo's death, the tailed beasts drifted apart, apparently due to Kurama's belief that their number of tails was an indication of their strength.

Over the centuries, Kurama has gained a reputation as an age-old natural disaster, appearing suddenly out of nowhere to attack areas that have been breeding grounds for the darkest aspects of human nature. At one point during the time of the formation of the shinobi villages, the Gold and Silver Brothers of Kumogakure were assigned to capture Kurama, but were both swallowed whole by the fox. However, the two brothers managed to survive and gain some of its power by eating the flesh of its stomach for two weeks, forcing Kurama to regurgitate them. After that event, Madara Uchiha defected from Konoha and used his Sharingan to control and use Kurama to help him fight against Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, in order to exact his revenge. During their battle, Madara combined his Susanoo with Kurama, increasing the latter's offensive and defensive capabilities. However, Hashirama was able to remove Kurama from Susanoo and released the tailed beast from Madara's control, subduing it in the process. After his victory over Madara, Hashirama deemed Kurama too dangerous to be allowed to walk free and Mito Uzumaki sealed the fox within herself, becoming its first jinchūriki. Over the period of time which included the first two Shinobi World Wars, Mito kept Kurama at bay except for one occasion when the seal had weakened as she was going through childbirth. Toward the end of her life, Mito passed on this status and responsibility to another member of her clan, Kushina Uzumaki, who later became the wife of Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage. Although Kushina was terrified with the responsibility of containing Kurama, Mito assured her successor that the fox's hatred was powerless against her love. Twelve years before the start of the series, after the end of the Third Shinobi World War, the Third Hokage and his wife made preparations to ensure that Kurama would remain sealed within Kushina as she gave birth to Naruto. However, despite keeping her childbirth a secret, a masked man discovered Kushina's location, killing her escorts and managing to break the seal, seizing control of Kurama. Since Kushina survived the extraction, the masked man tried to have Kurama kill her before Minato got her and their son to safety. Soon afterwards, the masked man summoned Kurama into Konoha and ordered it to destroy the village. While Kurama was rampaging in the village and decimating the shinobi forces that tried to repel it, Minato managed to place a Contract Seal on the masked man during their fight to free the fox from the masked man's control. Despite that, Kurama still harboured a deep hatred for Konoha for sealing it away for decades and resolved to destroy the village without orders from the masked man. Before Kurama could annihilate Konoha, Minato summoned Gamabunta on top of the fox, and quickly teleporting it to Kushina and Naruto's location, while letting its Tailed Beast Ball detonate away from the village.

Soon afterwards, Kushina used her Adamantine Sealing Chains to subdue Kurama, planning to seal it back inside her before she dies. However, Minato, knowing that Kurama would revive without a host, and how great a threat the masked man is, came up with a plan to give Naruto the means to combat the masked man in the future when he decides to attack again. Since Kurama's chakra was too immense to be sealed within an infant like Naruto, Minato first used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to separate and seal its Yin half within himself and then prepared the Eight Trigrams Seal to imprison the Yang half within Naruto. With the chain loosening from the fox's reduced size and Kushina weakened, it attempted to stop the process by killing Naruto, but both of the parents sacrificed themselves to protect their newborn child and completed the sealing. Later, upon awakening within Naruto's subconscious and learning the situation behind Minato's intention, Yang-Kurama, though frustrated of being sealed again, decided to wait for the time to come when it would influence Naruto as much as it can to use its power to break the seal. Throughout the years, Kurama weakened the seal through the cracks of its formation by constantly leaking out small portions of its chakra, which had positive side-effects on Naruto such as amplifying his naturally large chakra reserves and healing ability, being able to heal from minor wounds within seconds to major injuries within a day. In the anime, it was revealed that Kurama had left behind large amounts of its chakra during the attack. Kazuma collected and sealed the chakra within his own son, Sora, hoping to make use of its power for his own agenda. Kurama is a cynical and shrewd individual, along with a somewhat twisted sense of humour. It uses "washi" when referring to itself, which is generally used by older men. Kurama expresses great pride in its power, believing itself to be the strongest of the tailed beasts due to its belief that their strength is determined by their number of tails, which earned Kurama nothing but disapproval from its brethren, especially Shukaku. Conversely, Kurama openly acknowledged the fact that it alone doesn't stand a chance against the Ten-Tails, and from its past experience with Madara, knew full well he is not an opponent to be underestimated, even though he was seemingly pushed into a corner at the time. However, it does easily get annoyed when Naruto uses a power other than its own, claiming its jinchūriki needs no other power than its own. It is also shown that Kurama deeply cares about Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, viewing him with great respect and even shed tears after the Sage had imparted his final words to them. Long years of receiving humanity's negative treatment caused Kurama to develop intense hostility and distrust against them, even going as far as proclaiming itself to be the living embodiment of hatred. Ever since its sealing within Naruto, Kurama plotted to use the young shinobi's dependence on its power to gain control over him and break free from the seal, before it was bested in combat and stripped of most of its chakra. However, Kurama's attitude towards Naruto soon began to change during the Fourth Shinobi World War, when the young shinobi told the fox that he hoped to resolve its hatred someday. Despite Kurama reproaching him for making such a claim, the fox nevertheless had developed a level of respect for Naruto and his determination. It even noted that Naruto was different from the humans it had previously encountered, eventually allowing its jinchūriki to utilise the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode without consequence. Later, as Naruto told Son Gokū of his desire to save the tailed beasts and become friends with Kurama, the fox having witnessed all of the challenges and endeavours Naruto had in his life silently told the young shinobi that if he truly intended to help them, he would have to prove it through his actions. When Naruto successfully freed Son Gokū from Obito's control, Kurama finally became convinced of Naruto's word and offered to meld its chakra with his as a coalition, to which Naruto then removed the seal that restrained it and happily acknowledged the fox as his team-mate and a member of Konoha.

Gyūki

Gyūki, more commonly known as the Eight-Tails, is one of the nine tailed beasts. It has been in the possession of Kumogakure for decades, where it has been sealed into many jinchūriki. Its most recent jinchūriki, and the first to have any success in cooperating with it, is Killer B. Gyūki and the tailed beasts first came into being in the waning days of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, who used his Creation of All Things Technique to divide the Ten-Tails' chakra into nine separate bodies and giving each a name. Some time after being created, the Sage explained to the young tailed beasts that a link existed between them despite their separation. He also foretold of a day when they would be brought together again - though not as they were - and that at that time someone would emerge to show them what true power is. After Hagoromo's death, the tailed beasts drifted apart, apparently due to Kurama's belief that their number of tails was an indication of their strength.

Gyūki eventually fell into the possession of Kumogakure. However, its might was so great that none of its former jinchūriki - such as Blue B, and his uncle and father before him - could control it. They would lose control and Gyūki would go on a rampage, destroying the village and killing many villagers, requiring the Third Raikage to form a special coalition to subdue and seal it in the Kohaku no Jōhei. Despite its rampages, the Third Raikage believed a jinchūriki for Gyūki was too valuable of a war deterrent and decided to keep looking for a compatible one. During one of its rampages, the Third fought Gyūki one-on-one until they both collapsed from exhaustion. During another, Gyūki had one of its four horns lost to A, the offending horn having killed Furui. In the anime, Blue B's rampage was stated to be orchestrated by Orochimaru, who gave Blue B genjutsu-inducing pills to draw out Gyūki. Due to the pills, Gyūki had no recollection of the rampage. Gyūki was ultimately sealed within Killer B, who was five at the time, through the Iron Armour Seal. B would go on to tame and control Gyūki through rigorous training within the Falls of Truth. At some point in the past, one Kumo-nin attempted to mimic the Gold and Silver Brothers by eating one of Gyūki's chakra meat tentacles in the hopes of gaining jinchūriki-like power, but died in the process. Gyūki is characterised as a tough and serious individual. It uses "ore" when referring to itself and often speaks in a somewhat rude dialect. Gyūki was also shown to have a good analytical ability, as it told Killer B that if he left Ponta and Sabu and ran away from them, Kisame Hoshigaki and his water dome would follow him and they (Sabu and Ponta) would be freed. With regards to its relationship with the other tailed beasts, Gyūki mentioned that it and its brethren disliked Kurama for its habit of ranking their strength based on their number of tails. However, it insisted that was no reason for not helping Naruto Uzumaki to control Kurama's power, hinting a benevolent side. Since then, both Gyūki and B have taken a liking to Naruto.

In the past, Gyūki was infamous in Kumo for being wild and violent, as it went on countless rampages whenever its former jinchūriki would lose control of it. This was most likely due to its hatred against humans for oppressing and sealing it away many times. Gyūki maintained this behaviour until it was sealed within B, who would later change it after he bested it in one-on-one combat. Since then, Gyūki's personality has become much more relaxed, becoming close friends with B; even allowing him to sit on top of its muzzle while talking to it leisurely. However, B tends to annoy Gyūki to comical effect, as its no-nonsense demeanour often contrasts with B's tendency to goof off whenever he likes, adding fuel to Gyūki's irritation to its vessel. As a result, Gyūki is not above bad-mouthing B and is also known to reprimand him in serious occasions. This was seen when Gyūki criticised B for rapping in his fight with Kisame when he should have been completely focused on their opponent, and later when it comically bumped B in the head when the latter started to mention in a perverted manner how Yugito's black receivers were embedded in her left breast and when Obito disappeared B was wondering if he escaped only for Gyūki to tell B to find him. This somewhat contradicts the original point of having a jinchūriki which is to control a tailed beast, but Gyūki seems to be more of the one in control than B. Because of this, Gyūki appears to be much more noteworthy than B as far as responsibility is concerned. Nonetheless, Gyūki formed a very strong bond with B, as even after being extracted from its jinchūriki, the tailed beast severed a piece of itself to help sustain B's life. Following its release from Kaguya, Gyūki expressed a desire to return to B, noting it had gotten used to his awful rapping and felt odd not hearing it. Gyūki's relationship with its B's predecessor Blue B was unknown in the manga, other than the fact it would pounce on the "hole" in Blue B's heart and assume control over him. In the anime, however, Gyūki stated it had high hopes for Blue B, indicating it bore no ill will towards its former host. Gyūki is an ushi-oni with four long horns on its head, similar to that of a Jacob sheep. As a tailed beast, it is extremely massive, dwarfing entire forests and towers over large rock formations and buildings and matching the Giant Squid in size. The lower left part of its horns was permanently sliced off in a battle with A, and the right horns were destroyed by its own point-blank Tailed Beast Ball when fighting the Ten-Tails. It also has straight teeth, one of which was blown off during the point-blank Tailed Beast Ball. Following the Fourth Shinobi World War, it grew another tooth. Gyūki also has a muscular upper-body structure, with a hunched back similar to an American bison, arms with spiked protrusions on the elbows, and hands with opposable thumbs like that of a human. Instead of hind-legs, its lower half consists of its eight tails, which resemble the cephalopod arms of an octopus. These tails will grow back in the event they are sliced off. During the last remaining days of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, Gyūki was smaller and its horns were much shorter.

Chōmei

Chōmei, more commonly known as the Seven-Tails, is one of the nine tailed beasts. It was last sealed within Fū from Takigakure. Chōmei and the tailed beasts first came into being in the waning days of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, who used his Creation of All Things Technique to divide the Ten-Tails' chakra into nine separate bodies and giving each a name. Some time after being created, the Sage explained to the young tailed beasts that a link existed between them despite their separation. He also foretold of a day when they would be brought together again though not as they were and that at that time someone would emerge to show them what true power is. After Hagoromo's death, the tailed beasts drifted apart, apparently due to Kurama's belief that their number of tails was an indication of their strength. Chōmei eventually fell into the possession of Takigakure and was sealed into Fū.

In the anime, during a joint Chūnin Exams between Konohagakure and Sunagakure, Fū attempted to stop the Suna-nin Hōichi from extracting Shukaku from its host Gaara. Her failed attempt caused her to draw the attention of Hōichi, who also began extracting Chōmei from Fū. Ultimately, the extraction was stopped by the intervention of Neji Hyūga, who used his Gentle Fist to block the chakra points from which Chōmei was being extracted, thereby repelling the chains. Fū was later captured by Akatsuki members Kakuzu and Hidan, leading to Chōmei being extracted from its jinchūriki and sealed within the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. Chōmei seems to have a happy, go-lucky personality which it seemingly shares with its jinchūriki as shown when it introduced itself to Naruto, referring to itself as "Lucky Seven Chōmei", which might be an allusion to the fact that it has seven tails and the number seven having long been seen as a lucky as well as a happy number. It also had a habit of using the word lucky in conversation, reflecting its personality. Chōmei resembles a blue, armoured kabutomushi, with six of its seven tails resembling green insect wings, along with an actual seventh tail, all growing from the end of its abdomen. The stem of the tail is green but the wings are orange. Its eyes seem to be covered by a helmet-like skull, from inside of which, an orange glow can be seen. It also has spike protrusions on its shoulders and a row of slits on each shoulder, and six legs three on each side. The legs are also covered by the blue armour, with the exception of extreme ends which are green in colour. It has two pincers with three parts on its face, covering a mouth full of sharp teeth. On its back behind its head, it has a large two sectioned horned protrusion. During the last remaining days of the Sage of Six Paths, Chōmei was just in its larval stage of development but still had its tails.

As a tailed beast, Chōmei possesses massive amounts of chakra that it can share with others and can use the Tailed Beast Ball. Using its wings, it can emit blinding powder and has the ability to fly. It also utilises insect-based attacks, such as biting or ramming its horn into the enemy. It can also create Chakra Threads for a Cocoon which blocks Chakra Absorption Techniques. It has immense durability, able to withstand being slammed into the ground by Kurama. After Son Gokū was resealed into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, Tobi, who was intent on going all-out from that point on, forced Fū to fully transform into the Seven-Tails. The opposing tailed beasts prepared to attack the shinobi, but they were rebuffed by a fully-transformed Naruto. After the Seven-Tails was grabbed mid-flight and sent plummeting to the ground by Naruto and Kurama, the opposing beasts regrouped and then prepared a collaborative Tailed Beast Ball, which was met by one from Naruto and Kurama. As Naruto entered a deeper plane of the tailed beasts' consciousness, Chōmei introduced itself to the young shinobi. Later, as Chōmei was freed from the chakra receiver, it affirmed Kurama's belief that Naruto was the person the Sage of the Six Paths had spoken about so long ago before being resealed into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. Chōmei appeared alongside the other tailed beasts with the exception of Gyūki and Shukaku when the Ten-Tails looked down at Naruto. The image of the tailed beasts, along with a silhouette of the Sage of Six Paths, drove the Ten-Tails to a fit as it evolved further. Later, Chōmei is pulled out of Obito through the combined teamwork of the Allied Shinobi Forces, thus freeing it, alongside with the other imprisoned tailed beasts. When Madara ran towards the tailed beasts, both Shukaku and Gaara conjured numerous sand bullets and were able to restrain the Uchiha's movements. Using the opportunity to attack, the tailed beasts each took a swing at their opponent, giving sand-manipulating duo an opening to use their Desert Layered Imperial Funeral Seal, but Madara managed to escape the sand pyramid with his Susanoo. As Naruto in Tailed Beast Mode pinned Madara down with a tail, Chōmei and the other tailed beasts joined in and did the same to increase the damage, but the Uchiha survived their attacks and retreated to a safe distance. After he received his own right Rinnegan eye from a White Zetsu clone, Madara quickly summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path from Obito's body, and used the Rinnegan to repel the tailed beasts. With the tailed beasts stunned, Madara then chained them up and sealed them back into the Demonic Statue. Later, the chakra Chōmei transferred to Naruto earlier, manifested within Naruto's subconscious along with the other tailed beasts to speak with the young jinchūriki and the spirit of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki. There, they all voiced their shared belief to the Sage that Naruto was the child of prophecy. After Madara's ambitions were cut short by Black Zetsu, who revealed to be the silent manipulator of shinobi history since it was first created by Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, the black entity used Madara's body as a medium to resurrect its creator. During the battle against the tyrannical princess, Chōmei and the other tailed beasts continued to support Naruto by giving him their combined power to overwhelm her. Ultimately, Kaguya was defeated by Naruto and Sasuke, who used the Six Paths Chibaku Tensei to eject all the tailed beasts from her and seal her away inside a newly-created moon within her own dimension.

Saiken

Saiken, more commonly known as the Six-Tails, is one of the nine tailed beasts. It was last sealed within Utakata of Kirigakure. Saiken and the tailed beasts first came into being in the waning days of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, who used his Creation of All Things Technique to divide the Ten-Tails' chakra into nine separate bodies and giving each a name. Some time after being created, the Sage explained to the young tailed beasts that a link existed between them despite their separation. He also foretold of a day when they would be brought together again - though not as they were - and that at that time someone would emerge to show them what true power is. After Hagoromo's death, the tailed beasts drifted apart, apparently due to Kurama's belief that their number of tails was an indication of their strength. Saiken eventually fell into the possession of Kirigakure and was sealed into Utakata.

In the anime, it was revealed that at some point before his appearance, Utakata's master, Harusame, tried and failed to remove Saiken from within Utakata, intending to save his student from being a living weapon for his village. Utakata, however, having not heard what his master had said to him, later came under the assumption after the incident that his master had tried to kill him. This failed removal resulted in Utakata transforming into Saiken and killing Harusame. Though much has not been seen of Saiken's personality, the giant slug uses "ore" when referring to itself, "ore" being a boastful way of saying "I". It also speaks with a dialect which may possibly be Ōsakaben in origin. In the anime, Saiken also seemed to be kinder and not as self-serving and malicious as most other tailed beasts, as when Utakata asked for its help to save Hotaru it seemed to willingly comply; and later it simply receded back into Utakata without trying to take him over. However it was not above killing for self preservation, as seen when it killed Harusame when he attempted to extract it from its jinchūriki. In the anime, it speaks with a high pitched voice and appears to be very energetic. Saiken resembles a large white, with a slight light blueish tint, bipedal slug with stubby arms and feet. It has two prominent optical tentacles (eyes) and hole-like openings as a mouth. Its entire body is covered in a slimy substance. During the last remaining days of the Sage of Six Paths, Saiken was much smaller than its present-day self, but was still much larger than the Sage. As a tailed beast, Saiken has a massive amount of chakra and can use it to create a Tailed Beast Ball. Saiken has shown the ability to emit corrosive substances that can instantly disintegrate its target on contact in the form of liquid or gas. It has tremendous durability, able to withstand being thrown a great distance by Kurama. Saiken possesses an affinity for Water Release. It can expel a sticky, slime-like substance from its mouth, which is capable of trapping its targets.

In the anime, in an attempt to stop the Fury technique from causing untold destruction, Utakata went into his full Six-Tails form to shield the blast. Later, Utakata was confronted and captured by Nagato's Six Paths of Pain. Afterwards, Saiken was extracted from Utakata's body, being sealed into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, thus killing the jinchūriki in the process. After Utakata's full transformation into Six-Tails, he attacks Kakashi and Guy, emitting a corrosive alkali from its mouth, which Kakashi warned Guy not to touch. After Guy dissipated the gas with his Morning Peacock technique, the Six-Tails prepared to attack him again. After Son Gokū was resealed into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, Tobi, who was intent on going all-out from that point on, forced Utakata to fully transform into the Six-Tails. The opposing tailed beasts prepared to attack the shinobi, but they were rebuffed by a fully-transformed Naruto. Wasting no time in their attacks, the Six-Tails incapacitated Naruto and Kurama by swallowing the arm, but the slug was slammed into the Two-Tails, sending them both flying away. The opposing beasts regrouped and then prepared a collaborative Tailed Beast Ball, which was met by one from Naruto and Kurama. As Naruto entered a deeper plain of the tailed beasts' consciousness, Saiken introduced itself to the young shinobi. Later, as Saiken was freed from the chakra receiver, it affirmed Kurama's belief that Naruto was the person the Sage of the Six Paths had spoken about so long ago before being resealed back into the Demonic Statue. Saiken appeared alongside with the other tailed beasts with the exception of Gyūki and Shukaku when the Ten-Tails looked down at Naruto. The image of the tailed beasts, along with a silhouette of the Sage of the Six Paths, drove the Ten-Tails to a fit as it evolved further. Later on, the Allied Shinobi Forces managed to pull the tailed beasts out of Obito, thereby freeing them, including Saiken. When Madara ran towards the tailed beasts, both Shukaku and Gaara conjured numerous sand bullets and were able to restrain the Uchiha's movements. Using the opportunity to attack, the tailed beasts each took a swing at their opponent, giving sand-manipulating duo an opening to use their Desert Layered Imperial Funeral Seal, but Madara managed to escape the sand pyramid with his Susanoo. As Naruto in Tailed Beast Mode pinned Madara down with a tail, Saiken and the other tailed beasts joined in and did the same to increase the damage, but the Uchiha survived their attacks and retreated to a safe distance. After he received his own right Rinnegan eye from a White Zetsu clone, Madara quickly summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path from Obito's body, and used the Rinnegan to repel the tailed beasts. With the tailed beasts stunned, Madara then chained them up and sealed them back into the Demonic Statue. Later, the chakra Saiken transferred to Naruto earlier, manifested within Naruto's subconscious along with the other tailed beasts to speak with the young jinchūriki and the spirit of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki. There, they all voiced their shared belief to the Sage that Naruto was the child of prophecy.

Kokuō

Kokuō, more commonly known as the Five-Tails, is one of the nine tailed beasts. It was last sealed within Han from Iwagakure. Kokuō and the tailed beasts first came into being in the waning days of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, who used his Creation of All Things Technique to divide the Ten-Tails' chakra into nine separate bodies and giving each a name. Some time after being created, the Sage explained to the young tailed beasts that a link existed between them despite their separation. He also foretold of a day when they would be brought together again - though not as they were - and that at that time someone would emerge to show them what true power is. After Hagoromo's death, the tailed beasts drifted apart, apparently due to Kurama's belief that their number of tails was an indication of their strength. Kokuō, after living in an unspecified forest, eventually fell into the possession of Iwagakure and was sealed into Han, but was captured and extracted by Akatsuki.

Kokuō seems to be a quiet and reserved individual. Though it does not speak much, Kokuō uses the rather old-fashioned "watakushi" when referring to itself, causing it to come across as very polite. It also has pride as a tailed beast, being dismayed at being controlled and being used as Tobi's puppet during the Fourth Shinobi World War. After the end of the war, Kokuō declared that it wants to seclude itself in the forest, which implies it is a pacifistic individual, not wanting confrontations anymore. Kokuō primarily resembles a white horse, but with a dolphin's head. It has two pointed long horns and three (two in the anime) shorter horns in front. The ends of its horns, hooves, and tails are tan, with some of the same-coloured spots before the tan areas of its horns and hooves. It also has red markings under its dark blue-green eyes. During the last remaining days of the Sage of Six Paths, Kokuō was much smaller than it is now and its horns were also shorter. As a tailed beast, Kokuō possesses a massive amount of chakra and can use it to create a Tailed Beast Ball. Its willpower was incredibly strong, as it was the only tailed beast who broke free, albeit briefly, of Tobi's control and attempted to attack the masked man. Kokuō also possesses great physical strength and uses its horns in combat, showing enough ramming-force to injure and knock Gyūki a considerable distance away. By combining water and fire-natured chakra to create Boil Release, Kokuō is also able to increase the temperature of chakra to its boiling point. This ability forms the basis of what is referred to as "steam-based ninjutsu" granting itself, or its jinchūriki, overwhelming physical strength. When in use, this ability causes the jinchūriki to emit copious amounts of steam from their body.

After Han's full transformation into the Five-Tails, he rammed into the Eight-Tails and pushed it a considerable ways back. Seemingly rushing toward the shinobi to attack them again, the Five-Tails was restrained by Tobi. As the chain wrapped around its neck, Naruto and Killer B heard the Five-Tails' voice lamenting about the pain of being subdued by Tobi, revealing that for an instant it had broken free of the masked man's control and attempted to attack him. Forced back into its submissive Version 2-like state, it began to attack the shinobi as commanded. After Son Gokū was resealed into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, Tobi, who was intent on going all-out from that point on, forced Han to fully transform into the Five-Tails. The opposing tailed beasts prepared to attack the shinobi, but they were rebuffed by a fully-transformed Naruto. Wasting no time in their attacks, the Five-Tails attempted to attack the Eight-Tails again while it was preoccupied with the Three-Tails, but was sent flying by the ox, who anticipated the attack. The opposing beasts regrouped and then prepared a collaborative Tailed Beast Ball, which was met by one from Naruto and Kurama. As Naruto entered a deeper plane of the tailed beasts' consciousness, Kokuō introduced itself to the young shinobi. Later, as Kokuō was freed from the chakra receiver, it affirmed Kurama's belief that Naruto was the person the Sage of the Six Paths had spoken about so long ago before being resealed into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. Kokuō appeared alongside the other tailed beasts with the exception of Gyūki and Shukaku when the Ten-Tails looked down at Naruto. The image of the tailed beasts, along with a silhouette of the Sage of Six Paths, drove the Ten-Tails to a fit as it evolved further. Through the combined effort of the Allied Shinobi Forces, it was later possible to pull Kokuō out of Obito, freeing it alongside with the other tailed beasts. When Madara ran towards the tailed beasts, both Shukaku and Gaara conjured numerous sand bullets and were able to restrain the Uchiha's movements. Using the opportunity to attack, the tailed beasts each took a swing at their opponent, giving sand-manipulating duo an opening to use their Desert Layered Imperial Funeral Seal, but Madara managed to escape the sand pyramid with his Susanoo. As Naruto in Tailed Beast Mode pinned Madara down with a tail, Kokuō and the other tailed beasts joined in and did the same to increase the damage, but the Uchiha survived their attacks and retreated to a safe distance. After he received his own right Rinnegan eye from a White Zetsu clone, Madara quickly summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path from Obito's body, and used the Rinnegan to repel the tailed beasts. With the tailed beasts stunned, Madara then chained them up and sealed them back into the Demonic Statue. Later, the chakra Kokuō transferred to Naruto earlier, manifested within Naruto's subconscious along with the other tailed beasts to speak with the young jinchūriki and the spirit of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki. There, they all voiced their shared belief to the Sage that Naruto was the child of prophecy.

Son Gokū

Son Gokū, more commonly known as the Four-Tails), is one of the nine tailed beasts. It was last sealed within Rōshi of Iwagakure. Son Gokū and the tailed beasts first came into being in the waning days of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, who used his Creation of All Things Technique to divide the Ten-Tails' chakra into nine separate bodies and giving each a name. Some time after being created, the Sage explained to the young tailed beasts that a link existed between them despite their separation. He also foretold of a day when they would be brought together again - though not as they were - and that at that time someone would emerge to show them what true power is. After Hagoromo's death, the tailed beasts drifted apart, apparently due to Kurama's belief that their number of tails was an indication of their strength. Son Gokū, after living in the Water Screen Cave, eventually fell into the possession of Iwagakure and was sealed into Rōshi over forty years before the Fourth Shinobi World War, who later left Iwagakure in a journey to gain a better understanding and control of the tailed beast.

Son Gokū is a very prideful tailed beast, as it detests being called by the name "Four-Tails" and boasts about its lineage. It uses "ore" when referring to itself. It also hated humans, due to the fact that humans had enslaved it, and believes that apes are more intelligent than humans. However, when talking about the Sage of Six Paths, it showed him great respect. It also seems to have taken a liking to Naruto Uzumaki, as it was moved by his actions for truly trying to save it from being controlled by Tobi and even gave him some of its chakra before being sealed away. He also treats his fellow tailed beasts with much respect, as he addresses them by their name, as seen with Kurama. Son also has a high amount of respect for those who respect the tailed beasts. Son Gokū is a red-furred and green-skinned monkey, with a body-build of a gorilla. It has eyes with yellow irides and white pupils, spike-like protrusions along the length of its tails, elongated blunt fangs, and two long horns curving upwards on its forehead like a crown (both its fangs and horns are dark-tipped). In its mouth, Son doesn't have a tongue, but has an opening that is shaped like a dome volcano. During the last remaining days of the Sage of Six Paths, Son was much smaller and leaner with smaller fangs.As a tailed beast, Son Gokū possesses an enormous supply of chakra and can create the Tailed Beast Ball. Son also seems knowledgeable in taijutsu, likewise showing deceptive nimbleness of its size, utilising powerful and well-timed kicks against its opponents. Son has a great deal of physical strength, being able to lift and toss Gyūki with ease. Son has the ability to use Fire Release and Earth Release simultaneously, allowing it to use Lava Release. With it, it can create volcanoes as well as flaming boulders to launch at the enemy, and even armour of molten rock to defend itself. In addition, although being never used in the storyline, it seems to be capable of breathing a stream of green coloured fire.

After an unseen and difficult battle with Kisame Hoshigaki, Rōshi was defeated and captured by the Akatsuki member. The Four-Tails was later extracted and sealed, leading to Rōshi's death. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Tobi forced Rōshi to fully transform into the Four-Tails and attack Killer B and Gyūki, managing to flip the latter over by its tentacles. Later, Son attempted to swallow Naruto. Naruto tried to free himself from between the beasts jaws, but failed. The chained-up Four-Tails asked Naruto, now inside the tailed beast, if he had come to steal its power. It lashed out when Naruto referred to it as the "Four-Tails", demanded that Naruto address it by its proper title; Son Gokū. As their conversation continued, Son was shocked to discover Naruto to be an open, honest young man. After Son cursed humans for sealing the tailed beasts away and denying their existence, Naruto shared that he was once treated in a similar manner and that he hated to see someone like Tobi controlling the tailed beasts. After initially laughing at the prospect of Naruto, a jinchūriki, wanting to befriend his tailed beast, Son realised that Naruto's ambition was genuine and told him that there might be a way to stop its rampage if the chains that bound it were undone. As Son explained to Naruto about the location of the chakra receiver embedded in its body, the beast warned him not to expect it to become his ally, due to its distrust against jinchūriki. Naruto used shadow clones to force Son to vomit him up. A Naruto clone who stayed inside the tailed beast's mouth went into Sage Mode and push the receiver from the inside while he himself pulled it from the outside. Although Naruto succeeded, he quickly realised that Son was still bound. Son explained that the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path still held its chakra and that Naruto had only freed it from Tobi's control. As Naruto argued with the beast over wanting to save it completely and not just free it from Tobi's control, Son in disbelief of the young jinchūriki's character, offered its chakra to Naruto, pleased that he genuinely tried to rescue it. Son was then resealed into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, leaving Rōshi's body behind. In Fū's flashback of the time before Son was sealed, it was revealed that Rōshi attempted to make amends with Son, wondering whether or not they could have traversed a path more similar to Naruto and Kurama's. Son told Rōshi that if he wasn't so stubborn and hadn't forgotten its name all those years ago, it might have been possible. As the beast was resealed into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, it parted on good terms with Rōshi, who told it that he had never forgotten its name, but rather was too proud to address it properly. He then wondered if calling the beast "Son" would be appropriate.

Isobu

Isobu, more commonly known as the Three-Tails, is one of the nine tailed beasts. It was last sealed within Yagura of Kirigakure.  Isobu and the tailed beasts first came into being in the waning days of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, who used his Creation of All Things Technique to divide the Ten-Tails' chakra into nine separate bodies and giving each a name. Some time after being created, the Sage explained to the young tailed beasts that a link existed between them despite their separation. He also foretold of a day when they would be brought together again - though not as they were - and that at that time someone would emerge to show them what true power is. After Hagoromo's death, the tailed beasts drifted apart, apparently due to Kurama's belief that their number of tails was an indication of their strength. At some point in the past, Isobu, who was in the possession of Kirigakure, was sealed within the body of a kidnapped Rin Nohara of Konohagakure. They plotted for Rin to be taken back to her village as a Trojan horse, releasing the tailed beast to wreak havoc in Konoha. This failed, however, as Rin was fully aware of their schemes and opted to kill herself at hands of her friend and fellow team-mate, Kakashi Hatake before their objectives could come to fruition.

Eventually, Isobu was revived and sealed within its next jinchūriki Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage, who managed to gain complete control and harmony with it. However, when Akatsuki went after it, the beast was in the wild; the story behind how it came to be like this is still unknown. In the anime, Tsunade states that Isobu disappeared after the Third Shinobi World War. Isobu speaks in a timid manner, referring to itself as "boku" which is usually used by young boys. Isobu primarily resembles a large turtle, but with a crab-like shell, spikes all over its body, and three shrimp-like tails. Under its shell, it has red, muscle-like tissue. It has a pair of human-like arms and hands, but no hind-legs. His face is concealed between a large forehead and lower jaw both of which have spikes. Its eyes are red and have crimson pupils. In the anime, the eyes are red with yellow pupils. Its right eye is constantly closed. During the last remaining days of the Sage of Six Paths, Isobu was essentially much the same in appearance, albeit smaller in size with shorter spikes around its body, but was still many times larger than the Sage. As a tailed beast, Isobu possesses an enormous amount of chakra that it can transfer to others and can create the Tailed Beast Ball. It also has the ability to create coral and swim at very high speeds. Kirigakure was confident of its destructive potential that they intended to unleash Isobu in the midst of Konohagakure to destroy the village. In the anime, it could produce a hallucinogenic mist that exploited the victim's insecurities and forced the victim to face them. Isobu can roll into a ball to move about quickly and attack its opponents, making full use of the protrusions on its shell in a manner similar to the Akimichi clan's Spiked Human Bullet Tank. Isobu's tough skin and shell also grant it additional defence, allowing it to withstand nearly all forms of attack. It can also use any of its three spiked tails to strike its opponents and break through most defences. In the anime, Isobu's only known physical weakness is its eye; as tough as its skin and shell are, it cannot harden its eyes and thus seems to keep one closed at all times.

In the anime, Isobu's abilities were greatly elaborated upon. It could create shockwaves to repel attacks and produce large tidal waves around it, enabling it to overwhelm Guren's Crystal Release several times over the course of their battle. When Isobu ate something, thousands of miniature versions of itself would attack what was eaten within its stomach, presumably to speed up the digestion process. It was also shown capable of materialising an entrance to a separate dimension in which it could hide its presence, until it was ready to return to wherever it chooses. As a turtle, Isobu has an affinity for Water Release. In the anime, it has shown to fire powerful water blasts that are capable of destroying an entire cliff side. In the manga, Tobi and Deidara confronted the beast around the same time Naruto Uzumaki had begun his Wind Release training, to which it responded by beginning to chase Tobi. With the Three-Tails distracted, Deidara moulded an explosive clay fish in an attempt to capture it. It was unclear if this marked the end of the battle, as the remainder of the battle went unseen. As the two towed the Three-Tails to the Akatsuki's lair after the battle, Tobi gloated at bringing the Three-Tails down with his special technique, but Deidara thought otherwise. It was later sealed in the sealing statue. In the anime, Orochimaru instructed Kabuto Yakushi and Team Guren to take a young boy named Yūkimaru to a lake. After they arrived, Kabuto forced Yūkimaru to release all of his chakra, which caused the Three-Tails to begin to surface from the lake. With Guren's help, the beast was completely revealed, and they attempted to capture it. Their attempts proved insufficient, however, and the beast created a large tidal wave to wash its attackers away. The tidal wave gained the attention of a nearby group of Konohagakure ninja, who tried to use Four-Corner Sealing Barrier to permanently trap the beast in its own dimension. Just as the sealing began to work, the Konoha ninja were interrupted by Guren, which prompted the beast to attack them all. Yūkimaru was able to calm the beast down temporarily, but, after he became tired, the Three-Tails turned its attention to him. Guren and Naruto Uzumaki came to his defence, but were swallowed in the process. With the help of their allies on the outside, they were able to escape, and the Konoha ninja tried once more to seal the beast. Just when the sealing was almost complete, Yūkimaru, angered by the apparent death of Guren, empowered the beast to break free of its restraints. The Three-Tails went on a rampage, attacking everyone nearby and crushing Nurari, Kigiri, and Kihō. Its attempts to attack Yūkimaru, however, had no effect. It was only through the use of the Wind Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet that the beast was driven away. The sealing attempt was left to Anbu members, and the remaining Konoha ninja returned home. Deidara and Tobi of Akatsuki soon found these Anbu members and disposed of them.

Matatabi

Matatabi, more commonly known as the Two-Tails, is one of the nine tailed beasts. It was last sealed within Yugito Nii of Kumogakure. Matatabi and the tailed beasts first came into being in the waning days of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, who used his Creation of All Things Technique to divide the Ten-Tails' chakra into nine separate bodies and giving each a name. Some time after being created, the Sage explained to the young tailed beasts that a link existed between them despite their separation. He also foretold of a day when they would be brought together again - though not as they were - and that at that time someone would emerge to show them what true power is. After Hagoromo's death, the tailed beasts drifted apart, apparently due to Kurama's belief that their number of tails was an indication of their strength. Like Shukaku, many people believed that Matatabi was once a human that turned into a living ghost.

Matatabi eventually fell into the possession of Kumogakure and was sealed within Yugito Nii when she was two years old. She was placed into a detestable training program in order to learn to control Matatabi's power. In the anime, Yugito agreed to have Nekobaa collect Matatabi's paw print for the Paw Encyclopaedia. In a cavern behind the Falls of Truth, where jinchūriki learn to control their tailed beasts' power, there are wall murals of Matatabi and Gyūki, which indicates how long they were associated with the Land of Lightning. Compared to most of the tailed beasts, Matatabi has shown to be respectful and polite towards others, speaking in a formal manner using "watashi" when referring to itself and using honourifics when addressing Naruto while introducing itself to the young shinobi. Matatabi is a bakeneko that is completely engulfed in blue flames. It also has a right yellow eye and a left green eye, similar to an odd-eyed cat without pupils. When forced to transform by Tobi, Matatabi increased in size compared to when Yugito unleashed it. During the last remaining days of the Sage of Six Paths' life, Matatabi was a young flaming kitten much smaller than its present-day self, but was still much larger than the Sage. As a tailed beast, Matatabi has an enormous supply of chakra that it can transfer to others and can create the Tailed Beast Ball. As its appearance suggest, it can use Fire Release, which it can lend to its jinchūriki. Matatabi also has flexible muscles, which grant it great speed despite its large size. Matatabi's raw strength can easily crush an opponent or send them flying with one swipe of its paw. When combined with the other tailed beasts' tails, it could shatter and completely obliterate a senjutsu-enhanced complete Susanoo. Soon after her introduction, Yugito was captured by two Akatsuki members, Hidan and Kakuzu, although it is unknown who was specifically assigned to capture her. Despite luring her two pursuers into a closed space, sealing the exits, and transforming herself into the Two-Tails, Yugito was overpowered and rendered unconscious by the two Akatsuki members. Zetsu later arrived to take her off their hands. After three days of the Akatsuki extracting the Two-Tails into the statue from Yugito and getting sealed, its jinchūriki died afterwards as a result of having her tailed beast extracted.

After Son Gokū was resealed into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, Tobi, who was intent on going all-out from that point on, forced Yugito to fully transform into the Two-Tails. The opposing tailed beasts prepared to attack the shinobi, but they were rebuffed by a fully-transformed Naruto. Wasting no time in their attacks, the Two-Tails attempted to pounce from behind while Naruto and Kurama were incapacitated by the Six-Tails, but both the giant cat and slug got slammed with such force that they were sent flying. The opposing beasts regrouped and then prepared a collaborative Tailed Beast Ball, which was met by one from Naruto and Kurama. As Naruto entered a deeper plane of the tailed beasts' consciousness, he met the remaining five tailed beasts and their jinchūriki. Summoning Naruto before it, the giant cat told the young shinobi that it intended to keep the promise it made to Son Gokū. As it told Naruto to stretch out his hand, Matatabi introduced itself. Later, as Matatabi was freed from the chakra receiver, it affirmed Kurama's belief that Naruto was the person the Sage of the Six Paths had spoken about so long ago before being resealed into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. Matatabi appeared alongside the other tailed beasts with the exception of Gyūki and Shukaku when the Ten-Tails looked down at Naruto. The image of the tailed beasts, along with a silhouette of the Sage of Six Paths, drove the Ten-Tails to a fit as it evolved further. Later, Naruto, with the help of the remaining Allied Shinobi Forces, managed to free Matatabi by pulling its chakra out of Obito's body, alongside that of the other tailed beasts. When Madara ran towards the tailed beasts, both Shukaku and Gaara conjured numerous sand bullets and were able to restrain the Uchiha's movements. Using the opportunity to attack, the tailed beasts each took a swing at their opponent, giving sand-manipulating duo an opening to use their Desert Layered Imperial Funeral Seal, but Madara managed to escape the sand pyramid with his Susanoo. As Naruto in Tailed Beast Mode pinned Madara down with a tail, Matatabi and the other tailed beasts joined in and did the same to increase the damage, but the Uchiha survived their attacks and retreated to a safe distance. After he received his own right Rinnegan eye from a White Zetsu clone, Madara quickly summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path from Obito's body, and used the Rinnegan to repel the tailed beasts. With the tailed beasts stunned, Madara then chained them up and sealed them back into the Demonic Statue. Later, the chakra Matatabi transferred to Naruto earlier, manifested within Naruto's subconscious along with the other tailed beasts to speak with the young jinchūriki and the spirit of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki. There, they all voiced their shared belief to the Sage that Naruto was the child of prophecy. After Madara's ambitions were cut short by Black Zetsu, who revealed to be the silent manipulator of shinobi history since it was first created by Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, the black entity used Madara's body as a medium to resurrect its creator. During the battle against the tyrannical princess, Matatabi and the other tailed beasts continued to support Naruto by giving him their combined power to overwhelm her. Ultimately, Kaguya was defeated by Naruto and Sasuke, who used the Six Paths Chibaku Tensei to eject all the tailed beasts from her and seal her away inside a newly-created moon within her own dimension. After the spirits of Hagoromo and the past Kage summoned both the tailed beasts and Team 7 back to the real world, the tailed beasts began to discuss their plans for the future since they were finally free. Sasuke, however, made his own intentions known: removing as many people as possible who could get in the way of his plans of leading the world through a revolution to do away with current shinobi systems, including killing all the current Kage and tailed beasts. Just as Sasuke swiftly subdued the tailed beasts with his Rinnegan and sealed them within his Chibaku Tensei, Naruto reassured the tailed beasts that he would save them once again. After Naruto was able to defeat and reform Sasuke, the two dispelled the Infinite Tsukuyomi and Sasuke released Matatabi, along with the other tailed beasts, from their prisons.

Shukaku

Shukaku, more commonly known as the One-Tail, is one of the nine tailed beasts. It was last sealed within Gaara of Sunagakure, after being sealed in two other jinchūriki before him. Shukaku and the tailed beasts first came into being in the waning days of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, who used his Creation of All Things Technique to divide the Ten-Tails' chakra into nine separate bodies and giving each a name. Some time after being created, the Sage explained to the young tailed beasts that a link existed between them despite their separation. He also foretold of a day when they would be brought together again - though not as they were - and that at that time someone would emerge to show them what true power is. After Hagoromo's death, the tailed beasts drifted apart, apparently due to Kurama's belief that their number of tails was an indication of their strength.

Shukaku would eventually be captured and kept by Sunagakure, to which the First Kazekage, who was invited along with other first Kage by Hashirama Senju into the first Five Kage Summit, attempted to use his possession of the tanuki as leverage to gain wealth for his nation, as opposed to gaining another tailed beast. Shukaku's first jinchūriki was a Suna priest named Bunpuku, who was locked away in a dungeon with the giant tea kettle, and was kept under constant guard. Over time, the citizens of Sunagakure came to believe that Shukaku itself was a living ghost of a corrupted priest sealed inside a tea kettle. Despite the animosity the village showed for Shukaku and its host, the elderly priest held no ill-will towards the tanuki nor the villagers, viewing it as an equal and was content as long as Shukaku hadn't forgotten his name. Shukaku eventually came to appreciate Bunpuku and would later remember the words he imparted to it: that someday someone would appear in the world to teach it about the heart and acceptance. Shukaku had another jinchūriki who inspired the Third Kazekage to create his Iron Sand fighting style. Shukaku was eventually removed from their bodies, resulting in their respective deaths. When Karura became pregnant with Gaara, her husband, the Fourth Kazekage, had Chiyo seal Shukaku into Gaara while he was still in the womb because, out of his three children, Gaara was the only one compatible with the tailed beast. Before Karura died after giving birth, she passionately told her son that she would protect him, and, according to her husband, her love seeped into the sand and was noted to form his automatic defence. However, Gaara couldn't properly control Shukaku's powers, killing or injuring several of Suna's shinobi and citizens by accident. Shukaku would even cite its hatred toward humans, warning Gaara not to sleep too long if he didn't want to give Shukaku an opening. Deemed a failure, the Fourth Kazekage chose to test his son one last time, ordering Yashamaru to assassinate him and also tell him that his mother never loved him, and that she was used as a human sacrifice for the sealing process. Gaara failed the test, fully releasing the rampaging Shukaku, to which the Fourth eventually used his Gold Dust to subdue the tanuki.

Shukaku is characterised as a wild and short-tempered individual, and often speaks in a bombastic and incoherent manner, giving it the demeanour of a drunken madman. It also expresses pride as it uses "ore-sama", Literally meaning: my esteemed self when referring to itself, and holds great confidence in its own abilities, especially its absolute defence. According to Gaara, prior to its introduction, Shukaku relishes the opportunity to kill anyone in sight, even more so during a full moon. Like all tailed beasts, Shukaku has shown a strong desire to preserve its own life, granting its jinchūriki the power to control sand as well as allowing them to transform into it in a state of need and blood-lust. Shukaku harbours a bitter grudge towards Kurama due to the latter's beliefs that the tailed beasts' strength is measured by the number of tails, and thus Kurama views Shukaku as the weakest. Because of this, Shukaku will find any opportunity to surpass its arrogant rival. Stemming from this, Shukaku can be quite childish and boastful, often bragging such as how Madara would never get out of its sealing technique. Shukaku's hatred towards humans led it to spark fear in Gaara, reminding him that if he goes into a deep sleep, the tanuki would possess his body and murder all humans, resulting in Gaara's developing insomnia. Shukaku once had that similar attitude toward Bunpuku, but when its jinchūriki treated the tanuki as an equal, an impressed Shukaku complimented him by comparing him to the Sage of Six Paths. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Shukaku eventually saw Gaara in a similar light, being reminded of Bunpuku. Shukaku is a sandy-brown coloured tanuki, with black (dark blue in the anime) cursed seal markings all over its face, body, and tail. It has a jagged, concave mouth with no tongue, and the sclerae of its eyes are black, with yellow irides and pupils that each takes the shape of a black four-pointed star with four black dots around it. During the last days of the Sage of Six Paths, Shukaku in its youth looked the basically same as it does presently, only much smaller with shorter ears and more spaced out markings. As a tailed beast, Shukaku possesses a large quantity of chakra and can perform the Tailed Beast Ball. As a precaution, if its jinchūriki lost control and fully transformed into Shukaku inside of Suna, the villagers were to either evacuate beforehand or seek shelter due to the risk of mass casualty from its rampage. Shukaku has the ability to control its jinchūriki whenever they sleep, leading to its host to develop insomnia. Shukaku has great physical strength while using its tail, as seen when overlapping it with the other tailed beasts to shatter and even obliterate a senjutsu-enhanced humanoid Susanoo. Shukaku's most notable ability is its sand manipulation, using it as an effective weapon and shield. Since its whole body is completely made of sand, the tanuki can ignore most damage that would otherwise be detrimental, as shown when it had one of its arms chopped off by Gamabunta and was still able to keep on fighting. Taking pride in its motto of absolute defence, Shukaku's sand is durable enough to block a senjutsu-enhanced Susanoo sword with ease. It is capable of performing fūinjutsu by using its natural cursed seal markings across its own sand body, which gives off a magnetic field to bind its targets. One of its techniques, the Desert Layered Imperial Funeral Seal, is strong enough to temporarily restrain and withstand powerful techniques, like the Susanoo.

Jūgo

Jūgo is a shinobi from an unknown clan, who was being held at Orochimaru's Northern Hideout which was also where most of Orochimaru's secret human research was conducted. Jūgo was said to have gone to Orochimaru of his own free will, hoping that Orochimaru would cure him of his rages. He was later recruited as a member of Sasuke Uchiha's group Taka, which was initially called "Hebi" at the time of its creation An outcast, Jūgo's rage made him a danger to anyone around him, as they stood little chance of survival should he lose his temper. At one point, he became so angry that he destroyed a village and all of its inhabitants. This has caused others to label him as the "Scales", where anything could tip the balance. Cursing his existence, he took to secluding himself in caves, hoping to bring no one any harm. This lasted until he met Kimimaro, who was himself the last remnant of the Kaguya clan. Following Kimimaro, Jūgo allowed himself to be one of Orochimaru's test subjects in the hopes that he could be cured of his fits of rage.

However, amazed by Jūgo's ability to absorb natural energy to undergo various drastic physical alterations at the cost of mental state, Orochimaru's attempts to discover the origin of his clan's ability to use such power led him to the Ryūchi Cave, where he learned Sage Mode. But unable to use Sage Mode properly, Orochimaru instead devised the cursed seals by combining his Senjutsu chakra into the mutative enzymes he isolated from Jūgo's blood. As Orochimaru was nearing time to swap vessels, Kimimaro took it upon himself to recover Sasuke Uchiha. Prior to leaving, Jūgo was visited by Kimimaro who explained the situation to him. Despite Jūgo's concerns for Kimimaro's health, he assured him that Sasuke is his legacy while thanking Jūgo for their friendship. While Jūgo initially appeared quite bloodthirsty, Karin noted that this was only common behaviour when he was enraged; Jūgo himself didn't want to kill anyone and in reality he is a very gentle person. His fits of rage are random and uncontrollable, and thus are the reason why he willingly chooses to remain confined where he won't bring harm to anyone. However, he is willing to unleash his psychotic side in battle, as it enhances his fighting capabilities. The only reason he agreed to go with Sasuke is because he views Sasuke as the only person capable of preventing him from killing people while enraged, by the means of killer intent or the Sharingan. He thinks of Sasuke as his "cage". Before Sasuke, it was Kimimaro who kept Jūgo in check, and as Kimimaro was the only person Jūgo came into any contact with, the two grew close. After hearing that Kimimaro sacrificed his life to deliver Sasuke to Orochimaru, Jūgo believes that Kimimaro's spirit continues to live on in Sasuke, and thus is completely loyal to him, even after Taka had been disbanded, and Sasuke left them in the Land of Iron, Jūgo made his way back to Sasuke and matter-of-factly noted when asked, that his place was beside Sasuke as his shield. Suigetsu couldn't stand Jūgo at first, and commented that one of the reasons he had to retrieve the Kubikiribōchō was because of him. Karin noted that Jūgo is mentally unstable, a view confirmed when Jūgo was muttering to himself over whom he would kill next, which he would determine by gender. While discussing Sasuke Uchiha's team with the other members of Akatsuki, Pain referred to Jūgo as Jūgo of the Scales, Tenbin no Jūgo, Viz: Bipolar Jūgo), referencing his dual personality. According to the third databook, he is cowardly (in his normal state) and violent (when natural energy overtakes him). He has also been described as one who "does things at his own pace".

Jūgo is a tall, muscular young man who has spiky orange hair, red-orange eyes and a usually calm disposition. However, when affected by his murderous side, his skin turns dark, his irides becomes a pale yellow colour while his sclerae turns black, and he grows various weapons and appendages to suit his battle combat situation, as well as having a deranged look. Jūgo has a bracket-shaped symbol on his left palm. As a child, he wore a yellow shirt with blue shorts. When Jūgo was first introduced, he wore a pale blue shirt and pale green shorts. Later when Tamaki tried to find him some clothes, he wore black pants, a purple curtain he wore as a cape (Tamaki not able to find a shirt big enough for him), and brown sandals. After Taka had allied with Akatsuki, Jūgo was shown wearing an Akatsuki robe. Years later while working for Orochimaru, he developed a stronger jawline and dons his hair in an up-do while keeping the sides short. Attire-wise he wears a ragged, dark-coloured cloak. Jūgo abilities undoubtedly makes him a dangerous individual, enough to gain the interest of other powerful ninja such as Orochimaru and Sasuke Uchiha at separate times. After adapting their DNA and abilities, Kabuto also indirectly praised Jūgo when noting the quality of Sasuke's former team. Jūgo can also understand and communicate with animals, such as birds, and request them to help him accomplish tasks, such as acting as scouts or gathering information they have already witnessed. This information is shared in a great speed, allowing Jūgo to know about things that happened in a far away distance. Jūgo can also transfer his chakra onto others, as seen when he infused Sasuke's Susanoo with senjutsu chakra. Like other members of his clan, Jūgo possesses the ability known as Sage Transformation which allows him to use the natural energy he absorbs to transform his body at will. He can change what form he takes almost instantly and can isolate the transformation to specific parts of his body. Also due to this, Jūgo's possesses massive reserves of powerful chakra. However, because he absorbs natural energy constantly, he and his clansmen are prey to sporadic and involuntary surges of rage. As a result, Jūgo has changed his body into a number of forms. At his début, he changed his left arm into a piston-like ram to increase his punching power, and then altered it into a massive axe blade to counter Suigetsu's sword. While Taka was fighting Killer B, Jūgo formed a set of arm-boosters to both throw his team-mates a large distance and to produce stronger punches. He also created another set of boosters on his back to increase his speed in order to avoid a Lightning Release: Lariat at the last second from a Version 1 Killer B. Jūgo is also capable of extending his arms to great lengths to catch targets several feet away from him. Aside from his shape-shifting powers, Jūgo's physical abilities, such as his speed, strength, endurance, resiliency, and durability are also enhanced in proportion to the level of the transformation and intake of natural energy. His transformations grew stronger following the years after the war. If he fully transforms, Jūgo gains a massive boost in overall ability but loses his mind to his murderous side, signified by a change in his voice. When transforming, Jūgo's skin turns dark and his sclera turn black. He also gains a black stripe running from the middle of his forehead and down the bridge of his nose. In this full form, Jūgo is incredibly resilient and has significant reflexes, being able to react to and take a punch from the lightning enhanced Fourth Raikage that penetrated both his arm and chest, yet still managing to retaliate almost immediately after with ease, despite the speed and power of the attack and injury he had sustained. In this form, he turned his arm into a shield to defend himself and created Multiple Lotus Nonself Connected Cannons on his back that were capable of devastating the area. Jūgo's clan abilities serve as the origin of Orochimaru's Juinjutsu that he brands his various followers with, which were created using Jūgo's own bodily fluids that were then injected into the intended individual. As such, he is able to use its power to its full extent without it eroding his body. Unlike those who have been given a cursed seal, Jūgo is not limited to one transformation, and can enter whatever form is best for the situation. Jūgo considers those who have received one of Orochimaru's cursed seals to be one of his "copies" and, since they have proven compatible with his own DNA, he is able to give them some of his flesh to heal their injuries. This has the side effect of shrinking him and giving him an overall younger appearance. He can similarly consume others to heal his own injuries and return him to his original 'adult' form, though they do not need to be cursed seal recipients. Jūgo can use Earth, Water, and Wind Release nature transformations, along with Yang Release.

Suigetsu Hōzuki

Suigetsu Hōzuki is from Kirigakure's Hōzuki Clan. Heralded as the Second Coming of the Demon, Suigetsu dreams of gathering all the swords of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. This dream was cut short when he was captured by Orochimaru, but by joining forces with Sasuke Uchiha he finds an opportunity to resume its pursuit. Suigetsu was born in Kirigakure and was reputed alongside his brother, Mangetsu, to be the incarnation of the demon Zabuza Momochi. He and Mangetsu aspired to inherit the title of Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. This acted as their motivation to finish cruel missions day by day. While Mangetsu eventually became one of the seven, Suigetsu's motivation was shattered with the premature death of his brother, and he changed his ambition to "collecting all of the swords", in order to retrieve all seven original blades that have been passed down by the swordsmen, so that he could rebuild the group and become its leader.

With the humiliation of being captured and experimented on by Orochimaru and Kabuto Yakushi, his ambition was put on hold. Through these experiments, Kabuto at least, was able to replicate Suigetsu's unique secret ability to liquefy himself at will. At some point in the past, he had to fight with Jūgo. In the anime, about two years after Sasuke joined Orochimaru, the young Uchiha delivered a vial for research on Suigetsu. Upon seeing the young Uchiha, Suigetsu asked Sasuke to free him, who simply said he had to prove his strength. As the medical-nin came in to begin their tests, Suigutesu noticed one of them was in a daze (unaware he was being controlled by Sasuke's Sharingan). The medical-nin then opened Suigetsu's chamber, allowing him to break free from the base. Soon afterwards, he was pursued by Sasuke and Karin. Using his various water abilities, he was able to fend off the duo. Taking Sasuke's sword and delighting in its design, he attacked Karin, only to be caught off guard and subdued by her chakra chain, allowing Karin to take him back to the base. Suigetsu appears to be indifferent, caring only for a few things around him. He spends a considerable amount of time mocking and/or being beaten up by Karin. Despite showing initial dislike towards his team-mates, Suigetsu has grown fond of them, and was willing to risk his own life to protect them against the Eight-Tails, showing care for his team-mates. Kisame Hoshigaki claims that Suigetsu is a prodigy in the art of murder, as he has a habit of chopping off his victim's limbs before beheading them. Suigetsu, despite addressing him with the honourific term "senpai", wants to defeat him and take his sword, noting to Sasuke that he will one day serve him as "shark fin soup" (a reference to Kisame's shark-like appearance) after Sasuke suggested that he was not yet strong enough to defeat Kisame, showing it to be a sign of sarcasm rather than respect for Kisame.

As a prodigy at the art of murder, Suigetsu has a certain love for killing, but he refrains from doing so at Sasuke's request. However, there are several occasions where he has killed people when he believed Sasuke wouldn't notice. Suigetsu has been shown to have thoughts such as "just this once" and "he'll forgive me". However, he was noticeably upset that Sasuke killed several samurai during the attack on the Kage Summit, pointing out how many times Sasuke had told him not to kill anyone, his anger may have had more to do with Sasuke being a hypocrite than the samurai's deaths. He was described to have a belligerent personality, witnessed through his hostile and aggressive attitude most times. Suigetsu, despite being hasty in anger, has shown moments of keenness and a calm attitude, such as discerning Killer B's ability as a swordsman, as Suigetsu is one himself. Other moments were when he realised Sasuke used a space-time ninjutsu with Manda to escape Deidara's blast. He was also able to predict Killer B's attack on Sasuke, which would have been fatal if Suigetsu had not stepped in to block the blow. Suigetsu has a passion for collecting exotic swords: he made it his goal to collect all the swords from the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. He took Zabuza Momochi's Kubikiribōchō and joined Hebi only to take Kisame Hoshigaki's Samehada. He even went into great detail to explain about the seven swords to Jūgo, with a passionate tone to his storytelling. He also cares a great deal for his swords, shown when he went back to retrieve his Kubikiribōchō after losing it in the fight against Killer B. However, his passion doesn't seem to be entirely limited to the seven blades, as he also expressed interest in Darui's sword. His ultimate goal however, is to collect the seven blades, so he can reform the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and become their leader. Along with this passion for collecting swords, Suigetsu is very mischievous and as such, takes great joy in foiling Karin's plans to be alone with Sasuke and has stated that it is his second favourite thing to do. By his own admission, Suigetsu has an impulse to cut things up, be it a person or relationships, as he does with Sasuke and Karin. Suigetsu apparently also likes animals somewhat seen from his attempt to play with the talking ninja cats from the abandoned Uchiha warehouse at one point. He also lectured Sasuke on treating animals better after Sasuke used Manda to shield himself from Deidara's suicide technique, which resulted in Manda's death. Suigetsu also has what seems to be a chronic fear of Orochimaru, which is to be expected due to the latter imprisoning and experimenting on him. This fear was witnessed when Sasuke declared that he would revive Orochimaru and Suigetsu's ensuing attempt to dissuade him from doing so. When Orochimaru was revived, Suigetsu even refused to stay on the same side of the cave with him, retreating to opposite ends depending on where Orochimaru went. On the other hand while always being wary of Orochimaru and his intentions, Suigetsu willingly offered to help his former jailer attack Konoha and then later even referred to Orochimaru using honourific while obeying his orders. While showing courage against such fearsome opponents like Killer B, even taking a tailed beast ball for his comrades, Suigetsu also has a cowardly side at times. Despite his confidence (if not arrogance), he would show a rather cowardly side when someone of a clearly higher calibre directs their killing intent at him, as he hid behind Orochimaru in fear during an exchange between Tobirama and Hashirama Senju. He also seems to retain a sarcastic sense of humour even in serious situations, this trait being exemplified when, as Kabuto was healing Sasuke, he asked Kabuto if he was trying to absorb Sasuke, and if he wanted to be 'Kabuke' or 'Sasuto'.

Orochimaru

Orochimaru is one of Konohagakure's legendary Sannin. With a life-ambition to learn all of the world's secrets, Orochimaru seeks immortality so that he might live all of the lives necessary to accomplish his task. After being caught red-handed performing unethical experiments on his fellow citizens for the sake of this immortality, Orochimaru defected from Konoha rather than be persecuted for his ambitions, and for many years sought the village's destruction in order to take revenge and demonstrate what he had learned. After several apparent deaths in the pursuit of his goals, Orochimaru realises his approach is flawed through Kabuto Yakushi, his former associate, and begins monitoring the choices and actions of his former apprentice, Sasuke Uchiha.  Orochimaru was an orphan who became a pupil of Hiruzen Sarutobi alongside Jiraiya and Tsunade. Compared to the more laid back Jiraiya, Orochimaru stood out as a genius his talents, knowledge, and determination were considered by Hiruzen to be that of a prodigy seen only once in a generation. According to Tsunade, Orochimaru had a twisted personality even as a child. His sadistic attitude was presumably due to the death of his parents.

At some point after losing them, Orochimaru found a white snake near his parents' grave, with Hiruzen's explanation of it representing fortune and rebirth inspiring Orochimaru to study kinjutsu and obtain knowledge of all techniques. Jiraiya theorised that Orochimaru went down this path in an attempt to forget his painful memories. During the Second Shinobi World War, Orochimaru joined Jiraiya and Tsunade in fighting Hanzō, who gave them the title of Konoha's "Three Legendary Shinobi" as a reward for surviving their battle with him, while the rest of their group were easily slaughtered in the process. On their way back to Konoha, they encountered three Amegakure orphans, with Orochimaru proposing a mercy killing before Jiraiya chose to train them instead. In the anime, Orochimaru orchestrated the last known rampage of the Eight-Tails in Kumogakure by infiltrating the village while disguised as a Kumo-nin and posing as Blue B's doctor in order to trick him into taking special genjutsu inducing pills, allowing him to extract the tailed beast. After its rampage, Orochimaru obtained the severed horn of the Eight-Tails and harvested Blue B's DNA from it. Some time after Team Hiruzen was disbanded, Orochimaru became an Anbu member and joined Root to work directly under Danzō Shimura, while also becoming a mentor to Anko Mitarashi.

It was during that time that Orochimaru met Kabuto Yakushi while accompanying Danzō in forcing the boy's guardian, Nonō, into a mission. While Orochimaru's ambitions did include becoming the Fourth Hokage, he intended to use the title for his own agenda. Though Hiruzen knew the potential evil his former pupil had in him, he hoped to stir Orochimaru from the path before slowly realising that he was beyond anyone's help. When Hiruzen finally named Minato Namikaze his successor, Orochimaru saw no more reason to remain in Konoha and began to be less discreet with his actions. This led to his experimentation on Hashirama Senju's DNA with sixty children he kidnapped to recreate the First's Wood Release, having help from Danzō. Believing it to be a failure, Orochimaru was unaware that one child had survived his Wood Release experiment. He later refined the process enough to inject Hashirama's cells into the Sharingan-infused right arm of Shin Uchiha, which he transplanted to Danzō. Orochimaru performed various experiments on his prisoners, some being fellow Konoha shinobi he kidnapped. He used them as human guinea pigs to develop techniques that would grant him immortality, the end result being Living Corpse Reincarnation. Some time later, Orochimaru was at the outskirts of Kirigakure as he found Kimimaro, the sole survivor of the Kaguya clan. Soon after, thanks in part to Kimimaro, Orochimaru's research on the source of Jūgo's powers led him to find the Ryūchi Cave and master senjutsu. Unable to enter Sage Mode because of the fragility of his host body, Orochimaru instead developed an alternate method of harnessing his senjutsu chakra through cursed seals, which he tested on Anko and several others before eventually using the finalised versions on Kimimaro and the Sound Four. In the anime, Orochimaru found the Iburi clan living underground near Konoha. Taking an interest in their ability to become smoke, Orochimaru took advantage of the clan's fear of their imperfect and potentially fatal transformation by partially stabilising it with his cursed seals. Telling them that he needed more research to perfect the process, the clan willingly gave Orochimaru test subjects. In the anime, Orochimaru witnessed Itachi Uchiha performing a training run normally meant for older and more experienced users due to the danger of it. After the young Uchiha flawlessly completed it, Orochimaru instantly became amazed and excited at Itachi's advanced growth rate. In the anime, he also allied himself with Amachi out of interest for creating a shinobi capable of underwater combat, kidnapping Land of the Sea villagers for their experiments, while introducing Anko to the project. Sometime after, Orochimaru lost interest in the project, and ordered Amachi to cancel it, while also seeing Anko as a lost cause for her refusal to use the cursed seal, and wiped her memories as she left him. Orochimaru was later sent on a mission by Danzō to Iwagakure to ensure that both Kabuto and Nonō, the former having joined Root as a spy, killed each other as they had become major liabilities. Orochimaru instead spirited Kabuto to his hideout, which would become part of his personal hidden village, Otogakure, and revealed Root's intent for Kabuto's life and the role he was to play in it. Though Orochimaru revealed that he was also sent to kill the one who survived this ordeal, he told Kabuto that he saw a bit of himself in the boy and decided killing him would be a waste of great talent. Therefore, Orochimaru offered Kabuto a position as his right hand and spy with the promise of an identity.