Nine-Tailed Demon Fox

The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox (九尾の妖狐, Kyūbi no Yōko) is the most powerful of the Tailed Beasts; a single swipe of one of its nine tails can raise tsunamis and flatten mountains. After the demon fox attacked Konohagakure, Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, sealed it within his newborn son, Naruto Uzumaki, by using the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, sacrificing his own life to do so.

Background

The demon fox is an age-old natural disaster that can appear out of nowhere and goes into areas where human malice collects and festers. At an unknown time, the demon fox met with the founder of the Uchiha clan, Madara Uchiha, who used his Mangekyo Sharingan to control it and was used to battle against Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, for revenge. The battle was so great, that it tore the earth apart and it created the Valley of the End, but despite controling the demon fox's power, Madara was defeated. Many years later, he allegedly used the demon fox again to attack Konoha (although Madara claims that the demon fox's attack on Konoha had nothing to do with him or the Uchiha, saying it was a "natural occurance"). During the attack, the demon fox decimated all the ninja that came to repel it, but was defeated by Minato and Gamabunta. After they defeated it, Minato sealed the demon fox within Naruto, which freed it from Madara's control. Ever since then, the demon fox has a special loathing for the Sharingan and those who use it. The demon fox even remarked Sasuke Uchiha's eyes and chakra are more sinister than its own, because his Sharingan reminded it of Madara. As the demon fox was being supressed by Sasuke, it warned him not to kill Naruto, he will only live to regret it if he did.

In an anime-only filler arc, Naruto, Sakura, Yamato and Sai travel to the Fire Temple to investigate the mysterious robbing of the graves of three legendary ninja. While investigating, they befriend a young monk named Sora. Over the course of the arc, however, it is revealed that Sora was infused with chakra left over from the demon fox's attack, making him a Psuedo-Jinchūriki, capable of generating a demon fox cloak similar to Naruto's.

Personality

The demon fox is a giant beast of almost complete malevolence. It is intelligent, and has a sadistic and sarcastic personality. However, it does have a sense of honor, and possesses a loathing respect for Naruto and Minato. Additionally, it has a distinct sense of pride and became rather angry and scornful at Naruto when he rejected its chakra in Part II, though this might have merely been anger over missing an opportunity to partially usurp control over Naruto's mind and body and thus weakening the seal. The demon fox relishes the thought of killing Naruto, but it knows it has to help as long it's sealed within him or it will die.

The demon fox will go to great lengths to preserve its own life, as shown when it forces its chakra into Naruto whenever his life is in danger. It will even back down; it is clear that Naruto would do harm or kill himself if it refuses to follow his orders.

Escape Plan

The demon fox, as expected, seems to have a plan for escape. When Naruto first met Sasuke after his defection, the demon fox told Naruto to remove the seal internally so that Naruto would have full access to its chakra. It has also been stated that if the seal is broken, or if Naruto draws too much of it's power, the demon fox would be released. As such, during Part II, the demon fox eagerly offers its power to Naruto when fighting against Orochimaru and during his later encounter with Sasuke. This plan, however, failed as Naruto refused to use the demon fox's power, and it has yet to make an appearence since it was suppressed by Sasuke and rejected by Naruto.

During Naruto's element training, the demon fox was forcing its chakra into one of Naruto's shadow clones. Its reason for doing this is unknown, but it apparently has something to do with its plans for escape.It is most likely that it will attempt to take over one of the clones and release itself there.

Activity inside Naruto

As the demon fox's host, Naruto has accelerated healing, unrivaled stamina and speed, massive strength, and access to the demon fox's near-limitless chakra. The demon fox's chakra allows Naruto to perform his signature jutsu, Shadow Clone Technique, seemingly without limit. He is even able to summon Gamabunta, a normally Kage-level feat requiring a huge amount of chakra proportionate to the size of the summoned creature.

Naruto typically accesses this prodigious supply of chakra from the demon fox during extreme emotional states or life-threatening situations. When he first accessed it, the demon fox's innate rage took over Naruto's mind, causing him to strike out at whatever was near him at the time. Afterwards, Naruto learned to exercise more control over the chakra, and he can now retain his mental state when drawing upon small amounts of the demon fox's chakra. After Jiraiya's training, Naruto learns to summon a small degree of the demon fox's power at will. To do this, Naruto travels into his own subconscious (depicted as a sewer) and demands the demon fox to give him its chakra, which he calls "rent". The demon fox simply complies with him because it is amused by Naruto's bravery, and knows that it will die if Naruto dies.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Kakashi Hatake allude that if Naruto loses all control of the demon fox's chakra, the seal will break and the demon fox will be released. Though the seal is unlikely to break on its own, the chances of it happening increase as Naruto draws upon the demon fox's chakra. After Naruto trained with Jiraiya, he inadvertently released Naruto's four-tailed transformation. Jiraiya mentions that the seal may be becoming weaker over time. This is evident in Naruto's transformations, which occur much quicker and with greater intensity than they did in the first part of the series, often against his own will. As seen during Naruto's training sessions, even the slightest amount of frustration on Naruto's part allows the demon fox's chakra to leak out in excess, and Naruto rapidly progresses to a four-tailed state.

Apparently, while within Naruto, the Mangekyo Sharingan can't be used to control the demon fox, however, someone with a good control of even a normal Sharingan is apparently still able to suppress its chakra (as demonstrated by Sasuke). Also, it seems to be rejecting Fukasaku when he tries to merge with Naruto during his Senjutsu training for reasons unknown (although it can be safely assumed that it was so that Naruto would have no choice but to rely on its chakra).

The Seal

Jiraiya later reveals that Naruto's four-tailed transformation was his doing by using the toadkey with the same seal on its belly as on Naruto's. He had the toadkey "twist" the seal a little, which resulted in the demon fox's chakra taking over. Jiraiya mentions that Minato split the demon fox's chakra in two halves, sealing the Yin chakra making it inaccessible to Naruto, but sealing the Yang chakra in a manner that allows Naruto to access it.

Influences

A kitsune (狐, fox) is a well-known character in Japanese folklore, and the influence behind not only the demon fox, but many other reincarnations in modern Japanese culture. It likes to play tricks and pranks on people, and on occasions, transforms itself into a beautiful woman and seduces a man (obviously the inspiration for Sexy Technique). Also, kitsune are known to keep their promises, a trait Naruto has; his ninja way is to "never go back on [his] word". It should also be noted that every time Naruto loses control and is overwhelmed by the demon fox's chakra, he seemingly gains another "tail" of chakra. This stems from the belief that the more tails a kitsune has, the more powerful it is, with nine tails usually being the limit.

It might also be noted that according to Chinese mythology, the last king of the Shang Dynasty was seduced by a beautiful, but malevolent nine-tailed fox spirit, which eventually resulted in his downfall, and this could have been another source of inspiration for the demon fox.

Notes

Many incorrectly believe the demon fox's name is "Kyuubi", the direct English pronunciation of "Kyūbi". This when the demon fox is referred to, it is usually called "Kyūbi", which stands for "Nine-Tails". This is similar to the belief that Minato Namikaze's name, before being revealed was "Yondaime", which really just means "Fourth"

Eight-Tailed Beast

The Eight-Tails (八尾, Hachibi) is a demon ushi-oni sealed within Kirābī of Kumogakure.

Part II
Hunt for the Eight-Tails

The Eight-Tails is currently one of the two remaining Tailed Beasts that were not extracted by Akatsuki, the other one being the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox.
When Team Hawk arrived to Kumogakure in attempt to capture Kirābī, he battled them to the point of annoyance. With his great control over his demon, Kirābī transformed himself into the Eight-Tails, and proceeded to terrorize Team Hawk. As the Eight-Tails attacked, Suigetsu commanded a wave of water, attempting to defeat it. The Eight-Tails understood that Suigetsu had the advantage given that they were surrounded by water, so it then charged a huge ball of chakra and fired it at Suigetsu, defeating him.

Later, Sasuke Uchiha activated Amaterasu on the Eight-Tails and it fell into pain by its flames. Kirābī then was seemingly captured by Team Hawk and was given to Madara Uchiha. Kirābī's brother, the Raikage, swore that Akatsuki would pay for what they had done.

"Vacation"

It was later revealed that Kirābī faked his capture. After Hawk left, he and the Eight-Tails left the lake and went to go see Sabu, the leader of the "Enka ninjas". The Eight-Tails also tells Kirābī that he should stop rapping.

Activity inside Kirābī

Little is known about the Eight-Tails' strength so far. As the Eight-Tails' host, Kirābī can transform himself into the Eight-Tails and can access to its high-level chakra (possibly almost in the same league as the demon fox's level) without losing control. It has been shown to fire an attack similar to the Four-Tailed Fox Menacing Ball, but with much greater force.

Kirābī is able to use the Eight-Tails to block his chakra to break illusions, even ones cast from a Mangekyo Sharingan.

Kirābī and the Eight-Tails appear to be able to speak to each other in a much more relaxed state than Naruto and the demon fox. For example, when Naruto has a conversation with the demon fox, the latter is in a cage with a special seal keeping it from killing Naruto. Kirābī and the Eight-Tails, however, talk without such restraints, with Kirābī even sitting on top of its muzzle. The Eight-Tails also complains about Kirābī's rapping, and unlike the demon fox, it doesn't make any death or malicious threats.

However, Eight-Tails is shown to get easily annoyed with Kirābī's crazy antics.

Influence

An ushi-oni (牛鬼, ox demon) is a creature which appears in Japanese folklore. An ushi-oni is a massive, brutal sea-monster with a head and body of a bull with eight octopus tentacles, which lives off the coasts of Japan and attacks fishermen (pretty much like the Kraken, but with a Minotaur-like body).

An ushi-oni appears as protective symbol in the Ushi-oni-matsuri, which is held in late July in Uwajima of Ehime Prefecture. Like the dragon dancers at a Chinese New Year celebration, an ushi-oni is represented with a huge, multiple-person costume with a cloth body and a carved, painted head held upon a pole. It has a sword for a tail, and is thought to drive away evil spirits.

Speculation

As most of the other Tailed Beasts seen so far are based upon mythological creatures, it was speculated that this Tailed Beast was based upon the eight-headed and eight-tailed dragon, Yamata no Orochi. Some fans believed that Orochimaru was the Eight-Tails due to his snake-like abilities, however, this was proven false in chapter 408. In chapter 413, it has been confirmed that that the Eight-Tails is a giant bull with eight octopus tentacles for it's tails, which is called an ushi-oni.

The Eight-Tails has only one complete horn, the other is halfway missing. Some fans believe this may be a battle scar left by Kirābī's brother, who was mentioned by Kirābī when Sasuke dodged an attack while Kirābī was under the Eight-Tails' chakra cloak.

Seven-Tailed Beast

The Seven-Tails (七尾, Nanabi) is a demon formerly sealed within an unnamed kunoichi from Takigakure. It has been captured and sealed by the Akatsuki.

Six-Tailed Beast

The Six-Tails (六尾, Rokubi) is a demon formerly sealed within an unnamed young man of unknown origins. It has been captured and sealed by the Akatsuki.

Five-Tailed Beast

The Five-Tails (五尾, Gobi) is a demon formerly sealed within an unnamed shinobi from Iwagakure. It has been captured and sealed by the Akatsuki.

The Four-Tails

The Four-Tails (四尾, Yonbi) is a demon formerly sealed within Rōshi of Iwagakure.

Background

It is currently unknown of what type of animal is the Four-Tails. Its Jinchūriki, Rōshi, was defeated by Kisame Hoshigaki just before his introduction. According to Kisame, he had a difficult battle because he had to face the Four-Tails' Lava Release.

The Four-Tails was later extracted and sealed, leading to Rōshi's death.
[edit] Activity inside Rōshi

Little is known about the Four-Tails' abilities. As the Four-Tails' host, Rōshi has made use of its Lava Release techniques, which is rarely seen outside of kekkei genkai.

Three-Tailed Beast

The Three-Tails (三尾, Sanbi) is a demon turtle that the Akatsuki assigned Tobi (with the help of Deidara) to capture.

Background

In the past, the Three-Tails was imbued with an unnamed shinobi from Kirigakure, later it seemed to have been extracted from its host for reasons unclear, and was set free in the wild.

After that, the Three-Tails lived in an ocean area and remained uncaptured by any shinobi until Deidara and Tobi arrived. Right after the Three-Tails emerged from the water, it quickly swam towards Tobi, chasing him around the area. With the Three-Tails distracted, Deidara molded an explosive clay fish in an attempt to capture it. It's unclear if this marked the end of the battle, as the remainder of the battle goes unseen. As the two towed the Tailed Beast to the Akatsuki's lair after the battle, Tobi gloated of bringing the Three-Tails down with his special jutsu, but Deidara thought otherwise. It is later sealed in the sealing statue.

Since it was removed from its host, the Three-Tails lost its intelligence after it had been extracted and wasn't smart enough to control it's own strength, which made it weaker and then was easily captured and sealed.

Abilities

What abilities this creature possesses remains unclear, as it did little to actually attack the two in its short appearance. It is clearly quite fast despite its size, as evidenced by its ability to keep up with Tobi, who was running on the water at the time.

Influence

Turtles are often used as the base design for sea monsters in generic Japanese folklore. The Three-Tails' design in particular was conceived as a result of series creator Masashi Kishimoto's interest in monsters, yōkai, and kaijū, mixing together various elements of those types of creatures to create a monster with a turtle's body and a shrimp's tails

Two-Tailed Demon Cat

The Two-Tailed Demon Cat (ニ尾の猫俣, Nibi no Nekomata) is a fire-breathing, flaming nekomata sealed within Yugito Nii of Kumogakure. The demon cat was said to be a living ghost.

Background

Soon after her introduction, Yugito is captured by two Akatsuki members, Hidan and Kakuzu, though it is unknown which was specifically assigned to capture her. Despite luring her two pursuers into a closed space, sealing the exits, and transforming herself into the demon cat, Yugito was overpowered and rendered unconscious by the two Akatsuki members. Zetsu later arrives to take her off their hands, and she later dies as a result of having the Tailed Beast extracted from her.

Activity inside Yugito

As the demon cat's host, Yugito has the ability to transform into a minitature form of the demon cat, which gives her access to its strength and its ability to breathe fire blasts from its mouth without losing much control. The demon cat's nickname brings to mind of its dead manipulation abilities.
Influence

Cats are the common species throughout the world and stories of bakeneko (化け猫, monster cats) are popular throughout Japan. In myth, the nekomata (猫俣, forked-cat) is said to be an older cat that has had its tail split in two. Reportedly large in size, these cats are said have the ability to manipulate the dead-like puppets and have been associated with strange fires and occurrences. This may be related to the demon cat's ikiryō (生霊, living ghost) nickname and its fire-breathing abilities

One-Tailed Shukaku

The One-Tailed Shukaku (一尾の守鶴, Ichibi no Shukaku) or Shukaku of the Sand (砂の守鶴, Suna no Shukaku) is a demon tanuki, who can manipulate sand, sealed within Gaara of Sunagakure.

Background

It was once said to be a corrupted spirit of a Sand monk from Sunagakure that turned into a demon, but it is actually one of Tailed Beasts. It was originally sealed inside a teakettle and then placed inside its first host. When Karura, the wife of Fourth Kazekage, became pregnant, her husband ordered Chiyo to seal Shukaku inside an unborn Gaara, but only after being removed from the second host. Before she died giving birth to Gaara, she cursed all the people of Sunagakure, including her husband, for what they have done.

During the attack on Konoha, Gaara transformed into his full Shukaku form during his fight with Naruto Uzumaki, who later summoned Gamabunta. When Gaara exposed himself on top of Shukaku's head and used the Feigning Sleep Technique, Shukaku took full control of its body (Gamakichi proclaimed that its voice was kinda funky) and battled them. Shukaku's power was too much for Gamabunta to handle; so Naruto used the Combination Transformation to take form of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, which allowed Gamabunta to grab Shukaku, in order for Naruto to punch Gaara to wake him up, which depleted Shukaku's full power.

In Part II, Deidara was assigned to capture Shukaku. After defeating Gaara in combat and taking him to the Akatsuki's lair, Shukaku was forcefully extracted from Gaara, thus killing him. Gaara was resurrected through a combination of Chiyo's life-transferring technique and Naruto's chakra. Gaara's ability to control sand still appeared to be intact, though to what degree remained unclear.

Personality

Shukaku is intelligent, but also incoherent, giving it the demeanor of a drunkard, this fits well with the typical depictions of tanuki in Japanese folklore. Shukaku itself can translate to "drunk" in Japanese. Like other Tailed Beasts, its innate rage and bloodlust influence its behavior, and it relishes in the opportunity to kill anyone in sight.

Activity inside Gaara

As a host of Shukaku, Gaara has the ability to move and levitate sand at will, and is protected at all times by the Shield of Sand, regardless of his will (even self-inflicted injuries are prevented by the sand). He also suffers from lifelong insomnia, a side effect of being Shukaku's host. Whenever he falls asleep, Shukaku would eat away his personality, making him a monster. Shukaku can control the sand itself to automatically protect Gaara's body from any harm; knowing full well, that if Gaara dies, it will die too.

When angry or in a state of bloodlust, Gaara can use the sand in his gourd to take the form of a miniature Shukaku or even create the giant copy of Shukaku's body. It is only when Gaara begins to take on Shukaku's forms is he allowed access to its wind element, such as Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet. Gaara can even allow Shukaku to take over the full Shukaku form by going to sleep, but is left vulnerable as his sleeping body is left unprotected on Shukaku's head.

Influence

The tanuki (狸) is species of dog found in Japan. The species has been called "raccoon dog" because of their similar appearance. The tanuki has been renowned for its mischievous nature and ability to shape shift and bring good fortune. Shukaku has ties to several tanuki archetypes. One is the Bunbuku Chagama tale, where a tanuki sealed inside a tea kettle, then placed inside its first host. In the series, Shukaku was reported to have been sealed within one. Some tales state of a shrine priest being a tanuki in disguise, which ties into how early in the series, Shukaku was reportedly a corrupted Sand priest.

Notes

Since Gaara was infused with Shukaku prior to his birth, it would seem that the Jinchūriki's elemental chakra abilities melded with Gaara's own; however, it's unclear if Gaara's control of sand and wind elements is a result of his own chakra or Shukaku's