In the anime and manga series Naruto, there are 9 tailed beasts known as the bijuu. The tailed beasts are giant demons that each have a different number of tails, ranging from 1 tail to 9 tails. They possess massive amounts of chakra and can level mountains and cause tsunamis with their power. The tailed beasts were created by the Sage of Six Paths and are living forms of chakra.
The 9 tailed beasts are:
1. Shukaku – One Tail
Shukaku is the one-tailed tanuki demon sealed within Gaara of the Sand Village. Shukaku was one of the tailed beasts captured and sealed by the Akatsuki. Shukaku has the ability to manipulate sand and wind, fitting given that its jinchuriki host is Gaara of the Sand Village. When unleashed, Shukaku typically appears as a giant tanuki with dark blue markings all over its face, body, and tail.
2. Matatabi – Two Tails
Matatabi is the two-tailed demon cat sealed within Yugito Nii of the Cloud Village. Matatabi possesses the blue fire of the Nekomata, allowing both it and its jinchūriki to produce blue flames capable of burning anything, even other tailed beasts. In its physical form, Matatabi appears as a bakeneko with bluish-black fur and two tails.
3. Isobu – Three Tails
Isobu is the three-tailed turtle beast that was once sealed in Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage of the Mist Village. Isobu has the ability to create coral and swim at incredible speeds by creating propulsion with its tails. In its physical form, Isobu resembles a large turtle with tree trunk-like legs, a crablike shell, and three shrimp-like tails.
4. Son Goku – Four Tails
Son Goku is the four-tailed monkey demon sealed within Roushi of the Cloud Village. Son Goku utilizes fire-natured chakra, which it can use to create lava. In its full physical form, Son appears as a red-furred and green-skinned monkey with long sharp claws and horns on its head.
5. Kokuo – Five Tails
Kokuo is the five-tailed demon dolphin-horse sealed within Han from the Steam Village. Kokuo has the ability to emit steam from its nostrils and combines its water and fire-natured chakra to use boiling steam-based attacks. In its physical form, Kokuo resembles a white horse with dolphin skin and five dolphin-like tails.
6. Saiken – Six Tails
Saiken is the six-tailed demon slug sealed within Utakata, a missing-nin from the Mist Village. Saiken can produce and manipulate an extremely corrosive alkali fluid, which shinobi have named “Saiken Bubbles”. In its full form, Saiken appears as a massive white slug with six tails.
7. Chomei – Seven Tails
Chomei is the seven-tailed rhinoceros beetle sealed within Fu of the Waterfall Village. Chomei has the ability to fly and produce scale dust that acts as a poison. In its full form, Chomei appears as a blue rhinoceros beetle with seven blue tails and green horns, wings, and shells covering its body.
8. Gyuki – Eight Tails
Gyuki is the eight-tailed giant ushi-oni ox demon sealed within Killer Bee of the Cloud Village. As an ushi-oni, Gyuki has long horns on its head and possesses immense physical strength. It also wields the Bashōsen, a chakra-absorbing war fan, which Killer Bee can transform into using Gyuki’s chakra.
9. Kurama – Nine Tails
Kurama is the most powerful of the nine tailed beasts. It is a massive demon fox with orange-reddish fur and nine swishing tails. Kurama is characterized by its maliciousness and thirst for rage and destruction. It was sealed within Naruto Uzumaki. When unleashed, Kurama overwhelms its enemies with its massive reserves of chakra and devastating destructive power.
So are there 10 tailed beasts?
No, based on the lore of the Naruto series, there are only 9 tailed beasts known as the bijuu. The tailed beasts range from 1 tail to 9 tails – Shukaku, Matatabi, Isobu, Son Goku, Kokuo, Saiken, Chomei, Gyuki, and finally Kurama. There is no known 10 tailed beast in the story. The Jubi, mentioned later on, is sometimes referred to as the 10 tails, but it is an amalgamation of all 9 tailed beasts, not a separate 10th entity.
The Origin of the Tailed Beasts
According to Naruto lore, the tailed beasts were originally created from the chakra of the 10-Tails monster known as the Jubi. The Sage of Six Paths separated and contained the Jubi’s chakra within 9 separate constructs that became the 9 tailed beasts.
The Jubi, also known as the Shinju, was an ancient demonic tree that Chakra Fruit containing the chakra of all ninshu. It ravaged lands until the Sage of Six Paths defeated it and sealed its body, forming it into a giant stone prison. This prison later became known as the moon.
Before sealing the Jubi’s body away, the Sage split apart its chakra into 9 different constructs that became the tailed beasts. This was done in order to ensure that the Jubi’s power could never be reformed in the hands of one individual. Each tailed beast came to possess a different number of the Jubi’s tails, hence the origin of their “tailed beast” names.
| Tailed Beast | Number of Tails |
|---|---|
| Shukaku | 1 Tail |
| Matatabi | 2 Tails |
| Isobu | 3 Tails |
| Son Goku | 4 Tails |
| Kokuo | 5 Tails |
| Saiken | 6 Tails |
| Chomei | 7 Tails |
| Gyuki | 8 Tails |
| Kurama | 9 Tails |
Over the centuries, the tailed beasts would be captured and sealed within human hosts known as jinchuriki. The villages who controlled the jinchuriki sought to harness the immense power of the tailed beasts as military weapons.
Efforts to Reform the Ten-Tails
Though there is no actual 10th tailed beast, there have been efforts by villains in Naruto to try and reform the original 10-Tailed Jubi. By gathering all 9 tailed beasts and combining their chakra, it is possible to reconstitute the Jubi’s original form and power.
The primary antagonists who have tried to reform the Jubi are Obito Uchiha and Madara Uchiha. They deliberately captured the tailed beasts one by one and sealed them within the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. This statue was designed to drain and synthesize their chakra into a new Ten-Tails entity.
Obito and Madara succeeded in sealing 7 tailed beasts into the Demonic Statue – including Gyuki and Kurama. This allowed the statue to transform into an incomplete Jubi. However, they were stopped before they could obtain the eighth and ninth tailed beasts fully reform the Ten-Tails.
The Ten-Tails Forms
When 7 tailed beasts were sealed in the statue, it took on a Ten-Tailed form referred to as the Shinju. In this form, it appears as a bloated brown humanoid with a conch shell-like upper body and 7 tails flailing behind it. Each tail represents one of the captured tailed beasts’ chakras.
When the Shinju further matured after absorbing more chakra, it evolved into its next form – the Divine Tree. This tree form is a flowering giant tree with ten protruding stubs where tails would be on a tailed beast. It attempts to produce a Chakra Fruit like the original Shinju Tree.
The final Ten-Tails form is its complete Jubi beast form. This was never fully realized, but artwork depicts it as a mix of animal parts with ten tails. Since it is an amalgamation of the 9 tailed beasts, it shares some of their physical traits combined into one creature.
Similarities to the Real Ten Tails
The Jubi forms do bear a visual resemblance to mythical ten-tailed beasts in real Japanese folklore. For example:
- Orochi – An ancient serpentine dragon with eight heads and ten tails.
- Kitsune – Fox spirits depicted with up to nine or ten tails.
So although there is no singular “Ten Tails” in Naruto, the Jubi forms like the Shinju and Divine Tree evoke similar motifs from Japanese mythology. The creator likely drew inspiration from these real folktales in designing the Jubi.
Conclusion
In summary, no, there are only 9 established tailed beasts within the Naruto series numbering from one to nine tails. The Jubi or Ten-Tails used by antagonists Obito and Madara Uchiha is a transformed state created by combining the chakra of all 9 tailed beasts into the Demonic Statue.
While the Jubi has ten tail-like appendages, it is not itself a literal 10th tailed beast. Rather, it is a reconstituted form of the original Shinju beast that the Sage of Six Paths split apart into the 9 tailed beasts centuries ago. So the so-called “Ten-Tails” is the original source of the others’ power, not a distinct 10th entity.