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Jinchūriki

Each tailed beast's most recent jinchūriki.

The jinchūriki (人柱力, literally meaning: Power of Human Sacrifice) are humans that have tailed beasts sealed within them. They exhibit extraordinary powers due to the immense chakra reserves they possess.

History

Hagoromo and Hamura fight the Ten-Tails

The Ōtsutsuki brothers and the Ten-Tails.

Long before the founding of the hidden villages, the world was terrorised by a monster known as the Ten-Tails.[1] Its rampages throughout the lands were stopped by the combined efforts of Hamura and Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, who sealed the Ten-Tails within Hagoromo. As history's first jinchūriki, Hagoromo used the Ten-Tails' power to perform many great deeds during his lifetime, causing him to be revered as the "Sage of the Six Paths". Towards the end of his life, Hagoromo, knowing the Ten-Tails would be unleashed on the world again when he died, split its chakra into nine entities called the tailed beasts.[2]

Although humanity would for centuries exploit the tailed beasts as sources of power, it would not be until after the establishment of the hidden villages that the practice of creating jinchūriki resumed. The new hidden villages, each with their own tailed beasts, started sealing the beasts into selected villagers:[3] in Konohagakure this was done to protect the village from its beast, the Nine-Tails;[4] in Sunagakure, the abilities that manifested in their jinchūriki were studied so that non-jinchūriki could replicate them; more often that not, though, the jinchūriki were meant to be nothing more than military potential, with little regard for the jinchūriki or even the tailed beast.[5]

Because of the difficulties involved when learning to control a tailed beast and the history the tailed beast itself may have with a village, jinchūriki are often hated and ostracised by their fellow villagers, treated as no different than the beast they contain. Members of Akatsuki report that villages are often glad to be rid of their jinchūriki.[6] However, because a jinchūriki is so valuable, it is not in the village's interest to let them be captured or turn into missing-nin. To strengthen the jinchūriki's bond with the village, it is tradition for them to be related to their village's Kage: for example, Killer B is the brother of the Fourth Raikage and Gaara is the son of the Fourth Kazekage.[7]

While many jinchūriki do indeed experience hardship in their early lives, either being mistreated by the majority of the village or dying in their failed attempts to control their tailed beasts, some are able to earn respect and recognition both within their village and in the wider world: Gaara and Yagura becomes their villages' Kage, while Killer B, Yugito Nii, and Naruto Uzumaki become regraded as heroes and icons of their villages.

Sealing

Jinchūriki typically have their tailed beasts sealed into them early in their lives - often shortly after birth - so that they can can grow up acclimating to their beast. Which seal is used differs from village to village, with Konoha using the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style and Kumo using the Iron Armour Seal. In order for a jinchūriki to be successful in the long term, it is important for the jinchūriki to have special compatibility[8] or simply unique chakra that can improve their chances.[4] In the case of the Ten-Tails, it is also necessary that its jinchūriki have a living body.[9]

Akatsuki extracting Shukaku

Shukaku being extracted from Gaara by Akatsuki.

There are several ways in which a tailed beast can be removed from its jinchūriki. If the jinchūriki loses control of the beast or if the seal is simply allowed to weaken enough, the beast will be released. For female jinchūriki, seals are at their weakest during childbirth, due to the nurturing of the child in the womb taking precedence over the reinforcement of the seal. As such, another ninja is required to keep the seal intact during childbirth and restore it to full power afterwards.[10] Akatsuki uses the Sealing Technique: Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals technique to extract and seal the tailed beasts within the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path for future use.

Typically, loss of a tailed beast will cause immediate death for a jinchūriki. Uzumaki have been shown to survive the initial removal of their tailed beast, but they are left severely weakened and need immediate medical attention if they are to live.[11] If a jinchūriki is able to hold on to or receive some of their beast's chakra, that will also enable them to survive.[12] The Ten-Tails' jinchūriki can survive its removal so long as the Demonic Statue remains within them, though they will be completely paralysed for a time.[13] Reincarnated jinchūriki can survive their beast's removal since they are already dead, but they may lose consciousness in the process.[14]

Abilities

Ink Creation

Killer B demonstrating a tailed beast ability.

Main articles: Jinchūriki Forms and Nine-Tails Chakra Mode A jinchūriki has access to their tailed beast's massive chakra reserves. Most jinchūriki learn how to access this chakra on their own and take it by force, but they can also form a symbiosis with their tailed beast and take only what chakra is offered to them. A tailed beast may even give chakra to its jinchūriki without them knowing it, either to try and exert control over the jinchūriki, or simply to protect the jinchūriki and, by extension, itself.

In addition to the chakra reserves, jinchūriki gain abilities unique to the respective beast. As the jinchūriki transform themselves into the likeness of their tailed beasts, it further increases the power of their abilities. If they are able to survive their beast's removal, they will still have access to those abilities.[15]

Control

Main article: Tailed Beast Control

Killer B Version 2

Killer B containing Gyūki's power in humanoid form.

The jinchūriki have the potential to control their tailed beasts' power, but require intense training and sheer willpower in order to properly wield it. According to Gerotora, whenever the jinchūriki draws out a certain amount of the tailed beasts' chakra, the beasts' very own psyche will fuse along with it, which usually involves an inner struggle between them as the jinchūriki goes deeper into their tailed beasts' forms. If a jinchūriki were to completely give into its influence, the seal will break and the tailed beast will be released.[16] For the jinchūriki to have complete control, they must find something to fill in the void of loneliness within their hearts to give them strength.[17]

List of Jinchūriki

Shukaku
Bunpuku[Notes 1]
Unspecified Jinchūriki[18]
Gaara
Obito Uchiha
Naruto Uzumaki
Matatabi
Yugito Nii
Naruto Uzumaki
Isobu
Rin Nohara
Yagura
Naruto Uzumaki
Son Gokū
Rōshi
Naruto Uzumaki
Kokuō
Han
Naruto Uzumaki
Saiken
Utakata
Naruto Uzumaki
Chōmei
Naruto Uzumaki
Gyūki
Blue B's Father[19]
Blue B's Uncle[19]
Blue B
Killer B
Obito Uchiha
Naruto Uzumaki
Kurama
Mito Uzumaki
Kushina Uzumaki
Naruto Uzumaki
Yin half
Minato Namikaze
Black Zetsu
Obito Uchiha[20]
Naruto Uzumaki
Yang half
Naruto Uzumaki
Ten-Tails
Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki
Obito Uchiha
Madara Uchiha

Similar Cases

Trivia

  • The fictional term Jinchūriki (人柱力, literally meaning: Power of Human Sacrifice) bears strong resemblance to the real Japanese word for supernatural or magical power, Jintsūriki (神通力, literally meaning: God-Reaching Power).
  • A full-term pregnancy for a female jinchūriki is about ten months.
  • Takigakure is the only village not belonging to one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries known to have had a jinchūriki.[26]
  • There have been cases that both the tailed beasts and their jinchūriki are affected to a certain degree during a full moon:
    • According to Gaara, Shukaku's blood-lust is especially strong during a full moon.[27]
    • In the anime, Blue B, during his time as Gyūki's jinchūriki, noted that he would have trouble sleeping during the nights of the full moon, because anytime he would stare at it, it would reflect the loneliness in his heart. Gyūki would take advantage of those moments of weakness and try to control over Blue B's body. Blue B was also shown to take sleeping pills to help with this side-effect.[28]
  • In the anime, the six tailed beasts that were used by Tobi shared a voice actor with one of each other's respective jinchūriki.
  • If a person with a summoning contract with a tailed beast attempts to summon one while it is sealed within a jinchūriki, the summoning will fail, but the jinchūriki will experience excruciating pain.[29]

Notes

  1. In the anime, it was stated that Bunpuku was Shukaku's first jinchūriki.

References

  1. Chapter 646
  2. Chapter 510, pages 11-12
  3. Chapter 404, page 14
  4. 4.0 4.1 Chapter 500, page 5
  5. Chapter 568, page 13
  6. Chapter 266, pages 14-15
  7. Chapter 493, page 14
  8. Chapter 542, page 3
  9. Chapter 614, page 5
  10. Chapter 500, pages 8-9
  11. Chapter 662, page 16
  12. Chapter 663, pages 1-2
  13. Chapter 656, pages 12-13
  14. Chapter 572, page 1
  15. Chapter 278, pages 16-19
  16. Naruto chapter 490, pages 10-12
  17. Naruto chapter 542, pages 3-4
  18. Chapter 261, page 5
  19. 19.0 19.1 Chapter 542, page 3
  20. Chapter 666, page 11
  21. Naruto: Shippūden episode 68
  22. Chapter 693, page 1
  23. Fourth Databook, page 93
  24. Naruto: Shippūden episode 92
  25. Naruto: Shippūden episode 292
  26. Chapter 420, pages 1-2
  27. Chapter 91, page 19
  28. Naruto: Shippūden episode 318
  29. Chapter 561, page 11
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