As the nine colossal forms of living chakra extracted from the Ten-Tails, the tailed beasts are central figures in the world of Naruto. Serving as a pivotal factor in the unending conflict between the hidden ninja villages throughout the series, these nine chakra monsters have been used as weapons by warring factions and individuals in the ages since their creation from the Ten-Tails. Despite being viewed by most of the shinobi world as mindless beasts of destruction, they are actually sentient, highly intelligent beings, whose hatred for humanity only emerged as a consequence of the constant exploitation they faced throughout their immeasurably long existences.
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The first tailed beast to be introduced in Naruto was Kurama, the Nine-Tailed Fox, whose Yang half was sealed into Naruto Uzumaki when he was only an infant. Much like in the case of most other tailed beasts, such as the likes of Son Goku (Four-Tails) or Shukaku (One-Tail) — who were both influenced by yokai from Japanese folklore — the nine tails was inspired by kitsune, mythical fox spirits who possess paranormal abilities that are magnified as they age, until eventually reaching parity with Shinto deities. Most of the tailed beasts possess their own unique elemental powers like or kekkei genkai abilities as in the case of Shukaku's Magnet Release, Son Goku's Lava Release, or Kokuō's (Five-Tails) Boil Release, among others. The only exceptions to this are Gyūki (Eight-Tails) and Kurama, who are also said to be the two strongest of the lot. However, they are all united by the enormous amounts of chakra they wield, combined with their near immortality (as their deaths will only disperse their chakra for a time until their bodies reform), as well as their ability to create and fire tailed beast balls.
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The Creation Of All Things

After defeating his mother Kaguya Ōtsutsuki — who was the first to wield chakra on Earth after ingesting the fruit of the God Tree and becoming one with the Ten-Tails — Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, her son, and the man who would come to be known as the Sage of Six Paths, chose to save the world from destruction by sealing the Ten-Tails within himself. This would augment his already immense power to unimaginable levels, at a point where no shinobi in history could have ever hoped to stand a chance against him in a confrontation.
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Over time, on being inspired by his son, Asura, who would eventually become the common ancestor of the Senju and Uzumaki clans, Hagoromo brought the nine tailed beasts into being by splitting the Ten-Tails' chakra and giving it form through his Creation of All Things technique, which was said to be a form of Yin-Yang Release. This act was described as akin to "turning imagination into reality," a feat that set him apart from other wielders of chakra, where he came to be seen as a divine figure in the centuries after his death.
While creating the nine, Hagoromo bestowed each of them with a name and explained the link that existed between them, permitting free telepathic communication among the group regardless of the distance separating them. Although their creation came partly as a measure to prevent the Ten-Tails' resurrection, Hagoromo also hoped the nine tailed beasts would spread out across the world and bring balance and peace to the regions they inhabited. Before finally parting with them in the time shortly before his demise, Hagoromo informed the tailed beasts of a time in the future when they would all be reunited once again, albeit in a manner that would be different from their imprisonment inside the Ten-Tails.
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In spite of their high intelligence and incredible wealth of knowledge about the world and the nature of chakra itself, the tailed beasts were never treated equitably by humans, who often tried to subjugate them for their own self-interested ends. This gradually bred a resentment towards humanity and shinobi among the nine, who were all tired of being treated as demons or malicious spirits. In times of conflict, the beasts were often sealed into humans who would become jinchūriki, used as weapons during war. This was also augmented by the fact that all tailed beasts can communicate telepathically with one another, as well as their jinchūriki, with multiple levels of consciousness. Moreover, if a sufficient portion of a tailed beast's chakra is split from their main body, it will subsequently take form as a copy of the same beast, with its own sentient existence.
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Of all those who would come close to realizing their original purpose, it was Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage and a reincarnation of Asura who would come closest. Sadly, the fatal flaw in his approach to dealing with the nine lay in its forceful nature, where he made use of his almost god-like power and mastery of Wood Release to tame the beasts instead of earning their trust and cooperation. This method eventually yielded the system where tailed beasts were sealed into jinchūriki split among the great hidden ninja villages of the world at the time of their founding, to be used as deterrents against war. While this strategy did work to an extent, it also failed quite catastrophically when hostilities broke out and conflict involving powerful jinchūriki caused widespread destruction on a scale even greater than before.
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The Third Shinobi World War was followed by the creation of an organization that came to be known as the Akatsuki, whose singular purpose was to find and unite all nine tailed beasts as a measure to prevent the outbreak of war as a whole. Established by Pain under the guidance of Obito Uchiha who posed as his ancestor Madara — Hashirama's rival and an incarnation of Indra — the Akatsuki sought to revive the Ten-Tails by capturing and sealing the chakra of the nine into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path to trigger the Infinite Tsukuyomi and erase reality by placing all of humanity inside an eternal genjutsu, free of any pain, suffering, and most importantly, war.
Reunited By The Child Of Prophecy

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Obito's declaration of the Fourth Shinobi World War at the Five Kage Summit came at a time when seven of the nine were in the Akatsuki's possession, with only the exceptions of Kurama sealed in Naruto and Gyuki residing within Killer B. Unfortunately Obito was able to extract portions of the Eight Tails and Nine Tails chakra to summon an imperfect version of the Ten-Tails, and seal it within himself to become its jinchūriki. Although, before this, each of the seven managed to share a portion of their chakra with Naruto. Seeing his unyielding drive to help others and befriend them, as well as his close bonds with Kurama and Gyuki, the remaining members of the nine identified him to be the one that the Sage of Six Paths foretold would bring them together once again.
This act granted Naruto access to the nature transformations and kekkei genkai wielded by every one of them, and also made his consciousness a sort of meeting point where they could all convene. Following the Shinobi Alliance's defeat of Madara who succeeded Obito as the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki, as well as Team 7's sealing of Kaguya through the Six Paths Chibaku Tensei, Sasuke Uchiha extracted the power of the tailed beasts in his final confrontation with Naruto. In the end, his efforts proved to be futile as the latter was able to match his might and eventually redeem him, bringing an end to the war and the cycle of hatred plaguing the Uchiha clan, the great nations, the tailed beasts, and the shinobi world as a whole.
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