Jinchūriki
"Jinchuuriki" meaning the"power of human sacrifice", are those individuals possessing "Bijuu" or tailed
demons within their bodies. The demons themselves differentiated by the number
of tails their body possesses, and each has different characteristics. Shukaku
("Ichibi") is a One-Tailed Tanuki, Matatabi ("Nibi") is a Two-Tailed Cat, Isobuu
("Sanbi") is a Three-Tailed Turtle, Son Gokuu ("Yonbi") is a Four-Tailed Ape,
Kokuou ("Gobi") is a Five-Tailed Horse-Whale, Saiken ("Rokubi") is a Six-Tailed
Slug, Choumei ("Shichibi") is a Seven-Tailed Rhino Beetle, Gyuuki ("Hachibi") is
an Eight-Tailed Ox-Cephalopod and Kurama ("Kyuubi") is a Nine-Tailed Fox. These
Bijuu were once all part of an even greater entity known as the "Juubi" or
Ten-Tails. The first ninja, the legendary Rikudou Sennin did battle with the
Juubi and split its power into nine individual entities using his Izanagi jutsu,
which allowed him to alter reality. He then granted each Bijuu their own name,
conferring on them individuality.
The bijuu are creatures of great power
and destruction, and all the ninja nations coveted that power and sought to make
it their own as weapons. Very few ninja are capable of controlling such power,
only Senju Hashirama the Shodai Hokage, Uchiha Madara, Yagura the Yondaime
Mizukage, Killer Bee and Uzumaki Naruto held the ability to control them in
their natural state. As various clans began to come together as villages, Shodai
Hokage sought to stabilize the balance of power. He did so by capturing the Bijuu
and offering them to specific villages. This unimaginable power proved difficult
to manage however, requiring literal sacrifices to gain control. Several jutsu
variations have been used to seal a bijuu within a human. Yondaime Hokage used
his Shiki Fuujin technique to capture the rampaging Kyuubi and seal its Yang
chakra within Naruto. The jutsu had a high price, resulting in his own death.
Shukaku was sealed into the unborn body of Gaara, with the sacrifice taking the
form of his mother, who died as a result of his birth.
Shukaku has
previously been imbued into two unnamed Sand ninja. The Kyuubi was previously
imbued into kunoichi from the Uzumaki clan, due to their high Fuuinjutsu skills
and strong life force. When a Jinchuuriki's time as host comes to an end, the
Bijuu is removed from their bodies at the cost of their own lives. Such a result
has been the only shown way to remove the bijuu from a Jinchuuriki. It requires
a Fuuin (Sealing) Jutsu capable of resonating at the same power frequency as
that between the bijuu and their human host over a period of time. Akatsuki used
one such method which took three days to accomplish, with that time increasing
based on the number of members participating. This GenryuuKyuu Fuujin (Mystical
Dragon Nine Exhaustion) was used to remove six bijuu, resulting in the deaths
Gaara, Yugito, Roushi, Han, Utakata and Fuu. Should the Jinchuuriki die without
the Bijuu being removed, the Bijuu itself will cease to be for some period of
time. It with then regenerate somewhere else in the work to wreak havoc once again.
The hope of
Jinchuuriki creation is for the human and the tailed beast to resonate together,
thereby granting the human some measure of their immense power. Each beast
appears to interact with their host in unique ways, and grant their host power in different amounts based
upon the level of trust they have with each other. Should the Jinchuuriki not be
capable of controlling the Bijuu, they will lose out in a battle of wills,
allowing the beast to take form and rampage, which happened to previous hosts of
the Hachibi. The life of a Jinchuuriki has been seen to be a difficult one. Many
see the Jinchuuriki as the demon itself, and fear and shun them. This causes
many to become dejected outcasts who become angry with the world. Gaara became
crazy and felt alone because of his demon but he eventually gained his village's
respect. Killer Bee was also shunned but he ignored the distrust, eventually
winning over his village. Naruto also grew angry with the world and turned to
pranks to get everyone to recognize him. He was eventually accepted by the
village. Roushi had no village ties after leaving Hidden Rock, so he wandered
the world. Two other Jinchuuriki also grew distant from the world, with it being
said their villages did not exert any effort to save them when Akatsuki came to
capture them.