One of the strongest forces in the world of Naruto are the Tailed Beasts. These creatures boast tremendous power, and are generally contained by being sealed into powerful or not-so-powerful ninja. These people are called jinchuriki.
The strongest jinchuriki in Naruto are able to control their sealed beast to the fullest extent – often by building positive relationships with them over time, but sometimes by force. Those who are less powerful are overcome by the beasts, unable to use their ability fully or stop them from destroying things against their will.
9. Yagura Karatachi
Both the Fourth Mizukage and the jinchuriki of the Three-Tails, Yagura Karatachi was a formidable shinobi. In addition to water release techniques, he could use Isobu’s powers almost perfectly, including full transformations and a technique called Coral Palm that let him grow coral on any surface. But he wasn’t able to use his powers for his own purposes – instead, he was manipulated by Madara and forced to commit tyrannical acts against his own people.
8. Kushina Uzumaki
Hailing from the chakra-rich Uzumaki clan and boasting a huge chakra stone of her own, Kushina Uzumaki was a natural choice to inherit the Nine-Tailed Fox from Mito. That’s why she was strong enough to endure the Nine Tails being extracted from her body without instantly losing her life – a process few other jinchuriki could survive. We never get to see her using her full potential, but all signs point to her being an extremely powerful kunoichi.
7. Gaara
The One-Tailed Beast, Shukaku, was sealed into Gaara when he was still in utero. While it granted him monstrous power – namely the ability to manipulate sand in a variety of terrifying ways – it also has some serious drawbacks. Until Gaara improves his relationship with Shukaku, he can’t fall asleep or it’ll take over his body and go on a rampage. By the end of the series, the two live separately – Gaara is the Kazekage and remains a strong ninja despite no longer being a jinchuriki, and Shukaku is able to enjoy freedom.
6. Killer Bee
Killer B is one of the strongest ninja in the Land of Lightning, in no small part because he’s the holder of the Eight Tailed Beast. His partnership with the beast lets him transform fully into Tailed Beast mode and do things like create tornadoes and shoot ink. He can also use wrestling moves, wield a sword, use lightning release, and plenty more. But he’d rather be known for his enka rap than for his fighting skills.
5. Minato Namikaze
Minato wasn’t a jinchuriki for long – actually, it only lasted for a few short minutes. In order to protect the village from the Nine-Tailed fox, he sealed the Yin half of its chakra into his own body, and sealed the Yang half into his newborn son Naruto. He passed away in the process. When he’s eventually reincarnated, viewers get to see him utilize the beasts’s chakra, but by that point he’s more than demonstrated his strength and heroism in other ways.
4. Obito Uchiha
After nearly destroying all of Konoha, Obito Uchiha absorbs the Ten Tailed beast into his body, becoming its new jinchuriki. This gives him access to a terrifying range of powers including the ability to completely heal all of his own injuries, the ability to control the Ten Tails’ tree form, the ability to use Truth Seeking balls, and more. He was no slouch before all this, either – his mangekyo sharingan lets him open up space-time for fast and easy travel, and that’s just one of his abilities.
3. Madara Uchiha
Long before he absorbed the Ten Tails into his body, Madara was already one of the most terrifyingly strong characters in the entire series. His plan was to create an Infinite Tsukuyomi that would harvest chakra from humankind while they dreamed of an alternate reality. He did this as a power-grab, and also because he thought it was the only way to achieve peace. He’d probably have succeeded if not for Naruto and Sasuke’s heroic actions, or Obito’s about-face at the end.
2. Naruto Uzumaki
Protagonist Naruto Uzumaki struggles to manage the Nine Tailed fox sealed inside of him at first – but once he learns to communicate and get along with Kurama, he’s able to effectively use their powers, eventually being able to fully transform, fight as separate entities, use healing powers, and create powerful weapons like Tailed Beast Balls. Even without Kurama, Naruto is strong as hell, with techniques that include Sage Mode, Rasengan, and more.
1. Hagoromo Otsutsuki
Hagoromo Otsutsuki defeated the Ten-Tails, which is actually the combined form of Kaguya Otsutsuki and the God Tree, and sealed it inside of his body, making him its jinchuriki. He ended up dividing it into nine separate beings in order to make it harder for his mother to regain power. Capable of defeating entities with more power than a god, Hagoromo is clearly one of the strongest characters in the series, let alone as a jinchuriki.