The Naruto Franchise has many distinguishing features that set it apart from its shonen counterparts, and its tailed-beasts are one such discerning aspect. These beasts are gigantic creatures that possess a sort of otherworldly power, one that is incomprehensible by human beings. Considering their inexplicable nature, many have tried to find ways to tame these rampant beasts, yet none could ever control the unfathomable power that laid within these chakra-based beings.
This was the case for most of history, until Hashirama Senju came along and wielded the rare Kekkei Genkai, Wood Style, a unique jutsu that encompassed the essence of life, yet it also bore a mysterious power – the ability to suppress tailed-beasts. With this ability, Hashirama was able to tame almost every single Tailed-Beast out there, and he was also the pioneer of the Jinchuriki system. While the suppression powers of Wood Style were revealed quite early on in the series, the actual mechanism was rarely touched upon, leaving behind several queries of how the Kekkei Genkai was capable of such a feat.
The Essence of Wood Style
Wood Style is a result of earth and water chakra types, in-turn creating a Kekkei Genkai that encompasses the essence of life itself. What makes Wood Style unique is its ability to create a living being out of nothing, as it holds the potential to turn barren land into an entire forest. While other ninjutsu that create structures and beings through chakra tend to dissipate after a set time, the creations made out of Wood Style are permanent, and cannot disappear even after the caster’s death.
What makes this jutsu even more attuned with nature is its chakra-absorbing nature. Since nature is capable of absorbing chakra, the wood created through Wood Style essentially carries the same ability, but at a much higher extent. By draining the opponents chakra and leaving them completely suppressed, the caster can then use that chakra to either heal themselves or use it to further strengthen the Wood Release.
Wood Style’s chakra absorbing capabilities can be attributed to its link to the God Tree, a divine tree that is known as the origin of chakra-based abilities. Since the God Tree has the ability to absorb any chakra it comes into contact with, therefore, Wood Style incorporates the very same power since its origins are tied to the God Tree itself. While every Senju possesses the same link to the God Tree within them, Hashirama Senju was the only one who could actually materialize this power in the form of Wood Release.
Wood Style’s Tailed-Beast Suppression
While Wood Style already possesses some chakra-absorbing features, this effect is further exacerbated against tailed-beasts, serving as an effective tool for taming these chakra-based creatures. Since the tailed-beasts and Wood Style are derived from the same God Tree chakra, an inherent link lies between the two. Furthermore, tailed-beasts comprise nature energy, something that Wood Release thrives on indefinitely.
When the two come in contact with each other, it results in chakra being extracted from the tailed-beast and strengthening the wood style jutsu. The more power the tailed-beast exerts, the stronger the jutsu becomes, rendering the beasts completely incapacitated. This is primarily how Hashirama was able to quell the tailed-beasts with ease, and even distribute them among the Five Great Nations. While normal wood style jutsu also have the same suppressive capabilities, Hashirama devised an even more specialized technique – Sage Art: Gate of the Great God. Through these divine gates, tailed-beasts were suppressed and then forced into eternal servitude as weapons of war.
Known Users of Tailed-Beast Suppression
While Hashirama Senju is widely known as the pioneer of taming tailed-beasts and initiating the Jinchuriki system, there have been a few other shinobi that could achieve the same tailed-beast suppression feats as the First Hokage. Yamato is one such shinobi that is capable of using Wood Release, albeit through artificial means, and consequently able to suppress tailed-beast chakra with his abilities. This was also the reason why he was assigned as Team 7’s sensei right after the timeskip, as he could suppress Naruto’s rampaging Nine-Tailed Fox form.
Madara Uchiha was also seen using Wood Release against tailed-beasts to suppress their chakra. However, his usage was quite limited since he was only able to use this particular jutsu through Hashirama’s DNA that was infused with his reanimated vessel. Nevertheless, Wood Style is the only efficient way to not only tame tailed-beasts but to seal them away as well, completely draining them of their nature-based lifeforce.