Throughout theNarutoseries, the Jinchuriki have been witnessed to completely transform into their respective tailed beasts –all except for Naruto Uzumaki, the Nine-Tails’ Jinchuriki. Instead of entirely transforming into Nine-Tails, Naruto has only been shown to use the Nine-Tails avatar, another element of the anime that is unique to the series’ titular character. The tailed beast avatar state allows the Jinchuriki to manifest the beast’s chakra as a sort of cloak, without needing to entirely transform into the beast itself.
This aspect of theNarutoseries has never been explained in-universe, since no other Jinchuriki possesses the avatar form. Naruto’s unique circumstances could be at play here, though that certainly doesn’t justify a clear inconsistency between theother Jinchuriki and Naruto. Whether there’s an in-universe explanation or simply Kishimoto’s last-minute changes to the series, it’s still worth exploring why Naruto’s transformation is so distinct.
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Can Naruto Actually Transform Into the Nine-Tails?
The series has never revealed Naruto’s complete tailed beast transformation, yet this doesn’t indicate that he’s unable to do so. Naruto’s ability to transform is clear fromthe Nine-Tails’ chakrataking control of him several times throughout the show, clearly turning Naruto into the beasts’ manifestation. A cloak of red chakra would initially cover Naruto, coupled with tails representing how much chakra from the tailed beast was being siphoned.
This form is similar for every other Jinchuriki as well, since the tailed beasts’ true form cannot manifest until complete control has been relinquished to the beast. The closest Naruto has come to this form was during his fight with Pain, with eight out of nine tails appearing on his body. With eight tails visible, there was a clear sight ofNaruto’s body completely transformedinto the Nine-Tails, though it was simply a weaker form due to the missing tail. This clearly indicates that Naruto is more than capable of completely transforming into Nine-Tails, similar to any other Jinchuriki, yet he never chooses to do so himself.
Kurama Avatar Makes the Fights More Appealing
Naruto could very well transform into the Nine-Tails and fight as a tailed beast, and while it may look quite riveting initially, it would surely become redundant after a while. By the end of the Great Ninja War, most of the focus remained on Naruto andhis fight against Madaraand later Kaguya. The fights would have lost their profundity if it were simply the Nine-Tails fighting against the belligerents, not to mention how difficult illustrating such a fight would be.
It would also be rather odd for the series’ protagonist to be missing from the fight that defines the world’s existence and serves as a culmination for all the past events. Moreover, it would have become a hassle for the illustrators to continuously draw Naruto transforming into Nine-Tails and vice versa, especially since the tailed beast takes over once the transformation completes. Under such circumstances,Kishimoto had to make the callto introduce a new element into the series just to combat this issue, resulting in the Kurama Avatar being added to Naruto’s diverse arsenal.
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Naruto Can Use His Jutsus In Kurama Avatar Mode
Another issue that arises with the complete tailed beast transformation is that Jinchuriki are unable to use their own jutsu and techniques while in this form. This is visible from every tailed beast transformation witnessed so far, as the only abilities that they are able utilize are the ones that the beasts themselves possess. This would have become a massive problem for Naruto, since Kurama only possesses the Tailed Beast Bomb as an ability, with no other skill or ability apart from his own brute force.
Withthe Kurama Avatar, Naruto could use the Nine-Tails’ power and still be able to utilize his own techniques. This was quite necessary since the fights would have become too repetitive and boring if Naruto had fought in the Nine-Tails form, using the beast bomb as the only weapon in his arsenal. The Nine-Tails lack of versatility is the biggest issue, with its primary source of power being its raw strength, coupled with the ability to conjure up unlimited tailed beast bombs.
Compared to the other tailed beasts that have their own unique abilities, such as Eight-Tails’ ink-based attacks and One-Tails’ sand-based techniques,Kurama possesses no such techniquethat would make its fighting style more interesting. Since the Nine-Tails massive chakra reserves are its defining features, it was given no special power of its own. Naruto fighting in this form would consequently have no abilities either, and to combat this issue, Kishimoto had to come up with a new way to showcase Naruto’s synergy with the Nine-Tails – witnessed in the form of the introduction of the Kurama avatar.
