Demonic Statue of the Outer Path

The is the empty vessel of the Ten-Tails. It was sealed within the moon by Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki — the Sage of the Six Paths — where it remained until Madara Uchiha awakened the Rinnegan. This allowed him to break the seal and summon the statue, which would later be used by Obito Uchiha and Nagato as the container for the tailed beasts that were captured by Akatsuki.

Background
After the Sage of the Six Paths separated the Ten-Tails' chakra from its body to create the nine tailed beasts, he used Chibaku Tensei to seal the beast's husk within the newly-created moon. Centuries later, Madara Uchiha awakened the Rinnegan and used it to break the seal and summon the husk, which he christened the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

In an attempt to extend his lifespan in his old age, Madara used the Demonic Statue as a catalyst to cultivate Hashirama Senju's DNA, producing a non-sentient clone of Hashirama in the form of a gigantic flowering tree. He was then able to live beyond his natural lifespan by attaching himself to the tree, which served as a means of life support by continuously supplying him with the statue's chakra. Madara believed that the Demonic Statue and Hashirama's DNA produced artificial humans, when in actuality Black Zetsu was removing them from within the Demonic Statue, where they had been stored for centuries. When Obito later agreed to further Madara's cause, the elderly Uchiha explained to him that reviving the Ten-Tails by sealing the tailed beasts within the statue would be vital to the Eye of the Moon Plan. It was only after convincing Obito to carry on his plan that Madara disconnected himself from the Demonic Statue, and with his dying breath, told the young man that he was to act using his name until the time of his resurrection.

In the anime during the Third Shinobi World War, Nagato unconsciously summoned the Demonic Statue in a fit of rage when his friends were injured in an enemy ambush, though he quickly regained his senses and fell unconscious, at which point the statue disappeared. An enraged and grief-fueled Nagato summoned the Demonic Statue after being forced to kill Yahiko by Hanzō. The statue pierced Nagato's back with a number of black receivers and drained his life force, leaving him emaciated while also granting him a means of killing Hanzō's men, with only Hanzō himself escaping the altercation alive. As Pain, Nagato would summon the Demonic Statue whenever a jinchūriki or tailed beast was captured by Akatsuki so that the organisation's members could seal the beast inside it.

Appearance
The Demonic Statue is a giant, earthen-coloured humanoid entity with a decayed appearance, a body shaped into a robe, and a number of spike-like protrusions on its back. When fully summoned, it towers over even tailed beasts in size, with Gyūki only coming up to its chin, as did members of the Akimichi clan who had enlarged themselves to their maximum size. It has nine eyes, one of which gains a light blue iris and pupil each time a tailed beast is sealed inside it, though the eyes remain closed when it is summoned into battle. The statue originally wore a blindfold which completely covered its eyes; after it was summoned by Nagato to defeat Hanzō's men, holes for each of its eyes were present in subsequent appearances. The statue's wrists and ankles are usually bound by shackles and it bites down on a scroll, which is held in place by two ropes extending from beneath its blindfold on either side of its head. At times, a black receiver extends from its midsection in a similar manner to an umbilical cord. When summoned into battle, the statue breaks its restraints, causing the scroll in its mouth to hang from the left rope like an earring. During its transformation into the Ten-Tails, the statue's mouth widens and the protrusions on its back extend and warp in shape.

Abilities
The Demonic Statue can only be summoned by Rinnegan wielders, or those used by the Six Paths of Pain; artificial Rinnegan created by the Impure World Reincarnation will not suffice. Non-wielders, as long as they possess powers of both Uchiha and Senju, can still control it. Instead of requiring a blood offering like other summons, the statue drains the summoner's life force, a process which Nagato survived due to the strong life force granted by his Uzumaki lineage, albeit he was left emaciated. However, both Obito and Madara could summon the statue seemingly without adverse effects, even utilising a blood offering.

Life Force and Physical Prowess
The Demonic Statue emanates a tremendous life force, enabling a jinchūriki of the Ten-Tails to survive the extraction of all nine tailed beasts as long as the statue remains inside them, though they will still be greatly weakened and rendered paralyses for several months. Extraction of the statue as well will result in the jinchūriki's death. Madara was able to use the statue as a catalyst to cultivate Hashirama Senju's DNA into a non-sentient clone and subsequently utilised its chakra as a means of life support. The White Zetsu, which were originally stored inside the statue, were also able to access its power by connecting themselves to Hashirama's clone, which one did to augment his strength, enabling him to break a massive boulder.

As evident from its enormous size, the statue possesses great physical strength, enough to clash with the likes of Chōza and Chōji Akimichi in their colossal forms. It is durable enough to both take one of Chōji's Butterfly Bullet Bombing punches without even being pushed back and stop Kitsuchi's Earth Release: Sandwich Technique by simply outstretching its arms. It also displayed a high level of agility despite its massive size, as it could leap tremendous distances.

Ninjutsu
From its mouth, the Demonic Statue can emit phantom dragons formed out of, which are capable of extracting the chakra of anyone they come in contact with. After it pierced Nagato's back with the black receiver extending from its midsection, the statue emitted one such dragon which was able to instantly kill Nagato's enemies upon contact. The members of Akatsuki utilised a fūinjutsu in which nine dragons would surround a jinchūriki or tailed beast for a period of several days until all of the tailed beast's chakra was sealed into the statue and stored for future use. Nagato wanted to use the sealed chakra to create a kinjutsu weapon that could destroy an entire country, whereas Madara and Obito intended to reassemble the Ten-Tails.

The Demonic Statue is also capable of emitting chakra chains from its mouth. The chains have a cursed seal which binds the power of tailed beasts, and can be used to both extract them from their jinchūriki and quickly seal them inside the statue. Using black receivers, Obito was able to direct the chakra of the tailed beasts sealed within the statue into their reincarnated former jinchūriki, then quickly withdraw said chakra into the statue using its chains. The statue can also create shockwaves capable of devastating an entire battlefield and launch blasts of chakra from the protrusions on its back. In the anime, the Genjutsu World version of the statue was capable of using the Tailed Beast Ball.

Kazekage Rescue Mission
When Sasori and Deidara arrived in an Akatsuki hideout with Gaara, Pain summoned the Demonic Statue to extract and seal the One-Tailed Shukaku. When the sealing began, the bit fell from the statue's mouth and nine dragon-like entities burst forth, encompassing the jinchūriki's body. As the sealing neared completion, the statue's eyes opened and the eye corresponding to Shukaku gained its iris and pupil. After three days, the sealing concluded and the statue disappeared.

Akatsuki Suppression Mission
The statue was again summoned to seal two tailed beasts, the Two-Tails and the Three-Tails, during which time Pain explained Akatsuki's goals to Hidan. As a result of the extraction, Yugito Nii died.

Itachi Pursuit Mission
After Kisame captured Rōshi, the Four-Tails' jinchūriki, he and Itachi discussed the sealing of the tailed-beasts. Itachi explained that they wouldn't need to rush the capture of the Nine-Tails, since that beast must be sealed last or else the statue would break.

Six-Tails Unleashed
After the Six Paths of Pain captured Utakata, the Six-Tails was extracted and sealed into the statue, resulting in his death.

Pain's Assault
After Sasuke Uchiha captured "Killer B", the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki, Akatsuki tried to seal the beast in the statue, only to discover that it was actually a fake, though they were able to seal a small portion of the Eight-Tails' chakra.

Five Kage Summit
After Nagato's death, Tobi indicated that Nagato was just a pawn that the Demonic Statue had been synchronised with. He stated he would like Sasuke Uchiha to be Nagato's replacement, but decided to wait until Sasuke was easier to manipulate.

Fourth Shinobi World War: Countdown
After accepting the terms of Kabuto Yakushi's alliance, Tobi revealed to him the statue located within the depths of his headquarters, seated atop the giant flowering tree which harbours a clone of Hashirama. Directing Kabuto's vision downward to the tree's roots housed in a deeper underground cave, Tobi presented the army of White Zetsu clones that he had supposedly created using the chakra of the tailed beasts imprisoned within the statue.

Fourth Shinobi World War: Confrontation
During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Tobi summoned the Demonic Statue to the battlefield in order to him Tobi in obtaining a substitute for the Nine-Tails, and it proceeded to rampage against the Allied Shinobi Forces' First Division as Chōza and Chōji Akimichi used their Super Multi-Size Technique to combat it. However, the statue withstood their combined assault and with the shockwave following a bellowing roar, sent the two of them reeling. In the wake of its destruction and in retaliation to Kitsuchi's Earth Release: Sandwich Technique, it released powerful bolts of chakra, devastating the battlefield further. The statue then attempted to crush Darui and Shikamaru Nara underfoot when they tried to prevent Tobi from taking the Benihisago and Kohaku no Jōhei before disappearing. Retreating to a forested area, Tobi stood upon the statue's palms alongside his new Six Paths of Pain as dawn broke on the second day of the war.

Later, when Son Gokū was freed from Tobi's control during his confrontation with Naruto Uzumaki and Killer B, he immediately summoned the statue to his location, where it proceeded to draw the bound tailed beast into its awaiting maw. As Tobi continued to observe the ensuing battle from atop the statue, he was ultimately forced to reseal the remaining tailed beasts in the same manner as Son when they too were freed by Naruto. The statue then remained on the battlefield, aiding Tobi in his fight against Naruto, B, Kakashi Hatake and Might Guy.

Fourth Shinobi World War: Climax
After a combined assault from Naruto, B, Kakashi and Guy knocked the statue down, Naruto's goading prompted Tobi to summon the Kohaku no Jōhei and Benihisago and feed them to the statue, allowing it to consume the Nine-Tails' chakra sealed within the relics. Having previously sealed a portion of the Eight-Tails' chakra, the Demonic Statue contained all nine tailed beasts' chakra and began painfully regressing to its original form. Refusing to let anyone interfere, Obito protected the statue with the Uchiha Flame Formation long before Madara's arrival on the battlefield. Realising that Gyūki and Kurama had not been sealed into the statue like the other tailed beasts, Madara attempted to correct this before the statue could finish its transformation.

As a final attempt to eradicate the statue, a transformed Naruto and B produced a giant collaborative Tailed Beast Ball and launched it at the statue. Noting that the statue's evil chakra had vanished, they began celebrating before the smoke cleared and the resurrected Ten-Tails was revealed.

Birth of the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki
After the Allied Shinobi Forces managed to extract the tailed beasts from Obito, the statue remained sealed inside him. Its life force kept Obito alive, despite the severe debilitation caused by the extraction. After regaining one of his original Rinnegan, Madara was able to summon the statue out of Obito's body, though Kakashi's quick use of Kamui did sever its right arm. Under Madara's control, the statue then absorbed all the tailed beasts and opened its eyes as it began transforming once more.

Kaguya Ōtsutsuki Strikes
When Kaguya Ōtsutsuki was subdued by Naruto and Sasuke's collaborative fūinjutsu, the tailed beasts and Madara's unconscious form escaped from her body, which then reverted back to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. The statue was then sealed in the core of the new moon along with Black Zetsu, left isolated in Kaguya's core dimension.

Influences

 * The decayed appearance of the statue and its posture when not in use are similar to a, a practice by Buddhist monks to commit ritualistic suicide by self-mummification.
 * As with many things related to the Rinnegan, the statue is influenced by Buddhist terminology., derived from the Sanskrit Tīrthika, refers to any doctrine which "treads the outer path" to enlightenment. This is opposed to the teachings of orthodox Buddhism, the , and is thus considered misguided and heretical, resulting in an alternate translation of the statue as the Demonic Statue of Heretical Doctrine.

Trivia

 * In the manga, the shackles on the Demonic Statue's ankles are missing in all appearances following chapter 512. This was corrected in the anime.
 * When the Demonic Statue reappeared during Kaguya's sealing, it appeared to have both its arms despite previously losing its right arm to Kakashi's Kamui. Also, it had only one eye despite showing nine in previous depictions.