Saiken

, more commonly known as the, is a tailed beast sealed within Utakata of Kirigakure. It has been captured by Nagato in the anime, then extracted and sealed by Akatsuki. It was later resealed into a reincarnated Utakata during the Fourth Shinobi World War.

Background
Saiken first came into being in the waning days of the Sage of the Six Paths, who used his Creation of All Things ability to separate the Ten-Tails' chakra from its body and divide it into nine separate constructs that would come to be known as tailed beasts in order to ensure that it would never resurface after his death. Some time after being created, the Sage sat down with all the young tailed beasts and told them that they would always be together, even when separated, and that one day they would become one entity again with different names and forms than they did. Then, when the time came, they would know what true power is.

Saiken eventually fell into the possession of Kirigakure and was sealed into Utakata. In the anime, it was revealed that at some point before his appearance, Utakata's master, Harusame, tried and failed to remove Saiken from within Utakata, intending to save his student from being a living weapon for his village. Utakata, however, having not heard what his master had said to him, later came under the assumption after the incident that his master had tried to kill him. This failed removal resulted in Utakata transforming into Saiken and killing Harusame.

Personality
Though much has not been seen of Saiken's personality, the giant slug uses when referring to itself, 'ore' being a boastful way of saying 'I'. It also speaks with a dialect which may possibly be Ōsakaben in origin.

Appearance
Saiken resembles a large, white with a slight light blueish tint, bipedal slug with stubby arms and feet. It has two prominent optical tentacles (eyes) and hole-like openings as a mouth. Its entire body is covered in a slimy substance. During the last remaining days of the Sage of the Six Paths, Saiken was much smaller than its present-day self, but was still much larger than the Sage.

Abilities


As a tailed beast, Saiken has a great amount of chakra and it is able to use it to create a Tailed Beast Ball. Saiken is able to emit corrosive substances that are extremely dangerous on contact in the form of a liquid or a gas, which was able to burn the skin of another tailed beast, such as Gyūki. The gaseous form was able to instantly disintegrate a tree that came into contact with it.

Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc
In the manga, Saiken's capture is not seen. In the anime, before Taka began working with Akatsuki, Akatsuki was said to have seven tailed beasts. When Taka is sent to capture Gyūki, the group has only six, the seventh missing beast being Saiken. Utakata's capture is the subject of its own arc, though little is actually seen of Saiken outside of Utakata's transformations. Utakata is captured by the Six Paths of Pain at the end of the arc and Saiken was extracted from his body, resulting in his death.

Shinobi World War Arc
After Utakata's full transformation into Saiken, he attacks Kakashi and Guy, emitting a corrosive alkali from its mouth, which Kakashi warns Guy not to touch. After Guy dissipates the gas with his Morning Peacock technique, Saiken prepares to attack him again. After Son Gokū is resealed into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, Tobi, who is intent on going all-out from this point on, forces remaining jinchūriki to transform into their respective tailed beasts.

Preparing to attack the shinobi, Saiken along with the other four beasts create Tailed Beast Balls. These attacks however, are deflected by Naruto and they are rebuffed by a now fully-transformed Naruto. Wasting no time in their attacks, Saiken attempts to incapacitate Kurama by swallowing its arm rendering it immobile. The beast is however swung into Matatabi, sending them both flying away. With this, the opposing beasts prepare a collaborative Tailed Beast Ball which is met by one from Naruto and Kurama.

As Naruto enters a deeper plain of the tailed beasts' consciousness, Saiken introduces itself to the young man. Later as the beast is freed from the chakra receiver it affirms Kurama's belief that Naruto was the person the Sage of the Six Paths had spoken about so long ago before being resealed into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

Video Games
Although Saiken itself is not playable, Utakata takes on its form as his awakening in Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3.

Trivia

 * literally means 'rhinoceros dog', apparently a kind of Chinese yōkai.