Tailed Beast Control

Throughout the series, several shinobi, jinchūriki or not, have demonstrated the ability to gain control of one or more of the nine tailed beasts. The cause and effect of this control varies between those capable of doing it.

Jinchūriki
The jinchūriki have the potential to control their tailed beasts' power through sheer willpower, but requires a lot of training in order to retain it. According to Gerotora, whenever the jinchūriki draws out a certain amount of the tailed beasts' chakra, the beasts' very own psyche will fuse along with it, which involves an inner struggle between them as the jinchūriki goes deeper into their tailed beasts' forms. If a jinchūriki were to completely give into its influence, the seal will break and the tailed beast will be released. For the jinchūriki to have complete control, they must have something to fill in the void within their hearts that comes from the loneliness associated with being a jinchūriki, to give them strength.

While some jinchūriki, such as Gaara, Yugito Nii, and Utakata (in the anime), had shown to use their tailed beasts' power to a certain degree, their control over it was lacking compared to Yagura, Killer B, and Naruto Uzumaki's, as they became the jinchūriki to have complete control. Upon their reincarnation, all the previous jinchūriki have displayed remarkable control, as Yugito, Yagura, Rōshi, Han, Utakata and Fū were all able to partially manifest them by displaying one of their tails (two in Fū's case, which enabled her to fly), and enter into "Version 2"-like forms, further showcasing their tailed beasts' strength, and even fully transforming into their respective tailed beasts.

Once the jinchūriki are in good terms with their tailed beasts, they can act as partners in battle. This advantage allows the jinchūriki to counteract genjutsu without requiring another person to be present, as the tailed beasts can disturb their jinchūriki's chakra flow to break the genjutsu. They can also transform into their tailed beasts without losing control and use their considerable abilities. However, to achieve the full transformation, the tailed beasts and their jinchūriki must have agreements of trading certain amounts of their own chakra, otherwise, if the jinchūriki has complete control over the chakra but does not have the tailed beasts' own cooperation, the transformation will result in failure, and the tailed beasts will then gradually consume their jinchūriki's own chakra whenever they use the tailed beasts' chakra, which can kill the jinchūriki.

Non-Jinchūriki
Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, could completely control the tailed beasts by using his Hokage-Style Sixty-Year-Old Technique — Kakuan Entering Society with Bliss-Bringing Hands, which utilises the power of his Wood Release kekkei genkai to forcibly suppress the tailed beasts' chakra. Yamato would later also acquire this power due to his genetic alteration, however by his own admission, to a lesser extent.

While both Madara Uchiha and Tobi could fully control the tailed beasts by using the Sharingan, Sasuke Uchiha at first used his Sharingan to only suppress a small amount of Kurama's chakra within Naruto's subconscious. Tobi's method of control soon changed when he gained the Rinnegan, using the Outer Path's abilities to bind the tailed beasts with special chains of chakra.

When Tobi learned of Danzō's use of both Wood Release and Sharingan, he speculated that Danzō intended to control Kurama.

In the anime, Yūkimaru was able to partially control Isobu, the former tailed beast of Yagura.