Matatabi

, better known as the  is a tailed beast sealed within Yugito Nii of Kumogakure. It has been captured by Hidan and Kakuzu, then extracted and sealed by Akatsuki. It was later resealed into a resurrected Yugito during the Fourth Shinobi World War.

Background
Matatabi first came into being in the waning days of the Sage of the Six Paths' life; to prevent the Ten-Tails' resurgence, the Sage split up its chakra and used his ability to create nine separate constructs of living chakra, which would become known as the tailed beasts. 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 as well as forms than they did then when the time came for them to understand what true power was.

Like Shukaku, many people believed that Matatabi was once a human that turned into a. Matatabi eventually fell into the possession of Kumogakure and was sealed within Yugito Nii when she was two years old. She was placed into a detestable training program in order to learn to control Matatabi's power. In the anime, Yugito agreed to have Nekobaa collect Matatabi's paw print for the Paw Encyclopaedia. In a cavern behind the Falls of Truth, where jinchūriki learn to control their tailed beasts, there are wall murals of Matatabi and Gyūki, which indicates how long the beasts were associated with the Land of Lightning.

Appearance
Matatabi is a bakeneko that is completely engulfed with wild blue flames. It also has a right yellow eye and a left green eye, similar to an odd-eyed cat without pupils. When forced to transform by Tobi, Matatabi increased in size compared to when Yugito unleashed it. During the Sage of the Six Paths last days on earth, Matatabi had the appearance of an extremely large kitten.

Abilities
Not much is known about Matatabi's power. It has flexible muscles, granting it great speed despite its large size. Its brute strength is enough to initially pummel Kakuzu who had attempted to use brute force to stop its paw forcing him to use his Earth Release: Earth Spear to survive the attacks. It is also able to create a fireballs which were powerful enough to destroy the sewer they were fighting in and the the building above where they were fighting. It is able to use the Tailed Beast Ball.

Hidan and Kakuzu Arc
Soon after her introduction, Yugito was captured by two Akatsuki members, Hidan and Kakuzu, although it is unknown who was specifically assigned to capture her. Despite luring her two pursuers into a closed space, sealing the exits, and transforming herself into Matatabi, Yugito was overpowered and rendered unconscious by the two Akatsuki members. Zetsu later arrived to take her off their hands, and she later died as a result of having the tailed beast extracted from her.

Shinobi World War Arc
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 Yugito to fully transform into Matatabi. Preparing to attack the shinobi, Matatabi 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, Matatabi attempts to attack while Kurama is incapacitated by Saiken, but instead has Saiken slammed into it with such force that it is sent flying. 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 level of Kurama's consciousness, he meets the remaining five tailed beasts and their jinchūriki. Summoning Naruto before it, it tells the young man that it intended to keep the promise it made to Son Gokū. As it tells Naruto to stretch out his hand, the giant cat introduces itself. 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.

Influence
Cats are the common species throughout the world, and stories of are popular throughout Japan. In myth, when a cat reaches a certain age, it grows larger, and its tail becomes longer and forks in two, and is then called a. These cats were said to have the ability to manipulate the dead as if they were puppets, and had been associated with strange fires and occurrences. This may be related to Matatabi's nickname and its fire-breathing abilities.

Trivia

 * literally means 'travel again', which is probably an adaptation to the name of the . Matatabi is also the name of a silver vine plant, which is noted for having an effect on cats much like that of catnip.