Matatabi

, more commonly known as the, is one of the nine tailed beasts. It was last sealed within Yugito Nii of Kumogakure.

Background
Matatabi and the tailed beasts first came into being in the waning days of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, who used his Creation of All Things ability to divide the Ten-Tails' chakra into nine separate bodies and giving each a name. Some time after being created, the Sage explained to the young tailed beasts that a link existed between them despite their separation. He also foretold of a day when they would be brought together again - though not as they were - and that at that time someone would emerge to show them what true power is. After Hagoromo's death, the tailed beasts drifted apart, apparently due to Kurama's belief that their number of tails was an indication of their strength. 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' power, there are wall murals of Matatabi and Gyūki, which indicates how long they were associated with the Land of Lightning.

Personality
Compared to most of the tailed beasts, Matatabi has shown to be respectful and polite towards others, speaking in a formal manner using when referring to itself and using honourifics when addressing Naruto while introducing itself to the young shinobi.

Appearance
Matatabi is a bakeneko that is completely engulfed in 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 last remaining days of the Sage of the Six Paths' life, Matatabi was a young flaming kitten much smaller than its present-day self, but was still much larger than the Sage.

Abilities
As a tailed beast, Matatabi possesses an enormous supply of chakra that it can transfer to others and can create the Tailed Beast Ball. Like its appearance suggest, Matatabi can use Fire Release, which it can lend to its jinchūriki. Matatabi also has flexible muscles, which grant it great speed despite its large size. With its paws, Matatabi could crush an opponent with its raw strength as well as sending a foe flying with one swipe of its claw. When combined with the other tailed beasts' tails, it could shatter and completely obliterate a senjutsu-enhanced complete Susanoo.

Akatsuki Suppression Mission
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 the Two-Tails, Yugito was overpowered and rendered unconscious by the two Akatsuki members. Zetsu later arrived to take her off their hands. After three days of the Akatsuki extracting the Two-Tails into the statue from Yugito and getting sealed, its jinchūriki died afterwards as a result of having her tailed beast extracted.

Fourth Shinobi World War: Climax
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 the Two-Tails. Preparing to attack the shinobi, Matatabi along with the other four beasts creates 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.

Birth of the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki
Matatabi appeared alongside the other tailed beasts with the exception of Gyūki and Shukaku when the Ten-Tails looked down at Naruto. The image of the tailed beasts, along with a silhouette of the Sage of the Six Paths, drove the Ten-Tails to a fit as it evolved further. Later, Naruto, with the help of the remaining Allied Shinobi Forces, manages to free Matatabi by pulling its chakra out of Obito's body, alongside that of the other tailed beasts.

When B explained his tardiness being due to moving others to safety, Matatabi assured him that they'd end Madara. As Naruto in Tailed Beast Mode pinned Madara down with a tail, Matatabi and the other tailed beasts joined in and did the same to increase the damage, but the Uchiha survived their attacks and retreated to a safe distance. After he received his own right Rinnegan eye from a White Zetsu clone, Madara quickly summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path from Obito's body, and used the Rinnegan to repel the tailed beasts. With the tailed beasts stunned, Madara then proceeded to chain them up and prepared to seal them back into the statue. Ultimately, Matatabi, along with the other tailed beasts, are all resealed within the Demonic Statue.

Later, the chakra Matatabi transferred to Naruto earlier manifested within Naruto's subconscious along with the other tailed beasts to speak with the young ninja and the spirit of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki. There, they voiced their shared belief that Naruto is the child of prophecy.

Kaguya Ōtsutsuki Strikes
When Naruto asked for help against Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, Matatabi willingly gave him its power in order to defeat her. Ultimately, Kaguya was defeated by Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha and sealed using the Six Paths — Chibaku Tensei technique. The beasts are all ejected from the statue and then they were all summoned back to the real world by Hagoromo and the previous Kage. After the past Kage return to the after life, the tailed beasts began discussing their plans for the future now that they were finally free. Sasuke however made his plans known. Desiring to kill the current Kage and seize control of the tailed beasts for his plans of revolution in the shinobi world, he quickly accomplished the latter with his Rinnegan. With the tailed beasts subdued by his genjutsu, Sasuke then sealed them away within his Chibaku Tensei. After the battle when Sasuke declared Naruto the victor, the two dispelled the Infinite Tsukuyomi and Sasuke released Matatabi along with the other tailed beasts from their prisons.

Video Games
Although Matatabi itself is not playable, Yugito takes on its form as her awakening in Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 and Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution. Matatabi also appears as a boss in Naruto Shippūden: Ninja Destiny 3 and Naruto Shippūden: Kizuna Drive, though in the latter, only the false copy of Matatabi appears.

Trivia

 * literally means 'travel again', which is probably an adaptation to not only the, but also the Japanese name for silver vine, a plant noted for having an effect on cats much like that of catnip.
 * A is a popular animal yōkai in Japanese folklore, and is known for its abilities to speak the human language and shape-shift. It was also believed that when a bakeneko reaches a certain age, it grows larger and its tail splits in two, becoming a . These yōkai were said to have gained the ability to manipulate the dead as if they were puppets, and had been associated with strange fires and unexplainable occurrences. This may be related to Matatabi's nickname and its fire-breathing abilities.