Matatabi (Kiri)

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

Background
Matatabi first came into being in the waning days of the, 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.

Like Shukaku, many people believed that Matatabi was once a human that turned into a living ghost (生霊, ikiryō). 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 "watashi" (私) 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 and is able to create the Tailed Beast Ball. The cat has flexible muscles, which grant it great speed despite its large size. Matatabi's 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 able to breathe fireballs powerful enough to destroy a sewer and the building above. It was able to use Cat Claw to great effect on Madara Uchiha, stunning him enough to send him flying to Isobu as part of their combo. When combined with the other tailed beast tails, it can shatter even a senjutsu-enhanced complete Susanoo and completely obliterate it.

Trivia

 * 'Matatabi' (又旅) literally means 'travel again', which is probably an adaptation to not only the nekomata (猫又), but also the Japanese name for silver vine, a plant noted for having an effect on cats much like that of catnip.
 * Cats are the common species throughout the world, and stories of bakeneko (化け猫, monster cats) 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 nekomata (猫又, forked-cat). 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.