Tale in the Legend of the Tailed Beasts: Yamata
no Orochi is a Snake bijuu. It has crimsom red eyes, eight heads and
eight tails (also depicted to having trees and vines growing around
them) and has the power of the Demon world, a symbol of evil. Each head of Yamata no Orochi represents a symbol: Soul, Ghost, Evil, Devil, Monstrous, Kill, The Afterworld and Death.
Its powers were originally weak, the members of the Kusanagi clan, when attacking it, acted carelessly, using the legendary sword Kusanagi no Tsurugi (Oro’s sword). Because of that, as a consequence, Yamata no Orochi
takes the sword from them, absorbing the power contained inside, and
becoming an incredibly powerful creature, and finally storing it in its
body.
With the new power, Yamata no Orochi releases an insane amount of dark energy,
awakening the other Bijuu and becoming arrogant. Yamata no Orochi
proceeds to defeat many of the Bijuu, but when it battles with Kyuubi,
it is defeated. The cause of this is simple: Kyuubi has an unlimited
amount of power, making even a hole in the Kusanagi sword. As
this happens, it shows how tremendously powerful Kyuubi is, deserving
of the “King of Bijuu” title. Not even Sarutobi and Enma (I’m not sure
how those two are into the legend) could scratch the Kusanagi no
Tsurugi. (That makes connections to the Oro x Sandaime battle)
Legend also depicted it as having a power able to rival Kyuubi’s [in
quality], but the fact is, Yamata no Orochi’s does have a limit.
Situation in the Ancient War of the 9 Gods: Battled 5 times; 4 Wins, 1 Losses
Wins: Shukaku, Isonade, Kaku, Raijuu
Losses: Kyuubi
Fate: Yamata no Orochi awaits a genius of the Yagami (NOT the Kanji of Yagami from Death Note, but Yagami as in Eight Gods:
八神) clan, which is the arch enemy of the Kusanagi clan. The purpose is
to awake it [Yamata no Orochi], in order to fight Kyuubi again.
Since Yamata no Orochi’s power inherits in the Yagami Clan, If the heir
appears as the first genius in 1000 years that is able to awake Yamata
no Orochi’s ability, it will be completely restored. Once the process
is done, the genius with such crucial task will be destroyed due to the
true body of Yamata no Orochi resurfacing, which has an all-new power.
It won’t be found before the decisive battle with Kyuubi, and will be
able to kill no matter of thing, destroy any type of place, and attain
infinite vision (as Kyuubi has). The core of Yamata no Orochi’s power
is in a kind of forbidden sealing jutsu. As
soon as the Yagami clan heir comprehends enough of it, a bigger, much
stronger power will surface in the grasp of Yamata no Orochi.
Japanese Myth Appearance: A super Snake of Eight heads and Eight
tails, attached to a single body. Has a deep brown color. It definitely
is the biggest bijuu - the lenghth of it is over eight mountains.
Originally, it was weaker than Houkou and Nekomata; however, that was
1000 years before a brave warrior tried defeating it with the Kusanagi
no Tsurugi. In the process, the sword’s power is absorbed instead by
Yamata no Orochi, thus greatly expanding his power. He continues though
to be able to use freely the sword in his belly.
Ability: The legendary sword: Kusanagi no Tsurugi; summoning of evil spirits
Bijuu Strength Ranking: 2nd
Bijuu Chakra/Stamina Ranking: 2nd
Symbolic Element: Devil
Origin / Discovered in: An old battlefield in Osaka
Personal notes: Now, everyone knows this one resembles
Orochimaru, but what I like is the “Yagami genius” legend, which OF
COURSE screams Sasuke.
More info about Yamata no Orochi:
There is the story of the killing of the Eight-Headed Serpent by
Susanoo. According to the legend, a local town had been living in fear
of the Serpent, and the townspeople offered the sacrifice of a young
girl each year to keep it appeased. Lord Susano heard about the town's
dilemma, and became determined to slay the beast. He exterminated the
serpent by serving it alcohol, and then cutting off its heads while it
was intoxicated. Between the Kagura performances, this one is the most
famous.