Prologue

The tale of how a demon was trapped inside a newborn infant started in a world plagued by three infantile wars. Long ago, there were nine demons that plagued the world unfair, smacking their lips toward their goal of destroying every man, woman, and child until nothing remained but human waste. They filled the world with disease and paranoia. But despite their incredible powers and ferocious ideals, today, only one remains. At midday, this demon's shadow blackens the sun-burnt sky. Those foolish enough to believe this was a natural phenomenon collapsed when a hideous roar shook Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, as the final demon approached their long-protected homeland.

The Nine-Tailed Fox was the last demon to remained unchecked and the strongest of its kind. A swoop from one of its tails could flatten mountains. With a single breath from its foul lips, the ground would boil into super-heated tar. The malice in its voice, the absolute hatred from this tailed beast's eyes was physical; enough to stab and poison a perfectly healthy man from afar, or wipe away a village full of orderly people. Every footstep the beast made shook the earth for miles.

Facing such a demon on equal ground was impossible, and the largest and most violent of these nine demons stood taller than all of its brethren. Since there were no other terms to confront the Demon Fox with, the Fourth Fire Shadow, the leader of Konoha, sacrificed his own life to seal the beast away into the body of a newborn infant. Some villagers believed that their leader cursed the boy by allowing the Demon Fox to corrupt his soul, but a scarce few knew that the brave shinobi had saved the world at no more than the cost of a single life, and the loss of a single, human soul.