Larch

Larch is a deer that was the predecessor of Hawthorn as the jinchūriki of the Eight-Tails.

## Personality

Larch strongly believed that once one became a jinchuriki, their life would be full of darkness, fear and overwhelming loneliness. He also believed that what a jinchuriki truly needed was to have something that filled the void in their heart and give them strength. The prejudice that he was shown after having the beast sealed into him led him to lose his will to live at first due to the overwhelming fear and loneliness he felt. He was even willing to accept the fact that he himself was incapable of controlling the tailed beast within himself.

He firmly believed Hawthorn was the best suited to become Eight-Tails' next jinchūriki. He was shown to be visibly saddened to learn that eight of his fellow deer had died trying to stop his rampage, and apologised to Blackthorn after being informed his father had been among them, showing that he took responsibility for his actions. Larch was glad to realise Hawthorn had found the "something" a jinchūriki needs to be happy, and congratulated his successor for succeeding where he had failed.

## Skills

He has the skills of a deer. Like any deer, his antlers can be use to form a pownder that can be used to revitalize the forest.

As a former jinchūriki, Larch possessed immense reserves of powerful chakra. While never obtaining complete control of Eight-Tais' power, Larch was known for his impressive use of it. When he was alive he was able to use partial transformation by manifesting one of Eight-Tails' tails. After being reincarnated, while having lost access to Eight-Tails specifically, Gentle Light used Gyūki's genetic material, which was harvested by Chrysalis, to restore most of Larch's previous jinchuriki powers, becoming in essence a pseudo-jinchūriki.

## Description in the Saga

### Background

Larch didn't have complete control over the Eight-Tails, a fact he lamented while camping with Aspen and Hawthorn. He stated that neither him, nor his uncle or father could subjugate the beast due to "incompatibility". He hoped, however, that Hawthorn, should he be chosen as the next host, would be able to successfully control the beast.

As Aspen wondered if Hawthorn would have enough control to be able to suppress the beast, Larch told him of the darkness and loneliness that was part of being a jinchuriki. Aspen protested calling him a deer of great talent, virtue and lineage, which Larch said none of that mattered and what a jinchuriki truly needed was something to give them strength and fill the void that would be created after the beast was sealed into them.

At some point after this, he lost complete control of the beast and it killed some deer, including Blackthorn's father who was a member of the subduing team. King Alder subdued the Eight-Tails by sealing it into the Sealing Urn, resulting in Larch's death.

It was Chrysalis who caused the events leading to Larch's death by posing as his doctor and giving him illusion-inducing pills to paralyse him and proceeded to undo the seal to draw out the tailed beast. Later, during the battle that followed, Chrysalis retrieved traces of the Eight-Tails' severed horn.

### "Star Knight and the Nine-Tailed Fox"

In "The Other Jinchuriki", Gentle Light summoned Larch to the battlefield to fight Hawthorn. After being summoned, Larch was surprised to see how much Hawthorn and Blackthorn had grown. He was told about his final rampage as a jinchūriki, sincerely apologising for killing Blackthorn's father. Unable to control his actions, Larch surprises his former allies with his intact ability to use Eight-Tails' energy. Upon entering the second phase, Larch quickly showed off his prowess as a jinchūriki, forcing Hawthorn to enter it as well. When Larch insisted on knowing how he could still have access to its power despite no longer residing in him, Larch revealed that the Eight Tails' severed horn was a medium that restored his jinchūriki powers while also revealing that Chrysalis is the one who masterminded the rampage years ago. While Hawthorn and he were equal in raw power, Larch's reincarnated body gave him the edge with Hawthorn forced to retreat. Blackthorn attempted to hold off Larch, only to be quickly defeated. Seeing his friend in trouble, Hawthorn ceased his retreat and counter-attacked. Surprised at how passionately Hawthorn wished to help Blackthorn, he realised that Hawthorn had found friends very special to him, to which Hawthorn told him that he also is one of those dear to him. Finding peace that his successor found that missing "something" in life as a jinchūriki, Larch is able to break the curse and return to the afterlife.

## Appearances

Legends:

* Y - Appears and have an active role
* N - Do not appears and is not mentioned directly by the characters.
* B - Appears, but have a passive role or his or her appearance is implicit
* M - Mentioned directly by the characters.