Natsu Eats a Village!

is the ninth episode of Fairy Tail anime. It first aired on December 7, 2009.

Team Natsu, along with Makarov, is lost in the Clover Canyon while attempting to head back to Magnolia Town. Their quest for food and eliminating their hunger takes them to a strange village with no inhabitants and only moving houses that can transform into (inedible) monsters.

Synopsis
Alzack Connell and Bisca Mulan are searching for Makarov and Team Natsu in what is seemingly a desert, when they find a footprint. From it, they deduce that they have entered the Clover Canyon, a place even experienced hunters cannot get out of. That worries Mirajane, as the Canyon is depicted as a great natural labyrinth. Meanwhile, the group, composed of Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, Erza Scarlet, Lucy Heartfilia and Makarov, under the keen leadership of Happy, is lost.

In addition, they are starving since they haven’t eaten in a while. They are bickering about hunger when Happy discovers a fissure with Hane-Sakana in it. They are said to be a legendary delicacy, so everyone tries to catch them with their rods. After they catch only one of the many, they decide Happy should eat it. Happy tries it, and later screams that it’s gross.

They continue exploring until they find a village. At first they are enthusiastic, because they think there might be food there. But, as they venture into the village, they discover that it is completely empty. The houses contain fresh food in them, but no inhabitants are around. This makes them suspicious of the surroundings, and Erza orders everyone (even Makarov) to investigate and not touch the food no matter how tasty they look. First, though, she decides to send Natsu, Gray, Happy and Lucy to collect some mushrooms. They do so, and while at it, they eat some.

As a result, some mushrooms grow out of Gray’s and Natsu’s heads. The two guys with mushrooms on their heads laugh and then argue while Happy eats one too, causing a mushroom to grow out of his head as well. Lucy then watches as the mushrooms on their heads are actually getting bigger. Back at the village, Master and Erza discover some seams on the ground which look suspicious as they are not ordinary cracks between rocks. Suddenly, they hear muffled moaning sounds.

From the outskirts of the Village, the group hears the sounds as well. Gray’s and Natsu’s mushrooms fall off, but Happy’s does not. They return to the village, and, when they walk in, the floor begins to shine. The houses start moving too, and Happy thinks they are waving at him. They climb up a higher cliff overlooking the village and observe the houses suddenly turn into monsters. Moments later, they find out that this is in a fact a long banned Magic called Alive, which is capable of turning inanimate object into living creatures. They also deduce that the seams they saw earlier are in fact a Magic Circle that triggered the activation of the monster. The village had been most likely a Dark Guild's village because of the amount of Magical Tools they possess (which Erza had found in a shed earlier) and their use of Forbidden Magic. However, they set these facts aside and while emphasizing on the fact that the monsters are alive, Natsu, Gray and Erza attack, believing they can eat it. Happy also duels with a small monster chair. Erza slices some of its parts, Natsu burns them and Gray freezes them, and then they all taste the monster.

However, the monsters all taste very gross and however hungry they might be, the monsters are something they cannot eat. At the same time, Happy, who was fighting with a walking chair, manages to beat it (the chair crashes into the rocks), and as he does, the mushroom falls off. When he demands to know why his friends didn’t help him, they dryly respond that they thought he was playing. In a dramatic Happy moment, he proclaims his disappointment with his friends. When the monsters reconstitute, the team continues their attacks. This time, Lucy summons Taurus and she fights as well. After some blows, an earthquake follows, and another magic circle is activated. This time, they all precipitate into it.

Much later, they are seen still in one piece, walking and famished. They discovered that the monster was in fact a whole village full of people who were Taken Over by the monsters they created. Makarov had made the villagers promise to never create that dangerous Magic Circle again and that they should be thankful it has already been undone. However, when asked how it was undone, he told them that there's no need to sweat out the details. Erza suspects that it was Makarov who closed the circle and annulled the Take Over, but he won’t confirm this. As they continue their voyage, one phrase is heard: “We’re starving!”

Fights

 * Team Natsu vs. Village Monsters (started and concluded)

Magic used

 * Summoned the Golden Bull, Taurus
 * Summoned the Golden Bull, Taurus
 * Summoned the Golden Bull, Taurus
 * Summoned the Golden Bull, Taurus
 * Summoned the Golden Bull, Taurus
 * Summoned the Golden Bull, Taurus
 * Summoned the Golden Bull, Taurus
 * Summoned the Golden Bull, Taurus

Spells used

 * Alive
 * Ice Make: Fishnet
 * Ice Make: Knuckle
 * Ice Make: Ice Wall
 * Rampage
 * Ice Make: Ice Wall
 * Rampage

Armors used

 * Cooking Apron
 * Cooking Apron

Weapons used

 * Club
 * Swords
 * Cooking Knives
 * Two-Bladed Axe

Items used

 * Fishing Rods
 * Gate of the Golden Bull Key

Manga & Anime Differences

 * Its manga counterpart, the Omake Chapters "Happy's Little Job" and "Happy's Little Job 2", were developed to be a subplot of this episode instead of the main plot.
 * In the manga, the need for Hane-Sakana and the mushrooms are due to job requests. However, in the anime, they hunt for Hane-Sakana and mushrooms in order to satisfy their hunger.
 * The manga only has Natsu, Lucy and Happy acting on both jobs, but the anime has the addition of Erza, Makarov and Gray during the hunt for Hane-Sakana. Gray is also in the mushroom scene where a mushroom grows out of his head.
 * Happy is able to catch numerous Hane-Sakana in the manga, but only one in the anime.
 * The Hane-Sakana is consumed in the client's house in the manga, though it was eaten after its capture in the anime.
 * The events before and after the Hane-Sakana and mushroom scenes and the plot regarding the Hidden Village and the Alive Magic are all anime-exclusive.