This story begins with a brave but sometimes grumpy god named Susanoo. One day, he had to leave the Sky World where the other gods lived. So, he came down to Earth, to a beautiful land called Izumo.

As Susanoo walked along, he heard sad crying. He followed the sound and found an old man, an old woman, and a lovely young girl. They were all sobbing!
"What's wrong?" Susanoo asked.
"Oh, it's terrible!" sniffled the old man. "There's a giant monster, a huge snake with eight heads and eight tails! Its name is Yamata-no-Orochi. Every year, it comes and demands one of our daughters to eat. And this year... it's our last daughter, Kushinada-hime's turn!" The old woman hugged the girl tightly.

Susanoo, being a hero, felt very sorry for them. "Don't worry," he said. "I can help! But if I defeat this monster, will you let me marry your daughter, Kushinada-hime?"
The parents, overjoyed and desperate, quickly agreed. "Yes, yes, of course! Please save her!"

So, Susanoo came up with a clever plan. "First," he said, "we need to build a big fence with eight gates. And at each gate, we'll put a giant tub filled with a special, super strong rice drink – the kind that makes you very, very sleepy."
The family worked hard, and soon the fence and the eight tubs of strong drink were ready.
Then, to keep Kushinada-hime safe, Susanoo used his magic. Poof! He turned her into a pretty little comb and tucked her safely into his hair.

Soon, the ground began to shake. Thump, thump, THUMP! The giant eight-headed, eight-tailed snake, Yamata-no-Orochi, slithered into view. Its eyes glowed like red lanterns, and its body was as big as many hills!
The snake smelled the yummy rice drink. One head peeked into a gate, slurped up the drink. Then another head, and another, until all eight heads had drunk from all eight tubs.
Gulp, gulp, gulp! The snake drank and drank. Soon, its eight heads started to feel very woozy. Its eyes drooped. And then... Zzzzzzz... all eight heads fell fast asleep!

This was Susanoo's chance! He pulled out his mighty sword. SWISH! SWASH! He bravely fought the sleeping monster, chopping off one head, then another, then another, until all eight heads were gone! Then he chopped off all eight tails too!
As Susanoo was cutting one of the snake's tails, CLANG! His sword hit something hard. Inside the tail, he found a magnificent, shiny sword! It was a very special, magical sword, and it became known as the Kusanagi sword, or the Grass-Cutting Sword.

With the scary monster gone, everyone was safe and happy. Susanoo changed Kushinada-hime back from a comb into a beautiful princess. And, just as promised, they got married and lived happily ever after in the land of Izumo. And Susanoo became a great hero, remembered for his bravery and cleverness.

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