You nod solemnly to the trembling tanuki and kneel on the soft moss, your nine tails fanning out behind you like a golden halo. With deliberate movements, you trace a circle in the earth with your fingertip, channeling faint blue foxfire into the grooves. The ancient syllables of purification roll off your tongue as you pluck nine strands of fur from different tails, letting them float down into the circle's center.

As the first strand touches ground, a chime echoes through the forest despite the shrine bell's silence. Each subsequent hair intensifies the resonance until the clearing thrums with protective energy. The tanuki gasps as shimmering kanji symbols rise from your circle, forming a temporary dome of light that pushes back the creeping shadows at the forest's edge.

Your ears twitch at the sound of snapping twigs nearby. Three small kodama spirits emerge from the undergrowth, their leaf-shaped bodies trembling. The eldest bows deeply. 'The great kitsune's magic still holds power,' it murmurs in a voice like rustling branches. 'But this ward will last only until moonrise. The shadow roots grow deeper.'

Standing, you notice the white foxfire from earlier now dances impatiently near the hidden trail. It pulses brighter when you meet its glow, as if urging haste. The tanuki clutches your sleeve with tiny claws. 'The old path beyond the cedar leads to the Moon Shrine,' it whispers. 'But the shadows have eyes now.'