Your form ripples like water as you shift back into your true fox shape, nine golden tails flaring with contained power. The transition feels natural - muscles coiling with predatory grace, senses sharpening until you can smell the iron tang of corrupted magic lingering on the breeze. The tanuki bows deeply as you shake out your luxurious fur, your sleek body now perfectly suited for silent travel.

The white foxfire bobs excitedly before darting down the hidden trail between the cedar roots. You follow with liquid movements, paws making no sound on the damp earth. Shadows seem to recoil from your glowing tails as you weave through the undergrowth, the kodama spirits' whispered blessings trailing behind you like falling leaves.

Halfway up the sloping path, you freeze - the scent of rot grows overwhelming. Peering through a curtain of hanging moss, you see the trail ahead choked with inky black vines that pulse like living things. They've completely overtaken a small clearing where three stone fox statues once stood guard. Now only one remains upright, its moss-covered muzzle split by a jagged crack.

The floating foxfire hesitates near the corrupted clearing, its glow dimming fearfully. You notice strange symbols carved into the vines - inverted versions of the shrine's protective seals. A low hiss comes from your throat as you realize these are no ordinary shadows, but something deliberately twisted against the forest's magic.