"Heed the call of the Rinnegan, traverse time and space to appear before me, become my power!"
"Appear now, Nine-Tails!"
As Yusei uttered the incantation to establish the connection, the Rinnegan's ocular technique activated violently. The empty ground was instantly covered with complex magical formulae.
In the very center of the array, a surge of fiery red power swirled, carrying a scorching heat.
Seeing this, Yusei felt a surge of joy, 'This fiery red, scorching power was unmistakable. The summoning was a success!'
A brilliant red light flashed, and a whirlwind of flames rose, enveloping the center of the ritual. Everything seemed to be going perfectly.
Yusei watched excitedly, but a faint sense of oddness crept into his heart.
Because these flames are way too small!
'Shouldn't the Nine-Tails' body be massive enough to blot out the sky above me?'
Before he could process this thought, a clear, childish voice rang out.
"Ouch! Where is this? Wasn't I just eating with Rong Rong and Ya Ya?"
Yusei's expression froze, 'This... this was the powerful, ferocious beast he summoned? Why did it have the soft, cute voice of a little loli?'
'Could it be... the Nine-Tails is a little loli?'
Soon, a cute little red fox lay curled up in the center of the ritual array, looking around timidly with its large, curious, darting eyes.
Yusei walked over, pinched the soft scruff of the little fox's neck, and lifted her to eye level, asking uncertainly, "Are you the Nine-Tails?"
Startled by this sudden 'attack', the little fox opened her tiny mouth and spat a burst of flame at Yusei.
However, before the flame could reach him, it was deflected by an invisible repulsive force.
This frightened the little fox. She covered her head with her tiny paws, struggling and shouting, "Don't eat me! I don't have any meat on me!"
Looking at the mouse-like timid little fox, Yusei sighed speechlessly and put her down.
'Well, I get it now. So my summoning basically failed.'
The fiery red fur, the clearly female voice... it matched two points, except for the 'power to shatter mountains and rivers' mentioned in the incantation.
'Can the summoning ritual do 1+1 math?'
Yusei was extremely frustrated. Watching the little fox trying to sneak away, he simply reached out and made a grasping motion.
The little fox, which had been trying to escape, was instantly caught by an invisible force. Her tiny paws paddled in the air, but she couldn't move.
"Wah! It's over, it's over! Hong Hong is going to be captured! Rong Rong, Ya Ya, I miss you so much!"
Perhaps thinking she might be turned into a 'fox feast', the little fox actually started crying.
Watching the little fox's antics, Yusei felt a headache coming on, 'What are you crying for? Shouldn't I be the one crying here? My once-a-year summoning was used up on a little thing like you... That fire breath of yours couldn't even singe a hair on my head. What use is it?'
Helpless, Yusei couldn't just leave his contracted beast be. He picked her up by the scruff again.
Athena had already come to Yusei's side. Looking at the little fox in his hand, she asked curiously, "Is this the one that can destroy a mountain with one blow? It looks so small."
Yusei's face was covered in metaphorical black lines. Without a word, he simply left the area with Athena.
(T/N: For those who don't know, this Hong Hong is a character from Chinese Donghua, Fox Spirit Matchmaker. https://foxspiritmatchmaker.fandom.com/wiki/Tushan_Honghong.)
When Yui at home saw her father return, holding a cute little red fox by the scruff, she immediately ran up to him.
"Papa, is this a pet you brought for me?"
Before Yusei could speak, the little fox started struggling.
"I'm not a pet! Hong Hong is a Youkai! Let me go, or Mount Tu won't let you off!"
Perhaps realizing begging was useless, the little fox switched to being tough.
But Yusei was taken aback, 'Mount Tu?'
He wasn't clear about how powerful the Youkai in Mount Tu were, but he vaguely remembered that Hong Hong was a character from a Chinese Donghua. He couldn't remember the plot details clearly, but he remembered the characters.
And precisely because he remembered, Yusei found it strange.
He lifted the little fox to eye level again, looking oddly at her large, darting eyes, "You are... Mount Tu's Hong Hong?"
"That's right!"
"You can't even take human form yet?"
"Uh, this... maybe in a few days?"
The little fox laughed evasively.
Yusei sighed speechlessly and put her down, no longer restraining her. He handed her to Yui.
"You two go play. But Hong Hong, you should have realized it by now, right? This world isn't your world anymore."
"Really?" The little fox scratched her head with a tiny paw, then let out a gasp, "Eek! The spiritual energy... it's become so thin!"
Yusei: "..."
Yusei felt like he might have summoned a fake Hong Hong. Yusei complained inwardly, but still sighed.
"Anyway, I'm telling you this so you don't get any ideas about running off. Otherwise, you might really get caught by bad people outside and turned into a fox stew."
The little fox turned pale with fright, as for how one could see paleness through her red fur, that was unimportant.
Yui, happy to have a new playmate, happily carried Hong Hong off to her room to play.
Yui's room was actually Yusei and Asuna's room, and their large bed had become Yui's playground.
However, Yusei still warned Yui to treat Hong Hong as a friend, not a pet, as a being that had gained intelligence was no longer suitable to be a pet.
Yui naturally nodded a thousand times, and Hong Hong, wanting to get away from the 'big devil' Yusei as soon as possible, quickly left with Yui.
In the living room, only Yusei and Athena remained.
Athena looked at Yusei with amusement, "It seems your summoning was a failure."
Yusei sat on the sofa, his brow furrowing slightly before he sighed, "A failure? I wouldn't say that for sure."
Thinking about the future Queen of Mount Tu, Yusei felt that the card he drew wasn't exactly bad.
It's just that the development period was a bit... long.
Athena didn't press the matter further. Instead, her expression turned serious and earnest.
"Husband, this one has something to report. This one has detected... the presence of something in the northeastern part of this country."