Free Again

"Open the Black Iron Treasure Chest," Xian Yu eagerly thought, issuing the command.

Buddha, Jade Emperor, Guanyin Bodhisattva, oh, God, amen...

I hope I can afford it this time...

"Ding dong! Opening the Black Iron Treasure Chest requires 15 diamonds. Confirm?"

Xian Yu was overjoyed! o(≧v≦)o~~ Awesome!

"Open it, open it! Confirm!"

Going by the predatory nature of pay-to-win games in his previous life, although the price was a rip-off, what you got was usually worth it!

Xian Yu could hardly contain his anticipation!

He wasn't asking for a Super Saiyan, nor was he hoping for some high-end item like the Rinnegan or Tenseigan.

Even something simple, like a pill that increased his chakra reserves or improved his constitution, would do!

Just as young Xian Yu was so excited that he was dancing around and couldn't control himself, the system's voice rang out:

"Congratulations, Host! You have successfully opened the Black Iron Treasure Chest and obtained one Three-Tailed Fox. Confetti.JPG"

"...A summoning beast? A Three-Tailed Fox?" The blood boiling in Xian Yu's veins suddenly went cold... cold... and colder.

"Brother Yu! Brother Yu? What are you doing?"

"Young Master Yu?"

Only then did the three notice that their Young Master Yu, Brother Yu, had suddenly started dancing around for no apparent reason.

Fahai, Huihai, and Minghai all felt their hearts skip a beat!

Could he have... epilepsy?

The Brother Yu and Young Master Yu they knew had always been so steady. The way he looked now was utterly unfamiliar.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Four bowls of tonkotsu ramen with Naruto Rolls are ready. Please enjoy." The owner smiled warmly as he brought over the four bowls of ramen.

But at that moment, Xian Yu was in no mood to eat ramen.

"I-I'm fine. Here's one thousand taels. Use it to pay for the ramen. I've got something urgent, so I'll head out first." Without waiting for the three brothers to respond, Xian Yu dropped a one-thousand-tael banknote and dashed home.

Ten minutes later, Xian Yu returned home, shut the doors and windows, and locked himself in his room.

He looked at the lifelike, chibi-style Three-Tailed Fox in the third slot of his inventory.

His eyes were full of hesitation.

After all, a person could only ever summon one kind of summoning beast in their lifetime!

What if this Three-Tailed Fox turned out to be useless and couldn't help him at all? Then... he'd be pretty much done for, too.

Compared to an unknown summoning beast like this, wouldn't a Marrow Cleansing Pill or Foundation Establishment Pill be much better?

After agonizing over it for a long while, Xian Yu finally gritted his teeth and decided to use it. He'd already opened the chest, after all; letting it go to waste would be foolish.

"Notice: The Host is attempting to form a master-servant contract with the Three-Tailed Fox. Once the Three-Tailed Fox acknowledges its master, the Host will be unable to form another Summoning Contract unless the Three-Tailed Fox dies."

"Huh?" Xian Yu had already been feeling a little pessimistic, but his expression improved slightly when he heard that.

Since I can replace it by killing it, if this Three-Tailed Fox really is useless, I can just kill it when I need to switch.

With that thought, Xian Yu said calmly, "Confirm! Begin the master-servant contract."

At that very moment, a certain fox suddenly felt a wave of malice from the world and shivered involuntarily.

"Please provide a drop of your blood to acknowledge the contract."

"Huh? I have to use blood? This seems different from a regular summoning ritual, too? Oh, well..." Xian Yu casually drew a sharp Shuriken from his waist and carefully made a tiny, tiny, tiny cut on the middle finger of his left hand.

"Ding dong! Congratulations! You have successfully tamed the Three-Tailed Fox. Confetti.JPG"

"Ding dong! The Host has successfully tamed their first summoned beast. The Summoned Beast Space has been unlocked for free."

"Free? Really free?" Xian Yu stared in disbelief, with just a hint of suspicion. It felt like the sun had risen in the west today...

Just then, he noticed a Summon button had appeared beside the circular radar minimap.

"Summon."

Dense black symbols suddenly appeared on the floor in front of him, looking remarkably like the Summoning Technique he'd seen in the Naruto anime in his previous life.

The black symbols covered a circular area about half a meter in radius. As the circle of symbols fully appeared, light began to glow from its edges.

The light grew brighter and brighter. The process seemed complicated, but it took no more than ten seconds.

A fox appeared in the center of the summoning circle, standing upright. It was nearly as tall as five-year-old Xian Yu, covered in reddish-brown fur, and had three tails.

At that moment, Xian Yu seemed to realize something.

He didn't need to perform Hand Seals or anything? He just had to activate the Summon button with a thought?

And it didn't use up any of his chakra?

Xian Yu's eyes lit up, and he made a mental note of it.

When I summon it outside, I'd better use some random Hand Seals and a Summoning Technique anyway, just to avoid drawing attention.

"Master!" The Three-Tailed Fox, about the same size as Xian Yu, stood upright and bowed slightly before addressing him respectfully.

"Holy crap! It's gained human form!" Xian Yu had been watching the black symbols on the floor, and only when he looked up did he realize...

This was actually a Three-Tailed Fox with a handsome human face, perfect proportions, and a brown fur coat...!

Even more astonishing, its stunningly beautiful face could appeal to men and women alike, and it was impossible to tell whether it was male or female...

"Master?" The Three-Tailed Fox sounded a little timid as it called to him again.

Xian Yu frowned, looking very troubled. After a long pause, he finally spoke. "Looking like this... I'm afraid I wouldn't dare summon you in front of other people! You know... most summoning beasts here can talk, but they seem to all keep their animal forms. You look way too unusual... So, if I can't summon you, what use are you to me...?"

Xian Yu was only being honest. He hadn't thought much of it.

Unexpectedly, the Three-Tailed Fox was so frightened that its legs gave way. It collapsed onto the floor!

Seeing that, Xian Yu became even less satisfied with the fox...

Why does it look so weak?

Can it help me fight?

Can it rescue me from danger when I'm up against a powerful enemy?

Can it take a hit for me?

Young Xian Yu was seriously doubtful. →_→

Just then, Xian Yu was surprised to see the Three-Tailed Fox's entire body shrinking at a visible rate, getting smaller and smaller.

It eventually became... a fully animal-shaped... miniature Three-Tailed Fox? The kind that could fit in a pocket!

Xian Yu pursed his lips and muttered, "If you can shrink, why'd you have to be so big in the first place? Were you trying to compete with your master's height?"

The miniature Three-Tailed Fox lying on the floor shed tears of humiliation, but didn't dare argue back. It could only howl silently in its heart:

This jerk of a master! Is he a demon? He has to be a demon!

"Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock." A sudden, urgent knocking sounded at the door.

"Who is it?" Xian Yu shouted, a little irritated.

"Uh... Young... Young Master Yu, it's me, Fahai." Startled by the irritation in Xian Yu's voice, Fahai lowered his voice to a whisper, his confidence sinking just as low...

What's gotten into Young Master Yu today? The world is so beautiful, yet he's in such a foul mood. That's no good, no good...

When he heard Fahai's voice, Xian Yu's eyes immediately lit up!

He'd been wondering how to test the strength of his newly acquired summoning beast. Now, wasn't this exactly like having someone bring him a pillow just as he was getting sleepy?

He didn't even bother with the stairs. He grabbed the miniature Three-Tailed Fox off the floor and jumped straight from the second-floor balcony into the backyard training ground.

He called toward the gate, "Cousin Fahai, come over here! I'm in the backyard training ground. I could use your help with something!"

Fahai was a Chunin, after all. It didn't take him long to vault over several walls and reach the backyard.

"Young Master Yu? I was a little worried about you, so I came to check on you. Also, here's your one-thousand-tael banknote. The owner of Ichiraku Ramen said the new shop was holding a free promotion today, so there's no charge."

"Oh, all right, all right." For some reason, Xian Yu's mood suddenly brightened.

All his earlier frustration vanished without a trace. o(*≧▽≦)ツ

Did you fools think I was happy because I'd gotten something for free twice in a row? No!

Absolutely not!

I, Shimura Xian Yu, am a person of standing. How could I be the sort of person who covets a tiny little freebie?