"Not bad."
Shinji felt that if he were to fight Guy again now, it would be much easier.
Mimi jumped near Shinji, circled him a few times, then nodded and said, "Hmm, it has the aura of a pseudo-high-level yōkai."
Shinji asked, puzzled, "Pseudo-high-level?"
Mimi nodded, explaining to Shinji, "Yes, Yokai are categorized into low-level, mid-level, high-level, and divine-level."
"So my current Sage Mode isn't perfect?" Shinji asked curiously, as he wasn't very familiar with Sage Mode.
"That's not what I mean." Mimi shook his head.
"What I mean is, the energy contained in your current Sage Mode only reaches the level of a pseudo-high-level daiyōkai."
"It should be due to the saturation of energy your body can currently absorb. If you can advance further in the future, you will be able to reach the level of a high-level daiyōkai, below the divine realm, just like me."
As Mimi explained, Shinji gradually understood. His current Sage Mode was the most perfect Sage Mode, as there were not too many traces of yokai transformation. It was just that his physical body's energy absorption threshold could not yet reach a higher level.
"What kind of existence is a divine-level daiyōkai?" Shinji looked at Mimi curiously and asked.
Now, with the enhancement of Sage Mode, he could sense even more clearly how immense the power Mimi contained was. At least it was much greater than that of Six Gates Guy.
"Divine-level?"
Mimi unconsciously narrowed his eyes, and shook his head. "I don't know."
"Before I came here, I was sealed, and I haven't seen other daiyōkai in a long time."
"But when I was little, I saw one from afar once. That kind of power is not something a high-level daiyōkai can compare to."
Shinji nodded. Achieving Sage Mode made him even more curious about what higher levels entailed. However, for now, having Sage Mode meant that he wouldn't be so passive in the future.
"Aren't you going to try out your abilities in Sage Mode?" Mimi asked curiously, as humans should have no resistance to such novel abilities.
"Huh? Don't you have to learn how to use Sage Mode?" Shinji blinked and asked.
Mimi patiently explained, "Your current Oborozuki Sage Mode is actually a symbiotic technique formed by natural energy combined with yokai spiritual energy. So, to a certain extent, it leans towards yokai-like abilities."
"Which means you don't need to learn how to use it. Rather, it's innate to you in this mode."
"Innate…"
Shinji closed his eyes.
As he calmed his mind, various methods of using senjutsu appeared in his mind.
The next second, he opened his eyes, a strong excitement bursting forth from them.
"I can actually ride clouds."
No sooner had he spoken than a cloud of mist gathered beneath his feet as he lightly lifted them, and his body slowly ascended.
"Whoa—!"
Shinji shouted, then started drifting in the air.
In the mist, he let go of his hands, completely immersed in the feeling of flying.
"It's just an Oborozuki Cloud Travel technique, is there any need to be so happy?" A voice sounded.
Mimi had transformed into a giant white beast, also riding a cloud beside him.
"You don't understand, this is flying!" Shinji shook his head, laughing loudly.
To a yokai who is born with the ability to fly, such a skill is hardly anything to be happy about. But Shinji was not like that. He was just an ordinary person. Half a year ago, he was still afraid of when he might lose his life.
"Alright, just be a bit careful." Mimi showed a look of admonition.
"Ah?" Shinji was stunned, a little unclear what he meant.
"Oborozuki Sage Mode, according to the energy you just absorbed, can only last for a maximum of five minutes."
No sooner had Mimi finished speaking than the cloud beneath Shinji's feet dissipated.
"Oh no!"
Just before he fell, Shinji grabbed Mimi's fur beside him.
After much effort, he managed to climb onto Mimi's huge head, and only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.
"I was too excited, I didn't even notice this." Shinji shook his head.
He calmed his mood, and then relaxed, lying on Mimi's head.
"Let's go, Mimi, we'll head back first."
"Ah." Mimi's eyes looked up at Shinji, then he responded.
In front of the Muku Shrine, Shinji lightly jumped, arriving at the main entrance.
Pointing to the gate, Shinji spoke to Mimi, "Shouldn't they all be open?"
"I closed them myself." Mimi transformed back into his cat form, answering lazily.
"And you even set up a barrier?" Shinji sensed carefully, only then discovering that the entire shrine was covered with a thin, membrane-like barrier.
"Yes, the things left by the progenitor are enshrined inside, so even I usually don't go in." Mimi shook his fur, speaking to Shinji.
Shinji nodded, no longer probing, and instead looked at Mimi and asked, "I'm going back, what about you?"
—
"Eh?! Sensei, you actually have a cat?"
At the new training ground, Shinji had just walked in with Mimi when he heard Naruto exclaim in surprise.
Suddenly, Mimi was surrounded by Naruto and the others. Mimi first twitched his nose and glanced at Naruto, then jumped towards Choji.
"Kid, give me some of your potato chips." Mimi, who had jumped onto Choji's shoulder, spoke to Choji without ceremony.
"Eh?! It can actually talk?!" Naruto exclaimed with a surprised expression, shouting loudly.
Choji was stunned, then immediately took out an unopened bag of potato chips. He didn't know if it was his imagination, but he felt that this cat had his teacher's aura.
Otherwise, just the fact that it spoke just now to ask for potato chips would have been enough to make him erupt.
"Hmm, not bad, I like you, kid." Mimi nodded with great satisfaction.
Then, he spoke to the shocked Naruto beside him, exasperated, "Hey, blonde kid over there, with all that fox smell on you, can you stop being so jumpy?"
Naruto, hearing this, was stunned and instinctively sniffed himself. Only then did he realize that the cat was referring to Kurama inside him.
Shinji walked over to Choji, picked up Mimi, placed him in his arms, and then spoke to his disciples, including Naruto, "This is my Summoning Beast, his name is Mimi. Later, you can call him Mimi-sensei."
"Summoning Beast?!"
Naruto and the others all looked disbelieving, as this cat in front of them was simply too lacking in deterrence.