"Sensei, this cat, which looks like a daifuku, can talk, but..."
Naruto came up to Shinji, poked Mimi's belly with his finger, and asked Shinji, "He's just a bit chubby at most, so why is he called Mimi-sensei?"
(Mimi = Plump/round)
No sooner had he finished speaking than Mimi , as if startled, narrowed his cat-like eyes and looked at Naruto, saying,
"You foxy brat, what did you meow?"
Naruto paused, then replied, "Why are you called Mimi-sensei?"
"It was the sentence before, meow."
"It seems like... chubby?"
"Take this!" Mimi leaped from Shinji's arms and charged straight at Naruto's face.
Bang!
Naruto rapidly flew backward. Just before he could fall, Shinji appeared behind him, catching him steadily.
Shinji, with a helpless look, covered his forehead and handed Naruto to Hinata.
Shikamaru and the others twitched their lips, looking at the harmless Mimi with a bit of disbelief.
Slap—
Shinji, who had walked over, gave Mimi a light slap and then looked at Shikamaru and the others, saying, "Now you know why he's called Mimi-sensei, right?"
"Yes." Shikamaru and the others nodded.
Even Naruto, who was temporarily the strongest among them, had been knocked unconscious.
Shinji pointed to Mimi, who was eating potato chips, and said, "Later, when I leave the village, he will accompany you all for training."
"I refuse." Mimi immediately looked up, indicating his unwillingness.
Shinji dangled Mimi by the scruff of his neck and said exasperatedly, "I'll buy you snacks then."
"No problem! Leave this small matter to me." Hearing there was food, Mimi immediately nodded in agreement.
Only then did Shinji put Mimi down, letting him go wait on the side.
He then turned to Shikamaru and the others, saying, "There's a little over a week until the final exams, so you can moderately reduce your training during this period. Use your free time to review your subjects well and strive for good grades."
"Yes, sensei." Shikamaru and the others nodded in response.
They had been training continuously recently. It was good to be able to relax a bit. Compared to training, doing assignments could be considered an easy task.
"Oh, and sensei." Shikamaru seemed to remember something and spoke to Shinji.
"Hmm? What is it?" Shinji was thinking about training programs, and hearing Shikamaru's voice, he turned to look.
Shikamaru walked over and asked quietly, "I heard that you're preparing for the Jonin assessment?"
"Ah, it'll probably be a while, at least after the final exams. Why?"
Shinji thought about the timing. Basically, he would only have free time after the final exams.
"Nothing, mainly I heard it from my dad. He told me to tell you." Shikamaru shook his head.
"Shikaku-senpai?" Shinji mused, stroking his chin.
Generally speaking, Jonin were the mainstays of a village, besides the Hokage. After all, Konoha no longer had a Council, and if Shikaku knew about it...
Most likely, his teacher, Hiruzen, had already started lobbying.
Normally, to be promoted to Jonin, one needed recommendations from three veteran Jonin, as well as more than half of the votes in agreement. Generally, after such a process, the so-called Jonin strength assessment was not so strict.
Three Jonin recommendations, more than half of Jonin approval votes.
As long as one's strength wasn't just for show, even clans intending to obstruct would give up. After all, if there was both strength and support, trying to cause trouble would just be asking for it.
Shikaku probably knew something, which is why he told Shikamaru. Otherwise, Shikaku wouldn't usually talk about such things with Shikamaru, who was still in the Academy, for no reason. He even specifically instructed Shikamaru to tell him.
"Is someone trying to provoke sensei?" Shinji murmured.
"Sensei, I think, perhaps some people feel they've lost some positions and are trying to use this matter to..." Shikamaru said, hinting at the situation without elaborating.
Shinji was startled, then slapped Shikamaru's head good-naturedly, saying, "Alright, kids shouldn't think too much. After a while, when I get that thing done, you'll have plenty of opportunities to use your brain."
After sending Shikamaru away, Shinji's smile faded.
What Shikamaru had just said reminded him of two people who were not content with being idle.
Shinji shook his head helplessly. "I hope you two don't really try to cause trouble, because the old man now is not the same as before."
Living in the Ninja World, yet still so attached to power. He wondered how their brains were wired. Although sometimes power could make people weigh things, if they encountered someone who didn't care, their death would be a light matter.
—
"Foxy brat! Haven't you eaten? Faster!"
In the training ground, Mimi was perched on Naruto's shoulder, shouting at him.
Naruto, who was pushing himself hard, could only grit his teeth and speed up again.
Who would have thought that such a cat would be heavier than the weights he was wearing, and although it was only squatting on his shoulder, the burden applied was to his entire body.
"Faster, faster, your limit is far from reached!" Mimi said, scratching his neck with his hind leg.
"Got it! Stop rushing me!"
Shinji watched from the sidelines, with no intention of stopping them. Although Mimi was a bit excessive, there was one thing he hadn't said wrong. Naruto had not yet reached his limit. This was also why Naruto's strength hadn't increased quickly recently.
Although it was also due to his age, his Chakra control wasn't bad, and Nine-Tails Chakra wasn't causing trouble. Naruto's talent was more than just this.
Keep it up, Naruto.
With Mimi's help, Shinji could naturally relax.
At this moment, he was holding material on Fuinjutsu, checking if he could use the shinkirou pearl.
Since Minato couldn't help now, Shinji could only find the information himself.
"Environmental positioning nodes can be left to Mimi, as his sage region is the best testing ground."
The guidance of Senjutsu Chakra could be completed by himself at that time.
As for activating genjutsu, if he used a Shadow Clone to activate it with Yin Release, it would also be fine. It just couldn't last too long, as it was only a Shadow Clone.
As for giving Senjutsu Chakra to a Shadow Clone, that's out of the question. It's even less reliable than the genjutsu aspect.
'If only I had the First Hokage's Wood Clone, at least it would be more stable.'
Shinji flipped through the Fuinjutsu documents, his thoughts gradually drifting.
Now all he lacked was a genjutsu master.
Who should he look for?
Itachi? No, he wasn't considering him.
Then there was only Shisui left. And it seemed that after Shisui became the captain of the Hokage Guard Platoon, he had moved out of the Uchiha clan's compound. He completely followed in Hiruzen's footsteps, staying by his side every step of the way.