The first meeting between Hagoromo and Kushina effectively ended there.
Becoming Kushina's disciple carried a hidden implication: if Kushina was his team leader, it meant it would be very difficult for Hagoromo to be sent to the front lines. This was his own assessment.
Moreover, he had realized that he was Kushina's only student. A one-on-one apprenticeship couldn't form the standard four-man combat squad configuration, which was clearly not a setup intended for the battlefield.
Uzumaki Kushina was, after all, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. While a Jinchuriki who perfectly controls the Nine-Tails would be a massive asset in war, the Konoha higher-ups would never send her to the front. The reasons were simple: first, although she was an Uzumaki, the Nine-Tails was different from other Tailed Beasts, and she had not achieved perfect control. Second, and more critically, Konoha could not afford the consequence of losing the Nine-Tails.
If a Jinchuriki appeared on the front lines, the enemy would attempt to kill her regardless of the cost. The conclusion that an enemy Jinchuriki must be destroyed is one reached without even needing a second thought.
The reality matched Hagoromo's judgment. While other squads were integrating and rushing to the front, Kushina remained in the village with no intention of moving. Hagoromo didn't even have to do low-level D-rank missions. His life consisted of three things: one, learning ninjutsu from Kushina; two, watching Kushina conduct various "research"; and three, forming a duo with Kushina to act as the village's local terrors.
In fact, on the second day after becoming his teacher, Kushina didn't even wait for Hagoromo to ask—she was already impatient to start teaching him ninjutsu.
She wanted Hagoromo to surpass Kakashi as soon as possible. Her student beating Minato's student was, in her mind, the same as her beating Minato.
In this sense, while Konoha treated Hagoromo as a "toy" for Kushina, Kushina was unconsciously treating him as a project. Hagoromo played the role of a "toy" perfectly, though he didn't realize he had become Kushina's emotional stabilizer.
"So, what ninjutsu should I teach you first?" Kushina murmured, rubbing her temples.
"Four Symbols Seal..." That was the answer in Hagoromo's head, of course. But he couldn't say it. Not only was it an S-rank Forbidden Sealing Technique, but if Kushina asked how a fresh Academy graduate even knew the name of a secret Uzumaki technique, he'd have no way to answer.
How would he explain knowing the specific names of secret, forbidden arts? He couldn't. So that answer stayed buried.
Kushina certainly knew the Four Symbols Seal, but she obviously wouldn't teach a forbidden art so easily. Moreover, she didn't believe Hagoromo could learn such a high-level sealing technique yet. For now, she planned to teach him standard ninjutsu; as for Sealing Techniques... she had no plans to start those just yet.
Fuinjutsu is far more difficult to learn than standard ninjutsu because its complexity requires a profound understanding of the formulas themselves. Generally, the learning difficulty of an A-rank sealing technique is equal to or exceeds that of an S-rank ninjutsu. For something like the S-rank Four Symbols Seal, someone without innate talent might spend their entire life and still fail to master it.
"I've got it! Let's start with the highly practical Shadow Clone Jutsu," Kushina said, her eyes lighting up.
The Shadow Clone is a B-rank ninjutsu. Judging by Hagoromo's current chakra levels and control, she figured he should have no problem learning it. After all, the kid had already "created" an A-rank technique.
"Shadow Clone it is. I'll show you the seal first..." Without even asking for Hagoromo's opinion, she began the forced lesson.
Of course, for a technique as useful as the Shadow Clone, Hagoromo had no reason to refuse.
The Shadow Clone requires only one seal—the Clone Seal (Ram/Tiger cross)—which is one of the basic seals every Academy graduate knows. Nevertheless, Kushina demonstrated the hand position and explained the specific flow of chakra required during the execution.
She even gave a live demonstration, and suddenly, two identical red-haired habaneros appeared before Hagoromo.
Hagoromo nodded to indicate he understood and immediately began to try. For a brain like his, the difficulty of this technique wasn't particularly high.
He didn't rush to make the seal. Instead, following Kushina's explanation, he first directed his chakra to flow through the specific meridians. Only once he was familiar with the internal "pathway" of the Shadow Clone Jutsu did he actually form the seal.
Kushina nodded. She could see exactly what he was doing, and this behavior earned her approval. Not practicing blindly but familiarizing himself with the chakra flow first showed that her student was quite mature.
As he formed the seal, Hagoromo's chakra flowed in perfect synchronization with the hand sign. Then, the B-rank jutsu succeeded on his very first try.
An identical version of himself appeared. Hagoromo felt his internal chakra instantly split to exactly half its normal level—the only downside to clone techniques: they distribute the user's chakra equally among the clones.
Hagoromo immediately released the jutsu, and the unspent chakra from the clone returned to his body.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu, success... Let's move on to the next training, Kushina-sensei."
"Starting the next one already? You just learned the Shadow Clone; don't you need to practice it?" Kushina wasn't surprised that he mastered it, but she was surprised that he wanted to move on so immediately.
Despite her desire to compete with Minato, Hagoromo's behavior seemed a bit too eager for quick results.
"Practice? I don't need to, Kushina-sensei. The moment I learned the technique, my proficiency was already at maximum." To prove he wasn't lying, Hagoromo formed the seal again, and a clone appeared instantly.
Kushina: "..."
This was the factor of pure talent. If it came down to brain capacity and learning speed, Hagoromo wasn't afraid of anyone—not even the legendary "geniuses" of this world.
Kushina felt something was slightly "off," but since he had truly mastered the B-rank jutsu, she began teaching him new techniques with a mix of pride, shock, and helplessness.
Although she used to say she wanted to compete with Minato for the Hokage position, she had actually given up on that rivalry—or rather, admitted defeat. First, Minato was simply too outstanding. Second, her status as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki was the biggest obstacle to becoming Hokage.
But, seeing Hagoromo's learning ability, she was finally certain of one thing: her student would have no problem surpassing Minato's student.