Since Kushina wanted to hear about it, Hagoromo explained the situation on the battlefield in detail, placing particular emphasis on his decision-making and combat logic at the time.
Kushina listened with great interest—after all, she had no opportunity to fight on the front lines herself.
Among the four people present, Hagoromo aside, Minato Namikaze had personally experienced that day's battle. Although his attention hadn't been focused on Hagoromo specifically, the commotion Hagoromo caused had been impossible to ignore. While Minato didn't know every detail, he had a general grasp of what had happened.
What truly caught Minato's attention, however, was Hagoromo's so-called "combat thought process."
As for Jiraiya, he appeared—on the surface—to be rather uninterested.
"Honestly, at the time I didn't know my summoning beast had that kind of attack intent," Hagoromo said.
"I thought it just… had some sort of biological urge to relieve itself."
"So I figured—since it was already falling anyway—it'd be a waste not to make use of it. If that unhygienic high-altitude object happened to hit the Kazekage, it'd probably cause something like a 'mass-based explosion' effect…"
"Well, the explosion would mostly work on the enemy's psyche. It might even damage Sunagakure's morale. And the Kazekage himself probably wouldn't want to show up in front of the Hokage and our forces smelling like that."
"He might even get mistaken for some kind of performance artist."
"…But I really didn't expect it to actually explode."
This was the first—and likely the last—time Hagoromo would ever explain his mental process from that moment.
Kushina immediately felt a powerful urge to expel him from her lineage.
Whether it was humane or not aside, this line of thinking was far too un-ninja-like.
If you're not attacking, then fine—but once you do, you should aim to kill decisively. That was proper combat logic. Wanting to smear filth all over someone's body was… what exactly was he trying to accomplish?
Minato wore an expression that could only be described as spiritual constipation.
Fortunately, the Kazekage would never learn Hagoromo's true intentions. Otherwise, peace between Konoha and Sunagakure might have been impossible for the next five hundred years.
Jiraiya, on the other hand, looked invigorated—his eyes sparkled as he stared at Hagoromo with unmistakable appreciation.
This kind of unconventional thinking… this kind of imagination…
That's the sort of mind that might actually change the shinobi world.
Boy, you've got potential. Come with me and learn how to raise the Child of Prophecy—
After a brief but intense internal struggle, Jiraiya abandoned the urge to say that out loud.
Somewhere deep inside, he felt that if he actually did it, the entire shinobi world might lose something incredibly important.
Of course, Hagoromo was simply telling the truth.
On the battlefield, he genuinely had no idea that Yata Crow possessed that kind of offensive capability—it was a freshly signed summoning contract, after all.
He'd only thought the bird was unsanitary.
He hadn't expected it to be violent.
There was a somewhat metaphysical belief in the shinobi world:
To sign a summoning contract, a ninja needed a certain kind of fate or affinity.
Long ago, when Jiraiya was still young and was the direct disciple of the Third Hokage, he had wanted to sign a contract with Enma—the so-called strongest summoning beast. The Third Hokage rejected the idea, citing insufficient affinity.
How such affinity was judged was unclear, but unsuitable meant unsuitable.
Later, while researching summoning jutsus on his own, Jiraiya accidentally reverse-summoned himself to an unknowable land—the summoning sanctuary of Mount Myōboku.
And there, the toads had already known that a human would arrive.
That was likely what true affinity looked like.
From then on, Jiraiya not only signed a contract with the Toad Clan, but also learned Senjutsu, heard the Great Toad Sage's prophecy regarding his destiny, and—most importantly—found his life's purpose.
He would become the teacher of the Child of Prophecy, the one who would guide the shinobi world toward change—ending the endless cycle of war and bringing about true peace.
From that day forward, Jiraiya wandered the world, searching for such a disciple.
Seen from that perspective, Hagoromo being reverse-summoned to the Land of Rain was not purely coincidence—it carried an air of inevitability.
Expanding on that idea further:
If affinity allows a summoning contract to form, then that affinity may reflect similarity.
And taken even further—perhaps a ninja's personality and moral fiber could be indirectly reflected in the temperament of their summoning beasts.
So then—
Did Hagoromo really share similarities with his summoning creatures?
"Hagoromo," Kushina began, "I need to talk to you about something…"
At some point, her focus had shifted entirely from his battlefield performance to a determined attempt at reforming his way of thinking.
Ideas that went too far needed to be reined in.
After a long, mentally exhausting lecture—one she felt had achieved acceptable interim results—Kushina finally allowed Hagoromo to leave.
It was already late.
Hagoromo prepared to take his leave, but Jiraiya showed no intention of going anywhere.
What exactly was going on, Hagoromo didn't know—but he could guess.
Jiraiya clearly had something important to discuss with Minato. He hadn't returned to Konoha just to get treated by Kushina.
Indeed, Jiraiya had come specifically to see Minato.
And the matter was serious.
Once Hagoromo left, Jiraiya immediately tore the paste off his face and adopted a solemn expression—he had probably wanted to do that for quite a while and finally had a valid excuse.
Seeing his demeanor change, Kushina and Minato also sobered up.
When Jiraiya got serious, he carried weight.
After a brief silence, he spoke.
"Minato… the Third Hokage called me back this time mainly to discuss the next Hokage."
"He wants me to become the next Hokage."
Minato hadn't even had time to feel happy for him before Jiraiya continued.
"But I refused. My personality isn't suited for the position."
"So I recommended you instead."
That kind of revelation was clearly not something Hagoromo should've heard—which explained why he'd been sent away.
And in any case, the Third Hokage had only begun considering the matter. This wasn't an immediate transition—he was looking for candidates, not appointing a Fourth Hokage right away.
Over the following days, Hagoromo waited—but no new missions came.
For the time being, he was free.
And so, he resumed a form of training that had been interrupted for quite some time.
Chakra nature transformation training.
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