Mokgetsu, as usual, arrived at the designated location ten minutes early to wait.
But to Mokgetsu's slight surprise, he found Kushina already standing there when he arrived.
"Hmph, this time I got here first," Kushina said with her hands on her hips, her snow-white chin slightly raised, smiling with a face full of pride.
Mokgetsu didn't expect Kushina to have such a strong desire to win in this peculiar situation, but being early was nice, as it meant there was a bit more time to study Fuinjutsu later.
"Yes, Kushina-sensei, you're really diligent," Mokgetsu complimented her with a smile.
"Haha, I am Konoha's number one sealing ninja, of course, this is only natural," Kushina laughed heartily, accepting Mokgetsu's compliment.
"Quick, quick, I can't wait to see that photo you said is guaranteed to make anyone laugh," Kushina urged Mokgetsu, her eyes shining brightly.
Mokgetsu didn't dawdle, taking out all the photos he brought, and placing the one with Minato's forced smile on top.
"Hahaha..."
Looking at the familiar face with such a funny expression, Kushina burst into laughter.
"Did you use some kind of ninjutsu to control Minato? How did you get him to show this expression that looks like he wants to laugh but can't?" Kushina asked curiously after laughing for a while.
"Probably because there was a big battle during the day, and he was physically exhausted. Then, since the photo was for you, he had to look spirited and have a smile, which turned out like this," Mokgetsu speculated.
"This is so rare, I must put this photo in a frame and preserve it well," Kushina said seriously.
She's seen Minato's normal smile many times, but never this kind, making it worth preserving.
Kushina continued to flip through the remaining photos. There were ones with Minato looking serious and others showing a helpless expression at some unknown events; Kushina carefully looked through each one.
"War, huh, it's really a detestable thing," Kushina couldn't help but look up at the sky and sigh after putting away the photos.
Kushina was an extremely lively and enthusiastic person. She didn't like sighing, but war was one of the few things that could make her sigh after thinking a bit more about it.
Kushina wasn't born in Konoha; she was born in the Land of Whirlpools, a small country inhabited only by the Uzumaki Clan.
The Land of Whirlpools was very small, it's called a country, but the whole nation was just a small island, not even as large as a big city in the Land of Fire.
Despite its small size, the Land of Whirlpools had no intention of expansion and never attacked other countries.
Because the Uzumaki Clan was distantly related to the Senju Clan, they had a great relationship with Konoha. A friendship treaty was signed, and it's safe to say Konoha's fuinjutsu developed based on the Uzumaki Fuinjutsu. To commemorate this friendship, Konoha Ninja uniforms bore the Uzumaki Clan's emblem.
In Kushina's impression, the scenery of the Land of Whirlpools was not inferior to that of the Land of Fire. The Land of Whirlpools was also lush with greenery, hot in the summer, but not cold in the winter.
She loved the Land of Whirlpools very much, but due to her special chakra, she was chosen to become the second Nine-tailed Jinchuriki at a young age, then sent directly to Konoha when she was of schooling age.
Afterward, she received news from Uzumaki Mito about the destruction of the Land of Whirlpools.
It wasn't just one or two; many countries joined forces and wiped out the Land of Whirlpools, and just like that, the Land of Whirlpools became history.
Since then, Kushina has detested war. If it weren't for war, her country wouldn't have perished.
Though Minato didn't have any visible injuries, Kushina noticed some stubborn stains on his clothes and that his face wasn't as clean as when he's at home. After all, on the battlefield, it's not possible to wash one's face twice a day.
"Minato asked me to pass a message to you: 'I'm fine, take care of your health, don't stay up late, and make sure to eat on time,'" Mokgetsu relayed Minato's message to Kushina.
"Really, does he see me as a child who can't take care of herself?" Kushina paused for a moment, then retorted, but an uncontrollable happy smile appeared on her face.
Then the two of them walked to the place where they had previously taught Fuinjutsu.
Kushina cleared her throat and, regaining her lively smile, said, "Kushina's Fuinjutsu class is officially starting. Student Mokgetsu, start reporting your learning progress."
Mokgetsu thought for a moment and decided to hide some of his progress, recalling the memories of when he was just getting started, and then spoke.
It's not that he didn't trust Kushina, but the performance shouldn't vary too much, and Anbu was still watching. He had already shown an even stronger talent in fuinjutsu than initially expected; he needed to advance cyclically, not take too big a step at once.
"Oh, really? You learn quite fast. You've almost mastered the Four Symbols Seal after just two of my lessons. You must have done quite a bit of self-study in your spare time," Kushina said, satisfied with Mokgetsu's diligence.
Under her guidance, Minato had already become an excellent sealing ninja. If Mokgetsu could become like Minato, she would have trained two outstanding disciples.
"I feel that if I became a Guiding Jonin, I could definitely become Konoha's new Fuinjutsu master," Kushina laughed heartily.
But she could only imagine it. Her identity as a Jinchuriki meant she couldn't take on the role of a guiding teacher, since guiding teachers often need to lead teams on missions, and a Jinchuriki can't leave the village freely due to various restrictions, which is very inconvenient.
"You don't have to become a Guiding Jonin to teach students. Maybe in the future, the Ninja Academy will extend teaching hours and start teaching more advanced ninjutsu knowledge. By then, you could just directly teach at the Ninja Academy," Mokgetsu said with a smile.
He even had an idea of transforming the Ninja Academy into a school that integrated elementary, middle, and university education. The elementary curriculum would be like a current ninja's, middle school would start teaching Nature Transformation Ninjutsu, and university would add specialties like Fuinjutsu, Barrier Jutsu, and Medical Ninjutsu.
Teaching non-apprentice students was also an important part of his system. Mokgetsu speculated that if he could teach stronger disciples, there might be even better rewards. For instance, when he taught Kushina and Minato cooking, even though there were only two students, there was a lecture reward—if only a recipe, it was still a reward.
"That's impossible. If it were like you said, students who were more skilled would be able to graduate university and directly become Jonin," Kushina felt that Mokgetsu's idea was somewhat unrealistic.
Spending more than ten years to train a ninja was too long, and Konoha hadn't been established for even a few decades.
"Kushina, do you think it's normal for someone to graduate as a ninja at twelve?" Mokgetsu thought for a moment and asked.
"It's very normal. Generally, this is the latest age to graduate. I graduated at twelve, and Minato graduated at ten," Kushina nodded, her expression unchanged.
Mokgetsu sighed inwardly. This was the difference in perspectives. In his view, letting a ten or twelve-year-old graduate to become a ninja was akin to sending a child who hadn't even graduated elementary school to become an assassin. It wasn't normal at all.
However, Mokgetsu had to admit that his plan for a Ninja University was indeed unfeasible at the moment.
It's wartime now, and although the current situation hasn't resulted in a shortage of manpower, once Konoha gets overwhelmed, never mind having students undergo a training period of over a decade, they'd be rushed to graduate in two or three years and sent to the battlefield to quickly grow into usable power.
Plus, the current Hokage is Sarutobi Hiruzen. Based on what Mokgetsu knew about Hiruzen, he wouldn't agree to such a significant overhaul of the Ninja Academy.
The impact of setting up middle schools, universities, vacation special training, and internship programs is on a completely different level.
The special training and internship programs don't necessarily lengthen training time, and might even shorten it. Only students and Chunin Teachers would be affected by them.
But setting up middle schools and universities is different. On one hand, ninja training time would be significantly extended, and on the other hand, advanced knowledge would require stronger ninjas to teach it, necessitating Jonins with specific expertise to teach at the Ninja Academy.
This would affect too many areas, and Sarutobi Hiruzen, a cautious person, wouldn't agree to a proposal that could bring such a huge change to Konoha.
"Although it's difficult now, I think anything is possible in the future," Mokgetsu said with a gentle smile.
It might not be feasible now, but in this world where martial power reigns supreme, and with his extraordinary potential, what seems impossible can become possible.
"Haha, if the Ninja Academy really becomes like you said, Mokgetsu, I'd certainly become a famed Sealing Master throughout Konoha," Kushina imagined along with Mokgetsu's thoughts and said with a laugh.
Mokgetsu smiled and stopped discussing the school, focusing on learning Fuinjutsu from Kushina.
Under Kushina's watchful eye, Mokgetsu successfully employed the Four Symbols Seal.
"Not bad at all. You can now say your fuinjutsu was taught by me," Kushina said, looking very satisfied.
Mokgetsu then took the opportunity to ask several questions about sealing chakra, and Kushina answered each one.
As it was approaching noon, Mokgetsu and Kushina went to find a restaurant where they could borrow the kitchen to cook their lunch.
Before parting ways, Mokgetsu handed Kushina a box of pastries and said with a smile, "This time, you should be able to take it home."
Kushina opened it to find the same fragrant and delicious desserts as before, and her eyes lit up immediately.
"Mokgetsu, you gave it to me after lunch. Do you think I can't eat desserts after meals, that I'm a weak eater? Girls have a stomach specifically for desserts," Kushina said, immediately eating an osmanthus cake with a satisfied smile.
She was joking, of course. These treats were so good, it was best to let them settle before indulging. By the time she walked back, she could start eating again.
After parting with Kushina, Mokgetsu returned to training his disciples as usual. The day before yesterday, he had undergone another special training session, and both Shisui and Obito had significantly improved their dodging skills. It was time to increase the difficulty.