Board Thread:Versus Debates/@comment-28136690-20160519163311/@comment-28300173-20160523010128

AsianReaper wrote: So Hagaromo learned in basically the same way as Jiraiya and Naruto and presumably Minato but just for him it isn't considered a form of Sage Mode? They're doing the same thing.

People with curse seals can't mold the nature energy themselves, hence the curse seal. Hagoromo can.

You're correct, I believe. I think that any user of senjutsu that can tame the chakra themselves, apart from a Curse Seal, could be considered a Sage, or "Sage Mode". That includes Hagoromo; apparently his senjutsu manifests in the form of "Six Paths senjutsu". So it's a form of Sage Mode regardless, meaning he would have a role in this discussion.