Jiraiya (Naruto)
Once a student of the
Third Hokage, he,
Orochimaru and
Tsunade are known as the "Densetsu no Sannin" (伝説の三忍, "Legendary Three Ninja") or simply the "Sannin", while Jiraiya himself is known as the "Gama Sennin" (蝦蟇仙人, "Toad Hermit").
Jiraiya was the
Jonin sensei of the
Fourth Hokage and two other, as of yet unknown, Genin. After leaving
Konoha, he became an author of adult
novels, his most popular work being "Make-Out Paradise" (イチャイチャパラダイス, "Icha Icha Paradaisu"), which
Kakashi Hatake enjoys. At this time he also began following the movements of his former teammate and deserter Orochimaru, as well as the organization known as
Akatsuki.
Jiraiya is a self-described super-pervert and a frequent voyeurist, going so far as to create his
Toton Jutsu ("Transparent Escape Technique") so that he wouldn't get caught spying on naked women. He never actually hides his perverseness, and even seems proud of it, as seen when he told the Third Hokage about it when he was still a child. Despite this, he doesn't like being called "Ero-sennin" (エロ仙人, "Pervert hermit," "Erotic hermit") by
Naruto in front of others. He has been caught peeping at least once when he was younger, by Tsunade. Tsunade, in her anger, beat Jiraiya within an inch of his life, breaking both his arms, six of his ribs, and rupturing any number of organs. This is apparently one of the only two instances that Jiraiya has been on the brink of death (the second, he explains, is when Naruto unleashes his four-tailed Kyubi form during their training in the timeskip).
When he first appears in the story, Jiraiya is in Konoha spying on women bathing as "research" for his next novel. It is at this point that he meets Naruto, who is undergoing training for the Chunin exam by walking on water. Naruto's then sensei, Ebisu, tries to make Jiraiya stop peeping on the women, for which Jiraiya summons a toad and has it knock Ebisu unconscious. Since this cuts Naruto's training short, Naruto demands that Jiraiya replace Ebisu as his sensei (and at the same time shouting, "Research my ass! You're just peeping at naked women, pervert!" scaring away the girls from the spring). Though reluctant at first, Naruto's persistence and his Oiroke no Jutsu ("Sexy Technique") finally persuades Jiraiya to agree. Jiraiya insists on seeing the technique every so often after agreeing to train Naruto.
During their training, Jiraiya removes the
Gogyo Fuin (Five Elements Seal) that Orochimaru had put on Naruto during the second part of the Chunin exam in the
Forest of Death, which had prevented him from using the
Kyubi's chakra and even made his own chakra unstable. After the seal is removed, Naruto picks up the water-walking technique instantly. Jiraiya also gives Naruto special training for the last trial of the Chunin exam, which includes Naruto tapping into some of Kyubi's strength at will and the
Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique), the former of which is required for the latter. Later on, when the Chunin exam is disrupted by Orochimaru, Jiraiya joins in the battle in defending Konoha, making his entrance on a huge summoned toad.
After the death of the Third Hokage, the village elders (
Homura Mitokado and
Koharu Utatane) ask Jiraiya to lead them and take up the title of the Fifth Hokage. Jiraiya declines, and instead promises to search for Tsunade, whom he thought would do a better job as
Hokage. Jiraiya brought Naruto with him for the search. Aside from needing the help, Jiraiya wanted to protect Naruto from Akatsuki, who were trying to find and capture him at the time, so he takes him with him. They eventually find Tsunade at a bar, Jiraiya having convinced Naruto to enter after promising him he doesn't need to drink, and Jiraiya tries to convince Tsunade to assume the role of Hokage.
It is during this journey that Jiraiya teaches Naruto a technique called Rasengan. In addition to being an A-level jutsu that requires no hand seals (except for Naruto due to the fact that he uses a Kage Bunshin to form it), Jiraiya claims that Rasengan is a technique more powerful than Chidori (a claim that seems to be true) and is (now 'was') only able to be used by Jiraiya and the
Fourth Hokage. As a teacher of the Fourth Hokage, Jiraiya could not help but be amazed at how quickly Naruto learned the technique - Naruto achieved the ability to execute Rasengan in one week when it took the Fourth Hokage three years to complete it. It should be noted, however, that the discrepancy in achievement time can be attributed to the different context in which the technique was learned; the Fourth had to create the technique by himself and probably didn't have the luxury of being able to train around the clock, whereas Naruto had the guidance of Jiraiya and was able to train almost non-stop, greatly leaning on the stamina he received from the Kyubi chakra.
After Naruto's failed attempt to stop Sasuke from becoming a missing-nin, Jiraiya bitterly comments to Naruto that Sasuke is the same type as Orochimaru, so he should forget about Sasuke, as both he and Orochimaru are blinded by their lust for power (or, in Sasuke's case, revenge). It is revealed that Naruto's interaction with Sasuke was similar to that of Jiraiya and Orochimaru. Both had been rivals and yet friends at the same time, and Jiraiya had actually gone after Orochimaru as Naruto did with Sasuke. Orochimaru, too, got away in the end, saying that Jiraiya was a fool. Jiraiya says that he had initially kept asking himself why, but eventually accepted the fact that Orochimaru wasn't coming back, and tells Naruto he doesn't want the same thing to happen to him. Naruto retorts that he'd be happier living as a fool, if that were the case, and that he'd train hard during the three years to defeat Orochimaru and Akatsuki. Jiraiya then slowly breaks into a smile before saying, "A fool is a fool, but only a moron would do something like that. When you leave the hospital, get ready, you big fool."
Eventually, knowing that Naruto is a target for Akatsuki, and that Naruto wants to go after Orochimaru, he takes Naruto with him and gives him one-on-one training for two and a half years. Upon their return, Jiraiya turns care of Naruto back over to Hatake Kakashi. In the meantime, he intends to research more about Akatsuki's whereabouts and other motives.
* The kanji of his name (自来也) has a double meaning as "coming on one's own", which pretty much describes his personality; quietly appearing and disappearing from Konoha at any time. It may also be a reference to his perverse hobbies.
* The names of Jiraiya,
Tsunade and
Orochimaru come from the
Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari (児雷也豪傑物語, "The tale of the gallant Jiraiya") from Japanese literature. The Jiraiya in this story excelled in summoning a giant toad (the toad itself was sometimes called "Jiraiya") and toad magic. In that story, Jiraiya and Tsunade were a married couple. In this story, his name is written as "児雷也" meaning "Young Thunder" which in turn comes from the name Garaiya (我来也, "I came") from the
Chinese story Kaishi (諧史).
* As Tsunade is the "Sakura" and Orochimaru the "Sasuke" of their group, Jiraiya can be considered the "Naruto". When the Third Hokage gave them the same bell test that Kakashi gives his students, Jiraiya was the one who got tied to the pole just like Naruto was, and like Naruto, who was berated by Sakura initially, he was consistently beaten up by Tsunade for being a pervert. Incidentally, Naruto becomes Jiraiya's protégé, Sakura becomes Tsunade's protégé, and Sasuke becomes Orochimaru's protégé.
* The kanji on Jiraiya's forehead protector (油, Abura) means "oil", which probably has to do with the usage of toad oil (蝦蟇の油, "Gama no Abura") for medicine and his flame-oil attack with Gamabunta.
* The Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari is often played in
Kabuki nowadays. The way Jiraiya is dressed is similar to what he looks like in the Kabuki play. The way he talks is also from Kabuki.
* According to the official databook, Jiraiya's favorite foods are garlic root and fried chicken; his least favorite foods are kiwi and gratin. His hobby is "data-gathering" (which, in his case, means peeping on women and drinking sake). His favorite phrase is "free-spirited".
* Jiraiya is also called "The Toad Hermit".
Muten-Rôshi (Master Roshi) from the
Dragon Ball series is called "The Turtle Hermit". Both are perverts and refused to train them (Naruto/Goku) unless they brought a pretty lady.
* In previous interviews by
Shonen Jump and NarutoFan, Kishimoto was asked about the
Icha Icha series::
NF: "We want to know more about Make-Out Paradise. We're old enough to know, so just whisper it.":
MK: "Since
Naruto in Shonen Jump is for young boys, there's no way that I can talk about it. Even here, among us, it's too embarrassing. If you're an adult, you can imagine what I mean. It's a fantasy fairy tale, and it's pretty graphic.":
SJ: "Is there ever going to be a manga adaptation of Icha Icha Paradise [Make-Out Paradise]?":
MK: "NEVER."
* In the anime filler episode titled "OH!? Please ♥ Mister Postman" (episode 177), Naruto
ghostwrites one of Jiraya's
Icha Icha novels.
* Jiraiya's checkbooks reveal that he is supposedly fairly wealthy most likely due to the popularity of the Icha Icha series. However he is not above taking Naruto's own money-purse and spending it on sake and women.
* Jiraiya's last name may be Kayaku, as written on the contract scroll for the Gama family seen in chapter 92, page 18, of the
Naruto manga. It could also be the Fourth Hokage's, as it is uncertain who it belongs to.
