Jiraiya

A boisterous, self-styled super pervert who writes risqué novels and calls himself the Toad Sage, Jiraiya hides one of the ninja world's sharpest minds and kindest hearts. He trained the Fourth Hokage and later takes Naruto as his student, teaching him the Rasengan and toad summoning. His search for the truth about the Akatsuki leads him to a confrontation with his own former pupil.

An unusually tall, broad-shouldered man with a wild mane of spiky white hair that hangs past his waist, often gathered in a long ponytail. Red lines run from beneath his eyes down his cheeks, and he wears a horned forehead protector bearing the character for oil rather than Konoha's leaf. His outfit is a green shirt and trousers under a red sleeveless haori, with mesh armour, hand guards, wooden sandals and a large scroll strapped across his back. He frequently arrives perched on a summoned toad or striking an exaggerated pose.

Loud, theatrical and unapologetically lecherous, Jiraiya introduces himself with grand self-promoting speeches and spends as much time peeping at bathhouses and researching his adult novels as he does training. Beneath the clowning is one of the shrewdest minds in the village: he runs an international spy network, reads people quickly and rarely commits to a fight he has not already measured. He dislikes responsibility and refuses the Hokage title, yet he is fiercely loyal to Konoha and to his old teammates, carrying open grief over Orochimaru's defection. With Naruto he is gruff, teasing and occasionally cruel in his teaching methods, but he plainly sees the boy as an heir to a legacy worth protecting.

Orphaned early and trained under the Third Hokage alongside Tsunade and Orochimaru, Jiraiya was the least gifted of the three as a child and compensated with stubbornness. The trio earned the title of Legendary Sannin after surviving a confrontation with Hanzo of the Salamander during a war. Summoned to Mount Myoboku by the toads, he learned their summoning contract and was told of a prophecy naming him the teacher of a student who would change the world. He later trained a Konoha genin team and mentored the shinobi who became the Fourth Hokage. Rather than settle in the village, he spent his years wandering as a travelling spy and author, keeping his distance after Orochimaru abandoned Konoha.

1. Chunin Exams

   Naruto stumbles across him peeping at a hot spring and badgers him into training. Jiraiya forces the boy to draw on the Nine-Tails' chakra by hurling him into a ravine, teaching him the toad summoning technique in the process. He also applies a Five Elements Seal over Orochimaru's cursed mark on Sasuke to suppress it.

2. Konoha Crush

   Absent during the invasion itself, he returns to a village in mourning after the Third Hokage's death at Orochimaru's hands. The elders press him to take the hat, and he refuses, instead proposing that the last of the Sannin, Tsunade, be found and installed as Fifth Hokage, taking Naruto along as a pretext for training.

3. Search for Tsunade

   On the road he teaches Naruto the Rasengan in stages using a water balloon, a rubber ball and finally a bare palm. He confronts Orochimaru and Kabuto at an inn, and later arrives at the climactic three-way battle, summoning Gamabunta to fight Manda while Tsunade and Naruto take the field.

4. Sasuke Recovery Mission and aftermath

   He returns from intelligence gathering with warnings about the organisation hunting Naruto and about Orochimaru's plans for Sasuke. After the retrieval mission fails, he proposes taking Naruto out of the village for several years of training, and the series closes with the two of them setting off together on that journey.

Naruto Uzumaki

Student

He mocks Naruto constantly and exploits him for cover while peeping, yet trains him in summoning and the Rasengan and quietly regards him as the boy the toad prophecy spoke of. Their bickering hides real affection on both sides.

Tsunade

Former teammate

He has carried an unrequited attraction to her since childhood and endures her insults and gambling debts with resignation. He tracks her down after the Third's death because he believes she is the only person who can restore the village's spirit.

Orochimaru

Former teammate

The defection of his closest rival left a wound Jiraiya never closed. He confronts Orochimaru twice in the series, rejects his offers, and admits he could not bring himself to kill his old friend when the chance existed.

The Third Hokage

Teacher

Hiruzen Sarutobi trained all three Sannin and remained a father figure. Jiraiya reported to him from the field for decades, and his death in the invasion is what finally pulls Jiraiya back into village politics.

• He throws Naruto off a cliff to force the boy to call on the Nine-Tails' chakra and summon a toad for the first time.
• He corrects the tampering on Naruto's Nine-Tails seal and applies a suppression seal over Sasuke's cursed mark during the Chunin Exams.
• He turns down the office of Fifth Hokage and nominates Tsunade instead.
• He teaches Naruto the Rasengan using a water balloon, a rubber ball and finally an empty hand.
• He summons Gamabunta to face Orochimaru's snake Manda in the three-way Sannin clash.

• His forehead protector bears the character for oil, marking his ties to Mount Myoboku rather than to Konoha alone.
• He writes a series of risque novels that Kakashi is regularly seen reading.
• He introduces himself with an elaborate kabuki-style pose and self-announcement.
• Naruto's nickname for him plays on his perverted habits, and Jiraiya loudly objects to it every time.

• Naruto Uzumaki
• Sasuke Uchiha
• Sakura Haruno
• Kakashi Hatake
• Itachi Uchiha
• Hinata Hyuga

Back to the Naruto guide