Jiraiya (自来也, Jiraiya^?) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Naruto created by Masashi Kishimoto.

His name means "young thunder" which is a description of his personality; quietly appearing and disappearing from Konoha at any time. The kanji on his forehead protector (油, Abura) means "oil", which can point to his oil spitting for ninjutsu.

Jiraiya is named after the character of the same name from Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari (児雷也豪傑物語, "The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya"). 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. There, 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).

[edit] Background

Jiraiya's Genin team with Minato and two other unknown members.

As a child, Jiraiya and his former teammates, Orochimaru and Tsunade, were students of the Third Hokage. After leaving the Third's tutelage, he traveled the world and discovered the residence of the toads, a species he proved to have a natural affinity for. During this time, Jiraiya is told a prophecy concerning him and his students, which states that they will decide the fate of the world. Once returning to Konoha, Jiraiya and his former teammates were forced into battle with Hanzo as a result of an ongoing war at the time. When they proved able to survive his attacks, Hanzo rewarded them with the title of "Legendary Three Ninja" (伝説の三忍, Densetsu no Sannin^?) to indicate their status as the strongest ninja in Konoha. Once the battle was over, Jiraiya encountered three orphans from Amegakure; Konan, Yahiko, and Nagato. He looked after them for a time and taught them ninjutsu before leaving them so that they could pursue their own goals. Although news of their exploits reached him from time to time, he thought them to have died during an undisclosed incident.

Once becoming a Jonin capable of leading a squad, Jiraiya became the sensei of Minato Namikaze and two other unknown Genin. Years later, when Orochimaru betrayed Konoha and fled the village, Jiraiya pursued him, trying to convince his friend to come back. Orochimaru refused and attacked Jiraiya, turning his back on Konoha forever. While he tried to find a reason for Orochimaru's defection, he eventually realized that his friend wasn't coming back. Feeling he was responsible for Orochimaru's escape, Jiraiya left Konoha so he could follow Orochimaru's movements as well as the organization Orochimaru eventually joined, Akatsuki. In doing so, Jiraiya was unable to fulfill the Third's wishes of taking on the role of Hokage, knowing that tracking down Orochimaru was more important.

[edit] Personality

Despite the fact that he left Konoha for many years, Jiraiya has maintained a strong allegiance with his hometown. During Orochimaru's invasion of Konoha, he helps fend off the invading forces in order to protect the village. When Konoha finds itself in need of a new Hokage after the Third Hokage's death, Jiraiya volunteers to look for Tsunade so that she can become the Third's successor after turning down the position himself. After he finds Tsunade and begins to suspect that she may be assisting Orochimaru, he makes it clear that he will kill her if she betrays the village. Tsunade ultimately turns out to be loyal to Konoha, and Jiraiya joins her in attempting to defeat Orochimaru.

Jiraiya is a self-proclaimed super-pervert with no equal and a frequent voyeur, going so far as to create the Transparent Escape Technique (透遁術, Tōton Jutsu^?, English TV "Transparency Jutsu") to allow him to spy on naked women without being caught (doing "research" as he calls it). He never actually hides his perversion and even seems proud of it, as seen when he told the Third Hokage about it when he was still a child. Despite this, Jiraiya doesn't like being called Ero-sennin (エロ仙人, Ero-sennin^? literally "Perverted hermit" or "Erotic hermit"; English TV "Pervy Sage") by Naruto Uzumaki in front of others.

Jiraiya's perversion has been used against him on occasion, as seen when Naruto gets Jiraiya to start training him after a simple display of the Sexy Technique. When two Akatsuki members later try to distract Jiraiya, they use a hypnotized woman to catch his eye and keep him busy. While their effort initially succeeds, Jiraiya eventually sees through their plot due solely to the fact that women do not typically express interest in him. His peeping habits have also caused him great injury on one occasion; when caught spying on Tsunade in his younger years, she proceeded to break both of his arms, six of his ribs, and ruptured a number of organs as punishment.

Some time after leaving Konoha, Jiraiya 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^?), a personal favorite of Kakashi Hatake's. The novels are based on his rejections in love that he retells in a comical way. In a filler episode of the anime, Naruto ghostwrites one of Jiraiya's Icha Icha novels and the book is found to be very popular, indicating that Naruto is capable of writing on the same level as Jiraiya, or that Jiraiya's writing abilities are no better than those of a child. Tsunade seems to suspect that the latter is true, as she notes that a report on the Onbaa he wrote as a child, accompanied by crude crayon illustrations, was poorly written. The popularity of the Icha Icha series seems to have paid off well, as Jiraiya's checkbook reveals that he is fairly wealthy (Naruto exclaims that there are quite a few zeros at the end). Despite his wealth, Jiraiya is not above taking Naruto's money and spending it on sake and women, and frequently disappears when Naruto attempts to make him pay.

Jiraiya has also been known to show off even during a fight. This showing off typically takes the form of traditional kabuki poses, keeping with his hermit theme. He becomes annoyed if he is interrupted for whatever reason while trying to strike a pose.

[edit] Abilities

Jiraiya is known as the "Toad Sage" (蝦蟇仙人, Gama Sennin^?) due to his utilization of a number of toad-related jutsu. Many typically deal with summoning toads, and he has risen to a level of ability that allows him to summon Gamabunta. He can even summon the nearly indestructible esophagus of a great, fire-breathing toad with Summoning: Toad Mouth Bind (口寄せ・蝦蟇口縛り, Kuchiyose: Gamaguchi Shibari^?, English TV "Toad Mouth Trap"). Once the jutsu has been used to cover the area, Jiraiya can control it as he pleases and use it to trap most ninja. In desperate situations, Jiraiya is able to switch into a "Sage Mode" (仙人モード, "Sage Mode"^?). Because he has not yet learned how to utilize the mode by himself, he must summon two elder toads to assist him, who further aid him by contributing their own techniques to a battle. Despite the advantages the form allows him, it gives him webbed-hands and a number of warts, and thus he dislikes using the form since his new look scares away girls. When abroad gaining intelligence, he can use one toad as a mobile base of operations that can change size and appearance to suit his needs.

In addition to calling upon toads for aid in battle, Jiraiya has a number of jutsu he can use independently. His Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld (土遁・黄泉沼, Doton: Yomi Numa^?, English TV "Earth Style: Dark Swamp") to create a large swampland under a target that is capable of completely engulfing them. He can spit either fire or oil from his mouth, allowing him to burn or drench opponents as he pleases. Jiraiya has also been shown to use his hair for jutsu, and can grow and sharpen it to surround him as a shield, protecting him from harm and injuring attackers, or use it to bind and impale opponents. His Toad-Silhouette Control Technique (蝦蟇平影操りの術, Gama Daira Kage Ayatsuri no Jutsu^?) allows him to merge with the shadows of others, and through this he is able to take complete control of their body. Jiraiya was taught how to use the Rasengan by Minato, and has since developed a variant called Super Great Ball Rasengan (超大玉螺旋丸, Chō Ōdama Rasengan^?), though its capabilities are currently unknown. He is, however, not suited for genjutsu, and thus cannot effectively utilize it in battle.

Jiraiya has been shown to be very knowledgeable with sealing jutsu, and has used a number of them throughout the series. When first meeting Naruto, he quickly deduces that the seal on Naruto's stomach keeps the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox sealed within him though also allows its chakra to mix with his own. He later creates a method of suppressing the demon fox's influence over Naruto through the Subdue Seal (押封印, Ō Fūin^?), which activates by simply coming into contact with Naruto's body. In addition, he can utilize the Fire Sealing Method (封火法印, Fūka Hōin^?, English TV "Fire Seal") to contain a fire within a scroll for future study.

[edit] Plot overview

Jiraiya predominately acts as Naruto's teacher, instructing him on how to better utilize the demon fox's chakra and showing him how to summon toads and perform the Rasengan. Due to the amount of time they have spent together and because of his relation with Minato, Naruto's father, Jiraiya has come to think of Naruto as a grandson. He also acts as an intelligence-gatherer for Konoha, and frequently appears after long absences to report on Akatsuki and Orochimaru's doings. Jiraiya takes Naruto with him at the end of Part I for an additional two-and-a-half years of training to help him better face the challenges that await him in Part II. During this time he tries to give Naruto more access to the demon fox's chakra by using the key to the seal left to him by Minato, though only injures himself and weakens the seal in the process.

After returning Naruto to Konoha, Jiraiya learns that the Akatsuki leader, Pain, is located in Amegakure. He goes to the village to investigate where he learns that Pain was able to kill Hanzo, the village's former leader that had beaten him years earlier. As he makes ready to face Pain, Jiraiya makes plans to transfer the key of the demon fox to Naruto in the event that something should happen to him. Jiraiya infiltrates Pain's hideout, but before he is able to attack Pain, he is stopped by Konan. Although momentarily surprised to see someone he thought dead, he engages her in battle and quickly restrains her. Shortly after this, Pain, whom he recognizes as Nagato, shows up and begins fighting Jiraiya in Konan's place. He is able to momentarily defeat three of Pain's bodies, but the surprise appearance of a fourth causes Jiraiya to lose his left arm. The three defeated bodies of Pain are quickly revived and the Pains regroup, ready to attack. Jiraiya is able to defeat one of the bodies and send it to Tsunade, though realizes he has met all of the Pains before. He leaves the safety of his barrier to go and investigate, and learns the truth behind Pain before being attacked by the remaining five. Pain then turns Jiraiya into his sixth body, replacing the one that he had sent to Tsunade.