Jiraya

**Jiraiya** (自来也) was one of Konohagakure's Sannin. Famed as a hermit and pervert of stupendous ninja skill, Jiraiya travelled the world in search of knowledge that would help his friends, the various novels he wrote, and, posthumously, the world in its entirety – knowledge that would be passed on to his godson and final student, Naruto Uzumaki.

## Abilities

Jiraiya was an exceptionally powerful shinobi, hailed as one of the greatest ninja of his generation and that Konoha ever produced. His true recognition came during the Second Shinobi World War when proved able to compete against Hanzō and his giant salamander Ibuse, and was dubbed a Sannin. Renowned groups like the Uchiha Clan and Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist paled in comparison. Kisame Hoshigaki viewed Jiraiya as being leagues above himself, while Itachi Uchiha says if he and Jiraiya fought it would be a stalemate, even with assistance. He was offered to become Hokage three times, and would have been offered a fourth one had he lived longer. Kakashi, also among the most powerful shinobi Konoha ever produced, found the idea of Jiraiya being single-handedly defeated absurd. In truth, the assumed Akatsuki leader Nagato openly admitted that he would have lost had Jiraiya prior knowledge of the Six Paths of Pain, which Tobi felt is a major testament to the Sannin's abilities. Upon death, he became one of the individuals Kabuto Yakushi most wanted to reincarnate for war. Decades later, Jiraiya's might was still revered as a clone was made of him.

### Chakra and Physical Prowess

Jiraiya has chakra reserves large enough to summon Gamabunta and chakra potent enough to use senjutsu. He was masterful with his chakra control, able to perform a Rasengan in both hands at the same time, or even carve messages with his chakra despite it being disrupted. He also was knowledgeable enough of genjutsu to teach others how to break free from it. His raw might is also considerable, able to fling Naruto several metres with a single finger tap. In the anime, he is shown lifting and throwing large boulders, as well as kicking away some of the Giant Multi-Headed Dogs.

Jiraiya was also remarkably resilient, able to withstand a lot of damage before going down. He could survive a full on kick from Might Guy with barely a scratch, and even attacks from summons as big as Gamabunta. Due to this resilience, he has only been brought to the brink of death twice: against Naruto Uzumaki's Four-Tailed Form and Tsunade's monster strength, and even Nagato had a difficult time inflicting lethal damage on his old master using the Six Paths of Pain.

### Ninjutsu

Jiraiya is a ninjutsu master, famed as the "Toad Sage" (蝦蟇仙人, *Gama Sennin*) because of his affiliation with the toads of Mount Myōboku. This affiliation is most commonly displayed through summoning toads, either to fight alongside him in battle or simply summoning a toad's œsophagus to cover an area and restrict any movements within that area. Other toad-based skills include spitting oil from his mouth, hiding himself within a target's shadow to control their actions undetected, and using toads to infiltrate sensitive areas.

Apart form his toad-based techniques, he is equally skilled in a variety of other styles. He can grow and manipulate his hair, either to bind and destroy targets or to surround him as a defence, injuring any who comes into contact with him. He is also able to use the Rasengan — a destructive ball of compressed chakra — as well as its improved version, the Big Ball Rasengan. His prowess with the Rasengan is shown to be comparable to the creator, Minato.

Jiraiya is well-versed in fūinjutsu, able to deduce the workings of Naruto's Eight Trigrams Sealing Style within moments of seeing the seal's design. He also quickly notices the seal is being restricted, and as such easily removes the restriction. He can create seals for others that they can use to suppress the chakra of those who have been applied with Jiraiya's seal. He also displays a certain skill for barrier ninjutsu, erecting barriers to either detect all movements within a wide radius or toad-themed barriers for him to take shelter in. In the anime, he can also apply a seal on people that acts as a powerful protection from chakra-absorbing techniques.

Jiraiya can utilise the natures of Fire, Earth, Water, Wind, Yin and Yang Release. With Fire Release, he can a shoot a blast of fire that he can combine with his toad's oil to make for an even more devastating attack. With Earth Release, he can create a swamp to trap targets in and massive defensive walls.

### Senjutsu

Jiraiya was taught how to use senjutsu by Fukasaku, which he can use to increase his speed, durability, and physical strength. He can also use it to empower his other ninjutsu, such as the Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan. Before he can gain these benefits, Jiraiya must enter Sage Mode, which he does not have complete mastery of. This causes his Sage Mode form to make him more toad-like in appearance, such as warts and webbed hands and feet, although his frog-like legs enable him to jump better. Using Sage Mode requires his supply of natural energy be constantly replenished, something that is difficult to do while in combat. For this reason, Jiraiya summons Fukasaku and Shima and fuses them to his body, having them gather natural energy for him. As an added bonus, Fukasaku and Shima can combine attacks with Jiraiya's, as with the Sage Art: Goemon, or they can perform jutsu that he can't, as with genjutsu.

### Intelligence

Despite his goofy and eccentric nature, Jiraiya is actually very shrewd in the field. His specialty is intelligence gathering, having a spy network that runs throughout the Five Great Shinobi Countries that he can use to gain information about a particular person or group to be used to his or his allies' advantage. In combat, he is very perceptive; Jiraiya observes all of the opponents' various actions, forms a theory about the how and why, and uses that theory to try and capitalise in the battle. He has repeatedly proven to be a very talented teacher, as all his students went on to become very powerful and well-known shinobi. His memory is very good; as he was dying, he was able to craft a coded message using the page numbers of *Icha Icha Tactics*, with the first word on each page serving as his message.