Jiraiya, is one of the legendary Sannins of the Hidden Leaf Village. His surname was never revealed, but Jiraiya had many titles in the ‘Naruto’ franchise. Known as the Toad Sage, one of the Legendary Sannin, and both godfather and sensei to Naruto Uzumaki, he left quite a mark on the storyline.
The Sannin was repeatedly offered the position of Hokage, and yet he repeatedly turned the position down. Initially, he didn’t accept it, because he didn’t believe himself worthy of it. He preferred to be able to hide amongst the people instead of standing out as the village leader. With that established, let us now dive in to know why he is called as the Toad Sage in the anime series.
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Why The Pervert Sage Is Also Called As The Toad Sage?
In the manga, it’s unclear just when Jiraiya began his training with the toads and undertook a summoning contract with them. The anime, however, provided some filler episodes to give a little more backstory to Jiraiya’s journey. When Jiraiya tried to summon an animal without a contract binding him to them, he was transported to Mount Myoboku.
He didn’t leave right away, but instead, lived amongst the toads and trained with them. Living with them caused him to gain respect for them, and in turn, many toads trusted him enough to go into battle with him. He was able to summon several different toads to help him instead of relying on his contract with just one.
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What Inspired Jiraiya To Become A Writer?
Though most of Jiraiya’s stories were inspired by his pursuit of Lady Tsunade and his romantic escapades, that’s not what initially got him writing. Instead, Jiraiya was inspired by one of his students. Jiraiya’s first novel, ‘The Tale Of The Gutsy Shinobi‘, was inspired by Nagato.
Nagato wanted to make the world a better place, just like Jiraiya did, and just like the main character of his book. He named the character Naruto instead of Nagato, and the name ended up being passed on to his godson, even if the book wasn’t a best seller.
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