Physical Information
Age: 16
Sex: Male
Birthday: 01/23
Bloodtype: AB
Height: 175.1 cm
Weight: 56.6 kg

Ninja Information
Registration ID: 012618
Hidden Village: Leaf
Rank: Chuunin
Team: 8 - Yuuhi Kurenai, Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba + Akamaru

Advancement Data
Academy Grad Age: 12
Chuunin Exam Age: 14
Jutsu: Kikaichuu, Mushi Bunshin, Mushi Kabe, Mushi Yose

Missions Completed
D-Rank: 17
C-Rank: 17
B-Rank: 9
A-Rank: 1
S-Rank: 0
First Manga Appearance: Chapter 34
First Anime Appearance: Episode 1
Name Meaning: Aburame=”Oil Woman”, Shino=Potentially meant to be same kanji as in “shinobi”
Character Study: Shino’s appearances in the series are few and far between. Shino has yet to take the forefront in any series arc, instead acting as a minor support player. His strong, unshakable confidence, mysterious look and cool aura make him popular among fans despite his ultimately creepy habits. His analytical skill and cautious nature often annoy Kiba, who thinks Shino is trying to become the de facto leader of the team.

 Aburame Shino is one of the series’ more mysterious characters. At birth, he entered into a symbiotic relationship with a breed of insect know as the “Kikaichu” or Destruction Bug, as all his clan did. In exchange for feeding on his chakra, the bugs serve multiple purposes for their host. Shino’s clothing covers much of his face, opting for circular black sunglasses to cover his eyes and a high-necked jacket to conceal his lower face. Later, his jacket includes a hood which covers even more of himself and even Naruto has difficulty recognizing him.

     Shino was assigned along with Hyuuga Hinata and Inuzaka Kiba to the tutelage of Yuuhi Kurenai. Even to his own team, he remained much of an enigma. His true abilities were first seen in the Chuunin Exam when he faced Zaku. A hole opened up in Shino’s face and to the disgust of most watching, hordes of bugs began to crawl all over his skin. Shino revealed to his opponent that the bugs would eat his chakra, rendering him too weak to move. Trapping Zaku between himself and his army, Shino demanded surrender. When Zaku threatened to attack both of them simultaneously, Shino revealed that he had a hidden surprise, sending his bugs inside Zaku’s weapon to jam it. Because Zaku’s weapons were integrated into his physical arms, they were damaged beyond repair. Shino explains that having a “trump card” or “ace in the hole” is vital in battle.

     Because of his victory, Shino advanced to the finals of the exam, slated to face Kankurou. However, when their match was to take place, Kankurou instantly gave in. The reason, it was later revealed, was to prevent anyone seeing his hidden techniques with his puppet, Karasu. Gaara’s instability then caused the premature plan of the combined Sand and Sound invasion. Shino watched as Kankurou and his siblings retreated to help Gaara, following them in secret. As Kankurou prepared to take on Sasuke to slow him down, Shino stepped in and demanded the match he had been deprived of.
Demonstrating some of the Destruction Bugs’ more unusual abilities, Shino used them to make a decoy of himself, while moving close to Kankurou to strike at him. While Shino’s hand-to-hand skills were none too impressive, he had deliberately made a feint to plant a female bug on Kankurou, giving the rest of his bugs a permanent target to chase after. Despite Kankurou managing to catch Shino with a poison gas bomb, Shino forced the stalemate as his bugs tracked Kankurou down and left him paralyzed after eating all his chakra. Shino’s father later appeared and saved his life, injecting him with his own bugs that ate away the poison. Later, Shino would be absent from the mission to rescue Sasuke, on a mission with his father. Over the next few years Shino would again take the Chuunin Exam and finally be promoted to Chuunin.

Physical Information
Age: 16
Sex: Male
Birthday: 07/07
Bloodtype: B
Height: 169.1 cm
Weight: 52.5 kg

Ninja Information
Registration ID: 012620
Hidden Village: Leaf
Rank: Chuunin
Team: 8 - Yuuhi Kurenai, Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino

Advancement Data
Academy Grad Age: 12
Chuunin Exam Age: 14
Jutsu: Akamaru {Dainamikku Maakingu}, Kiba {Shikyaku, Tsuuga}, Akamaru+Kiba {Garouga, Gatsuuga, Inuzuka Ryuu Chinjuu Konbi Henge: Soutou Rou, Juujin Bunshin}

Missions Completed
D-Rank: 21
C-Rank: 19
B-Rank: 8
A-Rank: 2
S-Rank: 0
First Manga Appearance: Chapter 34
First Anime Appearance: Episode 1
Name Meaning: Inu=Dog zuka=A small hill, Kiba=”Fang”, Aka=Red maru=Boys name
Character Study: Sometimes aloof and hot-tempered, Kiba provided Naruto his first challenge in the Chuunin Exam. Kiba lost but grew to respect Naruto from the point on, offering to help him return Sasuke to the village. Over the years both Kiba and Akamaru would grow in both skills and size.

Kiba Inuzuka is a member of Team 8, alongside Aburame Shino and Hyuuga Hinata, watched over by Yuuhi Kurenai. He is rarely seen, if ever, without his lifelong companion, Akamaru.

     The Inuzuka family have close relations with canines. They share some traits with them too, as indicated by Kiba’s unique sense of smell. Because of this ability, he forms an integral part of Team 8’s tracking specialty with Hinata’s vision and Shino’s homing abilities. Akamaru is also sensitive to chakra, adding another edge to their detection skills. It was Akamaru’s sensitivity that first alerted them to danger when the team had a close brush with the Sand siblings in the Chuunin exam, where they witnessed a small demonstration of Gaara’s fearsome power. Akamaru literally hid as Gaara wiped out a trio of Rain participants single-handedly. Luckily, they remained undiscovered as Gaara looked for more targets and finally calmed down.
Due to the nature of the Chuunin exams, all three were entered into the preliminaries to half the number of winners. Kiba was drawn against Naruto Uzumaki, to both their confidence. Kiba remembered how poor Naruto was in the academy. Facing Naruto with Akamaru by his side he felt a win was a sure thing. Despite flooring Naruto with a beast mimicking style of Taijutsu that made him bleed from the mouth, Naruto rose. Kiba then created a cloud of smoke and used the lack of sight along with Akamaru to keep the advantage to himself. However, Naruto once again stole the advantage back and used a combination of Kage Bunshin and Henge to fool Kiba and capture Akamaru. Insulted, Kiba fed Akamaru a pill that turns his fur red and increases his strength. The two then used a combination technique that makes them both into feral-looking versions of Kiba that boast enhanced speed and strength, double-teaming Naruto with wild scratches and bites, culiminating into a spinning drill attack. Kiba’s confidence only increased after the attack, causing him to taunt that he would be more likely to be Hokage before Naruto.

     However, Naruto’s determination caused him to stand again. Irritated, Kiba and Akamaru proceeded to shred him up even more, throwing more smoke bombs to prevent his escape. However, they halted their assault as Naruto masked himself as one of them. Kiba’s sense of smell proved superior, however, causing him to lash out at the fake. However, the hit clone changed into Akamaru. Instantly, Kiba slammed an even more savage hit into the other, who also slide away and transformed into Akamaru. The first Akamaru then transformed back into Naruto and attacked Kiba, now Akamaru was out of the match entirely thanks to Kiba.

 Kiba resumed his solo assault, becoming fiercer and drawing more blood as revenge for making him hit his own dog, wounding Naruto and severely turning the tide of the match in his own favor. Naruto repeatedly threatened a new move, but Kiba would rush in to finish him off before he can by slipping in for an attack on his blind side. However, Naruto’s nervousness caused him to lose control of his bodily functions inadvertently. Kiba is forced to stagger back, revolted at the smell from his ultra-sensitive nose. Naruto then put him away with an imitation of Sasuke’s own copy of Lee, eliminating Kiba.

     Later, Kiba attended the finals as a spectator, watching over Hinata due to her injuries from her battle with Neji. Her condition worsened, causing an ANBU member to heal her. As Kiba went to thank him, Akamaru began barking, recognizing the ANBU member as someone they had met before. Before Akamaru could be any more specific about his identity, the ANBU member silenced them both to prevent them revealing he was Kabuto. They remained out cold for the duration of the failed invasion.

 Kiba was later added to an impromptu team in a desperation mission to retrieve Sasuke, with him and Akamaru leading the way for their tracking abilities. During the mission, he ended up taking on Sakon, the strongest of Orochimaru’s active bodyguards. Debuting a new technique that transformed himself and Akamaru into a gigantic two-headed lupine beast, he landed a direct hit on Sakon, literally splitting him in half. However, thanks to the power bestowed on Sakon that allowed him to attack in tandem with his conjoined brother, Ukon, they survived and continued to attack. Summoning an equally large gate as a barrier, which they referred to as “Orochimaru’s strongest defense”, they were surprised when even though it stopped the beast, it had been dented. Worse still, Akamaru had taken the worst damage, leaving Kiba without a partner.

     Things declined again when Ukon’s demonic face sprouted from Kiba’s shoulder, as he explained their power to manipulate flesh and that while he had merged into Kiba, he would simply tear him apart at a cellular level. In desperation, Kiba drove his kunai into his own abdomen, realizing that sharing the same body would cause damage to Ukon too, forcing him out and allowing Kiba to take Akamaru to escape. The twins pursued Kiba until they cornered him, where assistance luckily arrived in the form of another double-team from Kankurou, who saved Kiba’s life by trapping Ukon (with Sakon in his body) inside a puppet and impaling him. Both Kiba and Akamaru would recover fully from their wounds, mostly due to the care of Kiba’s sister, Hana, an expert in dog care.

Physical Information
Age: 54 (Status Unknown)
Sex: Male
Birthday: 10/27
Bloodtype: B
Height: 172.0 cm
Weight: 57.3 kg

Ninja Information
Registration ID: 002300
Hidden Village: Sound
Rank: N/A (Kage-Level)
Team (student): Jiraiya, Tsunade, Sarutobi Hiruzen
Team (sensei): Mitarashi Anko, ?, ?
Current: Missing-Nin

Advancement Data
Academy Grad Age: 6
Chuunin Exam Age: ?
Jounin Age: ?
Jutsu: Edo Tensei, Juinjutsu, Daitoppa, Fushi Tensei, Gogyo Fuin, Senei Jashu, Senei Ta Jashu, Shoushagan, Kanashibari, Nan no Kaizou, Kusanagi no Tsurugi, Snake Kuchiyose, Yamata
Known Elements: Doton, Fuuton
Weapons: Kusanagi sword

Missions Completed
D-Rank: 16
C-Rank: 332
B-Rank: 521
A-Rank: 491
S-Rank: 108

Morino Ibiki, the sadistic and iron-gutted sadist confessed that Orochimaru gave him the creeps, something Ibiki was used to doing himself. Ibiki described him as though he was not human, just something evil that had a humanoid shape. With his dead-white skin, prehensile, long tongue and reptilian eyes, it’s easy to understand why even Ibiki would be intimidated. However, unfortunately for many, Orochimaru’s appearance was not the most horrible thing about him. Orochimaru was a perfectionist and showed unequalled devotion to learning and collecting techniques, a trait he almost passed onto his sole student, Mitarashi Anko, teaching her a number of forbidden techniques and passing on his skills related to snakes. He also branded her with something that would become his signature later, a “curse seal”. Appearing as an inky marking on the body of the person he gave it to, they would go into a coma-like state, one that had a 1/10 survival rate. Anko survived, but later realised that the man she hero-worshipped was a manipulator and she was just his guinea pig.
 In his later years, Orochimaru began to realise that no matter how good a ninja was, age and death would always overcome him. Seeing his tutor grow old and no longer shine as he once did, he committed a sin that would forever taint him. Already, his immoral ideals had spooked enough people, probably including the advisory council, into rejecting him for the position of Fourth Hokage. It was then that Orochimaru went to work on something truly nihilistic. Gathering living human subjects for experimentation, Orochimaru plucked victims from Chuunin, Jounin and even the ANBU. One such experiment involved Orochimaru infusing the genes of Shodai Hokage into 60 children. Shodai was unique in his ability to control the tailed demons at his will and also his ability to use Mokuton techniques. Though he would not be around to see it, 59 of the children soon died. One lived and grew up to be known as the elite ANBU “Yamato”. Orochimaru’s experiments would prove successful, with Yamato able to use Shodai’s abilities as his own.

     Eventually, the Third Hokage penetrated his booby-trapped lair and he was caught red-handed in a laboratory lined with the mutilated remains of the abducted hanging from chains on the walls. As he was questioned, he revealed his epiphany. He was working on something that would allow him to cheat death and gradually become a master of all techniques, gaining the knowledge that would grant him a title beyond even his tutor’s – the ultimate being. However, instead of being punished, he took advantage of the compassion that his old teacher was known for and fled with his life. As he fled, Jiraiya took chase. Jiraiya pleaded for him to return, but Orochimaru mocked his feelings and his failure to see the truth of his actions. The two battled and Orochimaru fled for good. Jiraiya would thereafter give up on trying to save Orochimaru.

     Orochimaru’s activities around this point become muddy. It is known for sure that he was a member of the criminal organisation Akatsuki. However, he left at some point due to Uchiha Itachi. Orochimaru, at some time, decided a major factor in his goal to know every technique would be the Sharingan eye, enabling him to copy what he saw. However, Itachi would not give up his eyes so easily and Orochimaru proclaimed that he feared Itachi, presumably after seeing the Mangekyou Sharingan in action and deciding that trying to take Itachi’s eyes would be too risky. Orochimaru left Akatsuki, fully aware of their plans and with bad blood between them.
It is known that after leaving, Orochimaru completed half his goal: He gained immortality. By using a technique where he caused his soul to forever remain in the mortal world and transferred his mind into the bodies of victims, he could never pass on. Orochimaru proved it true as he took a female’s body and inhabited it for a number of years, although he gradually managed to reshape it to a certain degree to resemble his old one. The corpse of the old Orochimaru was probably disposed of, but a memento of his past remains in the form of his forearm and hand mounted onto a base like a trophy, with the Akatsuki ring he once wore still sitting on the decaying middle finger.

     Orochimaru then decided upon his next plan of action, with both of his next accomplishments being in his old village. Knowing that Itachi left one other of the clan alive, Orochimaru set his sights on Uchiha Sasuke among other skilled ninja. Travelling around the world as a sage offering to help those lost and vulnerable, his real purpose was to collect talented young ninja as either servants or for the “luckiest”, his next body. He managed to sway many to his side, including the allegiance of a Leaf ninja, Yakushi Kabuto, who would become his spy. His other converts included the last of the brutal Kaguya clan, Kimimaro and the orphan Zaku Abumi. Orochimaru’s charisma and skill as a manipulator grew to the extent that he held influence over many clans as their saviour, even allowing him to persuade the Feudal Lord of the Rice Field country to allow him to found and establish a hidden village there for the purpose of training ninja and strengthening the country. Of course, none of Orochimaru’s offers were benevolent, only self-serving. Regardless, the village of Hidden Sound came to be.
 It was the year that Uchiha Sasuke attempted to become a Chuunin that Orochimaru made his move, sneaking into the exam in disguise – initially as the tutor of three Sound Genin participating in the exam, next as a participant from Grass after literally melting the face from his skull and wearing it as a mask. Under the Grass ninja disguise, he first engaged Sasuke in single combat to test him, and then gave him the curse seal. At the same time, he gave his trio of subordinates the command to terminate Sasuke. It was only thanks to Sakura that Sasuke lived long enough to wake up. The order was really to place Sasuke under as much stress as possible, forcing him to rely on the curse seal, as use of it over time would slowly divert Sasuke’s will into serving him. Orochimaru also ran into Anko during his travels, humiliating her by almost allowing her to kill herself and him at the same time while bringing up their past relation. He also later came to mock Kakashi’s efforts in suppressing the seal, telling him Sasuke would remove the barriers himself and come to Orochimaru of his own will.

Orochimaru’s next move was personal. In the finals of the Chuunin exam, the Kazekage, a guest spectator, suddenly held the Third Hokage hostage and from nowhere, scores of Sound and Sand ninja flooded the stadium. It was revealed they were working co-operatively to wage war on Leaf. However, the Kazekage addressed him by his real name, Sarutobi. Instantly, he recognized his attacker, who tore off the Kazekage’s robes and engaged his former mentor. Pulling the souls of the First and Second Hokage from the afterlife, he fixed them into the bodies of his teenage subordinates, who had been prepared for sacrifice through live burial in ash and dirt, finally using a charm to turn their minds into ferocious killing machines. Though a totally heartless act, Orochimaru did show an instance of emotion through a single question: “Do you know the happiness and sense of accomplishment you gain when you have a chance to hurt the one you called ‘master’?”
 However, even though the battle was in Orochimaru’s favour, using his own reptilian sword, the combined Hokage slaves and his personal bodyguards forming a barrier, his defeat came when Sarutobi, knowing he would die, performed a suicidal technique that cost him his soul. Summoning the death god itself, Sarutobi instructed it to rip out and consume the souls of Orochimaru’s slaves, then Orochimaru’s soul. However, he was too close to death, especially with Orochimaru’s sword in his back, to complete the task. Choosing the next best thing and possibly something worse than death for Orochimaru, the death god took away the portions of Orochimaru’s soul that connected to his arms, which fell limp and impotent and rendered him unable to even make a hand seal. The irony of knowing so many techniques and not being able to utilise them hit Orochimaru as Sarutobi died in front of him, seeing not the furious abomination that almost murdered him as he closed his eyes, but the confident student he admired and raised. Orochimaru and his forces were driven away to their village, also cutting off his alliance with Sand as the Kazekage’s corpse was found, alerting Sand that he was not co-operating with Orochimaru and instead, the Kazekage that ordered the strike on Leaf was Orochimaru himself.
For a while, Orochimaru’s activity was limited. In constant agony from his incapacitated arms, Orochimaru decided to seek out the legendary medical specialist, his former partner, Tsunade. Coincidentally, Jiraiya had also decided to look for her as a replacement for the Third Hokage. It was Orochimaru who got to her first, proposing a deal with her. Knowing her history, he would use his resurrection technique, as he did with the former Hokage brothers, to bring back Tsunade’s younger brother, Nawaki and her lover, Dan, who had both been killed when she was younger. Leaving her a week to decide, Orochimaru was well prepared for her, knowing of her phobia of blood and preying on her sentimentality, saying he could only perform the resurrection if his hands were healed.

  A week passed and at their meeting point, Orochimaru raised his hands to her. However, Kabuto stopped her at the last minute, recognising that Tsunade was about to assassinate Orochimaru instead of healing. The two fled as Tsunade chased them, resulting in Kabuto exploiting her phobia and taking her on in combat, being a medical specialist himself although not quite on her level. Jiraiya arrived to even the odds, slowing Orochimaru down a lot while Naruto took on Kabuto. Orochimaru was stunned by the boy’s capabilities, deciding his #1 priority, even over dealing with Tsunade and Jiraiya, was to kill Naruto before the Akatsuki Organisation abducted him. Tsunade used herself as a human shield, vowing to protect the boy. Orochimaru then decided to hold her to her position and slashed her up with his sword in his mouth, giving her fatal injuries. Tsunade, however, also intended to stick to her word and on that decision, accepted the position of Fifth Hokage, using a technique to heal herself even though it shortened her lifespan. Fighting back, the legendary three pulled out their trump cards, summoning the masters of all animals. Orochimaru’s gigantic anaconda, Manda, held off both Jiraiya’s toad, Gamabunta and Tsunade’s slug, Katsuyu on his own and was about to bite into Gamabunta when Tsunade herself drove Gamabunta’s huge dagger into Manda’s mouth. With nothing to be achieved, Orochimaru once again retreated, taunting that there was still another way to heal his arms and that he was immortal.
Orochimaru then sent his personal bodyguards, The Sound Four, to sneak into Leaf with an invitation for Sasuke, who had suffered numerous losses. Each member of the group bore a Curse Seal, just like Sasuke and once they engaged him, they told him the seal had a second stage of release that they would help him acquire – IF he left Leaf behind and joined Orochimaru. However, while the temptation occurred, Orochimaru’s arms were now putting him through unbearable torture. Cracked, bleeding and crumbling away, Orochimaru needed a new body and couldn’t wait. Kabuto arranged for a royal rumble among selected prisoners of Orochimaru’s, telling them to fight to the death until one remained. Orochimaru approached the winner and transferred his mind into the entranced ninja, ending his agony at a price – the transfer has a three-year “recharge” period.

     When his bodyguards took too long, he sent out a solitary ninja as reinforcement – stricken by illness and almost crippled, Kimimaro Kaguya, the leader of the Sound Four (which was previously the Sound Five before his sickness). Moving by means he described more or less as mind over matter, Kimimaro held back the forces of Leaf sent to bring Sasuke back long enough for Sasuke to adapt to the seal and run to Orochimaru of his own (if somewhat warped) will. Although his bodyguards all perished in the mission, Orochimaru’s face lit up as his new body, bearing a fully released curse seal and the Sharingan, walked down the halls of his lair. In three years, his ambition would finally be realised…

In the intervening years Orochimaru would escape the eye of Akatsuki and move bases. He, Kabuto and Sasuke would move every week to a new location, and only stay at that location for three days. Akatsuki member Sasori had utilized a memory block jutsu to place his subordinates in different ninja villages as a means to gather information and provide sabotage. One such memory block had been placed on Kabuto approximately five years earlier in the hopes of finding more information on Orochimaru’s body transfer jutsu. Sasori had arranged to meet with Kabuto to gain updated information on Orochimaru. Sasori fell in battle before the meeting but Leaf ninja impersonated his Hiruko puppet form in the hopes of attaining the information meant for him. When Kabuto met the Leaf ninja Yamato and his team of Naruto, Sakura and Sai, he acted as Sasori’s faithful servant. When Orochimaru appeared Kabuto jumped to Sasori’s side but quickly revealed himself by cutting off Hiruko’s head.

     Orochimaru and Kabuto, who had actually had the memory block removed years earlier by Orochimaru, hoped to actually kill Sasori but now they were pitted against Naruto and the other Leaf ninja. Orochimaru taunted Naruto, comparing his strength with Sasuke’s. In return he received a gigantic slash from Naruto as the boy slipped into a rage enhanced by the Kyuubi’s chakra. Catching him in the face, Orochimaru was thrown back a considerable distance but showed little damage, simply repairing the mask he wore of his old face by swiping a hand across it, but complimented Naruto in a back-handed manner on how his behavior was that of a real Jinchuuriki. On the subject, he then revealed that Yamato was assigned to be Naruto’s new superior for a reason, he was an old experiment of Orochimaru’s to partially clone the First Hokage or at least his powers. Violating the grave of the First Hokage to steal his genetic material, he injected those genes into sixty children to try and reproduce the powers of wood manipulation and control over Bijuu. Yamato was the only one to live and grow up.
Mentioning Sasuke again, Naruto’s anger grew and three tails of chakra sprouted. Faced with the unimaginable power of the Kyuubi, Orochimaru took an almost scientific approach to the situation, more curious than afraid. Berserk and out of control, Naruto cost Orochimaru his left arm. Standing on a tree, Orochimaru then opened his mouth and a pair of hands pried his jaw apart, pulling their owner free and a second Orochimaru stepped out from his mouth, with his arm restored. Mocking how Naruto was still weaker than Sasuke, a fourth tail began to appear, causing Naruto’s skin to peel away and leaving him a grisly feral fox but still only inducing curiosity and amusement in Orochimaru. Vomiting a huge amount of snakes out of his mouth, each one bearing a blade in their own mouths, Naruto obliterated them with a single claw swipe and dug his claws underground, attempting to catch Orochimaru in his bloody chakra hand.

     Orochimaru tried to halt it with another snake from his sleeve, but the serpent burned up on contact. Spitting out another Orochimaru that extending from the waist out, it attacked Naruto directly. Shockingly, Naruto sliced Orochimaru across the belly, but another swarm of snakes extended from the wounds, mingling and pulling each half back together even though Orochimaru now faced backwards. Snapping his neck and turning his neck 180 degrees, Orochimaru smirked.

     Naruto began to gather blood and chakra together into a huge sphere, directed by his tails. Even Orochimaru finally showed concern as everything coalesced into a perfect ball of highly dense chakra, convinced that such an attack would kill him outright. Swallowing the sphere and blowing up like a balloon, Naruto released it as a huge blast. In desperation, Orochimaru summoned three of his Rashoumon gates. When the blast subsided, nothing remained of the gates and Orochimaru lay half-buried and mangled. As everyone looked on in awe, Orochimaru’s head erupted from the ground on his snakelike neck, extending his sword into Naruto and extending the blade, pushing him far back but unable to cut him. Finally, Orochimaru began to feel fatigued and commenting his body was beginning to reject him. However, before he left, Sai appeared and told him that an official of Konoha, Danzou, had information to share with him.

     Spitting a sword straight into Sai, he mocked Sai’s lack of manners, seeing that Sai was actually an ink clone and invited him to show his true self. Ambushed by Kabuto, Sai was pinned down as Orochimaru inspected an envelope for him from Danzou. After reading the contents, Orochimaru commanded Kabuto to release Sai and bring him along. Aware that they were being followed, Kabuto suspected Sai of being less faithful than he was saying. Orochimaru decided that regardless, a corpse would be needed. Naruto and his team followed behind, but then came upon Sai, hanging limply by his neck from a tree.

     However, the corpse was a decoy, slowing the Leaf team down as they thought they came across their dead comrade. Kabuto then asked if Sai could be used in an experiment, having nothing else to do when not being a spy. Orochimaru told him to do as he pleased. Making it back to his lair, Orochimaru introduced Sasuke to Sai as a fellow turncoat. Sasuke reacted coldly, simply demanding Orochimaru teach him a new technique. Before departing, Orochimaru handed Kabuto the information Sai brought, the real names and other sensitive information of the ANBU members, to make a bingo book of their own.
While they trained, Sai was found and revealed his true colors, assisting in an ambush on Kabuto. However, Orochimaru confronted the team reunited once more. In a moment of arrogance, he decided to let them live, since they were able to take on Akatsuki and had a common enemy, before pursuing Sai, who had gone after Sasuke. The lair came crashing down and the Leaf team stood face to face with Sasuke, who overpowered them all easily. About to use a devastating move, Orochimaru stopped him suddenly, with Kabuto reasoning that it would mess up their plans and possibly Sasuke’s revenge on Itachi. Under protest, the three retreated, eluding Naruto once more. Another month passed, with Sasuke becoming even more of an excellent ninja, incapacitating around a thousand ninja without killing a single one. Even Orochimaru admitted to himself that Sasuke’s efforts eclipsed his own at that age, but also that Sasuke lacked a certain level of ruthlessness.

 Later, Orochimaru lay in bed with his body finally faltering and Kabuto administered the strongest medicine he had available. Moments later Sasuke pierced the door with a blade of chakra, which extended to stab Orochimaru. Sasuke taunted that there was no more Orochimaru could teach. He then pinned Orochimaru’s arms to the wall and closed in to stab him. Before he could Orochimaru spat something out that landed behind Sasuke… Staring into a leviathan’s face, Sasuke realized it at last. Orochimaru’s countless experiments on his bodies and toying with the regenerative abilities his serpentine form gave him had reduced him from a human into a massive writhing collection of living snakes, capitalized by a gruesome, triple-jawed mockery of Orochimaru’s real face. Demanding his body, Orochimaru attacked Sasuke, who defended himself by shifting into the second stage of his Cursed Seal release and slicing Orochimaru’s body apart.

     Orochimaru could only scream his name in anger, thinking back to his younger days. Standing at the graveside of his parents, he found the molted skin of a white snake. The Third Hokage mentioned they were rare, considered a symbol of good fortune and rebirth and that the discovery of the skin there may be a sign that his parents had been reborn in new bodies. Orochimaru asked when they’d meet again, a question that couldn’t be answered.
Back in reality, Orochimaru was cut into 3 pieces, but still alive, gloating that the snakes were even capable of poisoning the air. Lunging at Sasuke, everything went black and Sasuke found himself inside what looked like a void with nothing but an organic floor. Soon, a clump rose up from the floor, shaping into Orochimaru’s face, explaining the void was actually something like a dimension inside him where he transferred into the victim. More organic clumps rose and formed into snakes, writhing in and out of Sasuke’s body. Around him, the faces of his former hosts could be seen, trapped in the clumps. Orochimaru had another flashback, from his time in Akatsuki where he tried to take Itachi’s body. Pinned in place by huge nails in Genjutsu, Orochimaru raised his hands but Itachi swiftly sliced off his left hand, saying none of his techniques would make a difference before the Sharingan.

 Then Sasuke used the same nail Genjutsu on Orochimaru, Slowly, Sasuke began to alter the organic clumps, turning them from snakes into eyeless, dragon-like worms and darkening the shade of the clumps. Using the Sharingan, he began to assert control over the dimension, directing the monsters to eat the clump that contained Orochimaru. In disbelief, Orochimaru denied what was happening, claiming his immortality and destiny to understand and control everything. His final words, “I refuse…” were croaked out as everything finally faded to black. Sasuke then walked out of Orochimaru’s quarters, encountering Kabuto. Unsure of whom he was, Kabuto asked. Sasuke used the Sharingan to replay the events to him in an almost Tsukiyomi-like manner. Kabuto worried about his master’s death, but realized the truth, which Sasuke confirmed with the words “I’ve taken over”. Orochimaru was no longer truly alive, but a subconscious entity in Sasuke’s mind.
Kabuto had found difficulty finding a place for himself now that he was yet again a man without direction. Feeling that he never did surpass Orochimaru, Kabuto looked to Naruto for inspiration. Naruto’s persistence allowed him to create his own identity beyond the Kyuubi and Kabuto hoped that by utilizing Orochimaru’s strength he could become more powerful than even the original Orochimaru. So Kabuto took some of Orochimaru’s tissue and placed it into his body. Unfortunately, the tissue began to spread and quickly take root, transforming his appearance to resemble that of Orochimaru. Kabuto let the Leaf ninja know that he would face Naruto again once he was fully in control of Orochimaru’s gifts. His first target however, would be the man who killed Orochimaru… Sasuke. Sasuke himself had finally set out to achieve his life’s goal, to kill his brother Itachi. The two brothers engaged in a brutal fight, requiring Sasuke to use his ultimate technique to take out Itachi.
When Sasuke saw his brother shrug off the attack, he began to wince in pain. With his body low on chakra, a voice began to ring out in his head. The voice offered to help Sasuke; all he had to do was release him. Sasuke collapsed to his knees and white snakes began to grow out of his cursed seal. Soon a gigantic eight-headed snake stood before Susanoo. It quickly moved to strike and Susanoo in turn used its sword to decapitate the beast. From one of its heads emerged Orochimaru, who thanked Itachi for weakening Sasuke enough to finally release him.

Physical Information
Age: 54
Sex: Female
Birthday: 08/02
Bloodtype: B
Height: 163.1 cm
Weight: 48.9 kg

Ninja Information
Registration ID: 002302
Hidden Village: Leaf
Rank: Hokage

Advancement Data
Academy Grad Age: 6
Chuunin Exam Age: ?
Jounin Age: ?
Jutsu: Shousen, Infuuin Kai, Tsuuten Kyaku, Souzou Saisei, Ranshinshou, Slug Kuchiyose

Missions Completed
D-Rank: 40
C-Rank: 236
B-Rank: 467
A-Rank: 418
S-Rank: 95

First Manga Appearance: Chapter 149
First Anime Appearance: Episode 85
Name Meaning: A mooring rope, Wife of Jiraiya in mythical tale
Character Study: Leaving Konoha due to the emotional damage caused by the deaths of her brother and lover, Tsunade wandered the world. She was inspired by Naruto to return and accept the position of Godaime Hokage. Her love for the village caused her to over-exert herself in healing the injured when Pain attacked. This made her fall into a coma and lose her position as Hokage.

Tsunade is the granddaughter of the First Hokage. This alone granted her prestige and recognition, but she was also lucky enough to be placed under the tutelage of the God of Shinobi, the Third Hokage. With a high level of skill to start her off, plus the blood she carried, Tsunade had something else to boast about – she was the heir of the First Hokage’s necklace, an item worth enormous amounts of money. Continuing the heritage of it, she passed it to her little brother, Nawaki for his birthday. Nawaki, filled with joy, proclaimed that he would eventually become the Hokage. However, tragedy struck when Tsunade approached the scene of a raid one dark evening. Outside, Orochimaru and Jiraiya sat. Cold-heartedly, Orochimaru advised her that it would probably be better in the long run if Tsunade didn’t see Nawaki’s corpse. The necklace was returned to her.

Several years later, Tsunade had grown up considerably and become an expert in the medical field, knowing several special Ninjutsu healing techniques as well as a variety of offensive moves, poisons and treatments. It was at a meeting that she proposed to the Third Hokage that the traditional 3-man cell be altered and carry a medic. It was also at this meeting that she met a young man who shared her views, named Dan. The two discussed their points with each other, slowly becoming friends and in time, lovers. Dan revealed his dream was to become Hokage, for the reason of supporting the ideals of a medic on the team. Tsunade presented him with the necklace. Only once more, on a mission, it brought nothing but bad luck. Dan was fatally wounded. Tsunade came to his aid, but too late. Despite her attempt to heal him, Dan died. Tsunade wept looking at the hands she had placed on his bloody chest. The necklace had claimed another victim and Tsunade was scarred deeper than ever.

     Blaming the rejection of the proposal to be the factor in Dan’s death and once again taking back her necklace, Tsunade parted ways with Leaf and wandered, forsaking the ways of the ninja and living a life of gambling, drinking and along the way, acquiring a young apprentice and pet – Dan’s young niece Shizune as her aide and a pig with an astounding sense of smell, Tonton. Tsunade abused her powers of bodily manipulation by frequently changing her physical appearance to look like previous ages – sometimes a teenager, a mature lady, or somewhere in between. At 50 years old when she is introduced, she is indistinguishable from a woman 20 years younger than herself. However, the methods she used were not Genjutsu at all – her body physically alters to the condition she chooses to hold it in. By changing how she looks, Tsunade would often loan money from gambling and then use her abilities to make herself harder to track down. Despite this, Tsunade soon gained a reputation, for her desire to gamble was far greater than her success rate while doing so. Often losing huge amounts of money, Tsunade built up the nickname “The legendary sucker”.

 After the crippling attack led by Orochimaru on Leaf, the council approached Jiraiya and asked him to accept the position of Hokage. Jiraiya refused, but offered them a replacement in the form of Tsunade, who he promised to bring back with him. At the same time, the Third Hokage had given a parting shot to Orochimaru by stripping the soul from his arms and left Orochimaru in need of a physician. It was in a village overlooked by Tanzaku Castle that Tsunade met the first of her old team. Orochimaru explained the situation to her, clearly stating that he had killed the Third Hokage and his arms were in their current status because of that. However, Orochimaru left her a cruel offer. If she would restore his arms, he would bring back Nawaki and Dan, which he was unable to do without his arms working. Tsunade demanded to know what he would do after – Orochimaru told her he would finish the job on Leaf. The two agreed that the deal would only go ahead if Orochimaru would leave their home alone. Orochimaru gave her a week to decide; also suggesting she secured two corpses as sacrifices.

     Shortly after, Jiraiya and Naruto caught up with her and Shizune. Jiraiya presented her with the position of Hokage, but Tsunade rejected it outright, even going so far as to insult it. Her words angered Naruto and they stepped outside, where Tsunade claimed she would beat Naruto with just one finger. During the fight, she became distracted as Naruto’s image reflected the visage of Nawaki. Thrown off for a moment, Naruto used the advantage and attempted to use the Rasengan on her. However, Naruto had still not learned it completely and as promised, a single flick was all it took to floor him. It was then that Tsunade made a wager with Naruto – if he could fully perform the Rasengan in a week, she would give him her monstrously expensive necklace, an heirloom of the First Hokage. Despite how cool she appeared during the bet, Tsunade was being tormented inside, with the offers from Orochimaru and Jiraiya, one good and one bad. Like a devil and angel on each shoulder, Tsunade thought it over for a week. On the sixth evening, Jiraiya joined her for a friendly drink. At this point, Tsunade slipped a tasteless drug with no scent into Jiraiya’s cup. A short time later, she set off to the meeting place with Orochimaru…

Arriving at the rendezvous point with him, Orochimaru stood waiting. As Tsunade reached out to take Orochimaru’s hands, Kabuto attacked her. Orochimaru then uttered that he expected a betrayal… and thanked Kabuto for the warning. Kabuto, being a medic himself, recognised Tsunade was not using any healing technique but a killing one instead. Tsunade then proclaimed that she knew Orochimaru too well and he would not fulfil his promise to stay away from Leaf. Also, bringing back her brother and boyfriend in such a cruel manner only for Orochimaru to then destroy their home would be spitting on their graves. Enraged, Tsunade then chased after the pair, destroying everything in her path with her inhuman strength. In an open field, Kabuto engaged her in combat, taking advantage of her phobia of blood by cutting himself and using a pill to stop clotting. Despite her handicap, Tsunade still fought against him, managing to scramble his nerves briefly but being cut up, on one occasion only surviving a near-fatal slice thanks to her chest padding a blow.

While Kabuto was laying into Tsunade, he was interrupted by the arrival of Naruto, Jiraiya and Shizune. Jiraiya went for Orochimaru and battled him directly, still drugged and hampered while Naruto set himself on Kabuto. A fierce battle between them forced Naruto to use his trump card – an improvised Rasengan. However, as Kabuto was thrown backwards, he got in a quick move and shredded up Naruto’s internal chakra pathways and heart, disabling the Kyuubi’s tremendous healing power. As Naruto sunk down, Tsunade shook off her fear of blood for a moment and put everything she had into keeping Naruto alive, facing the nightmare of seeing her loved ones die again. However, Naruto weakly managed to reach up and touch her necklace, confirming he won the bet.

At this point, Naruto’s Rasengan had caught Orochimaru’s eye, who panicked and lunged at him with his sword protruding from his jaws. Tsunade took the hit instead, right through the chest. Again, she suffered horrendous wounds protecting Naruto from Orochimaru, being showered with blood. But still, she would not move – instead doing the opposite, standing tall and stopping her shaking. With renewed determination, she accepted Jiraiya’s offer and claimed her place as Fifth Hokage. Against Shizune’s pleading, Tsunade then used a special technique: with mass amounts of chakra that she had accumulated and stored in the diamond shape on her forehead, she suddenly released it and caused her body to generate all the vital organs she had lost or taken damage to, instantly putting her body back into prime condition, although as Shizune added, the number of times a cell divides is limited, ultimately shortening Tsunade’s lifespan as her tissues grow back. Taking a smear of her own blood, Tsunade then began making hand seals, prompting Kabuto to return to Orochimaru’s side and Jiraiya to prepare himself too.

The Legendary Three then each summoned their respective assistants, also the rulers over all other summoned animals of their kind – the slug, Katsuyu; the anaconda, Manda and the toad, Gamabunta. Manda proved to be an exceptionally deadly opponent, taking on both Katsuyu and Gamabunta at once as well as evading an incredible blast of fire from Gamabunta and Jiraiya. However, as Manda prepared to take a chunk out of Gamabunta, Tsunade pinned his mouth to the ground with Gamabunta’s dagger and turned on Orochimaru. As he and Kabuto retreated, Tsunade and the rest went back to the place where their first meeting happened. Once again, Naruto’s mouth caused them to step outside and he found himself awaiting the killer finger-flick. Instead, he felt Tsunade’s lips on his forehead and won her respect. With the necklace finally on a suitable owner that survived the curse, Tsunade returned with Naruto and Jiraiya as Hokage, but to trouble.

One of her first acts was to check on people in the hospital, including Sasuke and Rock Lee. Lee’s case was very sensitive, saying that even with her skills, the operation to correct the damage he received while performing the Reverse Lotus was risky… with a 50% chance of him surviving it. Tsunade’s next act was when she found out another patient had gone AWOL – Uchiha Sasuke. With most of the Jounin and Chuunin unavailable, Tsunade assembled a small group led by Shikamaru and sent them after Sasuke. It was while they were away that she began the operation on Lee, who survived and immediately ran after the other Genin, mistakenly taking Tsunade’s bottle of alcohol with him instead of his medicine. As an additional precaution, Tsunade called in a debt from Sand, enlisting the aid of the Sand Siblings, Gaara, Kankurou and Temari in the mission. Despite their best efforts, Sasuke would not return and in deep sorrow, Tsunade was approached by Sakura, who enrolled as her understudy. For the next two and a half years, Tsunade instructed Sakura on medical techniques as well as passing on the secrets of her amazing physical strength.

Physical Information
Age: 54 (Deceased)
Sex: Male
Birthday: 11/11
Bloodtype: B
Height: 191.2 cm
Weight: 87.5 kg

Ninja Information
Registration ID: 002301
Hidden Village: Leaf
Rank: N/A (Kage-Level)
Team (student): Orochimaru, Tsunade, Sarutobi Hiruzen
Team (sensei): Namikaze Minato, Two unnamed Genin

Advancement Data
Academy Grad Age: 6
Chuunin Exam Age: ?
Jounin Age: ?
Jutsu: Fuuka Houin, Gamakuchi Shibari, Gamayu Endan, Gogyou Kaiin, Hari Jizou, Rasengan, Toad Kuchiyose, Yatai Kuzushi no Jutsu, Yomi Numa
Known Elements: Doton, Katon

Missions Completed
D-Rank: 58
C-Rank: 345
B-Rank: 684
A-Rank: 614
S-Rank: 138

First Manga Appearance: Chapter 90
First Anime Appearance: Episode 52
Name Meaning: “Young thunder”, A lead character in Japanese folk tale, married to “Tsunade”
Character Study: The skilled and venerable Toad Sage of Myouboku Mountain, Jiraiya lives up to his name while still letting his lecherous qualities come through. He acts as Naruto’s godfather, providing guidance and training to the young man. His apprentice was destined to change the ninja world and he did everything he could to set Naruto on the right path.
Jiraiya is a remarkable ninja and possibly the closest thing to the Hokage that never was, not only trained by the third Hokage but also the trainer of the man who would eventually go on to become the Fourth, as well as a young boy who dreams of one day being the Hokage himself. Since childhood, he has had an eye for the opposite sex and often had conflicts with one of his team, Tsunade, over her figure. Jiraiya was not a model ninja at all and usually ended up as the fall guy, although his master comparing him to Orochimaru, his other team member, didn’t help much.

 During his youth Jiraiya found Myouboku mountain, the home of the toads. It was here that he signed his blood contract with them and learned their jutsu. The elder sage toad forsaw Jiraiya’s coming and offerd another prophecy. He revealed that Jiraiya would become a pervert without equal, travel the world and one day take on an apprentice who could bring peace or destory the world. Which outcome the world faced would be decided by Jiraiya alone. Jiraiya later fought in a war with Rain alongside Tsunade and Orochimaru. The three lost in battle to Rain Village leader Hanzou. He let them live in exchange for them taking on the name “Sannin.” While returning from the war, the Sannin were met by three Rain orphans: Nagato, Konan and Yahiko. Jiraiya took an interest in them and remained behind for three years to train them. Jiraiya learned one boy, Nagato, held the Rinnegan, a legendary Doujutsu. Jiraiya connected with Nagato and left things in his hands when their training ended.
Jiraiya returned to Konoha and acted as the trusted village soldier until he discovered Orochimaru’s crimes against his own village. Although the two were comrades, Orochimaru would not listen to Jiraiya and their last meeting as fellow Leaf Shinobi was a battle on the outskirts of the country. Orochimaru escaped, perhaps leaving Jiraiya a wiser man for it. Some time after, possibly because of the Orochimaru incident, Jiraiya parted ways as a ninja with his home village. For his services, he was granted permission and went into seclusion, not viewed as a wanted criminal. Retired from active duty, Jiraiya’s life was rather simple – he became an erotic novelist, often spying with his telescope on bathing women in hot springs for inspiration. Incidentally, Hatake Kakashi is a firm fan of the series, named “Icha Icha” (Come, Come! or Make-Out in the western version). Versions documented so far have been Paradise, Violence and Tactics.

However, it was later revealed that the real reason Jiraiya left was not to simply become writer – his spying on young women was a mere pastime, with his main objective in spying being on keeping track of Orochimaru. It was from his surveillance that Jiraiya uncovered the existence of the criminal organization, Akatsuki. Over the years, Jiraiya observed them carefully, even after Orochimaru left their ranks. It was one day while doing his other kind of research at a hot spring that Jiraiya met with a young boy and his tutor. After the tutor, Ebisu, offended Jiraiya, there was a brief scuffle which ended with Ebisu floored. The boy, Naruto, then demanded compensation for the fight as Ebisu was to train him and was currently knocked out. Jiraiya then agreed to help him instead, after Naruto bribed him by appealing to his lechery. It was during the training of helping Naruto develop chakra control that Jiraiya noticed the seal on Naruto’s stomach had been given an imbalance, Orochimaru’s work.
Jiraiya then began to undo Orochimaru’s Five Element Seal with a technique he had invented to directly counter it. Figuring out who Naruto was from the seal, Jiraiya trained Naruto to put the Kyuubi’s dormant chakra to use, helping Naruto understand more about himself. Ebisu, recovered, then begged Jiraiya to come back and help defend against Orochimaru, as they were both considered to be on level pegging with each other as part of “the legendary three”. Jiraiya’s training with Naruto continued as he taught him how to summon animals as aid. Not regular animals, but larger, intelligent ones capable of following spoken orders. Jiraiya was a master of toads, showing Naruto his skill by summoning one as tall as himself before his eyes. Naruto followed Jiraiya’s orders and signed a contract with the toads in blood, then tried out his new move. Naruto only managed to summon a tiny, useless tadpole. The incidents repeated, growing only in miniscule progress. Jiraiya then realized it would take drastic measures to help him learn.

     Jiraiya sent Naruto tumbling off a cliff to a fatal fall. It was through necessity that Naruto reached inside himself, and then embrace the power that Orochimaru tried to deny him. Calling on the Kyuubi’s chakra, Naruto summoned a gigantic toad to break his fall. To Naruto’s surprise, he had called the ruler over all summoned toads, Gamabunta. To Gamabunta’s surprise, Naruto was the one who summoned him and not Jiraiya, as the only other person capable of summoning him, the Fourth Hokage, was long since gone.

     Jiraiya, after fulfilling his promise to Naruto to train him, disappeared again for a while. It was not until Orochimaru’s attack on Konoha that Jiraiya came back out of hiding, crushing one of Orochimaru’s three-headed snakes by summoning a heavy toad over it. With a grand entrance, Jiraiya then helped to clean out the invaders, but had no time to help save his master who was busy with Orochimaru himself. He was too late to help, but was present to pay his respects after the third Hokage sacrificed himself for his village, reminiscing over the time that he, Orochimaru and the third Hokage were on good terms.

However, Jiraiya was soon given a surprise offer by the council of Leaf – with the Hokage dead, a replacement was needed and Jiraiya was the man in mind. Despite the good intention, Jiraiya declined and admitted that he was the wrong kind of person for the job, but had another candidate as a possible replacement – the other member of the legendary three, Tsunade. When he was told he would be assigned help, he once more declined, but asked to take Naruto with him. Naruto initially refused, wanting to learn the Chidori like Sasuke. Jiraiya convinced him though that on the trip to find Tsunade, he would teach him a move to rival even the Chidori. In an instant, Naruto accepted and packed for the journey. Along the way, Jiraiya also remarked that in a way, Naruto resembled the fourth Hokage.

     The two stopped in small town on the way, where Jiraiya caught the eye of an attractive young woman (or was it the other way around?) and instantly shoved Naruto off to train on his own. However, Jiraiya’s suspicion grew about the girl until he realized she was under some form of hypnosis. Returning to where he left Naruto, he arrived just in time to see two members of Akatsuki meddling with Naruto and Sasuke, who had ran to face Itachi. Dropping the girl in a safe place and blocking one of Hoshigaki Kisame’s lethal sword swipes with a summoned toad, Jiraiya then threatened to take him and Uchiha Itachi out alone. Sasuke told him to hold back and that Itachi was rightfully his. However, Sasuke was still not capable of beating Itachi and took a variety of blows ending in Itachi using his Tsukiyomi hypnosis to mentally torture Sasuke. Naruto ran in headfirst to stop them, forcing Jiraiya to pull his trump card.
 Using an unusual form of summoning, Jiraiya covered the corridor in the material that composed the stomach, mouth and throat of a fire-breathing toad, giving it amazing durability and wrapping around the criminals to hold them and pull Sasuke to safety. As Itachi and Kisame tried to back down, Jiraiya attempted to crush them by making the fleshy walls close in on them. As they approached a dead end, Jiraiya followed them and to his surprise, found a hole at the end. The opening was surrounded by a mysterious black fire, which Jiraiya decided to seal up inside a scroll for safety. Seconds later, he took a boot in the face from Gai, who mistook him for the Akatsuki members threatening the Genin kids.

     Naruto, enraged by the actions of Akatsuki, claimed he would make them pay, but Jiraiya gave him a harsh reality check as they stared down at what remained of Sasuke after the battle. Gai took Sasuke back to the village, but offered Naruto a gift – a jumpsuit like the one he and Lee wore. Jiraiya, once Gai was out of earshot, told Naruto he would forbid him to wear it. Being serious, he then told Naruto what it was they wanted – the Kyuubi inside him, to use it for their own ends. Naruto simply decided that he’ll become stronger to defend himself from them and continued to ask about Tsunade. Jiraiya told him that during the search, he’ll be concentrating more on Naruto’s training. Naruto popped the jumpsuit out again, but Jiraiya refuses to allow him to wear it.
While in the next town over, the place where Tsunade was rumored to be, Jiraiya also taught Naruto a lesson in vices – that money, women and alcohol are detrimental to the ninja way. And to stop Naruto from becoming greedy, he confiscated his bulging wallet and gave him a smaller amount, plus his luggage including the toad-summoning scroll in case they lose each other. Later, Naruto found Jiraiya sitting in a fancy bar, accompanied by a pair of girls, drunk and with Naruto’s empty wallet on the table. During the following scuffle, Naruto stains the jacket of a passer-by: a former Hidden Rock ninja, who tried to extort the money from Naruto or else. With lightning-fast reflexes, Jiraiya unleashed a swirling maelstrom of chakra from his hand and sent the attacker spiraling away into a water balloon stand.

     As Naruto and Jiraiya left, Jiraiya bought the remainder of the water balloons and gave them to Naruto, telling him that the move he just used will require extremely difficult chakra control. Over the next few days, Jiraiya slowly gave Naruto more hints on how to successfully perform the move, allowing Naruto more time to work on it while he collected information on Tsunade and revealing the origin of it – the Fourth Hokage invented it, took 3 years to finally complete it and broke down the training for it into numerous steps. The complexity of it earned it a spot among the highest ranked techniques. Bit by bit, Jiraiya helped Naruto to learn it, also marking his hand as a focal point.

     Eventually, Jiraiya traced Tsunade to the direction of Tanzaku Castle. However, he arrived to find it in ruins and reports of a giant snake. Later, Jiraiya finally bumped into her in a pub and spits out his purpose, shocking everyone including Naruto with the request for her to be the Fifth Hokage. Tsunade declined firmly, but Jiraiya later tried to talk her into it over a drink, also deducing the snake was present because of Orochimaru and that if she undid what the Third Hokage did to protect his village, she’d be an ally to Orochimaru and an enemy to him.

     A week passed and Jiraiya tried one more time to convince Tsunade to accept the position over a drink. However, Jiraiya fell foul of her when she spiked his drink, waking up on the day that Tsunade planned to meet with Orochimaru with a stinging sensation all over, barely able to hold chopsticks let alone stand or use any moves. Tsunade had already gone ahead and turned on Orochimaru by the time Jiraiya caught up with them, bringing Shizune, Naruto and Ton-Ton with him. Naruto was surprised to see Kabuto alongside Orochimaru, where Jiraiya pointed out Kabuto’s allegiance was on his forehead protector, now bearing the Hidden Sound logo. Jiraiya then told Shizune to keep an eye on Kabuto as he went after Orochimaru directly. The two were equally matched, fighting atop the incapacitated serpents that Orochimaru had summoned that were stuck in a gigantic artificial swamp Jiraiya made, even though he complained that it wasn’t his usual level of capability.
It wasn’t until Orochimaru noticed Naruto’s use of the Rasengan that Jiraiya slipped up, having fended off Orochimaru’s direct attacks with his unusual body by turning his hair into spiny projections. As Orochimaru hurtled towards Naruto, Jiraiya was caught in a sucker-punch, still groggy from the drug and ending up being ensnared by Orochimaru’s tongue, sent to the ground with immense force. Still working it from his system, he finally got back up as Tsunade escalated the fight by bringing her summoned creature, the slug Katsuyu, forcing Jiraiya to back her up by calling on Gamabunta’s help. Gamabunta, as usual, was shocked to see the other major summoned creatures and joked at a reunion. Jiraiya set him straight that it was a battle against Orochimaru.
It was in this battle that Gamabunta showed another example of his flexibility and co-operation as he and Jiraiya simultaneously fired a stream of oil and flame respectively, resulting in a massive inferno that engulfed Manda, Orochimaru’s massive anaconda. However, Jiraiya noticed that Manda had escaped and shed his skin, cleverly hiding underground. As Manda popped out, Gamabunta and Jiraiya attacked it, only to find it was a fake-out as only the tail emerged. Manda’s fanged jaws opened up behind them, but Tsunade drove Gamabunta’s tremendous dagger into Manda’s head, pinning the jaws shut. The entire ordeal left Jiraiya with a broken rib and leg.

     Jiraiya was also responsible for easing Tsunade back into Konoha, showing her to those who needed her medical skills. It wasn’t until the fight between Naruto and Sasuke on the roof of the hospital that Jiraiya reappeared, where he and Kakashi scolded each other for teaching the boys such dangerous techniques as Rasengan and Chidori, despite the necessity. Kakashi also hit a sensitive spot with Jiraiya, pointing out their rivalry wasn’t too far from the one with him and Orochimaru.
 A short time later, Jiraiya realized the full gravity of the situation as Naruto returned, being carried by Kakashi after failing to apprehend the rogue Sasuke during his betrayal and defection to Orochimaru. Visiting Naruto’s hospital bed, he assured Naruto that the two were now officially teacher and apprentice for three years, due to his research on Akatsuki and Orochimaru revealing that Orochimaru wouldn’t be able to take over Sasuke until that time had passed. Despite the good news, Jiraiya also brought bad and told Naruto to forget about Sasuke, drawing on his own personal experiences and recalling his own attempt to stop Orochimaru leaving. The two parted on good terms, agreeing that the training will begin officially for Naruto in several months time.

     Before their official training began, Jiraiya gave into Naruto’s whim to find Sasuke; perhaps recognizing his own desires to redeem a colleague, leading Naruto and Sakura on a brief but ultimately failed mission into the outskirts of Orochimaru’s lair. While helping a clan that Orochimaru used and abused, Jiraiya’s weakness for women was exploited multiple times, even with a custom-made trap set just for him when one of the Fuuma clan’s members was hypnotized, dressed as a geisha and made to seduce Jiraiya, then attack. The so-called “Koto Princess” clearly wasn’t enough to stop him and Jiraiya rescued his Genin charges, bringing them and two of the Fuuma members back to their clan. Needless to say, the incident put both Naruto and Jiraiya off venturing back there without further information.

     Soon enough the time came and Naruto and Jiraiya left Konoha behind and officially started on their training journey. During the time that passed, Jiraiya continued his novel series as well as his research into Akatsuki, Orochimaru and now with Naruto by his side, the Kyuubi. Concerned for Naruto’s phenomenon of Kyuubi manifestation, where the Kyuubi appeared around Naruto as a fox-shaped aura of bubbling red chakra, Jiraiya developed a patch that would neutralize it when placed on Naruto. Unfortunately this was not before Naruto went into a four-tailed fox aura form. This deadly berserk Naruto managed to strike Jiraiya causing a large scar to develop on his chest. Not much else is currently known about the training, other than Naruto was able to improve on his Rasengan and endured exercises so tough, most of his clothing was worn through, even requiring him to move the metal plate on his forehead protector onto a new, bandana-like piece of fabric.
 After three years, Naruto and Jiraiya finally returned to the village. Jiraiya returned Naruto to Kakashi’s care and as a precaution, he supplied the suppression patch to Kakashi in case Naruto ran wild. He also reminded Naruto that there was a technique in his arsenal he should not use. After Kakashi and the team returned to Konoha from saving Gaara, Jiraiya met with Tsunade and Yamato in Kakashi’s hospital room as he recuperated. With Kakashi out of commission due to his usage of the Mangekyou Sharingan, Naruto was turned over to the case of Yamato, the genetic heir to Shodai Hokage’s bijuu controlling abilities. Jiraiya warned the group of the danger Naruto posed when he lost control to the fox aura, showing him the large scar he received from Naruto’s four-tailed form.

     A short time later Jiraiya and Tsunade met to discuss his plans to track down information on the Akatsuki leader. The two discussed their past history and Naruto’s parents. He then made a promise that he would return and set off for the Rain Country. While there he captured two Rain missing-nins and inquired about their leader “Pain”. Jiraiya then moved to summon Naruto’s “Key”, a sealing scroll which controlled the Kyuubi seal. Jiraiya asked that the scroll be given to Naruto in case he didn’t return and then he set out again. Using one of the captured ninja, he managed to infiltrate the lair of Pain. He then soon learned that the two Akatsuki before him were his former students, Nagato and Konan. To Jiraiya’s surprise he saw that though Nagato still bore the Rinnegan, he had a different appearance. Nagato would state that as “Pain”, he was no longer a mere mortal, but a god.
As Jiraiya and Pain began to battle, Jiraiya was forced to call on the toad sages to assist in battle. Together they formed a new “Sennin” mode. This mode increased Jiraiya’s power and gave him a more toad-like appearance. Together the trio managed to take out many of Pain’s summoned animals. Pain responded by summoning two new ninja to his side, Akatsuki cloak wearing Rinnegan users. These new individuals used unique powers of their own and the Sennin soon determined that all three Rinnegan users were Pain, and shared the same vision between them. Jiraiya was forced to retreat and counter moved to distract all three of his opponents and eventually take them out one by one with the help of a paralyzing Genjutsu. With the job done, Jiraiya impaled all three men without full grasping what was going on. Jiraiya thus believed his prophecized choice to determine the fate of the world was finally made.
Out of nowhere Jiraiya was struck by another Rinnegan user. Jiraiya was launched through the city and had his left arm ripped off as a result. This new attacker then moved to revive his fallen comrades. Jiraiya then saw before him three more Rinnegan users, who were then joined by the three he had just killed. Jiraiya was then shocked to see one of the new Rinnegan users was an adult Yahiko, who Nagato claimed was dead. The six men known as Pain then moved to attack. Jiraiya retreated inside the stomach of a summoned toad. One Pain managed to infiltrate the toad barrier and stab Jiraiya with one of his strange black spikes. However, in the process he died. Jiraiya was then shocked to recognize his opponent. A man from the Fuuma clan he had fought years earlier, right after he began traveling the world to write his book. Determined to know the true nature of Pain, Jiraiya asked the Ma Sennin toad to return to Konoha with their defeated foe while he himself who leave the barrier to see if his theories were true.

     Jiraiya saw this moment as his true prophecized choice, his decision here would have a great impact on the future of the world. Ma toad left, leaving Jiraiya and Pa Toad to investigate. Jiraiya emerged from the water and saw that the five remaining men before him were all ninja he had met in the past. In that moment he realized the true identity and nature of Pain. Before he could speak though, one Pain crushed his throat while the others impaled his back.
 As darkness began to cloud Jiraiya’s vision he thought back over his constant failures in life, how he couldn’t save his student Namikaze Minato, the Fourth Hokage, his sensei Sarutobi, the Third Hokage or his friend Orochimaru. He thought over how he was constantly writing his partially auto-biographical book and his later embarrassment when he showed it to his student Minato. Minato stated he enjoyed the book and that the main protagonist, Naruto, was an excellent role model who reminded him of his sensei. Jiraiya was then honored to learn that Minato and his wife Kushina wanted to name their unborn son after the character. He also accepted their offer that he be the child’s godfather. Jiraiya then thought over Naruto’s drive and refusal to give up. And with that he made his mind not give up either. Jiraiya willed himself back to life to Pain’s and Pa Toad’s surprise.