Like a lot of other anime series,Narutois strongly influenced by Japanese legends, folktales, and mythology.The red thread of fate uniting Naruto and Hinata,the mythos behind the tailed beasts, like Kuramaand Shukaku, and hidden meanings in names — and some not so hidden — are only a few examples of how these elements of Japanese culture are incorporated into the Narutoverse. JIraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade, the three mighty and legendary Sannin ofKonohareflect the three main characters of a Japanese classic story, “The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya”. In the world ofNaruto, this trio came together after graduating from Konoha’s Shinobi Academy, when they started training as a team, under the guidance of Hiruzen Sarutobi.
In the anime, the trio showed enormous potential and prowess as shinobi, disbanding once they completed their training. Reunited during the Second Shinobi World War, when they started to be referred to as “The Legendary Sannin”, which literally means “The Legendary Three Ninja”, with the battle that had them earn this moniker being the last one in which they fought together side-by-side,Jiraiya, Tsunade and Orochimaru were clearly inspired by a more than 200-year-old folklore tale.
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The Foreshadowing In The Original Tale
“The Tale Of The Gallant Jiraiya”, or “Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari” (児雷也豪傑物語; “The Heroic Tales of Jiraiya” or “Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya”) was a story first published in 1839, which became a popular series of forty-three illustratednovels, who took the next twenty-nine years to be completed, by four different authors.
The origin and inspiration for this early version of Jiraiya in Japanese literature come from Song-era China. Jiraiya, an outlaw whose real name is unknown, was a heroic bandit whose deeds were similar to the Western heroic desperado Robin Hood. He was called Jiraiya (自来也) — “zi lai ye”, with the mandarin pronunciation — because he used to leave those kanji as a mark at the places he robbed, the translation of which is “I was here.” When the legend was transposed into the Japanese novel, elements of shapeshifting andshinobi mysticismwere added, with the Japanese kanji for Jiraiya’s name becoming (児雷也), which translates as “Young Thunder”.
While the versions of the folktale differ a little, basically Jiraiya is a shinobi that uses shapeshifting magic to transform into a huge toad. Being the heir of the mighty Ogata clan in Kyuushuu, he fell in love with Tsunade (綱手), whose name translates as “One who is like the young thunder”, a lovely young maiden who had mastered slug magic. Jiraiya’s archenemy was his former follower Yashagorō (夜叉五郎), who later became known as Orochimaru (大蛇丸) — with Orochi (大蛇) meaning “monstrous snake”, who was a master of serpent magic. InNaruto,the Yashagorō (夜叉五郎) is a radical cultist group abiding by the belief that one dayOrochimaruwill return and bring back with him a new age where the foundation of the world is rattled to its very core.
So far, many crossing points of similarity between the legend and the characters inNarutocan be noticed. Even the toad, slug, and snake from the original folktale were incorporated into the story in the anime franchise. In the anime, Jiraiya himself, confident that the world would be in good hands if Naruto was to be its salvation, and satisfied with how this final chapter of his life turned out to be, officially put an end to what he titled the “Tale Of Jiraiya The Gallant”, Before his death, he decided that the sequel should be titled“The Tale Of Naruto Uzumaki”, and smiled at how good the title sounded. Therefore, to dismiss Kishimoto’s inspiration is to deny the obvious.
This version of the tale, a kabuki play written by Kawatabe Shinshichi II and summarized by Watanabe Hisao, actually points to the redemption, which is still questioned today, of the formerNarutovillain, Orochimaru. In this kabuki version, the fiendish giant snake spirit that preyed on humans and had ambitions to gain power all over Japan was the cause of misfortune for the clans to which Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade belonged.
On a fateful day, this evil snake spirit attacked Lor Tsukikage Miyukinosuke, the regent of the shogunate at the time, and had it not been for Orochimaru, who had come out of nowhere and intervened, the lord and regent of the province of Echigo would have met his demise. Out of indebtedness for — the apparent — heroic act on the part of Orochimaru, the lord adopted him as a son. Unbeknownst to him, however, the fiendish snake spirit had possessedOrochimaru, who had been a puppet from the beginning. The attack and rescue had been orchestrated by the evil snake spirit, and Lord Tsukikage had actually embraced the evil snake into his clan as a family member. As time went by, the evil snake influenced the lord into slaughtering all of his offspring, leaving his adopted son as his sole successor.
After the fiendish snake perpetrated more and more maneuvers that brought about disgraceful events, Jiraiya and Tsunade would use their magic to try and defeat Orochimaru. Hence, in their first combat, Orochimaru severely maimed Jiraiya, who was fortunately saved by Tsunade and her remarkable use of slug magic. Thus, he managed to escape death, but his wounds were severe enough to render him disabled. The only antidote was the blood of a young lady who had been born in the year, day, and hour of the snake. Jiraiya was fully healed with the sacrifice of his own sister, who had been spared from the massacre. After more unfortunate events, he and Tsunade found the weapon to use and defeat Orochimaru, whom they cornered together with the new-found Nakimaru, and exorcised the demonic spirit. The reputations of the Ogata and Matsura clans were restored, and the shogunate reinstated them. Since the fiendish snake was exorcised, Orochimaru was no longer possessed. Free of evil, Orochimaru went back to being a normal man, and, at Jiraiya’s request to the Shogun,he was pardoned for his crimes— which is indicative of his redemption eventually happening inNarutoas well.
With Jiraiya’s death inNaruto: Shippuden, the series reaches a major turning point, with something undeniably tragic about it, because, at the time of his death, Orochimaru is still evil, Tsunade loses many of those close to her. The three of them are vital to the plot of the series moving forward, just like they are crucial in the development and conclusion of the story that inspired their creation. Whether fans like it or not, the path to Orochimaru’s redemption might always have been in the plans, and, if not, its foreshadowing could be easily found by checking the folktales that inspired their concepts and existence in the world ofNaruto.
