Jiraiya, known in Naruto as the Toad Sage, is one of the Third Hokage’s Legendary Great Three Students of the God Shinobi, along with Orochimaru and Tsunade.
Jiraiya is the mentor of Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, and becomes the godfather and mentor of Minato’s son, Naruto Uzumaki. Known for being an extremely gifted ninja, Jiraiya is a great leader and very humorous, but also a bit perverted, which earned him the nickname Pervy Sage.
While he’s one of the most popular heroes of the Naruto Universe, not much is known about his background, such as the name of his clan. While little is known about the Pervy Sage’s life, there are physical and contextual clues shown throughout the series that can provide hints about his lineage. Since characters from the same clan look similar, and Jiraiya is notable for his bright white hair, that’s one big clue. While he is an older man in Naruto, flashbacks to his childhood training as Konohagakure’s Sannin alongside Orochimaru and Tsunade show that he has always had the same bright white hair.
The Second Hokage’s son or grandson
Jiraiya looks remarkably like Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage, with the same distinct white hair. That would make him the grandson of Butsuma and Tsukiyama Senju, who had black and white hair, respectively. Hashirma Senju, the First Hokage, had black hair like his father; Tobirara had white hair like his mother; and Itama Senju, the Third Hokage, had half black and half white hair. Besides the silvery white hair, Jiraiya and Tobirama bear similar red markings on their faces.
While that theory sounds plausible, there is an incestuous weight to this theory, as Jiraiya was in love with Tsunade, who would have been his cousin. Of course, that could also be why Tsunade never wanted to give him the time of day.
The Tales of Jiraiya the Gallant
Naruto, and most importantly Konohagakure’s Sannin, were inspired by the Japanese folklore Katakiuchi Kidan Jiraiya Monogatari, meaning The Tales of Jiraiya the Gallant. In the folktale, Jiraiya was a hero who could summon toads and also possessed the ability to use toad magic.
In the tale, Jiraiya wrote down his teachings, which became the book. In the anime, Jiraiya traveled the world, writing down his teachings to pass down to future ninjas.
Since the story was the inspiration behind Naruto, even including Tsunade and Orochimaru, it would stand to reason that Jiraiya’s clan name is the same as the clan name in the folktale – Ogata.
