One of the Legendary Sanin, Jiraiya is a shinobi of two halves. One half is a man of wisdom seeking peace and harmony in a world of violence and hate who writes books depicting such violence and seeks out the student of prophecy destined to bring peace to the shinobi world.

RELATED: Naruto: 5 Reasons Jiraiya Should Have Been Hokage (& 5 Why He Shouldn't Have Been)

The other half? Well, that's the darker, more ruthless side composed of a Hokage-level shinobi ripping and tearing his way through a battlefield as an unstoppable weapon of brute force. Summoning mountainous toads and using techniques only the most elite shinobi in the history of Naruto could use—Jiraiya is a character displaying incredible wisdom as well as unrelenting mercilessness.

10 Naurto Is Named After One Of His Fictional Characters

When Watching Naruto: Shippuden, it's no secret that Naruto possibly has the saddest story within the manga/anime. Sure, the fictional world of shinobi is filled with pain and grief, but perhaps the saddest scene in the anime is watching Naruto's parents ripped from the infant while sealing a crazed, nine-tailed beast within their child.

Yet, before this, the parents had to name their child, and upon hard thought, decided to name their son after a fictional shinobi created by none other than Jiraiya, one of the legendary Sanin and novelist.

9 Graduated The Academy At Six

Young Jiraiya

The Ninja Academy is where aspiring shinobi start their journey, and Jiraiya isn't an exception. However, what separates the Toad Sage is when he graduated from the academy. When enrolling in the academy, students can technically enroll at any age they choose to do so but most wait until turning eight.

So, the young prodigy that was little Jiraiya enrolled, completed, and graduated from the academy before the other shinobi children even tried to attend the academy. The rest is history as the young prodigy would move on to join a squad with Lady Tsunade and Orochimaru while being trained under the Third Hokage.

8 Isn't Buried In The Hidden Leaf Village

Naruto at Jiraiya's grave

A punch that hit most fans with a shot still felt years after completing the anime was Jiraiya's gruesome death. Sending himself into the seas, filled with metal rods and covered in blood after his battle with the Six Paths of Pain, Jiraiya's story came to an end that made fans feel nothing but sadness.

Grieving, Naruto didn't want the Hidden Leaf to forget Jiraiya's impact. Unfortunately, the body was lost, so Naruto decided to build a monument for Jiraiya in the forest just outside the village, carving the kanji for "teacher" in the stone.

7 Named After A Folklore Character

When Masashi Kishimoto created Naruto, the manga writer used Japanese folklore as inspiration for several characters within the Naruto manga, the most prominent examples being the Three Legendary Sanin. Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya were based on folklore stories, and more specifically, Jiraiya's character had been inspired by The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya. In the story, a character named Jiraiya Gōketsu Monogatari, a protagonist that rides toads and used their "magic."

Related: The Tale of Gallant Jiraiya: The Story That Inspired Naruto's Legendary Sannin

Jiraiya Gōketsu Monogatari is a name that translates into "Young Thunder," and in other translations, means "Young Lightning" or "I Came."  All of which could be used to describe Jiraiya's character, role, and even his tendency to use brute force within Naruto.

6 Invented The Transparent Escape Technique

The simple technique "Transparent Escape" is a jutsu that does what its name implies, allowing the user to go almost transparent, making it easier for them to move around undetected. It's a useful technique as fans see it commonly used within the anime, but its origin is never really explained, much like many "less" popular jutsus.

And, of course, Jiraiya was the one who created such a jutsu, but the reasoning wasn't what most shinobi would deem "respectable." As a youngster, Jiraiya developed the jutsu that would later be used worldwide not for reconnaissance or infiltration, but rather, the young boy just wanted to spy on attractive women.

5 He Can Reverse-Summon Himself

Summoning is another type of jutsu used widely throughout the show, with Jiraiya only being one example. However, Jiraiya is one of the best Sages within the anime- summoning toads as big as mountains and using Sage Mode to turn himself into a power-house. Another cool trick that fans don't get a look at outside of Jiraiya, however, is his tendency to "reverse-summon" himself.

When summoning a toad, it's simple, Jiraiya summons the toad, and it teleports to him. When reverse-summoning, though, Jiraiya teleports himself to the toad, along with his enemies. The most notable time he used this technique was when he reverse-summoned himself, Itachi, and Kisame into the stomach of a massive mountain frog.

4 Can Use Four Chakra Types

Jiraiya uses rasengan

The five main chakra types are water, fire, earth, wind, and lightning, and when it comes to determining which ones a shinobi uses, it can become somewhat hard to tell. Some jutsus require multiple chakra types, and others look like they use types they don't, making it hard to tell what types a shinobi can use without being told so.

RELATED: Naruto: 5 Times Kakashi Was The Best Mentor (& 5 When It Was Master Jiraiya)

Most people within Naruto can use two types, with a large portion only being able to use one. Jiraiya, unlike others, can use every Chakra type except for lightning, making him a versatile shinobi capable of learning a plethora of jutsus used throughout shinobi villages.

3 Rank Is A Mystery

Shinobi are ranked based on Genin, Chunin, and Jonin. Usually, when a shinobi becomes part of a squad, they are considered the Genin before taking the Chunin Exams, and the most elite will eventually become Jonin. Jiraiya took a bit of an "alternate" route when it came to obtaining rank, however. Throughout both the anime and manga, a Shinobi rank is left uncertain as fans are left unsure if he officially passed the Chunin Exams or even reached Genin.

In the manga, Jiraiya was reportedly rankless, and in the show, only teased with the possibility of Jiraiya holding the rank Jonin. There isn't any consistent answer to what status he obtained, but does it matter? As one of the Legendary Sanin, that's Jiraiya's title, and it's what most people classify the character as.

2 His Only Scar Was Created By Naruto

Naruto and Jiraiya photo

As a shinobi that has gone through wars, fought countless battles, and square off against unfathomable opponents, one would assume Jiraiya to be battered and bruised, right? Well, apparently not, and when lifting his shirt to reveal to Tsunade a recently acquired scar, it was the only one on his entire body.

It was a massive gash that had crossed most of Jiraiya's chest and was caused by Naruto after losing control of the Nine-Tail's chakra. Now, this may seem insignificant or unworthy of being a "fact you didn't know," but when put into perspective by considering how long Jiraiya has been a shinobi, the fact that no one else could scar him is a testament to his strength (as well as Naruto's).

1 His Last Words Were From An Old Proverb That Symbolized His Life

Jiraiya versus Pain in Naruto Shippuden.

Some of the final words of the great Toad Sage was, “A frog in a well does not know the great ocean.” These words come from an Asian proverb about a frog that had fallen into the well, and it became the only thing the frog knew. Stuck in the well, the frog thought it had grown smart and wise in a world it felt it understood, only to have this illusion shattered when another frog fell in the well.

These words are symbolic to the stubborn Jiraiya, a man who believed that he had grown wise and built his ideal of peace and harmony only to be shattered. The other frog was none other than Nagato, a student Jiraiya had saved during the second ninja world, and that student would kill his mentor after rocking Jiraiya's world and shattering his beliefs.

NEXT: Boruto: 5 Reasons Why Jiraiya's Return Is Good (& 5 Why It Is Bad)