Naruto Creator Kishimoto Finally Explains Jiraiya’s Death & The Reason Behind It!
I am a little late on this but it seems like there were some scans released on twitter which covered the interview with Kishimoto where he talked about the Pain arc and about Jiraiya’s death. He even mentioned that this arc was ironically the most painful arc according to him. “Looking back on the Naruto series, the part he described as ‘Painful’ was the Pain story arc,” the piece writes. Now, let’s get into the Jiraiya part now –
“Sasuke had his family killed, so he has revenge in his heart. But Naruto didn’t have that experience. There’s nothing that someone not in the same position can say that’s convincing,” Kishimoto explains. “The things Naruto said just didn’t ring true to Sasuke. But later, when Naruto lost Jiraiya, a father-like figure to him, he understood Sasuke’s position for the first time. From there, what would Naruto do…?”
This loss was a big one for Naruto but at the same time, it helped him grow independent and could relate to Sasuke on a new level. As the creator, Kishimoto says that Jiraiya’s death was objectively a price for Naruto’s growth. How long would he stick with Jiraiya and depend on him? Well, it’s up to us, the fans to decide whether this price was worth paying or not. I think it was a splendid scene but I would like them to meet one last time.
We have seen many deaths in Naruto and most of the times, we see the characters being revived like Kakashi, or while during Edo Tensei but we haven’t seen Jiraiya even once. Yes, flashbacks are there but Naruto and Jiraiya never had the chance to talk one last time or even had the opportunity to meet each other, see each other’s faces and most important of all, seeing Naruto as a Hokage. That really hurts.