Kishimoto reveals why he didn't bring Jiraiya back into the war

This article contains spoilers from Naruto's Fourth Great Ninja War.

Summary

• Jiraiya's death was a significant turning point for Naruto in the series.

• Kishimoto decided not to bring back Jiraiya to maintain his perfect character arc.

• Reviving Jiraiya would have complicated the story and undermined character development.

Kishimoto has never been one to shy away from killing off characters in the film Naruto series. In fact, one of the many reasons why fans were as invested in this story as they were was simply due to the fact that no character was really safe, and even the main characters, like Naruto and Sasuke, were scared to death in the story. . Naruto saw many significant characters die that fans never thought would go on to lose their lives and one such character is Jiraiya.

Jiraiya was influential in Naruto's life, and without him he certainly wouldn't be the man he is today. As fans know, Jiraiya lost to Pain, and this loss was absolutely huge for not only Naruto but for all of Konoha. In the Fourth Great Ninja War, Kishimoto brought back quite a few former ninjas with the power of the Edo Tensei, but surprisingly, Jiraiya was not one of them. That said, Kishimoto has previously revealed the reasoning behind not bringing him back.

Jiraiya's death in Naruto was a shocking one

• Jiraiya infiltrated Amegakure

• The six paths of pain combined to take his life

Jiraiya's death in Naruto was incredibly significant. Not only was it one of the best moments in the entire series, despite being incredibly sad, but it was also the turning point for Naruto Uzumaki himself. Jiraiya essentially built a network for him in a way where he created ways to get key information on various individuals. At one point, when the Akatsuki were actively hunting the Nine-Tails, Jiraiya began gathering information about them, with the aim of identifying the leader and taking them out from the top. This was Jiraiya's main plan, and if he succeeded, he would have essentially succeeded in defeating Akatsuki and possibly leading the other members to disperse. This was a high risk, high reward move and a challenge that Jiraiya was certainly willing to take on.

In the end, my life was full of failures. – Jiraiya

To accomplish this task, he infiltrated the Hidden Rain Village and was immediately discovered by Konan and Nagato. Here, Jiraiya ended up confronting the Six Paths of Pain, and at this point he gave it his all. Despite harnessing the power of Sage Mode, Jiraiya was unable to win. In fact, he took down three of the six pains, but ended up losing. This was simply due to the fact that Jiraiya did not know the secret of Pain himself, and that was his greatest downfall. Despite having all the information he had, he didn't know how the Rinnegan worked and all the details and paid a huge price for it.

In the end, despite having the power of Sage Mode and the two sages of Mount Myoboku on his side, he ended up losing his life. That said, he could have easily escaped if he wanted to. But he didn't run and chose to die a hero's death, knowing that for a Shinobi, the way they die is what really matters. He left behind a message for Naruto Uzumaki to discover, and then moved on, finally realizing that the boy he had been looking for all his life, that is, the Child of the Prophecy, was Naruto all along.

Why Kishimoto didn't bring Jiraiya back

Kishimoto didn't want to spoil Jiraiya's ending

When Kikimoto started bringing back shinobi one after another during the Fourth Great Ninja War, fans wondered if Jiraiya would make an appearance at some point. After all, he was one of the most powerful ninja to ever exist, and at the same time one of the most significant in Konoha's history. Kabuto addressed this in the story itself, and according to him, his body was at the bottom of the ocean, and getting it out from under immense pressure would have been impossible. Of course, that was really just the explanation within the Naruto world. If Kishimoto wanted, he could have made Jiraiya appear in the war as well, but he really didn't. There is a reason for that and Kishimoto talked about it in an interview once.

Pervy Sage taught me that it is possible to achieve true peace, and I will find it. – Naruto

According to Kishimoto, the reason he didn't bring Jiraiya back was quite simple. He just didn't know how to write his return in a good way. This essentially means that Kishimoto believes that Jiraiya's character is absolutely perfect and recognizes his importance in the grand scheme of things. Taking him back would then force him to write a new ending for Jiraiya, something he was clearly not willing to do. Jiraiya's life and death had a huge impact on Naruto Uzumaki, among other characters.

It was because of Jiraiya that Naruto was able to grow significantly in both power and maturity, eventually leading him to understand what the cycle of hatred was and how to break out of it. Without Jiraiya, Naruto would never have been the person he is today, and taking him back would undo all of that. It would create complicated scenarios with Naruto and the war, and that was certainly something the author didn't want.

According to Kishimoto, Jiraiya's death also brought Naruto closer to understanding Sasuke's feelings in a way. Then again, bringing him back would undo all of that, and it just wouldn't have been a good way that the story could have ended this character arc if he returned. The best way Kishimoto could have taken the story forward was to simply let Jiraiya be and that's what he did.

Should Kishimoto have revived Jiraiya as well?

Jiraiya Staying dead was the perfect decision

Kishimoto could have easily revived Jiraiya if he really wanted to. But the fact that he didn't proved that he knew in his heart that after the conclusion he gave to Jiraiya, it wouldn't be a good idea to take him back. When a writer kills off a character permanently in the story, they shouldn't bring them back. Of course, there are many ways in which the resurrection can actually help the story and, as far as the main characters are concerned, this works to a fairly large extent. For example, both Naruto and Sasuke had a death scare in the Fourth Great Ninja War, where they could have easily died, but ended up coming back to life, stronger than ever before. Other series have done similar things with main characters, but for some characters who affect the main plot of the story in significant ways and turn the tide with their deaths, a return via resurrection of some kind is never a good idea.

If a writer is unsure about a death of massive magnitude and wants to bring the character back for one reason or another, then they shouldn't have killed them off in the first place. Kishimoto really made a great decision by not bringing Jiraiya back, and if he had brought him back, the Fourth Great Ninja War would have been worse than the fans know it to be.

Naruto is available to read on MangaPlus and the Shonen Jump app. Fans can read the official release and support the author by doing so.