The journey of Naruto in the series was a difficult one. To achieve his dream of becoming Hokage, he had to go through a lot of hurdles and challenges. He had to work hard, protect his village, and get recognized by the residents so that he could earn the title of Hokage. Along his journey to follow his dream, he made a lot of friends and mentors who helped him during times of struggle and made sure that Naruto’s dream was fulfilled.
The best relationship that Naruto had in his life was probably with Jiraiya, one of the legendary Sanin and Naruto’s mentor. The Creator of the series Masashi Kishimoto tried to form a father-son type of bond between Naruto and Jiraiya and the audience was very well received.
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Reason Behind Jiraiya and Naruto’s Relationship Working So Well
Jiraiya was introduced in the plot and his relationship with Naruto was revealed as his mentor. Kishimoto preferred Jiraiya and Naruto‘s student-teacher connection the most in Naruto. He was Naruto‘s powerful father figure. Jiraiya was a formidable ninja known for being a member of the legendary Sannin and the master of Naruto‘s father, Minato Namikaze. He had a great deal of respect for Minato, so when he first met Naruto, he was determined to help him attain his full potential as a shinobi. Creator Kishimoto explained in an interview with Resetera, that as the story progressed, Naruto and Jiraiya’s bond grew even stronger and they developed a well-working relationship. He said:
“Not limiting families by their blood relations seemed mandatory to me. The most obvious example of this is the relationship between Naruto & Jiraiya. These two lonely beings, a hermit and an orphan, made the master/student relationship work very well. It’s very family-like. The word “family” as most people understand it is too limited as far as I’m concerned. Especially since I’m writing for children who may or may not face the problem of parents divorcing.”
Naruto and Jiraiya’s original relationship was purely that of pupil and teacher. However, their friendship grew stronger when Jiraiya realized Naruto could be the Child of Prophecy – the one to save the world. Jiraiya became even more protective and supportive of Naruto as a result of this realization.
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Masashi Kishimoto’s Concept of Families
While explaining his reason for developing a wonderful, non-blood relationship between Jiraiya and Naruto, he stated how he viewed the concept of families. He shared his personal experience and explained how it helped him to form the relationship between Jiraiya and Naruto. He said:
“This conception of families comes from the region I grew up in, where people used to get together in groups called “Kumis”. The custom was that you have to treat each member of the community like your own family. At home, the clan was called “Kou-Gumi”. We used to gather in groups of 8 or 10 to gather wood to prepare the baths, others would cultivate rice and those who finished early would help the others.”
“The way the clan worked was like a real family, so this is why this “Kumi” system left such an impact on me. My village, in a way, worked like the communities created by the ninjas of old. Thus this experience influenced me when I created the ninja village system in Naruto. From the start, the ninjas were supposed to be one big family.”
Kishimoto’s concept of not wanting family to be restricted to blood relations only, since many kids are orphans or live with divorced parents resonated with the audience on a very grand level and it not only helped him develop such a wonderful relationship, it became one of the reasons for the success of the anime and manga series.
Source: Resetera
