One of the top talents of his generation, Jiraiya was in line to become Hokage. Can the shocking death of the quirky but talented ninja be reversed?
Jiraiya's death in Naruto is a terribly tragic, however, his death is seemingly reversed when he comes back in Boruto: Naruto Next Generation as a clone named Koji. Although Boruto: Naruto Next Generation is the sequel to Naruto, there are only a handful of the many interesting characters from Naruto who have appeared in the newer series up until this point. And, one of the most surprising appearances is that of Jiraiya, which is shocking because he's dead.
As a youth, Jiraiya was a member of Konoha Village’s legendary Sannin or “three ninjas.” In addition to Jiraiya, the Sannin included Tsunade, who would go on to become the Fifth Hokage (and the greatest kunoichi in village history), and Orochimaru, who eventually became a major threat to the village’s existence. Before the team was disbanded, however, no other trio was able to enjoy the success of the Sannin. Jiraiya was the oddest of the three members. He was a fun-loving soul who often used his abilities to prank others. And, he always hoped to use his powers to make peace. Jiraiya was originally slated to become the Fifth Hokage, but he refused the position, opting for field assignments instead. Eventually, he fell under the influence of Fukasaku, a descendant of the Great Sage Toad who had helped Hagoromo and Hamura Ōtsutsuki understand their mother Kaguya’s motives.
During an assignment, Jiraiya discovered the location of the criminal ninja group Akatsuki. After reporting this to Tsunade, he infiltrated Akatsuki only to discover that the group’s leader, Pain, was his former student. Jiraiya then confronts Pain and Akatsuki but is killed in the challenge, thus ending the life of one of the greatest ninjas never to become Hokage, and one of the major influences on Naruto’s development.
Since Jiraiya was dead, fans never expected for him to return in Boruto, unless via a flashback. However, thanks to the cloning work of Kara's inner named Amado, Jiraiya reappears in Boruto as Koji Kashin who, contrary to early rumors, is not Jiraiya's son. For reasons not yet clear, Amado wanted to kill the founder and head of Kara, Isshiki Otsuki. Originally, he planned on doing this with a band of cyborgs he had been working on under the guise that they would improve Kara’s capabilities. However, when that program was stopped by Isshiki’s vessel Jigen, Amado used genetic material he somehow obtained of Jiraiya to create a clone, whom he named Koji. To prevent others from realizing that he was a clone of Jiraiya, Koji wore a mask that covered most of his face.
Working with Amado, Koji became a member of Kara’s inner circle and waited for the right time to assassinate Isshiki. As an inner, Koji was one of Kara’s deadliest members, showing loyalty to its mission that disguised his true goal of killing its leader. Much of Koji's abilities came from the fact that he was a clone of Jiraiya. His inherent powers were further augmented by Amado’s scientific ninja technology. Ultimately, however, his plans with Amado were discovered by Isshiki. This forced him to accelerate his plans and attack Isshiki on his own. While it wasn’t easy, Isshiki was eventually able to defeat him.
Though defeated, Koji was able to escape with his life. At present, his whereabouts are unknown. However, now that his identity has been revealed, there are a number of interesting possibilities for Boruto going forward. While he was a committed member of Kara, most of his actions such as crashing the airship to allow Kawaki to escape, assassinating fellow Kara inner, Victor, persuading Delta not to attack Konoho, killing Jigen, and attempting to kill Isshiki, suggest that elements of the Jiraiya are in Koji. The question is whether those elements can come together to bring back the real Naruto version of Jiraiya.
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Marcel Green is a writer for Screen Rant's Comics and Anime Sections.
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