When the Naruto franchise introduced Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade at different points, fans were not aware that the trio used to be a team. It took a while before anyone described the history of the Legendary Sannin. The term means “three ninjas” and is a nod to their prowess on the battlefield. Of course, by the time the trio are main characters in the Naruto franchise, they’re no longer a team. In fact, they aren’t even allies since Orochimaru is an enemy of his former home, Konohagakure, for much of the series.
The events of Naruto take place nearly 50 years after Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya first teamed up as children, leaving a very long timeline of events that Naruto Uzumaki doesn’t even know about. Since the franchise typically tells its story from his point of view, there are quite a few things about the trio’s history that fans might have missed. Fans frequently view Orochimaru as the villain, but there are times when he saved people’s lives before he turned to his darker pursuits, Tsunade might have grown up to help save the village, but she spent a lot of time lost in her own past, and Jiraiya, for all his faults, had the opportunity to become Konohagakure’s leader, but turned it down.
We’ve got all of the details in the 30 Weird Things The Legendary Sannin Did Before Naruto.
They Graduated The Ninja Academy Very Early
The Ninja Academy acts as the training ground for future Shinobi. Before a Shinobi reaches Genin status, where they work in teams of three with an experienced leader, they must learn the basics and graduate from the Academy.
Unlike traditional elementary school, kids can advance through the program as quickly as they complete the work. In Naruto’s generation, nearly all of his friends graduated the Academy at the age of 12. Itachi Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake, who are considered prodigies, graduated at seven and five years old, respectively, while Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru all graduated at just six years old before they were placed on the same team.
Jiraiya Invented The Transparent Escape Technique
Jiraiya is known for certain proclivities in the Naruto franchise and one of them is spying. However, he is a successful spy because of a specific technique he created.
When he was just a child, he already loved spying on females and created the Transparent Escape Technique to make sure he didn’t get caught. The new Jutsu actually allowed him to either become invisible or blend in with his surroundings. Of course, though Jiraiya talks about it, we never actually see it in action. He was convincing enough as a kid, though, that when he told Hiruzen Sarutobi about it, his sensei wanted to accompany him and see if it worked.
Orochimaru Set Up A Hidden Network
As Orochimaru broke more and more away from his home village, he began experimenting on Shinobi test subjects more often as well. He had to do that quietly though, so he built up his own network of hideouts.
Throughout the Land of Fire, Orochimaru hid laboratories and underground tunnels. Sometimes, they were behind large sections of mountainside, while other times, they were beneath islands. The intention was always the same: to keep the Konohagakure villagers from catching wind of what he was up to. For a long time, he succeeded, but eventually, his experiments went too far and Konoha Shinobi were sent to track down his numerous hideouts over the years, but they never found all of them.
Tsunade Defeated Jiraiya Decisively
Though Tsunade and Jiraiya knew one another since they were just six years old, Tsunade wasn’t exempt from Jiraiya’s spying. As the trio of Shinobi matured, Tsunade actually became a frequent target of Jiraiya’s attempts to spy. She didn’t often catch him, but when she did, he got a taste of her legendary temper.
On one such occasion, she gave him the strike of his life. She caused several injuries, landing him in the hospital, but the hostilities didn’t put a damper on their friendship. They maintained a training relationship and Jiraiya was even the Shinobi entrusted to bring her back when she was offered the Hokage position.
The Third Hokage Trained The Sannin
When Shinobi graduate the Academy and are assigned a three-man team, they also gain a sensei. That sensei leads them on Genin missions, sometimes, even leading them once they’ve advanced to Chunin as well.
Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya had one powerful sensei in the form of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who taught them what it meant to be a Shinobi and saw the potential for greatness in them. He also saw the potential for darkness in Orochimaru. It’s worth noting that at least some of their training had to occur while he was Hokage, since he was in that position during the Second Shinobi World War. This caused the group to make their first true stand as adults.
Orochimaru Experimented With The First Hokage’s DNA
One of the most powerful Shinobi in the Naruto franchise history is Hashirama Senju. He became the First Hokage of Konoha and he was the only person (before the Boruto series) who naturally had Wood Release Chakra.
Orochimaru, naturally, wanted to replicate the abilities that made Hashirama unique. He used some of the First Hokage’s DNA to begin experimenting on children, taking 60 from the village. The only one to survive Orochimaru’s tests, and end up able to use Wood Release to boot, was the Shinobi who became known as Yamato.
They Survived A Battle With Hanzo
The Legendary Sannin would never have become legendary if they hadn’t battled Hanzo. Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya had already gone their separate ways when the Second Shinobi World War concluded, but the trio reunited to team up against Konoha’s enemies. When they ed other teams of ninjas in a battle against Hanzo, they were the only team to survive.
It was Hanzo himself who termed them Legendary Sannin for going up against him. Funnily enough, the battle that earned them their name was also the last time the three teamed up together. The next time they were in the same battle was against each other when Jiraiya tracked down Tsunade to ask her to become Hokage.
Tsunade Spent Decades Storing Chakra
Following the events of the Second Shinobi World War, Tsunade began making preparations to increase her own strength and she did it with the Strength of a Hundred Seal.
The seal, which fans recognize as the diamond in the middle of her forehead, requires her to maintain very precise chakra control. Everyday, she had to divert some of her own chakra to the seal, gradually increasing how much chakra was stored there. Once the seal was released, it multiplied her strength level by an enormous amount, but she waited decades before unleashing the full power.
Orochimaru Set The Eight-Tailed Beast On A Rampage
In addition to his love for power and his desire to become the “ultimate being,” Orochimaru had a fascination with tailed beasts, just like the Akatsuki. During the years before Naruto’s story began, he learned the location of the eight-tailed beast and set about gaining access. In order to do that, he had to infiltrate another Shinobi settlement.
He pretended to be a Shinobi native to Kumogakure in order to get into the city. There, he enacted a scheme pretending to be Blue B’s doctor, getting him to take pills that activated a Genjutsu and set the Jinchuriki’s tailed beast on a rampage. For his trouble, Orochimaru got the beast’s horn and the DNA it contained.
Tsunade Began Konoha’s Medical Ninja System
There were medical-nin in Konoha long before Tsunade began her training in the field. It was Tsunade, however, that launched the movement for better medical training and placement of Shinobi.
When she was young, Tsunade began her training in the field, but realized how many ninja teams didn’t have a medical-nin amongst their trios. It meant that medical ninjas were spread thin on battlefields with many Shinobi left with the consequences. Tsunade planted the seed for more medical training to begin and she set Konoha on the path to require medical training for one member of every team. It wouldn’t fully be enacted until she became Hokage years later, but she set the standard decades earlier.