Jiraiya

Jiraiya (自来也, Jiraiya) is a Soul currently studying at the Shintai Sonjuku under the tutelage of Raian Getsueikirite. Unlike the other students who learn from Raian at the school, he has been appointed Raian's personal apprentice: in lieu of Minato Kuramoto studying directly under Seireitou Kawahiru. He has been stated to possess Shinigami potential, but so far hasn't chosen to become one.

Appearance
Jiraiya is a short Soul, standing shorter than his mentor and even his rival, Minato, despite being similar in age. He possesses very thick, dark-colored hair, which is styled in a rather flamboyant widow's peak. Jiraiya is noticeably more serious, in appearance, than his more lighthearted rival. This can often make him appear much older than he truly is. It has also made him the butt of jokes among his peers, Minato Kuramoto, and the ever flamboyant Seireitou Kawahiru. Despite being short for his age, and perhaps due to the intensity of his training, Jiraiya is very well toned for his age and is very physically fit.

In terms of wardrobe, Jiraiya wears a variant of the standard uniform worn by most at the Shintai Sonjuku: a tight, grey, long-sleeved undershirt, matching pants, along with white boots (bearing strange gold and black markings on the toe area) and white gloves. Additionally, he wears modified Getsueikirite armor, given to him as a gift from his master. This armor is both light-weight and durable, capable of withstanding even the strongest of attacks.

The armor's breastplate is engraved with the insignia of the school. Raian later claims that only students who have proven themselves can wear his insignia on their uniform, signifying just how much effort Jiraiya places into his training.

Personality
As a young child, Jiraiya was orphaned as a result of the War of the Worlds. Forced to survive on his own, he quickly learned how to fight and defend himself, instantly drawing the sword of a dead man when confronted by Raian Getsueikirite for the first time. Raian saved him from this life of loneliness and he has since viewed the older man to be a father figure as much as his personal mentor. He is noted to be a dutiful student who takes his training sessions very importantly and also appears to be polite, at least when in the presence of Raian and his other mentor, Yoshida. With Minato, Jiraiya shares a healthy rivalry. Both Seireitou and Raian have commented that theirs is a continuation of their own rivalry, seeming to play on the same personality differences, as well as both students' commitment to being stronger than the other. Jiraiya is shown to be tense and downright rude to Minato, though it is hinted that he cares about the other boy in a brotherly manner, and can often be seen chastising Minato for not taking his training under Seireitou as seriously as he should. As a result of this rivalry, Jiraiya strives to improve himself on a daily basis, hoping one day that he can prove he is the stronger fighter and the more fit to become a Shinigami. Despite the sometimes tense atmosphere of their rivalry, Jiraiya and Minato are capable of friendly interaction with each other and it is not uncommon to witness them unite over a similar goal.

Overall, Jiraiya has inherited Raian's heart for humanity and desires to protect the Human World above all else. He so believes in this goal, that he defected with his mentor and became part of the Wolves with the Quincy resurfaced a third time under the leadership of Kraven Jäger. Such was his determination to protect humanity, that he quickly became one of his mentor's most capable and reliable soldiers, being trusted with top secret missions and information. In contrast to his rival, Minato, Jiraiya seeks power to set himself aside from the orphan he once was and also to protect his school—which was his only home—from harm. Whereas Minato only seeks to fight until no one can harm his loved ones any longer, Jiraiya has adopted a lifestyle of fighting and seeks to protect a broader cause.

Raian has stated that Jiraiya is a heavy sleeper, as he did not noticed a Quincy invader entering the school while Raian and Yoshida did.

History
Jiraiya was among the first students found by Raian in the post-war Rukongai. Orphaned during the War of the Worlds, he was found in the battle-ravaged Shotō District, in eastern Rukongai, where he was picking food and supplies off of the corpses of the fallen men who died during the war. There, Raian recruited him and offered to teach him the ways of the Shinigami. Two months later, he is seen training at the new school with Raian and Yoshida. Afterwards, he goes to sleep and doesn't notice a Quincy invader in the school.

Years later, now an adult at the age of nineteen, Jiraiya joins the Wolves alongside his longtime mentor in order to fight the resurgent Quincy.

Equipment

 * Ōken Clothing: After training with the Raian Getsueikirite over the period of several years, Jiraiya dons special clothing made at the Soul King Palace back during Raian's tenure in the Royal Guard. These clothes are made from the bones and hair of the members of the Royal Guard, and they possess incredible defensive power, theoretically allowing Jiraiya to withstand the friction that results from breaking through the seventy-two barriers between Soul Society and the Soul King Palace without suffering any damage. These clothes take the form of a form-fitting, long-sleeve, grey undershirt, similar long pants, white gloves, and uniquely designed white boots.


 * Getsueikirite Clan Armor (月カッタ甲鉄, Getsueikirite Kōtetsu): A special brand of battle armor worn by the majority of the Raian's clan prior to the foundation of the Gotei 13. Jiraiya's version is a specialized variant given to him as a gift by Raian for his outstanding performance as a student. The armor is light-weight and extremely durable, allowing it to resist even the most powerful attacks. The breastplate is marked with the insignia of the Shintai Sonjuku.

Powers & Abilities
As the first serious pupil of the Zanjutsu Grandmaster, former Captain of the 10th Division, and Royal Guardsman Raian Getsueikirite, Jiraiya has amassed a vast knowledge of martial arts and Shinigami fighting skills that put him on par with the captains of the Gotei 13 and even those stronger than them.

Natural Abilities
As a child, it was strong enough to qualify him for Shinigami training. Two months later, still a young child, Jiraiya possessed spiritual energy on par with that of a seated officer in the Gotei 13, despite the fact that most of them were over a century old and had more time to develop their power. By the age of nineteen, Raian considers Jiraiya his most trustworthy student as well as his most powerful. Jiraiya possesses a staggering volume of spiritual power at this age, far above that of an average captain of the Gotei 13. Unlike Minato's power, which is so expansive that he cannot effectively keep it contained within his body, Jiraiya's spiritual energy is more focused and controlled. Because of their rivalry, Jiraiya's power is roughly even with Minato's, though the two often overcome each other at different points in their lives, if only briefly. Raian speculates that if Jiraiya were to live as long as he has (over two thousand years), he may reach heights of Shinigami power not yet seen: a testament to his limitless potential.
 * Dōhaku: The ability to excite the user's soul, thus allowing them to access any latent spiritual pressure or energy. While learning to focus his spiritual power, Raian taught him the exercises necessary to bring out his latent Reiryoku in times of need, drastically increasing his combat power.

High Growth Rate: Like his mentor, Raian, Jiraiya learns new concepts at an exceptionally fast rate. Within two months of beginning his training as a Shinigami, he had already learned the foundations for Shinigami swordsmanship and even had begun to impress a master like Raian with his progress. Yoshida herself notes that Jiraiya is a prodigy who learns battle simply from participating in it. Raian attributes Jiraiya's fast-paced growth to his rivalry with Minato, noting that—much like himself, due to his rivalry with Seireitou—the additional pressure of a rival has forced Jiraiya to blossom much quicker than an average warrior.
 * Seihaku: Another aspect of his growth rate is mastery over the concept of Seihaku. Simply put, he is able to fight on instinct to a very high degree, allowing him to preform favorable feats in combat without thinking much about their consequences. This gives him an edge against more calculating opponents.

Combat Will: He also shares his mentor's combat will. Jiraiya is immensely tenacious in battle, going to the utmost extremes to ensure his victory. Often times, it is his sheer tenacity that determines whether he can win or lose a fight. Jiraiya has been observed getting up from attacks that would cripple most fighters, simply because he refuses to lose.

Immense Strength: Due to at least fourteen years of training under the strict tutelage of Raian, with occasional training under the more ferocious Yoshida, Jiraiya is physically very fit. Raian has compared his physical strength to that of himself in Jinki Fragment Mode: capable of lifting and tossing objects many times his size and doing tremendous internal damage to anyone unlucky enough to take a direct punch from one of his attacks. This strength also gives him incredible endurance, which allows him to be smashed through buildings without much damage to his physical body.

Master of Hakuda
General Hand-to-Hand Prowess: Initially, Jiraiya detested the practice of Hakuda and implored Raian to teach him the art of Zanjutsu more thoroughly. However, Raian denied him, insisting he first learn the basics of physical combat. Overtime, however, Jiraiya became more and more inclined to physical combat and decided to develop his prowess as a Hakuda master. Perhaps due to his exposure to Minato, Jiraiya's initial methods of fighting were very similar. He prefers and up-close and personal method of approach and is quite ferocious when it comes to hand-to-hand combat. Upon discovering his affinity for the art, Raian selected a unique form of teaching him the art, and taught Jiraiya the art of Hakuda through the principles of Zanjutsu. As a result, Jiraiya became accustomed to both styles of fighting, allowing him to effectively combat armed opponents even when he himself is unarmed. Through this method, Jiraiya considers his body itself to be a sword and commands it as such. His movements are very quick, rapid, and are meant to aim for the holes in a foe's form and attack structure. This effectively allows him to quickly break through both their offensive and defensive postures and land fatal blows without opening himself up to fatal attacks. Ironically, this means he fights with the opposite style as his rival, Minato: fighting with a technique rather than a soft style. Jiraiya has noted that his type of fighting is aimed at breaking his opponent's bones or rupturing their internal organs, ending a fight quickly, albeit violently. More similarly to Zanjutsu, as taught to him by his mentor, Jiraiya fights armed opponents by aiming for their weapon arm. This allows him to disarm them, either traditionally or by breaking their wrist, neutralizing them as a threat. This also means he can interrupt an opponent's attack before they can finish executing the maneuver.

Hyper-Speed Combat: Due to being taught Hakuda via the principles of Raian's Zanjutsu, Jiraiya has similarly adopted a fighting style that relies upon instantaneous movement rather than a more traditional form-based fighting method. This makes him highly dangerous and unpredictable and also effectively makes him appear to fight like a berserker. He has commented that his skills with this technique isn't quite as refined as his mentor's, but he is slowly improving towards mastery.

Shōin Shiranui Style (松陰不知火流, Shōin Shiranui-ryū; literally "Pine Trees in Darkness Guiding Light Style"): Jiraiya first learned this style of Hakuda in order to assist him with gaining a complete command over his vast volumes of Reiryoku. By understanding the concepts of this style, Jiraiya gained the ability to control the output of his Reiatsu when he attacks and defends. This effectively gives him the ability to focus a large amount of Reiatsu into a small, compact point (such as his fist), allowing for devastating damage when released in an attack.
 * Adamantine Fist (金剛拳, Kongōken): The Adamantine Fist takes the art of Reiatsu exertion control to the next level and trains the user to focus the spiritual pressure released by an individual into a compact single point. Jiraiya will release his Reiatsu from his wrists and compact it into his fists, allowing for an explosive punch that is capable of shattering bones and completely destroying internal organs. This technique automatically increases his strength between three to five times his normal strength, however, at full power it is easily ten times his natural strength. A punch of this magnitude even poses a threat to a Quincy using Blut Vene or an Arrancar using.
 * Reihikari (魂の光, "Soul Light"; literally "light of the spirit"): Raian taught this technique to Jiraiya early on in their training as a way of bringing out some of the boy's hidden power. To preform it, Jiraiya converts his own Reiatsu into a sphere of pure energy, which he can then use as a projectile attack. Traditionally, this attack takes the form of a wave of energy, however, Jiraiya has also used it to take the form of a tremendous sphere of energy, capable of doing massive damage. Raian comments that, much like his fellow student Tonma Yanisagaru, this is because, just before he fires the technique, Jiraiya seems to subconsciously compress it, preventing it from spreading out into the more common beam-form.
 * Adamantine Body (金剛体, Kongōtai): Using this skill to harden his body with his Reiatsu, Jiraiya can make himself impervious to most sword attacks. In one instance, a Zanpakutō broke along his chest in an attempt to slash him. Only truly powerful Zanjutsu users, such as Raian, are capable of breaking this defense.

Kidō Master
Kidō Mastery: Taught the art of spellcasting directly from his mentor, Raian, Jiraiya also proved to have an affinity for casting Kidō—probably connected with his skill for controlling his Reiryoku. He demonstrates enough mastery of the skill to preform '''Hadō #73. ', keeping the blast nearly'' at full power, even without prior chanting of the incantation. Much like his mentor, Jiraiya can summon Kidō with a simple wave of his hand, conjuring up barriers, offensive spells, and even covert traps to deceive his opponents. Raian once commented that his skill with Kidō was enough to put him in the running for a future Yonkō of Kidō position.

Unique Spell Usage: Jiraiya not only knows how to use high level Kidō, thanks to his thorough tutelage, but, he also has many methods of using Kidō which differ from more traditional users. In a fashion similar to that of the Quincies, Jiraiya can draw on the Reishi and Reiryoku that make up his spiritually constructed surroundings, absorbing them into himself and allowing him to cast extraordinarily powerful spells, as well as maintaining them, with little or no cost to his own Reiryoku reserves. In environments like Hueco Mundo and Soul Society, which are completely composed of spiritual particles, this strategy can allow him to command his battles with Kidō alone. Raian has also taught Jiraiya the skill to, without incantation, implant spells into anything he touches, while, at the same time, setting conditions for those spells being released.

Zanpakutō
Jiraiya is hinted to be in possession of a Zanpakutō, though he chooses not to use it.

Transformation
Death God Activation (死神始動, Shinigami Shidō): A heightened transformation, created by Jiraiya, that explosively increases his Reiryoku and all of his physical traits. Jiraiya invented the transformation in order to contend with Minato's Jinki Fragment Mode, after intense observations of his mentor's own Jinki Fragment Mode. The transformation was incomplete for much of its early usage. When transformed, Jiraiya's hair changed from black into a vibrant gold and his eyes become forest green. Additionally, Reiatsu leaks out into a powerful and surging golden aura.

This incomplete Activation state succeeded in bringing him into par with Minato's Jinki Fragment powers and works by drawing a large amount of his latent Reiryoku to the surface for use. Raian notes that transforming into this state easily made Jiraiya a Bankai-level opponent, despite the boy not having a Bankai himself. The drawbacks of this form, however, immediately became apparent. Because of the incomplete drawing out of latent power, the transformation is extremely taxing on Jiraiya's stamina and makes it impossible for him to remain transformed for long periods of time. With training, he was able to extend his duration in the form, as well as the form's strength, but was unable to overcome the drawback. By the time Jiraiya joins the Wolves, he overcomes the drawback of his transformation and completes the Death God Activation technique. The result is a transformation that dyes his hair and eyes a light blue coloration. His Reiatsu aura also maintains its natural coloration of blue. In the completed form, Raian has remarked that Jiraiya's power reaches levels nearing a Shinigami who has attained Bankai Mastery, specifically that of his own Bankai Stage 2. With Death God Activation at its maximum, the full of his latent Reiryoku is drawn to the surface and at his fingertips, allowing him to unleash devastating attacks at previously unseen levels. He is also able to maintain this form indefinitely, allowing him to fight freely against extremely powerful opponents.

Trivia

 * Jiraiya's theme song, as determined by the author, is "Carnivore" by Starset.
 * Jiraiya's birthday was chosen as October 12th due to that date being the premiere of The Walking Dead Season 5 — he airing of the author's favorite episode, "No Sanctuary".