The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi

The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi was Jiraiya's first book, written while training the Ame Orphans. It sold poorly; nobody attended Jiraiya's book signing. Minato Namikaze enjoyed it, however, enough to name his then-unborn son after the character of Naruto in the story, in the hopes that his son would to grow up to be just like the protagonist.

Plot in the Anime and Manga
The story follows the adventures of a ninja named Naruto, a name Jiraiya came up with while eating ramen. Minato notes that Naruto's personality and some of his travels are very similar to Jiraiya's, thus making it a sort of autobiography. Naruto never gives up and vows to break the "curse", which represents the cycles of war, conflict, and hatred that occupies the ninja world. As this is an idea Jiraiya first heard spoken of by Nagato, the book is dedicated to him.

Plot in the Novelisation
The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi was adapted into a real-world novel written by Akira Higashiyama and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It was released in Japan on August 4, 2010 (ISBN 978-4-08-703229-1). With a length of 252 pages, it comprises five chapters along with a prologue and an epilogue. Also included are a map of the book's world, a signature by Jiraiya and a picture of him, Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki.

Around the mountain, four ninja villages are located. In the north lies, in the east lies , in the west lies and in the south lies , the protagonist's village. Kon and Ton were once a single village named, but after the first ninja world war, the village was split. The plot takes place after the second ninja world war.

tries to track down his former comrade,, and unravel a mysterious conspiracy involving the destruction of a nearby village.

Chapter list

 * Prologue:
 * Chapter 1:
 * Chapter 2:
 * Chapter 3:
 * Chapter 4:
 * Chapter 5:
 * Epilogue:

Main cast

 * Naruto Musasabi, a jōnin from Shuku
 * Tsuyu, a jōnin and medical ninja from Shuku
 * Renge Momoashi, a nukenin and formerly a jōnin from Shuku
 * Nikaku Onikoma, a shinobi from Shuku
 * Kokage Mahiru, Shuku's village head
 * Kaen Mahiru, Kokage's predecessor
 * Maei Yagyū, Kotsu's village head
 * Kaosu, Kon's village head
 * Shima, a jōnin from Kon

Trivia

 * In the anime, Jiraiya's fight with the first Animal Path may have been the inspiration for the Evil Ninja and his fight with the character named Naruto in the book.
 * After Pain's Assault was over, Naruto left a copy of the book, along with the bouquet of paper flowers that Konan gave him, at a rock, as a tribute to Jiraiya.
 * When Nagato used the Deva Path to use Shinra Tensei on Naruto, Nagato, ironically making himself to be the Evil Ninja, told Naruto to just give up, only for Naruto to use Naruto's (the character in the book) line he should give up thinking Naruto would give up.