Board Thread:Naruto Discussions/@comment-30168130-20161011015658/@comment-1872728-20161030061021

Ninjachris wrote: So explain to me how would he have ever been a stronger sage than naruto. Jiraiya is old when he almost defeated Six Paths of Pain while using an imperfected Sage Mode. Naruto is young when he defeated the Six Paths of Pain while using a perfected Sage Mode. Jiraiya has more experience with senjutsu and he only relies on his own power and also utilises senjutsu very well strategically. Naruto has less experience and sometimes relies on Kurama and mostly spams powerful senjutsu instead.

Not saying Naruto is weaker than Jiraiya, but in terms of being a sage, I would say Jiraiya takes the cake. He lived most of his life as a sage, so the experience part is covered. He also didn't have a Tailed Beast to rely on when he's in a pinch, so he utilises senjutsu very well in his battles, maybe even to its full potential. He used an imperfected Sage Mode and almost defeated Six Paths of Pain without intel on their abilities, so if he achieved a perfected Sage Mode and received intel like Naruto, he would've destroyed them.

The reason why Jiraiya didn't learn how to absorb Natural Energy and balance it properly is because he didn't have the time. Missions and wars took most of his time when he was young, the journey to "research" for his books and finding/training the child of prophecy took another chunk, and spying on Akatsuki took the rest of his time.