Board Thread:Naruto Discussions/@comment-12509038-20140830021423/@comment-24531362-20140908103629

To my eyes, Jiraiya was a good father figure when he was around. He helped Naruto to grow, and most importantly, to learn to do so on his own. Despite this, he was never afraid to act in the best interest of his godson. These two ideas created the Jesus-Naruto we are reading about today.

The problem is, he wasn't there all the time. Sure, you can justify this by 'Oh he had a mission' or 'Oh he didn't think it would turn out as bad as it did' but the fact is that he basically left an infant in the care of a) an old man who is also saddled with the care of both his village and his own family b) an inexperienced young teacher who is not truly able to express himself to the boy for fear of stigma until the beginning of the series c) a village that hates him for reasons beyond his control and d) his own devices. Sure, he turned out alright, but he also could've been Gaara. Or Sasuke. Jiraiya really dropped the ball, here.