Board Thread:Theories and Speculation/@comment-1872728-20200725151448/@comment-46279039-20200729183710

Some seems to want complicated things and make the manga more difficult to understand. Simply the Sage mode means that you have learned an art, a particular knowledge that allows you to use natural energy at best with specified techniques. Orochimaru has no sage mode! (maybe in Boruto he went to the white snake to learn but I don't know). It only has the Juugo enzyme, much weaker than a true SM. The red coloring on the face of the frog sage mode indicates the amount of natural energy absorbed, on Jiraiya it extends over almost the entire face, exaggerating partially transforms itself into a toad. In the manga it is always red. The orange iris are given by the fact that Minato and Naruto have blue eyes, instead Jiraiya only has two tiny black points.