Minato was stronger id say (4th)
However i think Jman could EASILY contend for the #2 spot
Pain admited that he would b toast without his seceret
itachi AND Kisame didnt even risk fighting him
Madara... i dont know what hes capabal of yet however if we go on the fact that Itachi coulda beat him if he knew his secerets then it can be assumed jman could also defeat him if he found the secerets
Pein and Madara would still murder Jiraiya. Ma and Pa would have allowed for Jiraya to kill 3 of his bodies if nit for Pein's secret. Madara would have been killed by Itachi's trick if not fo his secret. Even after Itachi made that B.S. statement, in my opinion, about the both of them might not being able to defeat Jiaira and live, Kisame still doubts it and is shown asking again in clear disbelief.
You must be registered for see links
Itachi never wanted a fight and he was in no rush to get Naruto. Why? Maybe because he was the good guy like Madara says. Maybe because he just didnt want to help Madara accomplish his goals since he clearly hated him. Itachi had a good excus to not take Naruto everytime they met, and Kisame wnet along since what he was saying made sense but he didnt believe that his partner for at least 7 years couldnt take on Jiraiya the Sannin. Madara evetually sends Pein to get Naruto.
So basically I'm saying that at least Hanzou, Pein, Madara, Itachi and possibly still Sarutobi were stronger than Jiraiya. I say Sarutobi because at he old age he defeated the 1st and 2nd Hokage in battle and took their souls and Orochumaru's arms. Jiraya gave Hanzou respect and couldnt believe that he could be defeated at his old age and Sarutobi did more than waht anyone could have epected. 1st 2 Hokages in their prime. Goddamb! I wont even bring up u know whose name in this thread.
Anybody with talent has a chance of killing anyone else with possibly more talent if u know their secret to why u cant seem to kill them even though your attacks connect. Jiraiya didnt realize Pein's secret until his shield finally got one of Peins bodies for good. If u knew how Madara could take attacks and not be hurt and u had some common sense at least, u could think of a strategy to defeat him now that u know how his secret works. But only a very talented shinobi can defeat him by knowing this secret, which Jiraya was, but there are possibly more. Information is Power
If Pein knew that Ma and Pa were there for more than just guidance and support and not there for intelligent insight, potential messangers, and capable of a such a genjutsu, he would have probably tried to kill them before killing Jiraiya.
AS stated by itachi "he was the strongest in the uchiha clan and made others fall before him other clans that is" He then teamed up with the forest clan shodaime's clan.
They had a fight madara thought his way was the best while shodaime said his way is the best. Thus the events leadening up to the vote fight in the vote fight our madara was in his prime and had the ems already yet he was still beaten down by shodaime.
16 years later he used his ems to control the kyuubi can destroy konoha however like itachi said" he failed once again thanks to the yondaime hokage this time"
Today madara is a pathetic shell of his former self.
anyways jiraiya is one of my fav's but no he isn't the strongest he is def in the top 5 though he could have beaten pein if he figured out the secret before hand but it was to late.
But jiraiya is for in the top 5
The thing I like about Naruto is that A>B>C>A can work easily.
So, we cannot say who is the strongest as Naruto isn't only about power levels (see Shikamaru vs Hidan).
Of course, we can speculate since we have lots of powerful characters in the manga.
Jiraiya is in the top five, or so I believe. Maybe there are more then 5 people who can beat him, but there his levels somewhere along the top 5 shinobi.
----
Yondaime, according to his hype, was among the most competent shinobi Narutoverse has seen. Invented Rasengan, Flying Thunder God and Death God technique.
Hanzou is also described as freakishly strong. Defeating all 3 of the Sannin when they were about Kakashi's age is a huge accomplishment. Even when Jiraiya was about to face Pain, he was confused by the thought that someone defeated Hanzou.
Uchiha Madara has the hype of the strongest Uchiha, someone who possesses EMS (which is, for now, the strongest shinobi tool we have seen). We don't know much, beside that he lost to Shodaime, but we do not know how. We know he can/could control the most powerful creature in Narutoverse. Also, we found out he has a jutsu similar/better to Yondaime's. This qualifies him as one of the top as well.
Pain. Someone who calls himself a God. People keep holding on to the fact that he said he would have lost to Jiraiya if he hadn't kept his secret, which is funny. I say this because almost every battle up until now was fought without those shinobi knowing each other abilities. No matter what his secret is, Pain didn't even need much beside taijutsu to kill Jiraiya. Of course, I find multiple bodies unfair, but meh, what can you do.
Jiraiya, one of the Sannin. Arguably, the most powerful of the three. He is the one who mastered the way of the toads. He was Fourth Hokage's teacher, and had trained Pain and Konan at one time. His Hermit Mode is the most dangerous combination of summons and raw power we have ever seen.
Orochimaru, one of the Sannin. Has one of the most dangerous techniques we have seen to date - Edo Tensei. He is as tough as a cockroach, and can hardly be killed. He held his own against KN4 for some time. Formed Hidden Village of Sound.
Uchiha Itachi. He has shown that he has the most powerful repertoire of techniques we have seen until now. He also qualifies as one of the top shinobi.
Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi. The man is a legend, a Professor, God of Shinobi. He took down Shodaime and Nidaime along with Oro's arms. I love him.