I don't think there is a stronger one, as the idea is precisely that the trio is equivalent in power. A Sannin can even defeat the other following the logic of animals, in fact Tsunade defeated Orochimaru and Orochimaru defeated Jiraiya and theoretically Jiraiya could defeat Tsunade. However, the logic is that they and their animals live at an impasse. You mentioned Tsunade, for example, but you missed a few points. Tsunade has more than just strength: she has regenerative jutsus, healing jutsus, raiton and in addition she has an invocation that can use acid, be used as a shield or even spy on the battlefield. On the other hand, you're not wrong to regard her strength as her main weapon, but you are disregarding that this strength is superior to most of the attacks of the other two sannins as seen in the fight against Madara.

To save yourself the trouble. Tsunade > Orochimaru Jiriya > Tsunade Orochimaru > Jiriya. It’s not always about the strongest these three counter each other in ways that are not favorable for the other which is why it’s call the three way deadlock.

If you don't mind me asking, how is it that they counter each other?

Outside of them saying they counter each other in the series the way I see it is: Tsunade is a poison expert and she is far too tanky for orochimaru to kill. On top of the fact she can one shot him unlike most people. And her slug counters his snake summons. Orochimaru has the advantage over Jiriya because he’s a poison expert who is very mobile/slippery/tanky. It would only take one swipe to get Jiriya who is on the slower side. And Jiriya posses far too many high level ninjustu justu for Tsunade to ever get in on him with him. And he has an assortment of genjustu that would probably shut her down.

I think it’s considered that Orochimaru is the strongest, he fought 4 tails Naruto, while the 4 tails brought Jiraiya close to death.

That’s a terrible Analogy because we don’t actually see Jiraiya vs 4 tails Naruto.

No, let's be real, Orochimaru couldn't do anything to 4 tails Naruto He tried using his snake jutsu to stop or hurt him,it didn't do jack shit,he tried stabbing his sword through his stomach, that didn't work, and he used his use shields to protect himself from the tailed Beast bomb heading his way Then he used his sword to push Naruto back and retreated upon realizing he couldn't win. If it wasn't for his bullshit cockroach immortality,he would've died like 3-4 times. Jiraiya didn't want to hurt or injure Naruto and he had to suppress him without injuring him Plus Jiraiya fought pain with 0 Intel,and managed to kill 3 of them,and with 1 arm and badly injured managed to kill one of the pains again,and even Nagato admitted that he would've lost if Jiraiya knew his secret. Kisame admitted that Jiraiya was stronger than him,and I don't think he knew about his sage mode. Jiraiya also trained 6 of the best Shinobi, Nagato, Minato Konan Yahiko and Naruto Orochimaru really only trained Sasuke and Anko Plus, Jiraiya has sage mode and tons of battle experience and jutsu.

It's definitely 1.a tie between Jiraiya and Orochimaru but Jiraiya is much more powerful in sage mode. 2.Tsunade

1. Orochimaru 2. Jiraiya 3. Tsunade

Honestly I think Jiraiya might be lowest based on feats, Tsunade's durability and regeneration is actually nuts.

Tsunade is Slower, Worse Jutsu, Less battle Intelligence, Less Versatility and Jiraiya has much better Summonings. She has the literal Same advantages Over Almost every Character Strength and Durability but It’s almost Easily Countered.

I do agree with everything but speed, what makes you think Jiraiya is faster than Tsunade? Physical power is literally her only combat ability so she better be better at it. Also how is her regen easily countered? You can literally CUT HER IN HALF and she's back on her feet a few seconds later.

[Link](https://youtu.be/ckf9VhxIutk) 3:30 Tsunade gets Slashed by Kabuto. 1:10 She gets tagged by kid Kabuto’s medical ninjutsu twice before being able to react. 1:42 Tsunade gets tagged by Kid Kabuto’s medical ninjutsu and is partially Immobilized. All of the Time Stamps is Tsunade pretty much getting tagged by Kid Kabuto Consecutively fighting in Taijutsu. There all Examples of Tsunade’s Speed.

All of your examples are when Tsunade was 20+ years rusty as a 50 year old lady. Ironically though she still beat Kabuto pretty quickly once she got her body path derangement off on him. And let him lay there instead of just killing him. And Tsunade is fast enough to land consistent attacks on Madara. So unless you think Madara is fodder I’m not sure how you’re saying she’s slow.

Tsunade CANNOT land attacks on Madara lol that’s just Stupid.

I agree that in terms of fighting strength, Tsunade is the weakest and her brute strength is her main weapon but she does specialise in medical ninjutsu and has a lot of abilities as a medical ninja, not to mention that even with a lack of offensive ninjutsu, she could still hold her own against most other ninja

If Orochimaru had prep time he could easily be one of the strongest characters ever, nothing can stop him from getting some of the finest shinobi to ever live in his arsenal of edo tenseis, however without having the time to go and find some of them, sage jiraiya would take the win

Orochimaru