Naruto Shippuuden Episode 127-128

[Abdula]

I don't think he named them "Legendary" just for the bit they fought against each other. The battle was supposedly enormous, and it came down Hanzo, the Sannin, and a few others. The Sannin seemed to have turned the battle around for Konoha. Hanzo conceded his loss and split, despite the fact he thought he could beat the Sannin.

Or we could just interpret it the way the manga spelled it out. Konoha attacks Amegakure, epic battle ensues, Hanzo owns all and the sannin are the last ones standing, Hanzo realizing that even though he won this battle Konoha will ultimately win the war decides to spare their lives, Jiraiya mouths off about not wanting pity and Hanzo responds by saying
http://www.onemanga.com/Naruto/369/12/
Only pertinent page I could find that doesn't contain any spoilers.

After watching the parts that got cut, I'm really starting to think that all the older generation ninja were terrible.

I mean, their fight against Hanzo basically consisted of Jirayia shooting some spikes and Orochimaru using snake hands. And for that, they got their "Legendary Sannin" titles.

I can only assume that back in those days the bar for legendaryness was very low...

That's rather simple-minded, after having watched this series for years you should know better that to accept whatever garbage the studio puts out.

I was wondering if someone can clarify something for me. The episode kept talking about the Third ninja war. But wasn't the time frame for when the name legendary sannin was given to them during the 2nd war instead?
Did they merge the 2nd and 3rd wars into one long, long war? Because jiraiya trained yahiko and them as kids for a few years and we also know that jiraiya trained the 4th hokage as a kid as well. Which one was first? Anyone see where I'm going with this? Any help would be appreciated thanks.

Yeah this episode takes place during the Second Great Ninja War because that is indeed when the Sannin earned their title. Seemingly merging the two wars must have been an oversight on the studio's part. Jiraiya likely trained Yahiko's group first because as we saw in the Kakashi Gaiden not too long ago, Minato (the 4th) didn't emerge until the Third Great Ninja war.