Board Thread:Versus Debates/@comment-26636534-20160221124823/@comment-24163532-20160316230926

@Rachin, I never doubt that with Sage Mode, Jiraiya has a chance, the problem with that is there's no likely way he can, since Itachi tends to end his fights quickly, only against Sasuke when he was alive, did it drag out. As for the statement about the Stalemate, Kisame alone, would give Jiraiya a hard fought battle, that could go either way. I've stated it a lot, that Itachi was on the brief of collapsing when he stated that, right afterwards he told Kisame he needed to rest. He was drained from his fight with Kakashi and others, as well as from Tsukuyomi usage against both Kakashi and Sasuke, as well as Genjutsu usage, shadow clone explosions, etc, and even Amaterasu. Of course Itachi wasn't going to do anything against a fully energized Jiraiya. The fact that he said stalemate at his state, was incredible. But you also have to take in the fact Itachi was undercover and the next Hokage prospect was Jiraiya, Itachi was always going to avoid fighting him.