Board Thread:Versus Debates/@comment-26005711-20150518115443/@comment-3568954-20150613053208

Orochimaru was weaker than jiraiya this is an irrefutable fact

the databooks has jiraiya listed as a 35.5 in total with both tsunade and orochimaru as 35

the only reason orochimaru survived 4 tails kyuubi(mind you he only survived he did not win he had to resort to spitting out a massive sword and pinning kyuubi a thousand feet away) was because of his inhuman jutsu such as his body shedding technique if he had not had the body shedding technique he would have died the moment 4 tails naruto cut him in half

and you can not compare orochimaru of that time to the orochimaru that tried to steal itachi's eyes as that was years before when he tried to steal itachi's eyes and had countless adaptions based on taking new bodies and gaining knew genetic abilities

all though the databook has itachi listed as a 35.5 as well so itachi and jiraiya were equal in overall ability but jiraiya had decades of battle experience