The Shattering (Part 2)

"Whoa—"

Hearing Sage Shima call out, Jiraiya spat out another mouthful of blood before slowly climbing to his feet.

His spirits were low, and he looked badly injured.

"For now... I'm still not dead... Cough, cough, cough..." He had barely finished speaking when he began coughing violently again.

Nagato's frontal attack had looked fierce, but in reality, it had caused him very little damage.

The attack that had truly inflicted a fatal wound was the spear behind Konan.

That spear had pierced straight through his lung, and even breathing now caused him pain.

If not for the extraordinary physical strength he possessed in this ultimate Sage Mode, that one strike would likely have been enough to kill him.

Even so, he was already half dead.

Jiraiya then turned his head and looked toward Itachi beside him, asking with difficulty, "How... how are you?"

Itachi made no sound. He only struggled twice, still unable to get up.

Jiraiya endured the excruciating pain and reached out a hand to help him up.

Perhaps feeling certain of victory, Nagato did not order the White Zetsu to attack again. He merely had them surround the area, giving the two of them a chance to catch their breath.

"I'm afraid... I'm going to die here..." Itachi said as he looked at Jiraiya.

His body was severely overdrawn, and even speaking felt exhausting.

Because he had overused the Mangekyō Sharingan, he could no longer clearly see Jiraiya's face, despite it being right in front of him.

He could only roughly make out that it was Jiraiya.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Covering his mouth as he coughed lightly, Jiraiya consoled him softly, "Don't lose heart like that!"

"Think about it some more... Maybe there's still a way!"

Unfortunately, because his vision was blurred, Itachi was even having trouble