Naruto froze for a moment. He had considered many people, but never Konan. With her strength, severely injuring Jiraiya would indeed have been difficult, but not impossible. If someone kept Jiraiya occupied, the sheer number of Explosive Tags Konan possessed would have been enough to blast him into critical condition.
Things had indeed happened just as Naruto imagined. Itachi's next words confirmed his suspicions. "Lord Jiraiya had already subdued Nagato and Yahiko, but he overlooked Konan, who was hiding nearby and watching the battle. Just as Lord Jiraiya was about to capture them, the battlefield suddenly changed. Konan had secretly summoned countless Explosive Tags throughout the area. Lord Jiraiya fell into her trap and was severely injured by the explosions. At the last moment, I sealed Lord Jiraiya inside my Susanoo, and that was how we escaped, but he had already been badly wounded. I'm sorry. I failed to get Lord Jiraiya out in time."
Seeing Itachi's guilt, Minato reassured him. "You don't need to blame yourself. You did very well. Under those circumstances, keeping Master Jiraiya alive was already an achievement. You did everything you could."
Just then, Tsunade came out of the operating room. Naruto hurried over and asked, "How's the Pervy Sage? Tell me, Granny Tsunade!"
Tsunade sighed softly. "His life is out of danger, but his arm may never recover."
Her words stunned everyone present. Once Naruto recovered, he hurriedly asked, "Why can't it recover? Can't you reattach it? With Orochimaru here, even if his arm is gone, can't he clone an identical one?"
Tsunade shook her head. "That's no longer possible. Jiraiya practiced the Sirius Art, and his body had already been strengthened to an astonishing degree. Without the Sirius Art, you might never have seen him again. Losing only an arm was already incredibly