Man, all those people who say Itachi fled because he could'nt win are really idiotic.
Kisame on his own would probably take on Jiraiya as well.
The only reason he said that was because, in case you did'nt notice, a good guy.
Why would he kill one of the strongest persons of the leaf, one who could stand up to Danzou just in case?
Man...the stupidity.
Itachi would DESTROY Jiraiya if they ever fought seriously.
MS might be a strain on the eyes and chakra, but well, Sasuke spammed it a LOT before finally getting blind, and Itachi would'nt even need that much time to deal with Jiraiya.