what are your thoughts on itachi? also, if you're hoping I make a video on Sasuke, I'm planning to as soon as I reach 100 patrons on Patreon. So if you're interested in supporting me and the channel, and if you have the means for it you can at patreon.com/sagesrain. i appreciate the support, and thank you so much for watching.

If nothing else, can the Itachi Lovers and Itachi Haters come together to agree that Danzo is the worst?

“The child who sacrifice himself to solve adult problems.”

Itachi wasn’t a good person, but what he was was a child forced to make adult decisions and lacked the clarity (the kind that only comes with maturity) To seek out alternative options.

“I’ve always lied to you and asked you to forgive me. Deliberately keeping you at a distance by my own hand. Because I didn’t want you to get caught up in any of this. But now I think that perhaps you could have changed father and mother and the rest of the Uchiha. If I had only come to you from the start looked straight into your eyes and told you the truth. With me, who failed telling you all this from above, it’s not going to penetrate and sink in. But I want to impart at least this much truth to you. You don’t ever have to forgive me. And no matter what you do from here on out know this I will love you always.”

The Uchiha massacre was a result of the 3rd's failure as a Hokage. He knew about the coup and could have personally confronted Fugaku. But he didn't. If it was Minato or Naruto, the massacre would've never happened.

Itachi was also one of the first persons to treat naruto like a human being. If you read the midnight novel at least

“No matter what darkness or contradictions lie within the village, I am itachi uchiha of the leaf”!

You can color it however you want but Konoha treated Itachi like a Napkin, used and then disposed of.

Talking about peace, whilst spilling blood, it's something that only humans can do - Madara Uchia So basically.... Madara was right

I've always viewed Itachi as a person who did his best in an impossible situation.

It's a lie to say that none of the lives mattered to him and he didnt take them into account. Itachi has a whole canon light novel dedicated to his back story and if you read it you can see how much he struggles with his choice. He DID acknowledge every life he took, he DID care for his family, it's just that he cared for the Leaf and his brother even more. To say he disregarded the Uchiha family is false, he just cared for other things even more so.

“You don’t ever have to forgive me, but no matter what you do from here on out know this I will love you always” as someone with a brother I relate to Itachi

Itachi had a near flawless plan yet that plan was doomed to fail from the start due to a single fatal flaw, not trusting or even seeing Sasukes own individuality and agency

"Itachi was selfish." That's a bold ass claim. You got my attention.

Sometimes I am kind of lost on how people will hate Sasuke for going against Itachis wishes but like … even Itachi knows he is at fault with Sasuke going down a dark path because he filled Sasuke with only hate and lies.

Itachi died the day he killed the Uchiha. He was still a kid yet he gave up everything he had for the Leaf and Sasuke.

"He simply did what he had to the discrimination by the village and the object of their antagonism he shouldered all the blame himself. No one should ever question Itachi's decision and the sacrifices he made." Obito Uchiha

Itachi in the Light novels is so amazing he has the best portrayal of a existential crisis he’s easily S tier kishimoto is a genius for making itachi character skyrocket off light novels

Itachi was not always a "good" person, but I thought his admittance of mistakes when he was reanimated gave a lot of credence to his true self, had he not been forced into such a position by two of the things he cared about most. Imagine living your whole life trying to achieve something, killing all your family save your brother, being ostracized from the one thing you sacrificed so much to protect just to have to admit you were wrong. Having the guts to admit that, I think, said a lot about who he truly was.

I was literally just watching a video on itachi when this notification popped up. Sages rain is true to his name. He is the sage this world needs

I can’t think of a character more morally complex then Itachi himself

Let’s look at it logically, Itachi was 14! He was wise beyond his years but he was ultimately still a child. He couldn’t contemplate there being a third option, having being raised in a very black and white world.

Itachi's morality shouldn't be questioned. No Uchiha other than Tobi has a questionable morality. Instead, question the morality of the leaf and it's leaders. Who backed a teenager into a corner, and basically told him to kill his family because they couldn't deal with a problem they created. Who seem to have dirty laundry nobody ever wants to air out.

Itachi: **dies and goes to the Pure Lands** The Uchiha clan: _ayo look who's here_

He couldn’t understand this blind familial loyalty that clan possessed

I’ve always had a bit of an issue with Itachi’s character. In no way can genocide be seen as “morally grey”, however, the way the show portrays it almost makes it seem like the Uchiha are the bad guys who needed to be put down, whereas in actuality, they’re just an oppressed people seeking their justly deserved rights and privileges. And I’m definitely not a big fan of the “will of fire” philosophy. The will of fire seems more patriotic than noble imo. The whole Uchiha situation made me feel very conflicted tbh. 😅 The entire situation is messed up, and I do feel bad for Itachi though, he was basically a tool for the higher ups of the Leaf to use however they want.

The character development in this anime is so good, you could probably take any character and make a short anime for yourself

Might be a bit late to the party but no matter what side you're on with Itachi (Hero or Villan). I think we should all be able to agree that he was a young teen faced with an impossible choice.

Itachi Uchiha is a gift to the anime world, which would be very difficult to recreate. Getting a character to Itachi's level surely a difficult task.

never been this early before. itachi is definitely in my top 3 for naruto characters! 🔥

Back to Naruto eh? Well, I have to say Itachi is my favorite character of them all. Every time I here Crispin Freeman speak the last line, I cry.

“He accepted disgrace in place of honor, and hatred in place of love. And yet, Itachi still died with a smile on his face” - Obito Uchiha

I’ve always gotten the feeling that Itachi was originally meant to be a villain, but Kishimoto changed his mind last minute and pulled a “good guy all along card”. There’s just so many elements of his character that don’t make any sense (him being friends with Kakashi yet the both of them treating each other like they were meeting for the first time, him “loving” Sasuke yet forcing his little brother to live through watching their parents get slaughtered to the point that he becomes a psychological vegetable their FIRST time seeing each other in years, him spying on the Akatsuki yet the Leaf Village never knowing anything about the Akatsuki, him hating the clan only for it to be revealed he was practically forced to slaughter the clan for the greater good when the clan itself were actually innocent victims of systematic racism and oppression). I could go on. I love Itachi, but when I take the time to think about it, he’s a walking contradiction and a pretty poorly written character. A little foreshadowing could’ve gone a LONG way, like how AoT was always foreshadowing Reiner and Bertholdt (specifically Reiner though; my boy deserves an Oscar for his performance).

He was only 14? Kishi really needed to work on how he draws teenagers.

“I see the morrows and see them clearly sir. Even when all reason is lost and all truth has become lie, you will stand firm for loyalty is both your saving and your curse.” -Blind Man Cassidy: RDR2

I think it need to be understood that itachi saw part of 3rd great ninja war at age 4, which made itachi a pacifist and he didn't want to see another war because he saw death all around him.

Love the irony showing one of the strongest genjutsu users was himself blurred by an illusion.

Itatchi always struck me as the hardcore patriot. He would become his own enemy, the villain, and the target for the sake of becoming useful to his village, and the ones most important to him AKA sasuke. However he was also young, inexperienced, and was under a huge amount of pressure every age until his death.

It must be said that Itachi is the PERFECT example of an Anti-Villain.

My main issue with Itachi, and I guess the writing surrounding his character comes from his inaction while in the Akatsuki and how little emphasis the show put on how willing he was to potentially sacrifice the leaf and the world as a whole, in order to ensure sasuke remained safe. He knew the Akatsuki had big plans for the bijuu, even if he didn't know what they were and failed to act. He knew that his deal with Obito would only last up until his death and failed to act. He knew there was no one, including himself, who could actually take down the akatsuki alone and still failed to act. And while this might be an instance of kishimoto coming up with an idea late into the series, he had ample time to "accidentally" give info to Kakashi or Jiraiya via Tsukuyomi when he entered the village, yet didn't. It can be assumed that this was because Sasuke was his main priority and he didn't want to risk blowing his cover...I'll be honest and just say it was because of his stupidity, but that's not what the video is about so I'll just go along with it being caused by his loyalty to the akatsuki. I know the Itachi, post-truth reveal, had very limited screen-time but his character would've been far more compelling had there been honesty about his priorities. Even after the whole exploration about him loving sasuke above all, Sasuke's discussion with the kage still made it seem like the village and Sasuke were equal in his eyes. Since that's true, his inaction diminishes that argument. If the show allowed him to simply admit he loved Sasuke above every single person on the continent, including the leaf (as by not using Koto on Obito and giving it to Naruto for Sasuke he practically ensured the success of the Akatsuki), everything post-massacre, would've made far more sense to me.

He was definitely an anti hero. He let himself go way to deep in wrong things to achieve peace. Remember the jinchuurikis? Itachi killed some. Remember Naruto as a 12y old? Itachi was gonna let Kisame chop his legs off. Remember kid Sasuke? he put him under hell for no reason. He's just like Obito.

To have Honor is a good thing, to be blinded like it is not. Itachi was blinded by his love for the Leaf Village much in the same way as Sasuke was blinded by his hate for it, he chose to side against his own people only excluding his brother. Children and babies were not spared, he committed the True Sin, the destruction of the innocent and therefore his actions are indeed evil and as much as though he felt forced to do so he still did so as he selfishly valued Sasuke above all of the innocents within the Uchiha Clan. He is indeed a Villain and committed Evil, but he still holds some good, therefore he is an Anti-Villain.

I’d love to see a world where itachi goes against danzo

Such a well written character

Man I love sages breakdown of characters

The Uchiha clan massacre is proof enough that the third hokage was a failure

*Good, evil, or gray. Itachi will always be my favorite Naruto character of all time!* The shining red eye of the Uchiha clan.

“Itachi didn’t take into account those he killed” you do realize they talk about his reasonings more in the “Itachi’s Story” books. He did this to deter war. He believed that war would lead to the entire villages downfall, both uchiha and every other clan. He knows the outcome of war because of the 3rd great ninja war at the age of 4.

Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha are the epitome of this show and the absolute center of the whole story. Two great characters in the history of manga and anime.

Uchiha Itachi is One of my Best Favourite Character.

Itachi as a character is someone I respect and someone I do not envy

If it wasn't for Danzo we would have witnessed the first Uchiha Hokage way before Sarada

Lucky for Itachi all that power he gave Sasuke through pain and suffering came in useful when protecting the world from Otsutsuki level oponents.

Why am I crying? And why do I always cry when I watch your videos?

Itachi had good intentions, but he's a villain, and always will be after the massacre. He went several steps farther than he ever needed to, no amount of hindsight redemption once he's revived can change that.

Definitely not a hero, but probably quite close to the middle, as you said. Although there is never any absolutes if life or good fiction. So it being in the middle makes sense

I love this analysis of Itachi. Most of the time people praise him and ignore all the evil he has done. Great job 👏

Itachi is that character that changed the way I thought completely 💙

Super deep and philosophical it sometimes even can make me emotional but it puts different logic and perspectives in my head about the world and other things. Listening to these videos for 20 mins is so much better and educating about life than watching some guy play Warzone and I’m all for it.

Oh, he is a massive villain, alright. He killed them all, not just the men, but the women and children too.

Fun fact: Itachi was one of the few that beat Naruto in talk no jutsu. (And pain/Nagato, I think that's the only 2 that did) Fun fact: Itachi was praised as a great "shinobi" by two legendary shinobis, Hashirama and Madara, without ever meeting them.

As a kid I loved itachi but as a older guy now I look at him with a big side eye.. In a village where danzo & orochimaru thrived it was BS to me that itachi had to/made the choice he did... I also wanna say how more blame from perspective is given to kishimoto.. I feel just like the sakura situation kishi didn't write the uchiha good enough for the outcome..Another good analysis 💯 Btw i wanna mention I totally agreed with sasuke end of series choice.. I felt him & Naruto had two good ways at handling a situation...

Itachi ❤️ The more we grow as a person, the more we understand Itachi.

Itachi loves Sasuke, but I feel like he loved the idea of his brother more. He never talked to Sasuke or his fam about the coup. “So long as Sasuke lives” to me was Itachi’s mistake

Killing the entire clan is still the most extreme solution I can ever think of to be honest. I can never agree with Itachi for doing it, but I understand his reasons, along with the reasons on why the Uchiha wanted to revolt. It's not really a 'black or white' situation, it's more in the grey area.

Just got back into naruto so I’m super happy that you posted this

It’s always time to revisit Itachi uchiha. Cmon Sage

I personally believe that the massacre was a horrific crime and that the “Will of Fire” is simply a way to use propaganda to manipulate people to be loyal to the village and only the village, but that’s not what I would like to talk about. I believe that the Uchiha Massacre could have been avoided if Itachi had told Danzo that he wont kill his clan, and Danzo didn’t use Kotoamatsukami on Itachi. My main reason is this: the elders said that they would simply get other shinobi to do it if Itachi didn’t. But would they really? Do the elders expect to recruit enough shinobi that are strong enough to fight the Uchiha, and willing to do it? Danzo couldn’t get ROOT to do it, otherwise he would never have even approached Itachi. The Uchiha is a founding clan, so imagine if, say, the Hyuga knew that the village leaders had committed a genocide on the Uchiha, a founding clan. Sure, they’d be happy that their rival clan is gone, but they, and every other clan, would think “If the Leaf can kill the Uchiha, why wouldn’t they kill my clan?” I believe that the elders were completely bluffing when they said that. They NEEDED Itachi to do it. They needed Itachi to be framed as an insane lunatic who had murdered his own clan, because they had nobody else who would agree to be used for their stealthy genocide and was strong enough to do it. Because if they got other shinobi to do it, the clans would realize that the government could kill them, too. They would all start a coup themselves, and Konoha would be utterly destroyed in a civil war between Clans and shinobi loyal to the Leaf.

One of the most impartial takes at explaining the character of Itachi! Fantastic content 👍🏼

That was probably the best character analysis of a fictional character i have seen on KZfaq till date, coupled with the well scripted narration and a non bias and rational outlook. Keep up the work, The production quality was good as well. The positive and the negative side of a character that Kishimoto portrayed through itachi is well deserving of an award at the very least. My views on Ithachi are he was a very gentle caring and thoughtful soul but he also saw the realities of life at a very young age and his inherent intelligence forced him to see an ideal world of his own understanding. To take the steps to find the best effective and optimal solution to save his only brother, the village and the name of his clan was the only thing that he held dear. And yes I do believe that for the greater good even the cruelest of things may sometime seem reasonable, which was the case for Itachi. Good or bad is subjective but the fact that is not debatable is that what he did took guts and he endured till his last breath and even after death (reanimated). In my books that is the defination of a hero/hokage/ideal man.

Even though Itachi falls short in terms of storytelling at the 4th Ninja War by writing the manga by himself, having out of nowhere power-ups which are never mentioned again, he's still one of my favourite characters in the series, both story and design-wise.

That definition of a hero, applies to madara. Reality is subjective, so what does it matter which one is which. They are all still together.

Been waiting for another about itachi uchiha, great video. Itachi uchiha truly is a complex character.

Sage’s rain is so good bro I literally binge these vids on replay

Itachi was still a young man caught in the middle of the battle between the Uchihas and the hidden leaf, and he was forced to make a immensely difficult and unfair decision- spare his clan who was bent on hate and war that would wipe out him and Sasuke and the hidden leaf, or save the one person in this world who fully relied on him. And he wasn't unaffected by what he did. Funny how those who now live in peace call him who aided in that peace a monster. A hero isn't someone who does everything right and makes everything right, but someone who has the courage, strength and selflessness to do what needs to be done. Itachi was Sasuke's enemy, then his hero.

If you do video about sasuke, I think you sould watch swagkake's video "dissecting sasuke uchiha" it goes through what sasuke is thinking throughout the series

Best analysis of itachi I've watched, alot of deep knowledge and explanation here. Well delivered, not rushed.

Definitely your best video yet! Itachi is one of my all time favorite anime characters.

Itachi is a character I very much have a mixed opinion on, while I can sing the guys praises to the moon, as a Shinobi, as Soldier, and as an asset to the Leaf. As a person I can’t help but find for all the praise of intelligence he gets people over look his short comings, Itachi as a person despite how much he loved or said he loved Sasuke seemed to treat his little brother as more of a thing, an object rather then a person. He set Sasuke up on a path too narrow for him to walk. It was like he would do something and not think about it before hand in the way a person would react. Everything Itachi did just made shit worse for Sasuke the brother he loved. If Itachi just stayed the fuck away from Sasuke his plan would have gone better, Sasuke was at the time jealous of Naruto’s growth he was nowhere near as bad as he was after Itachi pounded in his weakness by making him relive the massacre for a second time. You could say he did it to motivate Sasuke, ok he did not need to go that hard. He set Sasuke up for his fall and when things did not go his way he was planning on using more force and manipulation. That is why when Naruto said “He is more of a Brother to me then you ever where to him.” I agreed one hundred percent wile Naruto tried to use force when Sasuke would not listen to him he always tried to talk to him first, no matter how effective it was or was not. Itachi is an amazing Ninja and a loving brother, but he was manipulative in his love he wanted things to go how he wanted it.

He may have thought like a Hokage at 7, but we must also realize that he was forced to choose between killing the clan and saving his brother, and supporting the conspiracy and dying with his clan and his brother at the tender age of 13, debatably one of the most volatile years of a person's life in terms of maturing and growing up. He could've conspired with Hiruzen, yes, and I think he would have had he just been given more time on the decision, but between the pressure the clan was putting on him to work with them on the coup, and the false dilemma which felt like an ultimatum that Danzo offered him, where either everyone of his clan died in a bloodbath of a battle with the rest of konoha, or his brother lived on and the leaf was saved.

Man I'm really excited for this one. You have some of the best content on KZfaq. Big props brother.

Without watching the full video, I know I'm in for a treat. Appreciate the content

it all probably mainly stems from Tobirama's mistrust of the Uchiha ... Danzo took up his sensei mistrust of the Uchiha ... it shows how actions have consequences and are connected ... it's such a sad situation ...

Bro, you seriously explained this perfectly. The way you described being in itachi's position at 14 really made me feel like I was in his shoes. I applaud you, my friend.

another beautiful video that managed to make me cry

Itachi Uchiha, the pure child who was broken by this accursed world

Once again, a well done video on a awesome complex anime character. Not only was Itachi a mega powerful ninja he was the hokage from the shadows. He never once asked for recognition.

The thing people fail to realize is there was never itachi the villain. He did some bad things but everything was ultimately for the village. If he was truly a villain and wanted he could have messed the leaf village up something fierce.

If anyone read Itachi’s Story Midnight, the way Itachi killed Izumi got me to tears

Thanks man. Thanks so much, for making this video.

Kakashi's dad understood comrades come first and then the "leaf", itachi was the opposite, his loyalty to the leaf blinded him from understanding what peace means, also he was a kid

It still intrigues me, the show doesn't really go into how bad Itachi's slaughtering of the Uciha clan was besides its effect on Sasuke. Honestly it seem more like the show frames it that what Itachi did was unfortunate but ultimately the right call, including the assassination of all non-combatants and most definitely a few children and probably even babies.

All your videos are good, but this one is definitely one of your best. It was an extremely well thought out analysis and one that much of the fandom would not have taken the time to consider in its fullness.

Your first Itachi video is my favorite video from you, looking forward to watching this

I love your nuance approach in your videos. Shining light on complex characters and series. I would love to see you tackle the Attack on Titans series more. I think the aot series gets very murky (character ideal and motives), the more the story progresses. I like Erwin video.

“Just because you cry doesn’t make you weak you’ve been strong for too long” - itachi uchiha

Beautiful video Sage!

Incredible character-design, great theme music and awesome voice-actor

Itachi also spent the rest of his life after leaving the village to monitor the Akatsuki especially Obito and occasionally Danzo and the elders of the Leaf.