It makes sense in context of the situation, if we're looking at it from Sasuke's POV. He gets brutally curbstomped by his brother in a way that shows all his training has been worthless and then gets mindfucked into a coma. He wakes up and sees firsthand how his Chidori is a toothpick in comparison to the dead-last's Rasengan, feeding all his growing insecurities and jealousy. Then he gets his ass kicked by the Sound Four, gets told that he can get an immediate power boost and that he's gonna lose his mind anyway thanks to the Curse Seal.

It was a fucked-up choice to make but I can see why he decided to leave.

 

As much as I dislike the current version of Sasuke, I feel the need to lay out exactly why he left the Village.

At the beginning of the manga, Sasuke more or less considered himself top dog. He was the Rookie of the Year, while Naruto was the 'dead last', barely scraping by in the Academy and only graduating due to an extra-curricular assignment (sort of). Then the next one hundred and forty chapters has this notion stomped on.

When he fought his next major opponent (Haku), he activated his Sharingan but lost. He woke up to find out that Naruto had beaten him. He tried letting off steam and restoring some of his pride by fighting Rock Lee. Got his ass handed to him. Got a curse seal power boost and then went through heavy training to fight against Gaara, learning an assassination technique in the process. Lost, and Naruto beat him while displaying way more power than he had before and summoned the Toad Boss.

Then, as a kicker, Itachi shows up. He's more interested in Naruto than Sasuke, who he proceeds to effortlessly smack down with just a few blows. All the progress he had put forth into getting stronger shown to be useless, and not even worth his brother's time.

With anger at his own uselessness, he once again tries to regain some pride by challenging Naruto to a fight. Said fight is interrupted by Kakashi, throwing the two with their respective techniques into water tanks. The aftermath shows that Naruto has learned a technique that is as strong or possibly stronger than the one he worked so hard to master.

Then, undoubtedly feeling like shit, with all the hard work that he had put towards becoming stronger shown to be useless, with his rival bypassing him at an alarming pace, the minions of the guy who gave him a major power boost come with an offer of even more power. That there is the point he starts deciding to focus on gaining power at any cost, eventually coming to the point of Part 2.

So yeah, it wasn't exactly a spontaneous decision with no prior planning. Events had been building up for some time.

 

I believe it was implied that Itachi only slowed down after using Tsukuyomi. A healthy full powered Itachi is a hypothetical ninja that we have no significant knowledge of. I consider a healthy Itachi to be exactly like sick Itachi but with better stamina. When I say "Itachi" I'm referring to the Itachi that existed as we knew him. In other words the sick one. Just like when I say "Hiruzen" I'm not referring to Hiruzen as he was 40 years ago. Also we see how Itachi's vision was during his fight with Sasuke. His vision was blurry but I would not describe it as nearly blind.

That being said I can say that Sasuke was on par with Itachi becuase he fought on par with Itachi. That's how events happened. The only times that Itachi was shown to hold back was when he used his MS jutsu. There's nothing to imply that he had to go easy on Sasuke other than that or that he did.

Itachi only almost killed Sasuke when using the hax MS jutsu that Sasuke could barely defend against. I've already stated that this so what's your point, Red? Is it suppose to be impressive that Itachi did so? Something to measure the distance between them? Kakashi could likely kill Jiraiya while he has no legs if Jiraiya were in his sight and in the range of his Kamui. Does that mean Kakashi outclasses him completely if he wins despite such handicaps?

I'm not sure why you posted the rest of that rant.

Also Sasuke isn't targeting Konoha just because of Itachi. He's been wanting to kill Itachi for murdering his family. After avenging them he finds out that Itachi was ordered to do it so his plans for revenge shift. Avenging Itachi is on top of avenging his clan. That should only extend to who ordered it but Sasuke thinks that the citizens of Konoha bought their peace with his family's lives.

 

It's not the fact that Itachi had the MS or that he was blind and sick. It's that it was revealed that the entire purpose of the fight was for him to die. That means that we can't take the fight as a true measure of Sasuke's skill at all, because we don't know whether or not Itachi was giving it his best shot before he revealed Susanoo.

 

Vincent, what you're saying doesn't make sense. It was not implied that Itachi only slowed after using Tsukuyomi.
And you say that it doesn't matter that he wasn't at full power, or that he wasn't even trying. You go on to say that when referring to the Third Hokage, you don't mean what he was at his prime, but as he was during Part 1.

However, when comparing characters, it is unfair for one of them to be at a disadvantage. So if you want to see how a fight between Orochimaru and Hiruzen would play out if they were both at full power, you'd take Hiruzen at his prime (during which he'd curbstomp Orochimaru something fierce).
In the same notion, if you want to truly compare Sasuke to Itachi, you'd have to take a fully powered Itachi that actually tries to win, instead of orchestrating a believable loss.

The truth of the matter is that Itahi would wipe the floor with Sasuke as he was then. Maybe with time and experience, Sasuke would match up to Itachi someday. Imporbable, but not impossible.

 

It's the fight, their stats, and Sasuke's showing in other fights that I base things on. The reason I say that Itachi is a more seasoned version of Sasuke is because their stats are basically the same with Itachi being a little better in most areas. I think the last stats are right before the Itachi vs Sasuke fight for references sake.

Itachi's genjutsu is largely useless against Sasuke. Itachi's better at taijutsu but Sasuke's not exactly bad either and his lightning mastery kind of evens that out. A fight between them isn't likely to have much of it. Itachi's a bit faster but once again Sasuke's not a slouch there and he's fought very fast people before.

Itachi's most significant advantage over Sasuke is his intelligence. Since Sasuke has some way to cover most areas where Itachi is better than him a battle between them is likely to be decided by Itachi's superior battle tactics(or some secret hax jutsu) like I said earlier.

Itachi showed signs of backlash right after Sasuke broke his Tsukuyomi. It was stated that Itachi was slower right after Sasuke broke it and supplied as a reason why. Using the Tsukuyomi and having it broken clearly adversely affected him.

Full power is full power as we've seen them. Itachi has been sick for years. That's how he's always been in the series. Sick Itachi is base Itachi and is the Itachi I was referring to in my original post.

How exactly would Itachi wipe the floor with Sasuke? I've been over how they stack up above. It comes down to Itachi's tactics. Itachi's most potent advantages in a battle with Sasuke are his intelligence, his MS, and his Uchiha kinjutsu. Without those he hasn't been shown to be so skilled that he could destroy Sasuke easily based solely on his skills. Sasuke is a rather high level fighter as well.

 

Now wait a sec. I was pretty much with you up until this part, but c'mon. You don't go around comparing characters in their theoretical primes; you compare them as they are. The above doesn't really hold any water regardless, because it could just as easily be said that Sasuke hasn't reached his prime yet. Thus he's at a marked disadvantage to an Itachi in his prime.

 

Ok, you have a point there.

 

Fully Rested, trying to win, not blind Sasuke vs Dieing, nearly blind, trying to lose Itachi.

I totally see how this is a true showcase of skill for Sasuke.

It's like comparing a father-son duo play-wrestling and the kid winning even though he's five years old. In no way, does it show that the son is actually a really good wrestler.

In fact, I'd argue that it shows Itachi's skill as a BAMF way more, since despite all of his handicaps, he's still able to pull off shit way above Sasuke's level that he can still keep non-lethal due to his assessment of Sasuke's current abilities.

 

Indeed, it is very impressive, and telling of Itachi abilities, how he was able to perfectly gauge Sasuke's abilities and nearly, nearly kill him while leaving him enough to get out alive, thinking Itachi gave it his all too.

 

The sick Itachi is the same Itachi that easily fought jounin in Konoha. That's the Itachi that we considered skilled in the first place.

The question is was Itachi play fighting at all? Your analogy pretty much states that Sasuke is far weaker than Itachi with no basis to start with. Sasuke is a highly trained fighter that's fought S class ninja before. He wouldn't be a 5 year old in such a scenario. Like I've said the only times we see Itachi actively holding back was with his MS. There's no reason to believe that Itachi needed to hold back other than with them. We've never seen Itachi preforming noticeably above the level where he fought Sasuke without relying on his MS.

As for Itachi's vision. http://www.mangahere.com/manga/naruto/v42/c389/10.html That's how he sees Sasuke during the fight. It also shows what I meant about Itachi's Tsukuyomi slowing him down.

 

:facepalm Timeskip of 2+ years. It's not like the blindness and lethal sickness gets any worse in a few years, right?

 

Like ... when? You mean Deidara? Arguably the weakest member of Akatsuki, that nearly left him dead after that, even with his Sharingan advantage? Or maybe Orochimaru? The near-dead Orochimaru he only beat because of the Sharingan- again?
I'll remind you that Itachi curbstomped Deidara, the same Deidara that would have killed Sasuke if it weren't for his plot armor.
What do you base your view of Sasuke's skills, besides the dreams you use in your masturbatory sessions?

Which is ... Zetsu's assumption. It could very well be true, it could be that Tsukuyomi does have side effects, which only added to his weakened condition.

Basically, you have no basis for your own views.

 

TBH, the Deidara fight is a perfectly good demonstration of Sasuke's skill level, pre-MS. Deidara was S-class, it was a one-on-one fight, both combatants were fresh and had only a general knowledge of each other's skills. Sasuke's close victory showed that, at that point, that he was S-class but on the lower end of the spectrum.

Itachi's on the higher end of the spectrum and the only person with comparable stats* is Jiraiya, despite suffering from a lethal illness.

Sasuke was weaker than Itachi. Fact.

*Though it's possible that newer characters have stats at that level or higher.

 

Queted for Truth.

 

Deidara almost killing Sasuke is a direct result of Sasuke trying to leave him alive to interrogate. We see Sasuke pass up a kill shot before Deidara decided to blow himself up. Also they didn't fight the same Deidara. I'll remind you that Deidara specifically trained to counter the manner in which Itachi beat him. He was obviously a bigger challenge to a genjutsu user than when he fought Itachi so you can't use how they did against him as an example of Itachi's superiority. If Deidara had never run into Itachi then Sasuke would have decisively won as well.

Zetsu and Sasuke's statements imply that Itachi got slower during the battle after Tsukuyomi like I said. There's nothing to suggest that Itachi was moving any slower than his best before then.

If I have no basis then neither do you. You have nothing to suggest that Itachi was fighting at a lower level than he always fights at.

I didn't say Sasuke wasn't weaker than Itachi. I did say that Itachi was like a more seasoned version of Sasuke after all. Overall Itachi was better. Sasuke could nullify some of Itachi's advantages which put them on more even ground though. Sasuke was immune to all but the strongest of Itachi's genjutsu and Sasuke's element was more suited for close range fighting for example.

 

Hi Kishimoto.

 

It is like saying Jiraya is more seasoned version of Naruto. Probably true in some way but there is so big of difference between them It is hilarious.

Say whatever you say about Sasuke he is A ranked ninja barely strong as Kakashi. Deidara fight nonwithstanding. (thank you plot armor.) Only with recent power ups (Susanoo) brings him to S rank territory.

Itachi on the other hand was S ranked ninja long before Sasuke finished academy. HE could win his fight with Sasuke sick or no. He simply wanted to die and how did he died again? Sasuke killed hi... oh wait. He kneeled over right after beating Sasuke's ass and sealing away Orochimaru.

 

You do remember that Itachi had the very power ups you're talking about Sasuke getting before Sasuke finished the academy right? You guys seem to keep conveniently disregarding Itachi's MS. Itachi dominated Sasuke with his MS jutsu. He didn't dominate Sasuke when he wasn't using them which is was what I was talking about the entire time. What Itachi did with his MS is largely irrelevant.

Sasuke has the same tools Itachi does(not as polished) but fights in a manner more similar to Madara.

Also from what we've seen Kakashi was capable of keeping up with Itachi(sans MS) as well.

 

Perhaps that's fanon shining through, which is entirely possible, considering the amount of Naruto fics I used to read.

To start, apples and oranges, but we'll ignore that in favor of addressing the actual argument here. Calling MS "hax", while a valid argument, is also pointless, since we're discussing a manga about ninja. Ninja that are that in only name, but they've been shown to use everything in their arsenal.

Further, all the way up until he started using MS, Itachi was keeping up with Sasuke. As Evan Tide said, he gauged Sasuke's ability and fought him at that particular skill level.

No. He's doing it because he's a child. His vengeance for his family might have been justified, and it's plainly obvious that quite a few people in Konoha would have gladly helped him get there, but when he goes about it by methods that turn him into a missing ninja who is only not hunted because Tsunade likes Naruto, then it loses all legitimacy, in my eyes and the eyes of anyone with half a brain, which you apparently don't have. Further, he turned his vengeance onto Konoha because his original vengeance lost all meaning when he found out the truth. This means that he spent the last fifteen to sixteen years of his life for a cause that is not worth fighting, and he chooses to destroy Konoha because they didn't tell him the truth about a clandestine operation. Now, my politics might be a little rusty, but I was under the impression that you don't tell the common folk about a clandestine operation, and especially one that kills about an eighth of your own citizens (obviously, this is an estimation).

And that's because, as Evan Tide stated (wow, second time referencing that post already?), that Itachi estimated his brother's strength and fought at that level.

Basis for this argument? Unless you're talking about Tobi. Madara has been shown to be content to sit back and fuck people up with Susanoo, Sasuke is a brawler.

Because skill shouldn't factor into an analysis like this at all, right? Further, we're talking about a Kakashi who had (by his own admission, mind you) stagnated since Minato's death. He was mourning his best friend, his teacher, and presumably the girl he had once loved. Gai kept him on his toes, but only just, and not enough to force Kakashi to want to keep up with his rival.

I mean, after all, Kakashi doesn't have over a decade of experience on Sasuke, and at least five years on Itachi. Not at all.

You ever hear the saying about the old martial arts master who is so weak he needs a cane to walk? The one where that same guy can destroy a thick plank of wood with a single hit? It's all about using everything you have. Which, y'know, Sasuke doesn't, since all he does is spam MS techniques now. Which, I suppose, could be the basis for your comparison of him to Madara, and I would allow that comparison, but I would give the caveat that that makes him a shitty fighter.

Gai can beat the Sharingan by looking at his opponent's feet, and this is a person who almost exclusively uses taijutsu. You think a well-rounded fighter like Kakashi couldn't grind Sasuke into the dirt if he knew the same thing?

EDIT:

I'd like to see a source for this argument, please. Because at this point, I'm willing to believe that Sasuke passed it up because he either wasn't skilled enough or was too arrogant to take it. I mean, after all, his sickly and half-blind brother almost killed him. Deidara was in his prime, and while arguably the weakest member of Akatsuki, as has already been stated, he would have shit all over Sasuke if Sasuke didn't have his plot armor.

Deidara had presumably at least sparred with Itachi, so he knew at least a bit about Itachi's style. While that wouldn't give him much help against Sasuke, he didn't become an S-Rank nin for nothing, and he also escaped Oonoki, who, while an old man, is still incredibly powerful. Sasuke is a child in a man's body, and, as I just said, was almost killed by a man who was incredibly sick and at the least half-blind.