*Sighs* I don't even know where to start… Itachi is one of my favorite characters from Naruto just imagine if he’d had a character-driven story, but there are so much holes in his story because Kishimoto used him to move Sasuke’s plot.
However this is not going to be a character analysis (I’ll save that for another time (I should be writing more productive stuff than Naruto content in 2023… idk what’s wrong me). This is going to be more of how Itachi fits in the whole Uchiha mess, meaning the corner Kishi wrote himself into by desperately wanting to have a revenge/tragic/politic plot line and then abandoning it.
Edit: there's a character analysis now here (I should be writing more productive stuff in 2024... but...)
I've already mentioned why I think the Uchiha massacre is unnecessary for the story in general here but let's entertain the thought that it was necessary as a backstory for Itachi (narratively speaking, I think for Itachi is more interesting as it is for Sasuke).
There are 4 different flashbacks in which Itachi's backstory is slowly revealed:
The first is Sasuke's (chapter 220-225), which is of course an unreliable narrator as these events heavily traumatized him. In his flashback the reader is lead to believe that Itachi killed the Uchihas for a personal conflict with Fugaku and the clan itself, leaving out Konoha out of the equation.
To me, this is the most solid backstory because we could have had the idea that the Uchiha clan had inner conflicts like the Hyuga clan. Maybe the clans and their pride could have been the main issue inside the village, following the idea that people are prone to kill each other instead of working together, and at the end of the story this would be resolved by the power of friendship. But things don't end here.
The second flashback is Obito's explanation (chapter 398-401) about how the massacre was an order given to Itachi, that he only accepted for the chance of saving Sasuke's life.
Here is where things turns problematic because Konoha becomes an intolerant (racists) bunch unable to negotiate. Their behaviour it's not logical. They just wanted to get rid of the red-eyed people (makes me think of Fullmetal Alchemist) and took the first chance they could.
On a Doylist analysis, the true issue is that Kishi wrote the massacre first, and the explanation to it later. And he didn't care that the explanation made no sense because the massacre was already a part of the story.
And Itachi? He's just a victim trapped in the middle. To be fair, Obito was trying to manipulate Sasuke, so he is not a reliable narrator either.
At this point of the story, I also like the idea that is up to the reader to decide whether Itachi was a crazy psychopath or a just kind of trapped. And I mean, before Sasuke remembers the last words from his elder brother.
*Sighs* the third flashback (chapter 590) is the one that should make the most sense because it's Itachi's when he is brought back with the Edo Tensei. And he does not portray Konoha in a good light, if anything he shows Sasuke the worst of it.
(Konoha's leaders only care about power... Arggg... how can they be the "good guys"?!)
I would dare to say that Itachi was not the loyal soldier they believed, but he played the role to save Sasuke's life since the village would have killed everyone in the Uchiha clan anyway (crazy theory, ik, ik).
And I can roll with Konoha being corrupted to the bone by their leaders, that's interesting except for the fact that Kishi goes out of his way to try to justify them (mind you, they don't get a redemption but a justification).
Then again, Itachi is not much of a reliable narrator because he's trying to explain himself to Sasuke by showing him these memories. He says it's okay if Sasuke doesn't forgive him, but Itachi's actions tell a different story. I mean, why didn't he show him about the fights he had with Fugaku about the coup? Or how other members of the clan distrusted Itachi? Seriously, if Itachi wanted, he could have vilified the Uchiha, manipulating Sasuke once again to go back to Konoha, but he doesn't. Or does he? Who knows? ;)
The final flashback not really a flashback (chapter 619-627-ish (there's the Hashirama's flashback in between)) is when Sasuke reanimates the previous Hokages to ask them about Itachi. And this is were Itachi gets glorified as a true shinobi loyal to Konoha. Then again, these guys only cared about "protecting the village" more like to keep themselves in power.
The point is that with this nonsense about being a true shinobi, Kishi vilified the Uchihas, validated the massacre, made Konoha as the ones that were enduring the Uchiha's curse of hatred, and Itachi as one of the few Uchihas that were "salvable" from the bunch. It's horrible. And I get it, the winner writes history, but the intention behind it is that Konoha was right, Itachi was right, and Sasuke is wrong, and that's so fucked up.
So, what do I get from all of this? Nothing. Except that Konoha is rotten and the only one that actually cares about it is Sasuke (and maybe Itachi, depending on your interpretation on the 3rd flashback).
In a narrative sense, it's messy at best. Kishi just wanted everyone to be "good". And I'm just like: Damn pick one!
Is it the tragedy of Itachi forced to chose between two impossible choices because he's powerless to do more than that?
Is it the fear and distrust engrained in the Hokages that will destroy Konoha? They did kind of create the Akatsuki.
Are the Uchihas evil? Are they misunderstood?
If he would have just pick one instead of trying to do all at once, Naruto would have been a masterpiece. Well, maybe that's an overstatement. But just imagine the possibilities...
Because the concept behind Itachi's character is brilliant: patriotism gone wrong. BUT how can it be "wrong" if he's praised by everyone? Seriously, no one in the manga has critiques for Itachi's choices. Hence, instead of being an exaggeration of patriotism, he becomes an ideal of patriotism (the perfect shinobi).
And then there's the other issue I have about Itachi's character. If Kishi went so out of his way to glorify Itachi, why make him commit genocide? Narratively it doesn't work (it could, if the massacre would actually have consequences -besides being a backstory-).
Besides, it's really hard to make a character do something so radical and then make the readers empathetic to the character. Not that is not possible (read Stormlight Archive or The Broken Empire Trilogy). But I don't think it's well done in Itachi's case because the massacre itself is minimized (even dismissed) in the process, doing a disservice to both. So again, why go that far?
There were so many other options... Though I do give Kishi some credit because of the weekly format (lol, sorry, this is thing now). But just some, because WHY?
Here's the thing: I have a lot of mixed feelings about this character. It's not just a love/hate situation, but also I'm not 100% sure if I think it's brilliantly written or terrible with a major T. And most of my issues with this character can be summarized as "he's a plot devise!", but is he an interesting plot devise that couldn't be changed for something else or is he just a lazy plot devise?
I'll start with his death, as there's a lot to unpack there.
Before I get into it please don't expect this to be pro or anti Itachi, it's just an analysis of whether narratively it was a good or bad death. And if you want to hate or love this guy, feel free to do so, if it makes you happy it can't be that bad, right? (besides, who am I to judge? lol).
Anyway, Itachi dies in chapter 393 after fighting Sasuke. And the first issue is that the battle is not great. Don't get me wrong, there are some cool moments like the genjutsu exchange at the beginning and Sasuke casting Kirin. But it was obvious that A) Sasuke would win, or B) at the very least, he would scape to live another day. Keep in mind that, in the timeline, he just fought Deidara and got away from an absurd explosion that should have killed him. In other words, there was no way that Kishi would kill Sasuke.
Also is so disappointing that this major villain just dies. In contrast to Jiraya's death, the guy goes down full of wounds and trying his best to run away. The second is more impactful even at a visual level.
As I see it, there are two ways of reading the chapters of the battle between the two Uchihas:
In retrospective. Meaning that we take in account that Sasuke's powers grow because he killed his brother, and without killing him he wouldn't have access to the Mangekyou nor the Eternal Mangekyou (this is the plot that the author wanted).
In a chronological order. Let's face it, Sasuke is not strong enough to kill Itachi, he should have know that and train more or search for a real, darker way to achieve his objective (something more solid than Kirin) (this is the plot I imagined while reading for the first time).
I point that out because I think that this fight is not good enough to generate character grow in Sasuke (thinking on the plot). Of course, here I'm choosing to read it in a chronological order. Obito's intervention is key to provoke a change in Sasuke. It's after Sasuke learns the truth about the Uchiha massacre that he awakens the Mangekyou Sharingan and set himself into a new path of revenge. It makes me wonder if it wouldn't be more interesting to skip the battle and go straight to the big revelation? Because Sasuke would still want to destroy Konoha (after all, they kill all his family and clan), but there would be an alive Itachi who would probably want to stop that with all his questionable methods (probably making a bigger mess).
You could think that I just don't like that Itachi died, and you'd be right. Partly, it is tied to the fact that it was Sasuke's objective, and it feels strange to me that he achieves it so "easily" (he trained like crazy but it all happens off screen (and it's just training... couldn't he go darker to become stronger? (like I wanted to see him sell his soul for revenge))). Partly because Itachi is a fantastic villain, I loved to hate him and I was expecting a grand finale (that's my bad of course. Kishi had no reasons to write for me). And partly because it could potentially result in a better ending to Sasuke and the Uchiha clan.
Setting aside my complaints of what should have happened for a moment, I've had 3 different lectures of this battle throughout different points in my life that I would like to share to illustrate further complains... I mean... arguments ahead.
The "meh" point.
When I was reading Naruto weekly, I felt so lukewarm about this fight for two reasons. The first was: Itachi just dies... I can't stress this enough. It's like the author ran out of ideas of how to save Sasuke and decided to kill off his opponent. Yes, there are signs that Itachi is weakened during their encounter, but damn, he just falls to the ground without Sasuke doing anything! I'm exaggerating, but you get the point. I honestly was in denial, expecting Itachi to revive at any moment right until he showed up as an undead with the Edo Tensei thingy. And the second reason was the reveal about the truth as an epilogue for Itachi, I'll go back to this later.
The "this is brilliant!" point.
I'll admit that in my latest view of the anime (the reason why I started this blog) I thought Itachi's death at the hands of his younger brother was such a big stab in the reader's heart that was just perfect. Oh, the delicious tragedy! I was so caught up in the feelings that I ignored the things that bothered me the first time. Notice that it had that impact because I already knew how things ended.
The "I don't get this shit" point.
There's no way to understand Sasuke's character without his older brother, and once I got into that rabbithole of trying to piece out Itachi's character... hell... nothing makes sense. You see, there's no reason for Itachi to fight Sasuke, let me rephrase that, there's only a crappy reason for this to happen. On the surface, you can think that Itachi wanted to die and he thought it was poetical justice to die at the hands of his brother, the last Uchiha. But why then? Well, because he was terminally sick of course. Now here are my two cents of logic:
I'll ignore the "Itachi wanted to die" part for now (this needs its own post).
He knew that his little brother was not on his right mind anymore (Sasuke went to train with Orochimaru of all people).
He knew that all that was keeping Sasuke alive was the idea of killing him (that's why he tells him to do so).
And he had that martyr mentality of self-sacrifice.
So the logical, in-character thing to do for Itachi was to run away from Sasuke (forever) so that he lives with an objective (not great, but what are we gonna do?). But Itachi was sick! After Rock Lee recovering from getting his arm and leg literally crushed and fighting right after his surgery, I won't take any disease as incurable, sorry. So, it was a plot decision. Itachi dies for the plot in the most dissatisfying way (it could've been worst... like Neji...). And was it really necessary?
My point here is the difference between surprise and suspense. In case you don't know what that is, I'll explain with a quote for the master of suspense: Hitchcock.
"There is a distinct difference between ‘suspense’ and ‘surprise’, and yet many pictures continually confuse the two. I’ll explain what I mean,” Hitchcock once said. “We are now having a very innocent little chat. Let’s suppose that there is a bomb underneath this table between us. Nothing happens, and then all of a sudden, ‘Boom!’ There is an explosion. The public is surprised, but prior to this surprise, it has seen an absolutely ordinary scene, of no special consequence.
"Now, let us take a suspense situation. The bomb is underneath the table and the public knows it, probably because they have seen the anarchist place it there. The public is aware the bomb is going to explode at one o’clock and there is a clock in the decor. The public can see that it is a quarter to one. In these conditions, the same innocuous conversation becomes fascinating because the public is participating in the scene. The audience is longing to warn the characters on the screen: ‘You shouldn’t be talking about such trivial matters. There is a bomb beneath you and it is about to explode!"
"In the first case we have given the public fifteen seconds of surprise at the moment of the explosion. In the second we have provided them with fifteen minutes of suspense. The conclusion is that whenever possible the public must be informed. Except when the surprise is a twist, that is, when the unexpected ending is, in itself, the highlight of the story."
Kishi loved surprises, to subvert expectations. Going back to Jiraya's death, I never thought he was going to die during his fight with Pain, and there are moments when it look like he's going to scape alive, but he dies. It's an unexpected surprise and quite heartbreaking as you're rooting for the character to get out alive.
But for Itachi's death, suspense would have been a better choice. It's in knowing what happened in his past that brings impact to his death. Because the fight isn't great, but when you know that Itachi is letting himself be killed by Sasuke to help him (in a twisted way), the feelings are there and it's brilliant.
Imagine you don't know the outcome of their battle, but you know the truth about the massacre, wouldn't you be like "Damn Sasuke! Don't kill your brother! He's an idiot, but he's still your brother"? It becomes emotionally engaging since the stakes are higher.
And in Kishi's attempt to subvert expectations, the fight is told from the point of view of Zetsu, who is a character that, I don't know about you but, I don't care about. That's why there's little to none of the thoughts of neither Sasuke nor Itachi through these chapters. Because if we would get Sasuke's thoughts we might think that this is emotionally taxing for him. And if we were to get Itachi's thoughts we might have confirmation that he's not after his brother's eyes (I've written about why Itachi been a good-guy-all-along is not a retcon here, and I'll die on that hill). Hence all the emotional side of the battle is hidden from the "public" through Zetsu's eyes.
But the worst part for me is that Itachi never gets the chance to tell his story, Obito is the one that tells Sasuke the whole thing (another post to the to-do list). And I have a lot of issues with this resource of "they were evil, but got a last minute redemption" that Kishi loves to do, it doesn't let the characters face the consequences of changing sides. It shouldn't be easy. It should be a hard decision to make. It should be easier to remain evil. Something that characters choose to do because it's right, even if it's so damn hard. And even if Itachi wasn't "evil", I still think it would have been more interesting to see him deal with all the consequences of his actions.
Therefore, Itachi's death only add a layer of tragedy to an already tragic character that had more potential alive than dead. And for all the above, I think his death is a waste of a character.
So this makes no sense (or does it?), but I was overthinking again... If Kakashi wouldn't have lost his sharingan after the war, would he have been allowed to be the Hokage? Or would it have been too close to an Uchiha for Konoha?
