[manga] Itachi sparing Sasuke motives?

[^_Usagi_^]

This was probably talked about dozens of times already, but haven’t found any recent threads, so...

*The whole thing with Itachi’s “testing his capacity” slaughter reason is fishy. (why would you do that in the middle of the night while nobody is expecting? +your own clan member the killer, kinda a nice edge in the situation)
*The ideas I read on Itachi not actually killing the clan sound possible but not too much.
*Just having somebody who is worthy of killing him is... weird... Since there are those stronger than him already (like Hokages? I think...). Wanting to be killed by an Uchiha would be the strangest thing since Itachi himself said “You forget what is most important... because you cling to your clan”.

It just seems weird how he always tries to make Sasuke hate him even more, but at the same time showing his power will never be enough & the only way is through Mangekyo.

My theory: Itachi is after Sasuke’s MS
*He kills Shinsui, then during his “free time” between ANBU & Uchiha slaughtering figures that the technique inflicts damage upon his own eyes (in epi 80 when fighting Kakashi, is asked at how bad his eyesight has become, so he could probably go blind after a few more years).
*See a good opportunity in Sasuke’s rivalry & also brotherly love to turn into hatred, enough to make the kid go berserk, kill a best friend (which almost happened)
*Kakashi transplanted Obito’s Sharingan, even though he’s not an Uchiha & it seems to work “fine”, Sasuke & Itachi both Uchiha’s + blood brothers, which makes it better.
So technically he could finally make Sasuke totally psychotic & achieve MS, beat him to a pulp like always, change Sasuke’s MS for his useless ones.

[reloaded]

Originally Posted by ^_Usagi_^

My theory: Itachi is after Sasuke’s MS
*He kills Shinsui, then during his “free time” between ANBU & Uchiha slaughtering figures that the technique inflicts damage upon his own eyes (in epi 80 when fighting Kakashi, is asked at how bad his eyesight has become, so he could probably go blind after a few more years).

Itachi's father seemed to know about MS and the fact that it needed a special requirement when asked by Sasuke. Itachi also knew about this and went onto state that requirement so I recon that they got this information from the scrolls in the Uchiha's meeting place. If they knew about MS and also knew how to aquire it then I doubt they wouldnt know the side effects since this is an important point to be missed out. I doubt Itachi wouldnt have only known about the side effects (eye sight) of MS after aquiring it and not before hand.

Itachi preparing Sasuke just to steal his eyes seems a little farfetched.

[Kyu410]

I don't think Itachi is after Sasuke's MS because if Sasuke coincidentally got MS because of Itachi continously mocking him. Sasuke would pwn Itachi and even if he couldn't I don't think Sasuke would let Itachi take his eyes.

I believe that Itachi may have killed his clan as a test. Not to sure if it was mentioned in the anime.

Spoiler:

It was revealed that Itachi had a hard test to get in Akatsuki

and this test may have been hard for him because it was his clan he had to kill. And in order for him to gain the courage to do so he killed his best friend. Then he made himself believe that his clan was pathetic and killed them in cold blood to make sure he had no regret about it later. And he may have spared Sasuke so he could one day kill him and kill the leader of the Akatsuki.

[^_Usagi_^]

I'm not sure of them knowing of the side effect (I mean it might not have been written)... I mean apart from Madara there were no more MS users before Itachi. But if he did know of the consequence, then it was even more easier to plan it out.

Sasuke would pwn Itachi and even if he couldn't I don't think Sasuke would let Itachi take his eyes

Their previous encounters shows otherwise. Even now Sasuke needs a team of those Orochimaru flakies just to get a chance of standing up to Itachi.

It was revealed that Itachi had a hard test to get in Akatsuki

I’m sorry, when was this part? Probably skipped the chapter. As far as I read on the e-net those two events are not necessarily linked.
Why would he need to join the Akatsuki if all he would want is to be killed later?

When was Akatsuki formed? Event wise I mean. Does anyone know approximately how old it was at the time of Uchiha massacre?

[Kyu410]

Sorry about that I meant Sasuke would pwn Itachi if he had MS.

But I'm not sure about your bolded questions.

[Icecolduchiha]

Spoiler for curse:

"the cursed clan", the "curse" referring to they are cursed to kill each other in order to achive their ultimate power within MS, itachi fgure this out and killed every member in the uchiha clan so no one else within the clan could ever activate MS, he left sasuke alive because they are the only two left and sasuke would never be able to activiate it unless he was able to kill itachi. Actually i dont know because this actually counteracts some points of what I think... But the title " cursed clan" makes sense, that they have to kill each other to obtain they're ultimate form of power, so they are cursed to fail....hmm anyone else care to take a stab at it

[David_The_Gnome]

wow, I just saw this thread after I made my own on this.

There's definitely something fishy about him sparing Sasuke twice. But my theory is that he actually has sympathy for his brother, however small it may be.

[^_Usagi_^]

that they have to kill each other to obtain they're ultimate form of power, so they are cursed to fail.

huh? not neceserily... I mean you best friend doesnt have to be from the Uchiha clan. like naru & sasu

[othafa]

Originally Posted by ^_Usagi_^

I'm not sure of them knowing of the side effect (I mean it might not have been written)... I mean apart from Madara there were no more MS users before Itachi.

Now you're just making stuff up. We don't even know if Madara had MS, let alone that there were no others to gain it besides him...

[^_Usagi_^]

Now you're just making stuff up. We don't even know if Madara had MS, let alone that there were no others to gain it besides him...

sorry, i meant "known to us ppl that used MS". actually i fogot what i meant by now

[MysticNinjaJay]

It would be extremely dull for Itachi's master plan to be to steal a power he already has....


I would quit watching Naruto.


The "true purpose" of Sharingan is the most likely motivation for sparing Sasuke and I'm betting it has something to do with Kyuubi (which will by default involve naruto) as Kyuubi suggests his own involvement with the Uchiha (through Madara).

This would explain Itachi's presence in a group like Akatsuki who's goal is to collect the Bijuu including Kyuubi (who is officially the last they will obtain).

[Sagittarius]

While I really like the idea's that some of you have come up with. I'm afraid you're being WAYYYYY too analytical. Lets think for a moment, suppose you killed your entire family. You'd feel pretty bad about that, and in turn probably come to the resolution you deserve to die :P

Itachi was merely testing his capabilities by killing his clan for whatever reason, I mean to each his own I suppose. The fact is Sasuke wasn't even worth killing at the time, or at any other time since then during the manga. He wasn't even worth testing Itachi's abilities, so Itachi let him live, hoping that he'd surpass him and be the one to kill him. Again during his visit with Kisame to Konoha and his confrontation with Sasuke, he basically was like "Listen brother, you're still too weak, you're weak because you lack blah blah blah, go away and come back when you can actually give me a run for my money"

[^_Usagi_^]

You'd feel pretty bad about that, and in turn probably come to the resolution you deserve to die

not really... look at all the nice psychos roaming around the world who wouldnt mind killing some more.

The fact is Sasuke wasn't even worth killing at the time, or at any other time since then during the manga. He wasn't even worth testing Itachi's abilities

well were a bunch of old grannies worth killing? i mean come on...

[othafa]

I suspect that Itachi actually had a valid reason for killing his clan (perhaps for his own benefit, perhaps because he learned something about some evil plan of theirs, perhaps something else) but then did feel bad. He can give in to his logic and carry it out, but he doesn't have to like it. Leaving Sasuke alive seems to be two fold if thats the case
a.) its his brother, and he probably does care about him
b.) he wants him to kill him...I honestly think that no one could hold a candle to Itachi 1v1 at that time, including Sarutobi, and Itachi took steps to ensure that he would eventually be defeated

Also, once he killed the fighters in his clan, there would still be others (I assume that most of his clan, even the non fighters, were of a single mind) to carry out their plans or whatever, so he needed to make sure that there would be no one left to misuse the sharingan.

[MysticNinjaJay]

Originally Posted by Sagittarius

While I really like the idea's that some of you have come up with. I'm afraid you're being WAYYYYY too analytical. Lets think for a moment, suppose you killed your entire family. You'd feel pretty bad about that, and in turn probably come to the resolution you deserve to die :P

Itachi was merely testing his capabilities by killing his clan for whatever reason, I mean to each his own I suppose. The fact is Sasuke wasn't even worth killing at the time, or at any other time since then during the manga. He wasn't even worth testing Itachi's abilities, so Itachi let him live, hoping that he'd surpass him and be the one to kill him. Again during his visit with Kisame to Konoha and his confrontation with Sasuke, he basically was like "Listen brother, you're still too weak, you're weak because you lack blah blah blah, go away and come back when you can actually give me a run for my money"

I don't think it's that simple. If Sasuke isn't worth killing what does that make the women, children and elderly who Itachi also killed in the Uchiha? I think he simply said that to insult him.

What we know for sure is that Itachi wants a challenge and believes his ultimate challenge can only come through another Uchiha. He saw potential in Sasuke when he noticed Sasuke's ambition to surpass him.

Now whether he truly feels guilt for the slaughter of the clan, choosing Sasuke as not only a future rival but an avenger is only speculation, something Sasuke has speculated before.

We'll have to wait and see but I think there is more to this than meets the eye. The theme is not merely about Sasuke's quest for revenge, there is a hidden purpose to Sharingan that Itachi hinted at and that Kyuubi may have suggested which will probably come into play when Sasuke confronts Itachi again.

[Kyu410]

Well apparently in chapter 364 Itachi seems to just love his brother. He seemed a bit sad that he heard that Sasuke died. But he wouldn't believe it at all and that just shows maybe the old Itachi is still there.

[AnbuItachi]

ithink itachi knows more than meets the eye, almost every time durin ga convo in akatsuki he'll always say "..." unless Pain tells me to answer. it seems like he doesn't want to cooperate. i dont think Itachi wants sasuke for the eyeball, if he did he coulda just took it now and put it on him and activate MS himself. he doesn't need to wait for Sasuke to activate it. I think maybe he wants to team up with sasuke one day to defeat Madara.

[Cmart]

I think a possibility y Itachi slaughtered the clan is becuz they knew sumthin about him and were goin to turn him into and didnt tell sasuke so he wouldnt warn or ask itachi about it. when he found out, he killed everyone but sasuke who knew nothin about it. i have more speculation but dont feel likin typin it right now

[Willowwhisp]

Originally Posted by ^_Usagi_^

When was Akatsuki formed? Event wise I mean. Does anyone know approximately how old it was at the time of Uchiha massacre?

In the final chapter of the pre-Shippuden Naruto, Sasori states "We haven't done this* since 7 years ago... When Orochimaru left the organization", so from that it can be assumed that Akatsuki is at least seven years old.

*"this" being a gathering of all the members at once.

Curiously, when Orochimaru left Akatsuki (7 years prior to the series) Itachi was already a member, which would've placed his age at around about ten or eleven (he was also a Chuunin at that age). This was also three years prior to slaughtering his own clan, which puts into question the theory that slaughtering his own clan was his 'test' for joining Akatsuki.

This already opens up a few curiousity questions for me, mainly "Why would Akatsuki recruit a Chuunin?" and "How did Itachi perform as a member of Akatsuki without being found out by Konoha?" (and chances are, these questions will never be answered. Personally, it seems to me that Kishimoto accidently fell into a plot hole situation.)

So, Akatsuki was at least three years old before the Uchiha massacre (and Itachi had been a member for at least three years).

As for why I believe Itachi slaughtered his own clan yet spared his brother? In all honesty, I think it was something as simple as an order from Akatsuki. An order which he had no issue with executing.

Spoiler for Spoilers relate to the latest chapters:

Tobi was revealed as a Uchiha (presumably Madara) and is presumably the 'true leader' of Akatsuki. It would seem likely that Tobi would've been the one to make the order (for reasons presently unknown, although he clearly has a great interest in Sasuke).

[AnbuItachi]

maybe to recruit a chuunin to show itachi's skills or for his leaf knowledge. he did become anbu captain