Last updated: September 8, 2026
The canon Itachi vs. Sasuke fight already happened, and Itachi lost on purpose — a terminally ill Itachi let his younger brother land the killing blow rather than fight to win. The more interesting question fans actually argue about is different: would a fully healthy Itachi beat the Sasuke who ends the series with the Rinnegan? The fan consensus leans toward Sasuke, but it’s closer than the power gap between them suggests.
Sorting this out means separating two different fights. The manga’s real “Fated Battle Between Brothers” was never a fair contest — Itachi was already dying and had decided years earlier to die by Sasuke’s hand. The hypothetical fans actually debate imagines Itachi at full strength, without the illness, facing the Sasuke who fought in the Fourth Great Ninja War.
What Actually Happened in Their Canon Fight
Itachi killed almost the entire Uchiha clan on direct orders from Konoha’s leadership, who feared the clan was planning a coup, sparing only his younger brother Sasuke. He spent years afterward as a missing-nin and Akatsuki member, letting the world including Sasuke believe he was a mass-murdering traitor rather than reveal the truth.
When Sasuke finally hunted him down, the resulting fight was largely genjutsu and misdirection: Itachi guided Sasuke toward awakening the Mangekyou Sharingan rather than trying to kill him, then collapsed from his terminal illness immediately after using Susanoo. He died having deliberately lost. Years later, Tobi (revealed as Obito Uchiha) told Sasuke the truth about the massacre, and Itachi himself confirmed it directly after being briefly revived through Kabuto’s Reanimation Jutsu during the Fourth Great Ninja War, before undoing the jutsu and fading away for good.
The Real Debate: Healthy Itachi vs. Current Sasuke
Strip away the illness and the deliberate loss, and the comparison changes. A fully healthy Itachi brings a complete Susanoo, mastery-level genjutsu that can end fights before they start, and a reputation as one of the most tactically intelligent ninja in the series. His limiting factor was always chakra reserves — even at full health, Itachi was never built for a long, drawn-out fight.
Sasuke by the end of the series has both the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan and the Rinnegan, which gives him space-time techniques Itachi has no answer for, plus a Susanoo enhanced with Amaterasu and a far deeper chakra pool from his post-war growth. That combination is why the fan consensus leans toward current Sasuke: the Rinnegan alone gives him tools — teleportation, dimensional travel — that can neutralize a genjutsu specialist by simply refusing to stay in the fight Itachi wants.
| Category | Itachi (healthy) | Sasuke (post-war, Rinnegan) |
|---|---|---|
| Signature defense | Complete Susanoo, Yata Mirror | Susanoo enhanced with Amaterasu |
| Signature offense | Mastery-level genjutsu (Tsukuyomi) | Blaze Release, Kirin, Rinnegan techniques |
| Unique advantage | Elite tactical intelligence | Space-time ninjutsu via the Rinnegan |
| Limiting factor | Comparatively shallow chakra reserves | None decisive by the war’s end |
| Fan consensus | — | Favored, though not by a wide margin |
Itachi Was Never Written to Beat Sasuke
It’s worth remembering this matchup was never designed to be a fair fight, even on paper. Series creator Masashi Kishimoto has said Itachi was his favorite Akatsuki member and that the character’s backstory wasn’t even planned out when he was first introduced — the only early idea was giving Sasuke a reason to want him dead, according to details compiled on Itachi’s Wikipedia page. Kishimoto built the “Konoha secret agent” backstory afterward, which is why Itachi’s entire arc, including his final fight, is engineered around Sasuke’s growth rather than a genuine contest of strength. Any “healthy Itachi” hypothetical has to work around a character who was, by design, never supposed to actually win.
Why It’s Still Close
Itachi’s best path to victory is never letting the fight reach the point where Sasuke’s Rinnegan matters. His genjutsu is good enough in the manga to trap opponents before they realize they’re caught, and Sasuke has fallen for Itachi-tier illusions before. If Itachi lands a Tsukuyomi early, raw power stops being the deciding factor. But Sasuke’s post-war kit was specifically built to counter exactly that kind of trap — a Rinnegan user can phase through an attack or warp away entirely, which is a tool 2010s-era Itachi never had to plan around. That gap in toolkits, more than raw strength, is why most breakdowns of this matchup — including community threads on Comic Vine’s own battle boards — give the edge to current Sasuke while still calling it competitive.
For the full canon rundown of where each of them lands among their peers, see our strongest Naruto characters and strongest Naruto villains rankings, or start from the beginning with our Naruto watch order guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won the fight between Itachi and Sasuke?
In the manga, Itachi dies from a terminal illness moments after using Susanoo against Sasuke, having deliberately held back and let Sasuke land the finishing blow as part of a plan to help him grow stronger.
Would a healthy Itachi beat Sasuke?
Most fan power-scaling breakdowns favor the Sasuke who ends the series with the Rinnegan, since his space-time techniques can neutralize Itachi’s genjutsu-heavy strategy, though a healthy Itachi’s tactical intelligence keeps the fight competitive.
Why did Itachi kill the Uchiha clan?
Itachi carried out the massacre on orders from Konoha’s leadership, who believed the clan was planning a coup; he spared only Sasuke.
Is Itachi stronger than Sasuke by the end of Naruto?
No. By the end of the series Sasuke has surpassed Itachi’s power level, having gained the Rinnegan in addition to the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan the two brothers both eventually unlocked.
