It’s unknown if Itachi went all out against Sasuke in their last fight.
It would make sense for him to do so, but he was already weakened.
There’s no official confirmation for either theory.
Naruto ended years ago, but there are still questions that are left unanswered. While most of them are fairly unimportant and can be dismissed as things Kishimoto has never thought of, there are also fairly important plot points that weren’t elaborated on.
One of these includes the final confrontation between Sasuke and Itachi. After a prolonged battle, Itachi almost won — and suddenly died. Many fans find it frankly unbelievable.
While it’s stated by Tobi (and some others) that Itachi wanted to die at Sasuke’s hands, many also believe he was holding back against his brother. Whether that’s true or not, we might never know.
Do you think Itachi held back against Sasuke?
Why He Might Have Held Back
On the one hand, it would make sense for Itachi to hold back against Sasuke. Itachi was a prodigy, and at that point in the story, still far stronger than his brother. Besides, he actually loved Sasuke and could never bring himself to kill him. Also, he wanted to die at Sasuke’s hands, because he wanted Sasuke to be seen as a hero.
Many fans believe that Itachi let Sasuke escape Tsukuyomi, and in general, didn’t go all out against him. He wanted to give him a challenge, sure, but he never actually wanted to defeat him.
Counterpoint
Others believe that Itachi didn’t actually hold back against Sasuke. Not because Sasuke was strong enough to defeat him — he definitely wouldn’t be beating Itachi at his peak. Itachi, however, was already dying from an unspecified illness, and was near death when their fight started, only surviving because of his medication.
As such, Itachi was severely weakened during the find, and potentially didn’t even need to hold back. His illness essentially put him on Sasuke’s level, and he was a decent challenge for Sasuke — he died because his body was weakened too much at the end of the fight, collapsing to the disease.
Sadly, We Will Probably Never Know the Answer
So, which one is true, and did Itachi really hold back against Sasuke? Officially, we don’t know, and it’s left to be up to viewers’ interpretation. The most logical idea would be that Itachi went all-out against Sasuke (he didn’t want to disrespect him, after all), with one exception — he tried to avoid obviously lethal attacks.
After all, we know for sure he was already dying, and Itachi probably knew he’d be dead at the end of the fight no matter what.
Was Itachi holding back against Sasuke?
Spoilers ahead!
Summary:
It’s unknown if Itachi went all out against Sasuke in their last fight.
It would make sense for him to do so, but he was already weakened.
There’s no official confirmation for either theory.
Naruto ended years ago, but there are still questions that are left unanswered. While most of them are fairly unimportant and can be dismissed as things Kishimoto has never thought of, there are also fairly important plot points that weren’t elaborated on.
One of these includes the final confrontation between Sasuke and Itachi. After a prolonged battle, Itachi almost won — and suddenly died. Many fans find it frankly unbelievable.
While it’s stated by Tobi (and some others) that Itachi wanted to die at Sasuke’s hands, many also believe he was holding back against his brother. Whether that’s true or not, we might never know.
Do you think Itachi held back against Sasuke?
Why He Might Have Held Back
On the one hand, it would make sense for Itachi to hold back against Sasuke. Itachi was a prodigy, and at that point in the story, still far stronger than his brother. Besides, he actually loved Sasuke and could never bring himself to kill him. Also, he wanted to die at Sasuke’s hands, because he wanted Sasuke to be seen as a hero.
Many fans believe that Itachi let Sasuke escape Tsukuyomi, and in general, didn’t go all out against him. He wanted to give him a challenge, sure, but he never actually wanted to defeat him.
Counterpoint
Others believe that Itachi didn’t actually hold back against Sasuke. Not because Sasuke was strong enough to defeat him — he definitely wouldn’t be beating Itachi at his peak. Itachi, however, was already dying from an unspecified illness, and was near death when their fight started, only surviving because of his medication.
As such, Itachi was severely weakened during the find, and potentially didn’t even need to hold back. His illness essentially put him on Sasuke’s level, and he was a decent challenge for Sasuke — he died because his body was weakened too much at the end of the fight, collapsing to the disease.
Sadly, We Will Probably Never Know the Answer
So, which one is true, and did Itachi really hold back against Sasuke? Officially, we don’t know, and it’s left to be up to viewers’ interpretation. The most logical idea would be that Itachi went all-out against Sasuke (he didn’t want to disrespect him, after all), with one exception — he tried to avoid obviously lethal attacks.
After all, we know for sure he was already dying, and Itachi probably knew he’d be dead at the end of the fight no matter what.
