Naruto character guide
Itachi Uchiha is the Uchiha prodigy who destroys his own clan, leaves Konoha as a criminal and joins the Akatsuki, becoming the target of his younger brother Sasuke’s revenge. The series gradually shows that nothing about him is as simple as the first account makes it sound.
Confirmed: stated in the manga, anime or official guidebooks. Estimate: approximate or derived. Unknown: not revealed.
Itachi is the first child of Mikoto and Fugaku Uchiha. At four he saw the casualties of the Third Shinobi World War, which left him a lifelong pacifist, and he trained constantly with the dream of ending fighting for good. He entered the Academy at six, joined the Anbu at 11 and became an Anbu captain at 12. He is also the strongest of the Uchiha of his age. (Ch. 400)
Itachi kills nearly everyone in the Uchiha clan on a single night and leaves only Sasuke alive, then leaves Konoha as an international criminal. At first the story presents this as an act of cruelty. He later joins the Akatsuki with his partner Kisame Hoshigaki. (Ch. 222)
The truth, which Tobi tells Sasuke and the story later shows from Itachi’s own side, is that the Uchiha were planning a coup, and Itachi was a double agent reporting to the Third Hokage while trying to prevent civil war. His options were narrowed to two: support the coup and have the whole clan, including Sasuke, killed in the conflict, or accept an order to wipe out the clan first and be allowed to spare Sasuke. He chose his brother. Itachi’s parents told him in their last moments that they were proud of him and asked him to look after Sasuke. (Ch. 590)
Itachi has a terminal illness that he has hidden for years, and he lives to die by Sasuke’s hand. When Sasuke finally confronts him, Itachi holds back; the story says that he could have killed Sasuke if he wanted to. Itachi dies at the end of the fight in chapter 401, after he touches Sasuke’s forehead, which an official Quiz Book says places a protective Amaterasu seal in Sasuke’s eyes. (Shippuden ep. 141 · ch. 401)
During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Kabuto summons Itachi with the Impure World Reincarnation. A crow carrying Shisui’s eye, which Itachi placed in Naruto, helps him break Kabuto’s control, and Itachi dispels the technique, after which the five Kage hail him as the world’s saviour. The war also gives Itachi one last conversation with Sasuke, in which he says he does not need forgiveness and will always love him. (Ch. 590)
Itachi is soft-spoken and calm, with a deep sense of duty. He takes on every burden himself and believes he needs no help from his comrades, a habit that the story treats as both his strength and his greatest mistake. He is one of the few people in Konoha who bears no grudge against Naruto and shows him kindness whenever they meet. (Ch. 582)
As a member of the Akatsuki, Itachi is more prone to displays of force and tolerates his partner’s violent habits. All of it lowers the suspicion he faces inside the organisation. (Ch. 143)
Itachi is designed as a villain who is revised twice. Part I defines him through what Sasuke believes about him; his death and the war chapters invert that view without removing the massacre itself. The story keeps both facts, that he killed his family and that he did it to protect the village, and asks the reader to hold them together. He also, in the end, admits his flaw: he tried to manipulate Sasuke rather than be honest with him. (Ch. 549)
Open an entry for its strengths, limits and where it appears. Entries describe what the story shows; they are not a power ranking.
Itachi awakens it as a child and masters it quickly; his skill at genjutsu with the Sharingan is praised even by Orochimaru.
Ch. 222 · part of Sharingan and Mangekyō
Itachi can cast illusions affecting targets who are on guard, and can perform them by merely pointing at his target.
Ch. 258 · part of Chakra and jutsu
With his right eye, Itachi ignites black flames that burn whatever he looks at, even fire, and can extinguish them at will.
Ch. 390 · part of Sharingan and Mangekyō
A genjutsu that traps the target in an illusory world of Itachi’s design, altering their perception of matter, space and time.
Second Databook · part of Sharingan and Mangekyō
Awakened after Shisui’s death. Itachi’s Mangekyō gives him Tsukuyomi, Amaterasu and Susanoo.
Ch. 222 · part of Sharingan and Mangekyō
Itachi’s Susanoo is fully formed with the Totsuka Blade and the Yata Mirror, a pairing that makes it close to impregnable.
Every named connection is listed here. Open a card to see how the relationship changes over the story.
Open Itachi Uchiha in the Naruto family tree.
Itachi is Sasuke’s older brother and the reason for Sasuke’s revenge, which the story spends hundreds of chapters re-examining.
Fugaku is the head of the Uchiha police force and the father of Itachi and Sasuke.
Itachi was the first child of Fugaku and Mikoto.
Itachi’s closest friend, a gifted Uchiha whose fate shaped Itachi’s choices.
Itachi shows Naruto kindness whenever they meet and gives him help in the fight over Sasuke.
Result: Itachi dies at the end of the fight. (Shippuden ep. 138 · ch. 391)
Itachi uses his Mangekyō techniques while holding back, and Sasuke draws on everything Orochimaru taught him. See it on the timeline.
Result: Itachi destroys the clan and spares Sasuke. (Ch. 590)
In one night Itachi eliminates the clan, including his parents. He uses the Mangekyō repeatedly and does not tire. See it on the timeline.
Story order follows in-world dates. Switch to release order to see events in the order the anime, then the manga, first showed them.
Itachi kills almost the entire Uchiha clan in one night and spares only Sasuke.
The reason behind the massacre is shown through Itachi’s own memories.
Sasuke faces his brother after training with Orochimaru, and Itachi’s long-hidden illness and plan come out.
Itachi dies at the end of his fight with Sasuke, after a last touch on Sasuke’s forehead.
During the war Itachi is summoned by the Impure World Reincarnation and then works to undo it.
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Status can differ between the anime and the manga, and it can change: characters are sealed, revived or used by others. Each event below has its own spoiler protection and verified references.
Itachi dies in Shippuden after the fight with Sasuke. He is later reanimated with the Impure World Reincarnation during the war, and the technique releases him, after which he returns to the dead.
Early Edo Tensei appearance. Anime: Kabuto reincarnates Itachi against Team 7 in episode 290, and the summon fails almost immediately. Manga: Itachi’s reanimation arc plays out in the war chapters leading to chapter 590.
| Medium | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Manga | Naruto | Antagonist and later key figure; flashbacks in chapters 222, 400 and 590. |
| Anime | Naruto | Konoha Crush arc onward |
| Anime | Naruto: Shippuden | Death at episode 141; reanimated in the war arc |
| Novel | Itachi Shinden | A novel about his early life and the massacre. |
To prevent a coup that would have started a war and killed Sasuke too. The details are a major spoiler in the later part of the story.
He died of a terminal illness after fighting Sasuke in Shippuden episode 141 (chapter 401).
Yes. He first appears near the end of the Konoha Crush arc (anime episodes 68–80).
Last verified October 29, 2026. Covers Naruto manga chapters 1–700 and the anime Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden. Details are written by AnimeSparks from the manga and anime themselves, and cross-checked against the references below. Where something isn’t confirmed, the page says so.