What Makes Itachi Different from the Other Uchihas

The Uchiha clan has produced quite a few famous ninjas throughout the years, one of which is Itachi Uchiha. He is known by many as the man who massacred his own people, leaving only his little brother behind.

But as the truth slowly unfolds, we now know that there is more to that tragic incident than meets the eye. Not only that, but it is also safe to say that Itachi is vastly different from the other Uchihas, including his own brother, Sasuke Uchiha. From how he manages to escape from the curse of the Uchiha to his boundless wisdom compared to his people, let’s dive into what makes Itachi so different from his brethren.

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Escaping the Curse of the Uchiha

According to the second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, Uchiha is a clan that is bound by a curse. This curse affects every single person who is born into the Uchiha clan. The only exception is Itachi, who somehow manages to escape from this terrible curse.

From Love to Hate

So what is the Uchiha curse? Interestingly enough, it’s the curse to experience deep love and hate. Tobirama explains that no other clan has a deeper capacity to love than the Uchiha. However, this deep love can turn into an intense hatred once they lose the subject of their love. This feeling of grief and agony triggers a unique chakra in their brain that affects their optic nerves, giving birth to what is known as the Sharingan. The deeper the hatred, the more powerful the Sharingan becomes. This phenomenon can happen to every Uchiha, which is why hatred will always be a big part of this clan.

Looking Past the Hate

Interestingly enough, Itachi doesn’t get affected by the hate. His grief over the loss of his best friend, Shisui, does awaken his Mangekyo Sharingan, but his head doesn’t fill with a thirst for revenge over this devastating tragedy. The same thing can be said of the horrifying mission that is thrust upon him by Danzo, the man who stole Shisui’s eye. In both instances, Itachi manages to look past the hate and understand that difficult decisions have to be made in those situations. That’s why he is never burdened with hatred and vengeance. Something that the rest of the Uchiha can’t do.

The Village Over the Clan

Looking at the Big Picture

Another trademark of an Uchiha is their love for their clan. To an Uchiha, there’s nothing more important than their clan’s prosperity. This deep feeling of love and reverence also stems from the same curse that we discussed earlier. This love makes them prioritize the clan over everything else. To an Uchiha, nothing sits above the clan. They’re even willing to go to war for the sake of their clan, which is precisely what forced Itachi to massacre his people.

But just like his ability to look past the hatred, Itachi also has the ability to see the big picture. To him, the clan is nothing more than a small part of his beloved hometown, the village of Konoha. That’s why the village has always been more important to him than his own clan. After all, there’s no point in having a prosperous clan if it means the village has to suffer for it.

That being said, it doesn’t mean Itachi hates his clan. On the contrary, he loves it just like every Uchiha. But he knows that his father’s attempt to bring Uchiha together for a coup d’état would result in a great conflict within the village. Not only that, but it may also prompt the other villages to see this instability as the perfect chance to attack Konoha, which means even more loss of lives. No matter how much he loves his clan, Itachi would never agree with this approach. To him, the safety and prosperity of the many people in the village far exceed the safety and prosperity of his own clan. This is a notion that the rest of the Uchiha will never accept.

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Wisdom Over Ambition

So what makes Itachi manage to look past the hate, unlike the rest of his clan? What makes him manage to prioritize the village over his clan, unlike the other Uchihas? The answer comes from the fact that Itachi is wise beyond his years.

Experiencing War at a Young Age

Similar to other ninjas his age, such as Kakashi and the other Konoha Jonins, Itachi was forced to participate in the Third Ninja World War. Here, he witnessed with his own eyes the terrible things that a human being can do to other humans. He saw the kind of atrocities that were justified in the name of war. He saw the pain and suffering that the war brought to the people. It was such a traumatizing experience for him that he made a vow to himself to never let something like that ever happen again. This terrible experience enables him to think more deeply about various things, which makes him wiser than his peers.

A Profound Passion for History

Another source of Itachi’s wisdom comes from his profound passion for History. He is the type of person who deeply subscribes to the notion that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. There are so many things that he doesn’t know about the world, about the conflict, about what it means to be a ninja.

So he looked for the answers from the people who had experienced all kinds of hardship and were likely to find the solution to those big issues. He looked to the past. That’s why from a young age, Itachi has pored over every history book and even visited ancient ruins that hold records of what happened in the past. This knowledge instills boundless wisdom in him that is comparable to a Hokage. That’s why Itachi is so different not only from the other Uchihas but also from most people in Konoha as well.

Naruto is available to stream on Crunchyroll.

Naruto: Shippuden

Release Date

February 15, 2007

Network

Adult Swim

Directors

Hayato Date, Masaaki Kumagai, Yasuaki Kurotsu, Osamu Kobayashi, Chiaki Kon

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