8. Itachi Uchiha vs Naruto Uzumaki

After hearing the news that Orochimaru had been defeated by Sasuke, Naruto was baffled. He couldn’t believe that Sasuke didn’t return to Konoha right after defeating Orochimaru. Jiraiya concluded that Sasuke was likely planning to hunt down Itachi first to exact his revenge before returning to Konoha.

Because of this, Tsunade and Kakashi decided to form a Konoha team with the mission to hunt down and capture Itachi, intending to turn him over to Sasuke. The Konoha team also believed that during their search for Itachi, they might encounter Sasuke, who was also pursuing him.

After Naruto used Tajū Kage Bunshin to create multiple shadow clones and send them to different locations to look for Sasuke, his real body unexpectedly encountered Itachi in the forest. Itachi claimed he wasn’t there to capture Naruto, but only to talk.

However, Naruto didn’t trust him and attacked Itachi from behind with two shadow clones. Yet, Itachi easily overpowered them.

Naruto then recalled a battle strategy for fighting against Sharingan users: if it’s a one-on-one fight, the best option is to run; if it’s two-on-one, it’s best to attack from behind. However, Naruto knew that fighting Itachi would be a major challenge since Itachi could trap his opponents in a Genjutsu with just the movement of his finger. Therefore, Naruto stayed on guard.

Itachi informed Naruto that he knew Naruto was alone and asked why he didn’t run. But Naruto told Itachi that he could multiply himself into thousands of clones. Additionally, Naruto stated that he had no intention of running away because he was determined to capture Itachi and meet Sasuke.

Naruto then rushed forward to attack Itachi. However, Itachi effortlessly trapped Naruto in a Genjutsu by merely moving his cloak. In the Genjutsu, Naruto saw himself surrounded by a flock of crows. After breaking free from the Genjutsu, Naruto collapsed to the ground.

Fortunately, Itachi had no intention of capturing Naruto. He truly only wanted to have a conversation. Itachi then left, leaving Naruto confused by his behavior. Naruto couldn’t understand why Itachi didn’t capture him, especially since he believed that Itachi could have done so if he wanted to.