Board Thread:Versus Debates/@comment-30323490-20171113213649/@comment-24729606-20171124204611

Well personally I think we can all agree that by the time they clashed during the Fourth Great Ninja War Naruto had surpassed Itachi. I mean Itachi is still a remarkably insightful and intelligent man but his greatest weapon is the Mangekyo Sharingan and his renowned genjutsu. Naruto knows enough but the three jutsu of the Mangekyo to be able to either evade them or be able to make them almost completely ineffectual. Genjutsu is useless agnaist jinchuriki who are harmonized with their tailed beast. Just about the only way Itachi could win would be to place Naruto under the Mangekyo's great genjutsu and thereafter someone extract Kurama from Naruto. That being said Naruto would still have a tough time agnaist Itachi (if no other reason than he seems to consider Itachi a comrade, if not a friend in full). Not to mention that even without assistance from Kurama (ie any of the tailed beast forms) Sage mode would just about close the case on its own. Itachi knows about sage mode and nature energy (although why that is or how he found out about either are never satisfactorily explained) but that just means he has an edge in preparation, which as we've seen doesn't do one much good agnaist Naruto. Plus Naruto (even when making use of neither sage mode nor Kurama) still has his sensory abilities to call on. That means that even if he's placed under a genjutsu Kurama can't snap him out of (which be very impressive in its own right) he could probably still fight using taijutsu in concert with his sensory abilities.