Board Thread:Versus Debates/@comment-26636534-20180830184727/@comment-34194151-20180916100358

1) Itachi is known for his insight in battle, another defining quality. Kimimaro is also made of bones . How exactly does that technique one shot itachi when pre time-skip gaara reacted to it? Itachi has also seen his face before, because he literally saw kimimaro's face on sage kabuto's chest. So why exactly wouldn't he recognize him? The technique has already been seen through. It was used on a smaller scale before, but the bigger scale doesn't make it uncounterable. Kimimiaro has allies in this fight, and despite the area of effect the technique was countered by non-hokage level opponents in the past. Gaara was able to fly, sure, but nothing says itachi can't just run on the bones. And what happens when kimimaro uses that technique while orochimaru is trying to send snakes at itachi? there would be a ton of friendly fire. You haven't refuted my counter to it. Many S class shinobi can evade that attack, hence why I said Team Oro needs a diversion for it to land. It's deadly and useful, but you made it seem like kimimaro resolving it is a guaranteed win.

2) Where was konan's speed exactly? She got one shotted by one technique from jiraiya that she failed to dodge. She also didn't show any speed feats against obito. I can recite that fight from memory. she threw paper shurikens, obito phased through. Obito then stood in one spot . Konan flew at him and threw papers and paper bombs. Obito still stood in the same spot, and caught her by the neck. Then the bombs detonated. So, where was her speed feat there exactly? After that, she split the ocean. She detonated more paper bombs. Then she straight up got blitzed by obito and put under genjutsu. She didn't keep up in speed. I didn't slow her speed, I asked for actual speed feats, as I've seen none. The strengths shown was her planning and tactical mind, which itachi already beats her in.

4) I said that if Itachi used amaterasu on Konan herself, she wouldn't be able to react based on feats. Turning into paper after the fact doesn't solve the problem as all the papers would continue to burn. Sure, if she turns into paper beforehand, then it won't work. We don't have enough information to know how the totuska blade interacts with her when she is in her 1,000 paper form. we know she isn't completely immortal in that form because she was nearly killed by her own paper bombs against Tobi.

6) Orochimaru mentally reacted to the blade after  it already struck him. After it struck him, he assumed the attack was fodder. Nothing indicates he actually mentally reacted to the blade beforehand. Why? look at his dialouge.  Orochimaru was in the middle of his sentence, and the last word he said was defeat, then he got stabbed, then he said  "you". do you know quickly the human voice can utter words in a sentence? and itachi literally caught him in between words. You also see the question mark by orochimaru, showing he was clearly surprised at the speed of the blade. This time around, he knows about the blade so he has the ability to predict it, which gives him a better chance of avoiding it. My proof that that blade is ridiculously fast is that Nagato, the same dude who can react to rasenshurikens couldn't activate preta path/shinra tensei in time to repel the blade. Just because it tagged immobile opponents doesn't mean they actually mentally reacted to it, the evidence suggests they couldn't.

7) common misconception. Itachi is a ninja versed in all fields of combat, ninjutsu, taijutsu, weapons, and genjutsu. He is a prodigy when it comes to all 3. There is a reason why I keep citing his fight with kakashi in part one, because it's the easiest fight to reference where we can see what he is capable of with ninjutsu tactics, though you can still see it in fights even when he was jobbing or limited by circumstances. Al  He clearly is skilled and intelligent in the use of ninjutsu/weapons tactics, one of the best we have seen, from his ability to spawn clones in your blindspot from who knows where, to using diversions and misdirection to confuse you about the true nature of his attacks, to creating a blindspot in the RINNEGAN's shared vision. He makes up for raw power with the strategic use of his attacks. Itachi is a preferred pacficist, and has low stamina, hence his preference for genjutsu since it can subdue the enemy quickly and efficiently without killing and all he has to do is take initiative. Nothing says his power is gone once you take away his genjutsu. His real power is strategic mind and the ability to read his opponents actions, predict them, then counter them effectively.

MS usages allow him to finish the fight quicker. Totsuka blade is still a one shot kill for each opponent. Itachi can use 3 MS techniques before experiencing significant strain as per canon. that corresponds to 3 amaterasu. Sick Itachi used several amaterasu during his fight with sasuke, used a tsukyomi, 3 crow clones, several genjutsu, then susano'o for several minutes. If he sticks to MS for finishers then he would be extremely strained afterward but still alive if he is healthy for this fight. Susano'o usage is a concern. but Itachi knows how to fight efficiently, I cited many battles, even ones where he wasn't using genjutsu, where he was able to end the fight before it began with a simple diversion, sometimes without it. Hence why I said he could win with high difficulty, he won't be any condition to fight anymore after it's all said and done.

If you feel what I said is biased, then provide some counters to these points. I didn't feel I was biased, because I asked actual good questions, like these speed feats for konan, or how itachi loses to a technique he has already seen which grants him the ability to enact a counter-measure when he sees it a second time. or why there is a misconception that itachi is "weakened" without genjutsu. Sure his genjutsu is very limited here and he can't just gg anyone with it, so he is limited, but His genjutsu isn't as restricted as one might think here. Partner method is still a reactionary counter. we don't know how tsukyomi would interact with edo tensei. Partner method also requires his opponents to be close by to each other, and his strategy would be to separate them. Itachi would only need genjutsu to create a temporary opening for the totsuka blade. And to recap, itachi is still highly versatile even without genjutsu.