Board Thread:Theories and Speculation/@comment-30241447-20180919062520/@comment-24729606-20180919212157

Well i can't say I entirely disagree with the others as far as the Kotoamatsukami not changing much, since despite Itachi’s best efforts and best intentions the events that lead up to the fourth great ninja war were the doing of Obito (acting on Madara’s behalf who himself was a puppet of Black zetsu). That being said I do think it would have made the series both shorter and considerably less interesting. After all if the kotoamatsukami had worked on Sasuke and instilled in him as strong a desire to protect the Hidden Leaf as Itachi possessed then he would turned against anyone who threatened the Leaf. That being said Itachi's crow (by Itachi’s own admission) would only emerge if Sasuke activated his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan in Naruto’s presence. Naruto was strong enough after defeating Kaguya to force Sasuke to do so but before that time (and almost certainly before having master Kurama’s power) Sasuke was still the stronger of the two of them, not by much but by a big enough margin that he wouldn’t have had to his full visual prowess. Plus it occurs to me that even if Itachi's plans worked the plans of the Akatsuki were too far advances to be much more than slowed down by Sasuke's making an about face. All in all while Sasuke changing sides sooner might have made some difference he and Naruto still would have ended up in the same situation they eventually found themselves in. Besides given that after the fourth great ninja war Sasuke adopted Itachi's mission in life (protecting the Hidden Leaf) and atoned for his many crimes I don’t really think his having done so earlier would have change a commensurate difference.