Sasuke Uchiha

is the sole surviving member of Konohagakure's Uchiha clan and the current reincarnation of Indra. He became a shinobi so he could someday grow strong enough to kill his older brother, Itachi, who had subsequently slaughtered their entire clan. Initially a member of Konoha's Team 7, Sasuke defects from the village to obtain power from Orochimaru and later Akatsuki, becoming an international criminal in the process. However, he later proves instrumental in ending the Fourth Shinobi World War in order to satisfy his own goal of revolution before finally being defeated and redeemed by his only friend, Naruto Uzumaki.

Background
Sasuke is the second and youngest son of the Konoha Military Police Force captain and Uchiha clan head: Fugaku Uchiha, and his wife Mikoto and the first of Indra's reincarnations to be born into the era of relative peace. Mikoto named him after the father of the Third Hokage in hopes that he would grow up to be a great ninja like his name's sake. During his early childhood, Sasuke greatly admired his older brother Itachi, wanting to be more like him. Even though would often be too busy to hang out with Sasuke, would enjoy what little quality time they could together. In the anime, they even made a game collecting paw prints of cats together. Sasuke also shared a similar closeness to Shisui Uchiha. Despite his love for Itachi, Sasuke constantly lived in his older sibling's shadow, who was an acknowledged prodigy viewed by the Uchiha as a genius, and whose work would further strengthen the bonds between the village and the clan. Sasuke's father in particular took an active interest in Itachi, thereby neglecting Sasuke. Itachi, on the other hand, was rather ambivalent and full of oddly conflicting undercurrents, acknowledging Sasuke by taking interest in his progress as a ninja and spending time playing with him when even their father did not. Even in the Academy, Sasuke was still unable to escape Itachi's shadow. Despite consistently scoring at the top of every class, Sasuke failed to receive any recognition from his father beyond comparing his success to his older brother. Itachi acknowledged the rivalry Sasuke felt telling him: "We are brothers. I am the wall you must climb over, so you and I will continue to exist together."

When Sasuke was at age 7, the relationship between Itachi and his father deteriorated after Itachi was questioned by other members of the Uchiha clan regarding the apparent suicide of his best friend, Shisui. As Itachi's behaviour became increasingly bizarre, Sasuke's father began spending more time with Sasuke, and began teaching him the Great Fireball Technique, a common family technique seen as a sign of coming of age in the Uchiha clan. When Sasuke first tried to perform the technique, he only produced a small flame and after that, some smoke. His father said that Itachi was able to do it on his first try at Sasuke's age, which disappointed him. Later, with one week of training, Sasuke performed the technique in front of his father, proving himself a prodigy as well in his own right and finally receiving his father's individual recognition rather than comparison to Itachi. Sasuke's father told him that he could now proudly wear the clan's emblem on his back. Following this, Sasuke also received a stern warning not to follow in Itachi's footsteps any further, surprising him as before, he was told to be like him; and his father showing he was proud of Sasuke for the first time the same way as he used to with Itachi.

At some point in the past, Sasuke joined Itachi on a mission to catch a wild boar. Sasuke was wielding a bow and was told by Itachi not to hit any vital points. However, Sasuke missed the boar completely. Eventually they defeated the boar and Sasuke apologised for his bad aiming, Itachi responded by telling him that he needed to train more.

On one fateful night, Itachi slew every member of the Uchiha clan, sparing only Sasuke, saying that he was not even worth killing. In addition, Itachi told him, "You've always wanted to surpass me. That's why I'm going to let you live… if you wish to kill me, then hate me, despise me… and by all means flee, cling to your wretched life." Itachi also revealed to Sasuke where the secret meeting place of the Uchiha was hidden, and suggested that Sasuke go there to learn what the true history and purpose of the Sharingan was. He told him that "to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan," he "had to kill the person he was closest to", and that "when we battle, we should have the same eyes". Sasuke thought he had fainted after this, but later remembered that he had managed to stand back up, awaken his Sharingan, and pursued Itachi. Upon reaching Itachi, he used knives to knock off his forehead protector. Itachi was seen shedding a tear as he was picking up the forehead protector. He then proceeded to incapacitate Sasuke, who awoke in the hospital remembering only that which Itachi wanted him to.

When Sasuke first met Naruto Uzumaki in the Academy, they were matched to spar against each other. Naruto was excited at the opportunity to defeat Sasuke and become popular like him, but he was easily beaten. By looking into Sasuke's eyes, Naruto realised that they were so filled with hatred that it seemed as if he wasn't even looking at Naruto. When Iruka told them to make the reconciliation seal, they both refused. Up until his graduation from the Academy, Sasuke remained a loner and never acknowledged Naruto's attempts to defeat him, considering him a hopeless dead-last and as such, someone not worth his time or energy. Despite this, when Naruto and Sasuke traded glance when they were kids, they immediately looked away in annoyance but secretly smiled shortly afterwards, meaning Sasuke actually considered Naruto a friend somewhere deep down.

Personality
As a child, Sasuke was very kind and loving towards his family and respectful to his clan and teachers. He was very proud of being Fugaku's son and Itachi's brother and had a strong desire to emulate them, desiring his father's approval and recognition. This changed after the Uchiha clan massacre, turning Sasuke into a cold, cynical and arrogant young man, becoming a self-titled avenger dedicated to killing Itachi and restoring the Uchiha clan.

During his time at the Academy, Sasuke was a loner, spending more time alone honing his skills than socialising with the other students, ignoring the many girls attracted to him in favour of solitude. When first introduced to Team Kakashi, Sasuke displayed great indifference towards the others, feeling his superior skills put him so far above his team-mates that they were more of a hindrance to him and his own advancement. Despite this, having worked with Team Kakashi, Sasuke had grown attached to his team and thought of them as somewhat of a family, willing to risk his life to save those close to him on several occasions. Sasuke also had a competitive streak, at times accepting Naruto's challenges if only to show that he was the superior of the two. According to Kakashi, Sasuke has both a superiority and an inferiority complex, as he is unwilling to acknowledge when someone is stronger than him, but obsesses when he believes that they are. Sasuke was dismissive of his rivalry towards Naruto when he was certain he was the better, only to obsess over Naruto's fast growth after the latter defeated Gaara. After a short run in with Itachi, whom defeated Sasuke without much effort, he concluded that his time in Konoha, surrounded by his friends had made him weak and that Orochimaru and his Cursed Seal of Heaven would give him the power to exact his vengeance. Regardless, Sasuke would not sink to the level he believed Itachi would and kill his closest friend, deciding not to kill Naruto to gain the Mangekyō Sharingan, instead choosing to attain his power his own way. Following their final battle at the Valley of the End, Sasuke revealed to Naruto that he had always been jealous of Naruto for the fact that despite them being so similar, Naruto was able to turn the loneliness he felt into strength by making bonds with others while he pushed those bonds away, thinking them to be a weakness. Sasuke found himself always following behind Naruto just as he did with Itachi.

After training under Orochimaru at Otogakure for two-and-a-half years, Sasuke had become a cold and calculating individual, completely dedicated in his one desire to kill Itachi that his own life didn't matter to him. By severing the ties he believed bound him, Sasuke was seemingly willing to kill Naruto just to prove a point at how much he had changed. Due to his newfound abilities, he retained his habit of underestimating his opponents, rushing into combat without a clear understanding of their capabilities and suffering for it, though he will acknowledge his mistakes on occasion. Sasuke had also developed a strong sense of pride in his clan; as evident by his disdain for non-Uchiha to hold the Sharingan. Despite this, Sasuke was not above making bonds with those around him, forming a new team that he viewed similarly to Team Kakashi and doing everything in his power to protect them.

According to Obito, Sasuke alone is shouldering the entire hatred of the Uchiha clan — an ideal which has been passed down for generations within the clan. After learning the truth about Itachi's actions and the Uchiha clan massacre, despite the fact that the Uchiha's actions would result in disaster for the entire world, including the clan itself, Sasuke vowed revenge against the entire village of Konoha for giving such an order to Itachi, wishing to wipe out the village and purify the Uchiha name. At first, Sasuke was at least unwilling to kill those unrelated to the revenge plot, but over time as his hatred increased, such convictions were dropped, becoming cruel and ruthless. In his thirst for revenge, Sasuke put himself far above anyone or anything around him, willingly cooperating with Tobi, whom he knew helped Itachi wipe out his clan, to aid him in destroying Konoha, abandoning his team when they were no longer of use to him and sacrificing Karin to kill Danzō, despite her healing him throughout most of their mission. After meeting with Naruto a final time before the Fourth Shinobi World War, Sasuke vowed he would kill Naruto in his quest for revenge, leading him to take Itachi's eyes to awaken the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. Ultimately, during his final battle with Naruto, Sasuke acknowledged that he had lost this time and finally accepted Naruto's friendship, conceeding that the bond they had could never be broken.

During the war, Sasuke met with a reincarnated Itachi and the two worked together to defeat Kabuto Yakushi to release the Impure World Reincarnation. During their conversations, Sasuke confronted Itachi over his decisions. When Itachi gave Sasuke his parting words, Sasuke began to question what it was to be a shinobi and why Itachi would choose to lose everything for the village and his brother. Reviving Orochimaru and having him release and reincarnate the previous Hokage so he could listen to their stories, Sasuke accepted Itachi's actions and decided to protect Konoha, but he would do so his own way. Believing that the the previous Hokage, and the current five Kage were responsible for the world and its problems, he vowed he would become Hokage and change it, seemingly breaking free from his clan's Curse of Hatred. While these intentions were noble, quite a few were less than enthusiastic for him to rejoin their cause, not trusting his motives; Sakura and Sai among them. Regardless, Sasuke fought with the sole intention of defeating Obito, Madara and the Ten-Tails, though his reasons were to clear the slate for the new world and that he was only protecting Naruto so that only he could defeat him later. Sasuke was one of a few shinobi to never lose his resolve in the battle against the Ten-Tails, even chastising Naruto for doing so. Regardless, Sasuke's characteristic devotion to his cause remained unchanged, as he was more than willing to abandon Kakashi and Sakura during the casting of the Infinite Tsukuyomi, only saving them with his Susanoo because they happened to be with Naruto at the time. He is not above thanking others for helping him however, as he thanked Sakura and Obito when they rescued him from one of Kaguya's dimensions.

After defeating Kaguya, Sakura and Sai's distrust of Sasuke were confirmed, as Sasuke's cooperation with the Allied Shinobi Forces was merely a means to an end; removing as many people as possible who could get in the way of his own plans of leading the world through a revolution to do away with current shinobi systems, including killing all the current Kage and tailed beasts. Having come to terms with and accepting Itachi's efforts of protecting the village while branded as a villain, Sasuke has come to believe that to unify the world, one must willingly bear the hatred of all around him and stand separated from the rest of the world, viewing that as the correct definition of being "Hokage". To do so, he intends to ignite the flames of hatred in every village and focus it on him, becoming the villain everyone despises. Also, believing firmly in starting anew in all aspects, Sasuke desires to sever all bonds of his past and present, even killing Naruto, whom Sasuke has acknowledged as the closest friend he's ever had. Growing so proud of his acquired power, Sasuke came to believe he was the strongest being alive and was convinced his power would ultimately grant him immortality to continue his goal for eternity. However, after being narrowly defeated by Naruto, realizing how far his friend would go for him, Sasuke was moved to tears and finally acknowledged that Naruto was his equal, appearing to finally overcome his Curse of Hatred.

Appearance
Sasuke is a fair-skinned ninja who has onyx eyes and black chin-length hair. His hair is spiky in the back with bangs that lengthen as the story progresses. As a young child, his bangs hung above his eyes. Later, they would hang on both sides of his face to roughly frame his cheeks and later again return to their original style. According to Hashirama, Sasuke bares a striking resemblance of Izuna Uchiha. Sasuke is considered quite handsome as most girls near his age become very infatuated with him. At the beginning of Part I, Sasuke's clothing consisted of the traditional Uchiha clothing: a navy blue, short-sleeved shirt with a high collar and the Uchiha crest on the back and white arm warmers, which he stopped wearing after the Chūnin Exams, along with white shorts. In the last stage of the Chūnin Exams, he wore a black, one-pieced version of this outfit with many small arm-belts adorning his left arm and similar bands around both legs. As the story progressed, the Uchiha symbol became smaller and smaller until after he defeats his brother.

Initially, Sasuke wore a short blue-clothed forehead protector with the Konoha symbol on the metallic plate. After suffering a second defeat from Itachi, Sasuke stopped wearing it for some time. He put it back on during the latter half of his battle with Naruto at the Valley of the End, only to let it drop off at the end. Since then, Sasuke hasn't worn a forehead protector.

In Part II, Sasuke has grown noticeably taller over the two and a half years and more muscular. He was first shown wearing a white long-sleeved shirt, similar in appearance to the lavender long-sleeved shirt worn by Kimimaro and which was open at the torso, with a smaller version of the Uchiha crest on his collar. He wore dark blue pants with a blue cloth hanging from halfway up his stomach to his knees along with black arm guards that covered his forearms and stretched up to reach his upper biceps. He also wore a purple rope belt around his waist, tied in a bow, in which he carries his sword.

After battling Deidara, he switched to a sleeveless dark grey shirt. His arm guards were also removed, and he started wearing bandages on his wrists, under which he wore special armbands with seals where he stores various shuriken. He also wore a black cloak with this.

After he encountered and battled Itachi, he reverted to a white (grey in the anime) high-collared short-sleeved shirt similar in appearance to the blue shirt he commonly wore in Part I but with a zipper. He also wears blue wrist warmers with his shuriken armbands hidden underneath. He briefly wore an Akatsuki cloak along with this. Another noticeable trait is that along with this new outfit, Sasuke began letting his hair hang over his forehead. The Uchiha crest on the back of his outfit has returned to its original size since his battle with Itachi. While adjusting to Itachi's eyes at the Mountains' Graveyard, he is seen wearing black Uchiha robes similar to those worn by Madara in his youth with a belt sash around his waist, though he would revert back to his previous clothing. After meeting the spirit of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki and receiving the Yin half of his power Sasuke obtained a dark crescent-moon mark on his left palm.

In his final battle with Naruto after Kaguya's defeat, Sasuke's left arm was lost from the elbow down.

During his early childhood, Sasuke wore a simple long-sleeved black shirt with a raised collar and the Uchiha crest on the back, and black shorts (white in the anime). Sasuke wore the Anbu uniform once when he joined Itachi on a mission to capture a wild boar.

Abilities
Sasuke is hailed as a brilliant ninja, even by the battle-adept Uchiha clan's standards, showing an undeniable prodigious talent and keen intellect since early childhood. He finds little difficulty in most tasks since his time in the Academy, scoring the highest in various tests to easily graduate top of his class. Sasuke has great knowledge if not proficiency in many of his clan's techniques, most of which being self-taught. His abilities have been compared to various remarkable individuals like Kakashi Hatake and Orochimaru, both hailed as geniuses and the latter admitting to Sasuke far exceeding him at his current age. Sasuke is noted as potentially able to surpass the likes of Itachi, Nagato, and even Madara Uchiha. Madara himself noted that had Sasuke been born in Obito's time, he would have chosen Sasuke to use as a pawn over Obito.

Throughout Part I, Sasuke steadily develops his abilities, becoming capable of holding his own against various skilled shinobi like Haku, Gaara and even Orochimaru. By Part II, despite still officially a genin, he can fight on par with several highly skilled and extremely powerful shinobi. After awakening and adjusting to his Mangekyō Sharingan, Sasuke proved able to fight against at least two Kage and their respective bodyguards. By the Fourth Shinobi World War, he was able to match his older brother Itachi in various fields of combat. After receiving the Six Paths Chakra, Sasuke, alongside Naruto, was able to fight toe-to-toe with the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki, Madara, after the latter fully absorbed the tailed beast's tree form. Later, during his final battle against Naruto, after manifesting the chakra of the nine tailed beasts into his Susanoo, Kurama noted Sasuke's prowess to be on par with Hagoromo's.

Taijutsu
Since his time in the academy, Sasuke's taijutsu is very high, forcing Kakashi to use both his hands in battle during the bell test, and later outmanoeuvre two chūnin-level Kirigakure missing-nin. Under Kakashi's tutelage for the Chūnin Exams final, Sasuke's combat prowess drastically improves, greatly refining much of Rock Lee's Strong Fist-style he copied with his Sharingan to roughly match Lee's combat skill. In Part II, Sasuke further improved his taijutsu under Orochimaru's guidance, able to hold his own against the likes of Itachi, Killer Bee, and Kakashi, despite his physical debilitation against the latter. Sasuke later battled Naruto at the Valley of the End, where he managed to stay on par with his former comrade while fighting with strictly taijutsu for almost an entire day.

Since graduating from the Academy, Sasuke showed great speed and reflexes, being the first of his fellow genin to react to the Demon Brothers' ambush. After improving in chakra control, his speed surpassed Haku's. His training for the Chūnin Exam finals increased his speed significantly, able to move faster than unaided eyes could follow. In Part II, Sasuke's speed increased further, able to cover wide gaps in the blink of an eye, leaving others no time to react. He was later able to evade both Deidara's clay explosions at point-blank range and the extremely fast attacks of A. His dexterity also increased in speed, able to do many hand seals in a blur and launch weapon strikes quickly. His speed and proficiency with the Body Flicker Technique also can easily cut his opponents down without them noticing. Sasuke also has high stamina and endurance, enduring a consistent string of battles against the samurai, two Kage and their bodyguards. In a near-blind, battered, and visibly exhausted state, he still had enough stamina to fight against Kakashi, restrain and disarm Sakura, and later match Naruto's Rasengan with his Chidori. His raw strength has also become noticeably greater, being able to lift up Sakura by her throat with a single hand even while exhausted. His overall improvements were so great that Sakura even suspected that he had been given drugs to improve his physical capabilities. He was also shown to be able to clash with Naruto, the force of which began to break Hashirama's statue.

Cursed Seal
A noticeable aspect of Sasuke's growth was his acquisition of the Cursed Seal of Heaven by Orochimaru, in the hopes that Sasuke could become stronger and seek further power from the Sannin. When activated, the cursed seal forcefully absorbed Sasuke's chakra, replacing it with Orochimaru's senjutsu chakra which covered his body with a flame-like pattern and granted him enhanced chakra and physical capacity. Initially, the seal would activate and overwhelm Sasuke when using chakra or getting emotional, making Sasuke only able to control it with sheer will. After defecting from Konoha, the Sound Four advanced Sasuke's Cursed Seal, letting Sasuke unleash and control its power at will. When accessing the seal's Stage Two, Sasuke's skin turned dark grey with a black four-point star-mark between his eyes and across the bridge of his nose. His sclerae and irides turned black and yellow respectively (except when using his Sharingan), along with his lips turning blue. He also grows claw-like nails and his hair grows to waist-length. At any time, he was able to grow large webbed hand-shaped wings on his back that allowed him to fly. This granted him further enhanced physical capacities and chakra comparable to Naruto's one-tailed form.

A negative effect to the seal is that prolonged usage would corrode Sasuke's body and caused him some pain. Its chakra also twisted and darkened Sasuke's personality. However in Part II, Sasuke's training seemingly gained him complete control of the seal, able to handle it unhindered for long periods of time and even perform partial transformations at will. Since Itachi removed Orochimaru from Sasuke's body and sealed him, the seal was also removed. Despite this, Sasuke's being still proved compatible with the cursed seal's source, Jūgo, who since allied himself with Sasuke. Sasuke can benefit from this by having Jūgo's power perform feats like healing by Sasuke by infusing some of Jūgo's flesh into his own. Alternatively, Sasuke himself can be imbued with some of Jūgo's senjutsu chakra to augment the Uchiha's various techniques.

Bukijutsu
Sasuke has regularly displayed great skill in various ninja tools. He is very tactical with wire strings, using them for a variety of purposes including rappelling, manipulating the path of his shuriken, and guiding his nature transformation. His level with trap and weapon-based tactics even surprised Kakashi during the bell test. Sasuke displayed the ability to infuse his kunai with chakra.

Kenjutsu
By Part II, Sasuke became a highly skilled user of kenjutsu and acquired a chokutō, which become a major part of his fighting style. His skill was able to defeat hundreds of Oto-nin unscathed without killing them, as well as kill multiple samurai, even deflecting their barrage of chakra blasts. Sasuke's swordsmanship was even acknowledged by Mifune, a famous swordmaster after he effectively block the samurai's attack. Sasuke's lethal swordsmanship is very versatile, using impressive speed and precision behind his attacks to leave little time for enemies to react. He can effectively use it in either hand and wield it in a normal or reverse grip, giving him various attack styles and able to attack or defend from various angles, easily able to change his pattern to suit the situation. He can use his blade as a mid-range projectile with great precision. Sasuke can also adapt his swordsmanship into element-related techniques.

Shurikenjutsu
Sasuke is also well-versed in usage of kunai and shuriken, showing tremendous aim while still in the academy. Tactically, he can use techniques like hiding a second shuriken in the shadow of the first and control the path of them using wire strings to ensnare an opponent with the strings. Sasuke's aim and tactical skills are almost on par with Itachi, able to effectively hit targets in a blind-spot by accurately deflecting one kunai off another. Since his battle with Itachi in Part II, Sasuke wears a pair of bracelets with a special seal to instantly summon shuriken and kunai of various size and shape, increasing his supply and launch speed, able to unleash a large barrage at blazing speed. After launching, Sasuke can perform a sneak attack by rigging the blades to disconnect and launch them into separate directions. He can also infuse fire chakra and lightning chakra into his shuriken to increase their power.

Kyūjutsu
Since at a young age, Sasuke was trained in archery, however his aim was not very good at first as he was unable to hit a large boar directly in front of him from a high vantage point. As he matured in both age and skill, his aim improved to the point of striking targets as quick and elusive as Kabuto in his Sage Mode. He now uses this skill exclusively through his Susanoo, and even incorporates his Blaze Release and Lightning Release through it for more devastating techniques.

Summoning Techniques
During his training with Orochimaru, Sasuke became able to summon various-sized snakes to aid him in battle, even from his sleeves for hidden strikes or bind his opponents with little time to react. He was also able to summon snakes from any part of his body. He can also summon a giant snake to aid him in his fight to quickly carry him through the terrain. His prowess was proven even able to summon the mightiest of snakes, Manda.

Some time later, Sasuke also made an additional summoning contract which allows him to summon hawks. Once summoned, it can help Sasuke fly about and outmanoeuvre his opponent's attacks. In the anime, the hawk was also of capable of performing coordinated attacks with Sasuke.

Nature Transformation
As a recognised member of the Uchiha, Sasuke has great proficiency in Fire Release. A true genius, he already mastered his clan's rite of passage technique, the Great Fireball Technique, by age 7. Even Kakashi was amazed at such a feat as, according to him, genin usually require much more experience and developed chakra to perform elemental techniques. He can also use his fire techniques in conjunction with his weapon skills. He can also produce a barrage giant dragon-shaped fireballs that can quickly burn an enemy, even with minimal contact.

Sasuke also has a natural affinity for Lightning Release, learning it from Kakashi's through mastering Chidori. With it, he can strike through most obstacles and severely injure most enemies with ease. In Part I, Sasuke could only use it twice a day, plus a third usage while activating his Cursed Seal. In Part II, Sasuke greatly developed his lightning chakra, even create many new techniques derived from his Chidori, which he can now use several times a day. He even earned praise from the Fourth Raikage for breaking through his Lightning Release Armour at all. His new skill can channel his lightning chakra to emit electricity all over his body and through the ground to shield him and stun enemies simultaneously. Sasuke can also channel his lightning chakra into his weapons for extreme cutting power that also numbs anyone it cuts. Doing so through his sword, he can even slice through similar chakra waves. He can also create an extendable sword and solid senbon for more precise and distant attacks. Another original technique of his is Kirin, which uses natural lightning, allowing Sasuke to perform it even when visibly exhausted. It is powerful enough to destroy a mountain plus break through Itachi Uchiha's Susanoo. After attaining the Six Paths Chakra, Sasuke was able to infuse it into his Chidori, allowing him to effectively combat Madara Uchiha as the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki, even having enough power to cut him in half, along with making a Blaze Release-enhanced variant during his final clash with Naruto. Sasuke can also manipulate his lightning chakra and techniques through Susanoo. Once combining his Susanoo with the tailed beasts' chakra, Sasuke can perform his greatest element technique, Indra's Arrow. This technique not only matched the power of Naruto's two most powerful techniques simultaneously, but produced a massive vortex, albeit during a clash with Naruto's jutsu, dwarfing even the Valley of the End.

When Sasuke manifested his Mangekyō Sharingan, he developed the ability to use Blaze Release. Aside from unleashing a wave of unquenchable black flames that incinerates everything it touches, Sasuke can control the movement of the flames and shape them, and have the black flames surround him as well as create black flame spikes to protect himself. When gaining his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, Sasuke could combine Blaze Release: Kagutsuchi with Susanoo to create Amaterasu swords and arrows that can pierce through heavy defences and ignite them, and create a barrage of Amaterasu magatama to handle multiple enemies. Sasuke could also use his Kagutsuchi in his hand for direct usage, as well as combine it with his Chidori in his left hand.

Fūinjutsu
Sasuke's training with Orochimaru has given him great skill in fūinjutsu and he is also quite knowledgeable in other seals, such as Orochimaru's cursed seals. As an Uchiha, he is also one of the few who can access the Naka Shrine. During his meeting with Hagoromo, Sasuke was taught a powerful fūinjutsu, that when used with Naruto, was strong enough to completely seal Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.

Sharingan
Sasuke is one of select members of the Uchiha clan to awaken this Kekkei Genkai, doing so at age 7, with one tomoe in each eye, after seeing Itachi murder their clan. However, due to the trauma Sasuke endured, he was unable to recall this development and could not use it until years later during his battle with Haku. Later during his battle against Naruto in the Valley of the End, both eyes reached full maturity with three tomoe. With training, Sasuke became able to maintain his Sharingan for considerable periods of time with little effect to his chakra levels, even against several high-level opponents. While only making liberal use of it during Part I, Orochimaru stated Sasuke's Sharingan had an even greater power and clarity than Itachi's despite its incomplete state at the time.

This dōjutsu grants Sasuke multiple enhanced visual powers, being able to observe and differentiate the flow of chakra, perceive everything within his sight with great detail and from that, accurately predict nearly all of a person's movements. He can also perfectly mimic a person's movements and copy their techniques into his own arsenal, provided he is physically conditioned for it or risks greatly taxing his body. His Sharingan can also cast powerful genjutsu through eye-contact, able to easily hypnotise targets to restrict movements, relay recorded memories, apply deceptive hallucinations shocking enough to stir the then-emotionless Sai, and even easily quell Jūgo's violent impulses. Defensively, Sasuke was able to repel an enemy's technique that attacks his own mind, stopping Orochimaru's attempt to possess the former's body and ultimately turn it against him. Also, despite wielding a lesser dōjutsu, Sasuke's eyes proved strong enough to dispel a genjutsu as powerful as Itachi's Tsukuyomi. Likewise, Tobi noted that Sasuke's resourcefulness and precise timing is able to easily catch his opponents off-guard in his illusions. More prominently, Sasuke was able to enter Naruto's subconscious to effectively suppress Kurama's chakra, and completely control Manda, showing his potential to use the dōjutsu's most potent power to subjugate the tailed beasts.

Mangekyō Sharingan
Sasuke awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan after learning the truth about his older brother's true intentions. The tomoe of Sasuke's Mangekyō spread and converge along the edge of its iris, taking on the appearance of three intersecting ellipses. The pattern of Sasuke's Mangekyō is known as the, which gives Sasuke an even higher capability of reading his opponents movements and to fluidly act upon. Like most Mangekyō Sharingan, prolonged and regular usage upon its ocular powers can deteriorate his vision. Despite this danger, Sasuke has not hesitated to test his limits with the power it affords. During his confrontation with Kakashi, the excessive usage of his Mangekyō Sharingan resulted in Sasuke reeling from overexertion and his sight reduced to a heavy blur. This combined with Naruto's unyielding convictions made Sasuke finally request that Tobi transplant Itachi's eyes to regain his full sight. This resulted in Sasuke's acquisition of the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan; obtaining additional might from Itachi's ocular power and no longer showing any physical strain, diminished sight, or fatigue sustained from using this dōjutsu. With this new form Sasuke's Mangekyō pattern changed, gaining a symmetrical, more aligned rendition of Itachi's Mangekyō tomoe that is centred within Sasuke's own.

With his left Mangekyō, he is able to cast unquenchable black flames upon his focal point with Amaterasu. With his right Mangekyō, he is able to cast Blaze Release: Kagutsuchi to manipulate and extinguish them at will. Due to this greater degree of control, Sasuke's use of these black flames are said to surpass Itachi's. He has regularly used his right eye for casting genjutsu, some powerful enough to break a target's will, and paralyse them. Danzō Shimura stated that Sasuke's genjutsu is incapable of altering the victim's perception of time, and thus is vastly inferior to Itachi's Tsukuyomi.

After awakening the powers of both Mangekyō Sharingan, Sasuke became one of the few Uchiha capable of invoking Susanoo, with his extreme emotions being the root of its development. While initially relying upon different partial manifestations, Sasuke was soon able to complete his Susanoo's body. It can produce a sword, a bow that doubles as a shield, and an orb of chakra that conjures the arrows. Defensively, its rib cage is able to withstand a direct barrage from Gaara, Temari, Kankurō, and Darui without any damage. Offensively, his Susanoo's fist and various weapons are strong enough to destroy many large stone pillars with a single attack and its arrows move at speeds only Sage Mode users such as Kabuto Yakushi can avoid. Sasuke's armoured Susanoo developed during his skirmish against Kakashi, becoming a similar yet more sinister version of Itachi's own armoured Susanoo and changing the composition of its orb of chakra to that of Blaze Release from which he is able to fashion a number of weapons.

Following the recovery of Itachi's transplant, the final stage of his Susanoo underwent a drastic change, with scaled hands, a beak-like hood and a larger bow, with a more shield-like composition, giving it an overall more intimidating appearance. By the time of the Fourth Shinobi World War, Sasuke was able to conjure his Susanoo complete with a lower body. Using Jūgo's Sage Transformation, Sasuke is able to infuse his Susanoo with senjutsu chakra, which appears as the flame pattern of the Cursed Seal of Heaven covering it. Upon further syncing with Naruto, Sasuke is able to stabilise Susanoo's armoured form into its perfect form and arm it onto Naruto's senjutsu-enhanced Tailed Beast Mode, enabling them to cut through Obito Uchiha, and his Sword of Nunoboko. After further adjusting with the power of the Sage of Six Paths, Sasuke was able to manifest his Susanoo without activating his Mangekyō Sharingan form and advance the construct to a perfect version, which was able to fend off Madara Uchiha's multiple Chibaku Tensei. and even protect those inside of it from the Infinite Tsukuyomi as its light could not penetrate through its chakra body. Sasuke has also shown the ability to channel his Chidori into his perfect Susanoo's primary left hand.

Rinnegan
After receiving the Six Paths Chakra, Sasuke became one of few known people to awaken the Rinnegan, which manifested in his left eye. Unlike Hagoromo's own, Sasuke's Rinnegan possesses six tomoe. With it, Sasuke gains the ability to touch Madara Uchiha's Chakra Disruption Blades without suffering their after effects. He is also able to see otherwise invisible targets and, through the Six Paths Power, has gained the ability to transport himself and anyone near him as well as inanimate objects within a limited range.

While it appears this left eye is now constantly in Rinnegan form, it is still able to access its Sharingan powers, including usage of the Blaze Release. Black Zetsu also alluded that Sasuke's Rinnegan may be the reason for why he was able resist the influence of the Infinite Tsukuyomi, and because so, Sasuke himself believes that as the colossal genjutsu was cast with a Rinnegan, only his Rinnegan can dispel it in return. After fully adjusting to the Rinnegan, as with other inheritors of Hagoromo's dōjutsu, Sasuke has also obtained the Six Paths Technique, able to quickly use Deva Path to individually seal away all nine tailed beasts within a Chibaku Tensei each. Sasuke's Rinnegan has the ability to cast genjutsu, including one that can easily control all nine tailed beasts at once. However, Kurama was able to put up a little resistance. With Preta Path, Sasuke can absorb one's chakra through physical contact. Yin-Kurama noted that he could not absorb and utilize jutsu at the same time.

Sasuke, using his perfect Susanoo, is also able to absorb, contain and control the tailed beasts' powers much like the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. With this form he is able to approach the level of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki. He is also able to transform his sword into a bow that shoots giant lightning arrows, or create several giant senbon which are capable of countering senjutsu-enhanced Tailed Beast Balls. By combining his Lightning Release and the tailed beasts' chakra through Susanoo, Sasuke is able to produce Indra's Arrow, his most powerful attack that's sheer power could counter Naruto's two strongest attacks simultaneously.

Chakra
Even by Uchiha standards, Sasuke has exceptionally strong chakra, which in part stems from being a reincarnation of his ancestor, Indra, inheriting his strong spiritual energy. At age 7, he was already able to use his clan's signature fire release technique, something Kakashi noted requires much developed chakra. In Part II, his reserves grew considerably greater, able to summon a high-level snake like Manda. After developing his Mangekyō Sharingan, despite Sasuke repeatedly using it among other chakra-consuming techniques, he still fought effectively in multiple consecutive battles against four of the Kage, Danzō and later Team 7 before finally succumbing to exhaustion. After gaining Itachi's eyes, Sasuke's reserves appear to have grown even further, as during the Fourth Shinobi World War, he was visibly unaffected from using several high-level techniques against powerful enemies.

Quality-wise, Sasuke's chakra is very powerful even amongst the Uchiha. When Sasuke first arrived at the Land of Sound and gave Kabuto a frightening glare, both he and Orochimaru noted Sasuke's exceptional chakra. In Part II, his chakra control grew considerably, able to use many high-level techniques, usually lightning and fire-based, with few to no hand seals. Due to the curse of his clan, as Sasuke continued to sink into darkness, his chakra became noticeably darker, even more so than Kurama as noted by itself. Karin has also mentioned that Sasuke's chakra while battling at the Kage Summit had become even darker, and colder than the corrupting influence of the Cursed Seal of Heaven. His chakra's strength was even great enough to break free from Danzō's restraining seal. After meeting the spirit of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, the legendary sage gave Sasuke half of his chakra.

Intelligence
From a young age, Sasuke repeatedly showed keen instincts and quick decision-making skills, considered by many to be a genius. Able to easily learn various advanced techniques or utilise basic ones for crafty manoeuvres, Sasuke already became a stand-out before even graduating the Academy. He is a proficient strategist and tactician, observing his opponent's skills and deducing their workings with ease and accuracy whilst remaining calm and composed. He then chooses the most effective means and ninjutsu to counter them. Likewise, he can use his techniques as setups for his larger-scale ones. Even Minato noted Sasuke's ability to calmly assess the situation, and Madara noted Sasuke's great battle sense. Sasuke is also a very capable leader, able to form a team from specific ninja and effectively instruct them to engage an enemy. He can also perform a series of precise and coordinated attacks with others, even his brother Itachi despite their previous volatile relationship.

Against crafty opponents like Deidara, Sasuke can quickly decipher the mechanisms behind their abilities and properly find the right counter. His resolution also enables him to pick strategies in which he requires getting injured in order to defeat the enemy, showing tremendous endurance and willpower. He can be rather deceptive, and has proven capable of tricking older, more experienced shinobi like Danzō into confirming the mechanics of their techniques. Likewise, Sasuke can use even basic illusions to dangerous effect, tricking his opponent into letting their guard down.

He can develop many powerful techniques on his own, all based on the one technique he learned from another. From Rock Lee's techniques, Sasuke created different taijutsu manuevers. From the Chidori, Sasuke mastered Lightning Release and created many innovative techniques. Sasuke is a proficient researcher, able to well-prepare himself for enemies and their various abilities, such as the nature of Orochimaru's snake techniques and unique cursed seals. Sasuke was also able to use his Sharingan to perfectly sync his chakra with Naruto's to perform the "Scorch Release: Halo Gale Jet Black Arrow Style Zero", something Tobirama noted as extremely difficult. Sasuke is a capable tracker, able to follow Itachi even though the latter used a flock of crows to block his vision. Sasuke is also shown to be very observant. When Sakura and Obito opened a portal to bring back Sasuke, the portal was only opened for a few seconds, but during those few seconds Sasuke noticed Sakura's discarded flak jacket and used it as a catalyst to extend his Rinnegan Shifting Technique and reunite with them.

Other Skills
Under Orochimaru's training, Sasuke was subjected to the Sannin's experiments and as a result developed physical enhancements including an immunity towards most forms of poisons, to a level that the one Sakura learned from Shizune would not affect him. However, he was not immune to the effects of Orochimaru's true form's poisonous blood. After absorbing Orochimaru, Sasuke gained the Sannin's regenerative powers, allowing him to heal at a much faster rate than usual, and access Orochimaru's chakra as extra reserves, although he preferred not to use them. He can also use the Orochimaru-Style Body Replacement Technique to shed his skin and produce a new body, thus repairing any damage he sustained, though it drained him of much chakra. However, Sasuke has not used these abilities since Itachi extracted Orochimaru from his body and sealed him. Sasuke has also shown the ability to sense natural energy.

Introduction Arc
Upon the formation of Team 7, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke were forced to mingle. Sasuke tried to avoid both of them, but he kept getting drawn into Sakura and Naruto's antics. Accordingly, Kakashi gave them a bell test, the three of them being tasked with taking the two bells he kept on his person. Sasuke tried to take a bell by himself, ignoring his team-mates in the process, failing regardless of having a better success rate. Regrouping with his team, they all realised that the true goal of the test was to learn to place teamwork above the single-handed completion of the mission, and, in doing so, were allowed to pass.

Land of Waves Arc
Sasuke's first major mission was escorting the bridge builder, Tazuna, to his home in the poverty-stricken Land of Waves. Soon after setting out, Sasuke showed exceptional skill when attacked by the Demon Brothers, even taunting Naruto for being shocked and useless during this encounter. When they later had a tree-climbing exercise to improve chakra control, he managed to stay ahead of Naruto for a good length of time, but as Naruto began to catch up, they started to push each other's limits. His skills improved, Sasuke was almost able to compete with Haku, who was extremely dangerous because of his extreme speed and dexterity. It was during this battle that Sasuke reawakened the legacy of his clan, the Sharingan, and even selflessly put himself in the way of Haku's attack on Naruto to protect him. Although he claimed his body had moved on its own, his actions showed that he was willing to put himself in mortal danger for Naruto's sake. Although it appeared that Sasuke had died in the process, it was later revealed that he was merely put in a temporary death state.

Chūnin Exam Arc
Before the Chūnin Exams started, Sasuke fought Rock Lee, who uses his speed to defeat him with his taijutsu techniques. However, before the finishing blow could be given, Might Guy interrupted the match and punished his beloved student for using a forbidden technique in a normal fight. In the first part of the exam, Sasuke realised that, to succeed in the written test, it is required to cheat without getting caught, using his Sharingan to copy the pencil movements of a student in front of him, effectively copying the answers.

In the second test of the Chūnin Exams in the Forest of Death, Sasuke was attacked by who he thought was Kusagakure genin Shiore. However, with Naruto urging him not to surrender to the stronger ninja, Sasuke defeats who he learns is actually the missing-nin Orochimaru who implants his cursed seal on Sasuke's neck as a reward. Losing conscious from the immense pain of the seal as it attunes to his body, Sasuke suffers horrific nightmares before awakening under its influence as he mercilessly defeats Otogakure genin and breaks Zaku's arms. It took Sakura's hug and pleas to snap him back to normal. In a flashback detailed Part II, Sasuke is revealed to have met Karin while saving her from a bear, letting her be as he didn't need her scroll.

Sasuke's match up in the preliminaries was against Yoroi Akadō. Before the fight started, Kakashi warned Sasuke that, if his cursed seal got out of control, which would happen if he used any chakra, he would need to be removed from the competition. The match started with Yoroi absorbing what little chakra Sasuke had left through his hands, and with Sasuke being in constant pain from his cursed seal. Having only one option, and remembering his previous encounter with Rock Lee, Sasuke used the Lion Combo. Yoroi was knocked out, and Sasuke advanced to the next round.

Following his win, Kakashi took Sasuke away to seal the cursed seal, but made it a point to tell him that the seal would only remain active as long as Sasuke wanted it to. Not convinced that his words would deter Sasuke from using the cursed seal, and turning to Orochimaru, Kakashi used the month leading up to the final rounds to teach him the Chidori. At the same time, knowing Sasuke would be facing Gaara, he helped Sasuke to emulate some of Lee's speed and fighting style, Strong Fist. After showing up late for his match with Gaara, Sasuke demonstrated the fruits of his training. After Sasuke manages to overpower Gaara's sand attacks and normal defences with his improved skills, Gaara encases himself in a highly impressive Shield of Sand. Sasuke not being able to bypass Gaara's defensive and offensive technique on normal conditions stoops to using his newly learned moved, Chidori. After breaking past his defence with his attack and pierces Gaara, Gaara panics at the sight of bleeding for the first time. Before the match could finish, however, it was interrupted by the start of Orochimaru's attack on Konoha.

Invasion of Konoha Arc
With the start of the invasion, Gaara fled the village with his siblings, and Sasuke was sent after them by Genma. Sasuke chased them and, after short battles with Kankurō and Temari, caught up with Gaara before fighting him again. However, Gaara utilises his jinchūriki powers to overpower Sasuke before Naruto arrives and takes the fight in Sasuke's place and defeats Gaara. Later attending the Third Hokage's funeral, witnessing Naruto's strength injured Sasuke's pride as he becomes envious of him.

Search for Tsunade Arc
After the failed invasion, Sasuke went to see Kakashi, and later was seen reading the stone tablet in the Naka Shrine. When he arrived at Kakashi's house to see him again, he found his teacher in a coma. Although nobody in the room was willing to tell Sasuke of what had happened, Aoba Yamashiro soon arrived and let slip that Itachi had returned to the village in search of Naruto. Determined to find Itachi, Sasuke tracks Naruto down and finds his brother there. Despite his best efforts, including the use of Chidori, none of his attacks were able to hit Itachi. Itachi tormented Sasuke physically and mentally, belittling him for still being too weak, eventually leaving Sasuke with a broken wrist and mind. Sasuke then fell into the same Tsukuyomi-induced coma as Kakashi. Guy appeared to take Sasuke back to Konoha; however, it was not until Tsunade returned to Konoha that he recovered. However, despite his recovery, Itachi inadvertently subjected Sasuke to the Curse of Hatred, causing him to become more violent and aggressive than before.

Land of Tea Arc
Team 7, excluding Kakashi, was assigned the mission of protecting runner Idate Morino, who was representing the Wasabi Family, during an annual race against the Wagarashi Family. During the mission, Sasuke and his team were reunited with Team Oboro from the Chūnin Exams, who were protecting the Wagarashi family's runner, and battled against them in order to protect Idate. During the final leg of the race Team 7 was confronted by Aoi Rokushō, who mocked Sasuke about his inability to defeat Itachi. After clashing against Aoi, who used the Second Hokage's Sword of The Thunder God Sasuke, who used Chidori, was no match and was ultimately defeated. Sasuke's bitterness towards Naruto increased severely when he learned that his team-mate defeated Aoi with his new technique.

Sasuke Retrieval Arc
Motivated by anger over Itachi still being stronger, and his jealously to his team-mate for becoming stronger in a short period of time, Sasuke forces Naruto into fighting him before Kakashi stops the two as they use their strongest attacks on each other. Although thinking his Chidori did the most damage to a nearby water tower, Sasuke is shocked to find Naruto's Rasengan obliterated one whole side of it without the structure being compromised. After being lectured by Kakashi over not using Chidori on his own friends, Sasuke was confronted by Orochimaru's Sound Four, who have been sent to bring to him to Otogakure. Revealing himself and his comrades being branded with cursed seals with full mastery over them, Sakon leaves Sasuke with the offer to come with them if he wishes to use his cursed seal's true potential. Deciding to take Orochimaru up on his offer, Sasuke is confronted by a shocked Sakura as he sneaks out of Konoha. Despite Sakura's desperate pleas, Sasuke thanks her before knocking her out and joining up with the Sound Four, who soon afterwards advanced his cursed seal to its second level, a process that left him unconscious for most of their battle with the Sasuke Retrieval Team.

Soon after Sasuke woke up, he ran his way towards the Valley of the End where he is found by Naruto, who had learned Orochimaru's intent to turn Sasuke into his next host. Seeing Naruto, Sasuke reveals his intents to kill him to obtain the Mangekyō Sharingan. Naruto refused to accept that Sasuke would do this or his other reasons for pursuing Orochimaru, choosing instead to drag Sasuke back to the village by force if needed. With Sasuke gloating that Naruto can not even make a scratch on his forehead protector, he initially having the upper hand thanks to his cursed seal and Sharingan. When he managed to pierce Naruto's right shoulder with his Chidori, however, the Nine-Tails' chakra surfaces to protect Naruto, giving him a massive power increase as he attempts to knock some sense into him. Sasuke merely retorted that Naruto could never understand losing a family as he had never had one to begin with, despite Naruto feeling that Sasuke is like a brother to him and refuses to let him sever that bond. Sasuke's Sharingan evolved to its final stage at that point, tipping the battle in Sasuke's favour with Sasuke now being able to predict Naruto's movements. However, Naruto's Nine-Tails' chakra envelops him in a fox-shaped shield of chakra.

In response, Sasuke activated the second stage of his cursed seal as both he and Naruto clash with their respective empowered attacks. Clashing with the dome produced from the conflicting energies, Sasuke defeats Naruto with a punch to the chest rather than what remained of Chidori. But before the dome dissipates while losing consciousness, Naruto managed to scratch Sasuke's forehead protector as it falls off of him. Though considering to kill Naruto then and now, Sasuke begins to have second thoughts and resolves to find his own way to surpass Itachi. Leaving behind his scratched forehead protector, which had fallen off after Naruto's last attack, Sasuke made his way to Orochimaru, who decides to train Sasuke until the time to make the youth his new host comes.

Sasuke and Sai Arc
Almost three years after leaving Konoha, Sasuke meets his replacement in the renamed Team Kakashi, Sai. Despite a lack of interest in Sai, Sasuke is inadvertently provoked and subjects Sai to a genjutsu exuding a large amount of killing intent. Sai is amazed that even an emotionless person such as himself was affected by Sasuke's gaze, channelling through his Sharingan. When Sai comments on how Naruto and Sakura have been searching for him, Sasuke once again regards him with indifference in attitude. Later, when Team Kakashi infiltrates one of Orochimaru's hideouts successfully under the leadership of Yamato, Sai, acting on his own, locates and enters Sasuke's room while he was resting in a bid to assassinate him as ordered by his superior in Konoha's Root faction, Danzō Shimura.

However, after spending quality time in Team Kakashi, especially with Naruto, Sai comes to understand the meaning of bonds of friendship, and decides to help Naruto save him. However, enraged on being disturbed, Sasuke destroys the room, drawing Naruto, Sakura and Yamato to their location. Despite this being the first time in nearly three years that they had seen each other, Sasuke expresses his usual indifference towards his former team. Unperturbed of Orochimaru's intentions for him and the prospect going home to Konoha with his former friends, Sasuke engages them in battle, showing off his increase in speed and improved abilities.

Team Kakashi are ultimately outmatched against Sasuke, mostly due to the team's exhaustion with Naruto's four-tailed form (that he had previously used to battle Orochimaru), causing Naruto to begin struggling with Kurama in his mind. To the surprise of both Naruto and Kurama, Sasuke uses his heightened prowess of his Sharingan to enter Naruto's subconscious to meet the Nine-Tails itself, finally discovering the true source of Naruto's strength. Kurama appears to be impressed with Sasuke's growth and ability as it states his chakra being as "sinister" as Madara Uchiha's. Sasuke coldly dismisses knowing such a person and uses his Sharingan to suppress Kurama back into its sealed cage. Kurama concludes that this would probably be its last meeting with Sasuke, so it warns him not to kill Naruto, for he would only end up regretting it. Back outside, Sasuke decides to finish off his former team-mates, starting with Naruto, only to be stopped by Orochimaru as the prospect of them and other Konoha shinobi thinning out the Akatsuki would make his revenge easier. Accepting the notion, Sasuke leaves with Orochimaru and Kabuto.

Three-Tails Arc
In the anime, Yūkimaru notices Sasuke training by the waterfall as he picks camellia flowers before Kabuto takes Yūkimaru away.

Itachi Pursuit Arc
Some time later, Orochimaru tests Sasuke's abilities by having him battle hundreds of Otogakure ninja with no compassion or mercy, a task he completes without taking a scratch and without killing any of them. When inquired about the latter part of the scenario, Sasuke remarks that the only person he wants to kill is his brother, Itachi, and leaves to his training room. Soon afterwards, as Orochimaru reaches the limit of his present "vessel" containing his soul, which starts degrading his health, he is notified by Kabuto that the time for his ritual to take over Sasuke's body is near. As Kabuto leaves to get some medicine, a vulnerable Orochimaru is unexpectedly attacked by Sasuke, who deems Orochimaru too weak to be worthy of having his body or the Sharingan. Although Sasuke appears victorious after a brief scuffle with Orochimaru's true snake-form, he is nevertheless brought to Orochimaru's subconscious for his Living Corpse Reincarnation. Having severely underestimated Sasuke, it is Orochimaru, in turn, who is absorbed to a dormant state within Sasuke, who is able to reverse the process using his Sharingan and hence, gains access to all of Orochimaru's abilities.

With Orochimaru gone, Sasuke goes ahead with his plan to locate and kill Itachi, by first recruiting some of Orochimaru's former test subjects — Suigetsu Hōzuki, Karin, and Jūgo — on the pretext of granting them virtues for their themselves after the success of their mission (Suigetsu wants to obtain Samehada by killing Itachi's Akatsuki partner, Kisame Hoshigaki; Karin wants to be with Sasuke due to her massive crush on him since their meeting; and, Jūgo wants to see if Sasuke was indeed worth of his dear friend, Kimimaro's sacrifice), and dubs their team Hebi. And immediately afterwards, Sasuke had his team split up and learn of Itachi's potential whereabouts. While searching alone, Sasuke is found by Akatsuki members, Deidara and Tobi, with the former wanting to kill him for defeating Orochimaru himself. Using his Sharingan and lightning-based techniques, Sasuke manages to counter most of Deidara's attacks, which results in Deidara producing his C2 Dragon. Though the C2 Dragon manages to overwhelm Sasuke for a short period of time, he eventually defeats it with the second level of Cursed Seal of Heaven and Chidori Sharp Spear. Sasuke's actions anger Deidara severely, fueling his pre-existing hatred for the Sharingan, stemming from his past encounter with Itachi, even further, which to him could not see or admire his "art".

Deidara, revealing this to be his trump card, uses C4 in order to finally kill Sasuke. However, Sasuke pierced himself with Chidori to cancel out the tiny, nano-sized explosives within his bloodstream. Shocking Deidara, Sasuke appears behind him and punches him with extreme force, effectively defeating the Akatsuki member, who has depleted his chakra supply. As a last ditch effort, Deidara uses C0 to try blowing himself up along with Sasuke in a titanic explosion, which obliterates everything in the nearby vicinity. Sasuke, however, summons Manda in time and uses his Sharingan to have the great serpent shield and jump the both of them to safety. Unfortunately, just they were able to jump to the Ryūchi Cave, both Manda and Sasuke were hit by the shockwave of the blast, which killed Manda. Shortly after that, Sasuke signalled Suigetsu to summon Manda with Sasuke still inside of it to reunited and group with his team-mates. Later admitting to Karin that he only defeated Orochimaru because he was already weakened after the latter shows disbelief that he could have. After recovering from his wounds, Hebi continues onto one of Akatsuki's lairs, where Sasuke finds a crow clone of Itachi which expresses admiration over Sasuke's growth in power and tells him they will have their battle at the Uchiha Hideout, leaving the rest of Hebi behind to deal with Kisame.

Once inside the Hideout, Itachi asks Sasuke what his eyes see, which Sasuke then replies that he saw Itachi "dead at his feet." The two brothers then immediately begin a brief taijutsu battle, during which Itachi tells Sasuke the cursed history of their clan, of "Madara Uchiha" being still alive as another Uchiha besides themselves, and his desire to obtain the flawless Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan by taking Sasuke's eyes. Once he finishes, the brothers first fight in a battle of genjutsu, where Sasuke demands the location of Madara so that he can kill him too, but after Itachi declares him to be "immortal", he ensnares Sasuke in a Tsukuyomi, during which Itachi gauges out Sasuke's eye. Sasuke breaks free, much to Itachi's surprise, due to his immense mastery of the Sharingan. With Zetsu witnessing (and "recording") the battle, the two Uchiha begin a battle of ninjutsu. Sasuke and Itachi begin rapidly firing shuriken at one another, which results in a stale mate. Sasuke launched a Fūma Shuriken at Itachi, an attack which should be easy dodge, however, Itachi was wounded and even coughs blood. Notwithstanding Itachi's condition, Sasuke unleashes a fireball, provoking Itachi to jump to the ceiling, where Sasuke then forces him outside with Chidori to do the same. Once outside, the two brothers produce two clashing fireballs. As Sasuke's fire gains on Itachi's, the latter resorts to using his Mangekyō Sharingan technique, Amaterasu, which ignites the area in the undying black flames, and almost burns Sasuke.

Sasuke survives using one of Orochimaru's techniques, and in his cursed seal second state, launches Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique, which creates an artificial weather condition around them, perfectly suitable for Sasuke to attack Itachi with his final lightning technique that uses the power of natural lightning itself: Kirin. But Itachi barely survives, only by his use of the third and final Mangekyō technique, Susanoo. Having used the last of chakra on Kirin, Orochimaru, who has been absorbed and suppressed by Sasuke's chakra, uses this opportunity to reappear in the outer world through one of his eight giant snakes in a last attempt to take Sasuke's body for his own. However, before this could happen, Itachi has Susanoo use the Sword of Totsuka to seal him permanently in a genjutsu realm, thereby removing every tint of Orochimaru's being from Sasuke, including the Cursed Seal of Heaven. Cornered by an incoming Itachi, Sasuke watches in horror his brother inevitably aiming for his eyes, but is flabbergasted when, instead, Itachi says a few words and collapses to his death, after poking him in the forehead- something Itachi would regularly do to Sasuke when they were younger. Shocked and exhausted, Sasuke too passes out, albeit with a smile due to the accomplishment of his lifelong mission.

Sasuke wakes up in a cave in the care of Tobi, who quickly reveals himself to be Madara Uchiha. As Tobi tries to befriend Sasuke by removing his mask and revealing his Sharingan, Sasuke's left eye reacts to Tobi's Sharingan and triggers Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan which casts Amaterasu, setting the masked man on fire, and causing him to retreat into the darkness of the cave. After dispelling the black flames with ease, an unscathed and masked Tobi appears again and begins to muse about how Itachi never ceased to amaze him. As Sasuke asks what he was talking about, Tobi reveals that Itachi had most likely implanted a one-shot Amaterasu in Sasuke's eye to attack if and when he saw Tobi's Sharingan. As Sasuke complains that he is making no sense, Tobi makes startling revelations that it had been to protect him, and, when Sasuke still didn't believe him, Tobi said how it must all sound crazy, but assured him that he was telling the truth, and introduced himself as the man who had helped Itachi to slaughter the entire Uchiha clan.

Tobi reveals to Sasuke the "truth" of Itachi: that he killed his clan by orders from Konoha, how he joined Akatsuki to keep an eye on the organisation from the inside to keep his village and his brother safe, and that everything he had done was to make sure Sasuke grew strong. Remembering his childhood of how Itachi really was a kind, good brother, Sasuke developed his own Mangekyō Sharingan. He renamed Hebi to Taka and vowed he would destroy Konoha after crying over the memories of his beloved older brother.

Invasion of Pain Arc
Before Taka, could attack Konoha, Tobi convinced them to start working with Akatsuki. He sent them to the Land of Lightning to capture the Eight-Tails, where they found its host, Killer B. The capture attempt got off to a bad start, as Killer B swiftly overpowered both Suigetsu and Jūgo, prompting Sasuke to face B one on one. Sasuke was unable to read Killer B's unique kenjutsu and B ultimately stabbed Sasuke with six swords. Sasuke was rescued and healed by Karin, and the team decided to all attack at once. While they had more success, Killer B released a great deal of the Eight-Tails' chakra and created a chakra cloak. When Sasuke attempted to use a genjutsu to knock B out, the Eight-Tails broke him out of it and B retaliated on the unaware Sasuke with great force, using the Eight-Tails' power to blow Sasuke's neck and chest open.

While Sasuke was down, Killer B fully transformed into the beast sealed within him, leaving Taka outclassed. Jūgo healed Sasuke by fusing some of his own flesh with Sasuke's body and Suigetsu allowed the team to flee and protected them from Killer B's Tailed Beast Ball. Fearing the deaths of he and his team-mates, Sasuke unleashed his new Mangekyō Sharingan and Amaterasu to capture Killer B.

Sasuke delivered Killer B to Tobi before regrouping with Taka. While resting, they dealt with J, who had been following them. However, when Sasuke tipped over a glass of water, he learned that his eyesight was already starting to deteriorate. He opted to keep this revelation from the team. Sasuke and Jūgo later caught J spying on their hideout and presumably killed him before abandoning the hideout.

Five Kage Summit Arc
Once Taka recovered from their battle with Killer B, they headed for Konoha, but are intercepted by Tobi. He informed Taka about the destruction of Konoha and their failure in capturing the Eight-Tails which had been revealed to be nothing more than a transformed tentacle. He also told them about Danzō Shimura becoming Hokage and the Kage Summit. Taka was led to the Land of Iron, where the summit was held, by White Zetsu.

Taka managed to infiltrate the summit without being detected, but their cover was blown by Zetsu, on orders from Tobi. Forced out of hiding, Sasuke engaged the samurai guards and slaughtered them despite his previous strict no-kill policy, due to having fallen deeper into the Curse of Hatred. The Fourth Raikage, or A, still under the impression that Sasuke has killed his younger brother Killer B, confronted Taka together with his escorts. While Suigetsu and Jūgo encountered the Raikage and Darui, Sasuke managed to take out C with his Genjutsu: Sharingan. With C incapacitated and Jūgo defeated, Sasuke then faced off against the Raikage. During the ensuing clash, Sasuke dodged A's Elbow and managed to pierce A with Chidori, despite A's Lightning Release Armour. Despite Sasuke's efforts, A responded with Liger Bomb, though Sasuke managed to protect himself with the ribcage of the Susanoo. Sasuke covered his Susanoo with Amaterasu flames, which resulted in A losing an arm.

As the Raikage was about to deliver the final blow, Sasuke manipulated the black flames to attack A, though he continued to attack. However, A was saved by the Fifth Kazekage, Gaara, and his escorts. After seeing how dark Sasuke had become, the Kazekage attempted to convince Sasuke to give himself up, though Sasuke replied that there is nothing that could stop him from achieving his vengeance. Shedding a tear for his former rival, Gaara collaborated with Kankurō, Temari, and Darui to attack Sasuke. However, Sasuke used his incomplete Susanoo to defend himself, create a distraction and escape with Karin, leaving Suigetsu and Jūgo to fend for themselves.

Karin guided Sasuke to the room where the summit was held, but before he could engage Danzō, Sasuke was confronted by Mifune. In the meanwhile, Danzō managed to escape, but the Fifth Mizukage prevented Sasuke from pursuing him. Though he was exhausted due to the previous battles, Sasuke managed to gather enough strength to briefly fight against the Mizukage. Sasuke was ready to pass out, but was reinvigorated by Zetsu's Spore Technique. He escaped from the Mizukage, only to be confronted by the Third Tsuchikage. He was just barely saved by Tobi, who pulled him and Karin into another dimension using his Sharingan, where Karin nursed Sasuke back to health.

Tobi brought Sasuke out in front of Danzō, who immediately attacked the young Uchiha. Sasuke grabbed Danzō with the arm of his Susanoo and interrogated him about the truth of Itachi. Once he realised that Danzō had in fact ordered Itachi to slaughter the Uchiha clan, he immediately crushed the elder to death. However, Danzō appears behind him completely unharmed and ready to fight. Sasuke managed to kill Danzō with a variety of methods, although every time, Danzō was revived unharmed.

Sasuke, overtaken by his lust for revenge, advances his Susanoo to it's complete form, which is able to fire arrows. Tobi realises that Danzō is using Izanagi, which allowed him to avoid fatal injury and rewrite history as he saw fit. Danzō summoned Baku in order to stop Sasuke, however Sasuke managed to defeat the summoning monster with Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique. Sasuke managed to kill Danzō a few more times with different methods before coming to a stale mate. Each determined to kill the other, they clash again, Danzō, with Wind Release: Vacuum Blade and Sasuke with Chidori, as well as Danzō relying on Izanagi to save him. Sasuke, however, had used a genjutsu to only create the illusion that Izanagi was still active, allowing him to mortally wound Danzō. Danzō takes Karin hostage in an attempt to buy time, but Sasuke had no hesitations in fatally wounding Karin in order to finish off Danzō.

With his revenge against Danzō fulfilled, Sasuke declared his plans to go to Konoha. However, Tobi pointed out that Sasuke was exhausted and near blindness. He also told Sasuke to kill Karin if she was no longer of any use, before leaving himself. As Sasuke was about to kill Karin, Sakura suddenly appeared and interrupted him. She told him that she was willing to follow him, even if it meant abandoning and even destroying Konoha. Sasuke was sceptical and told Sakura to kill Karin to prove she was sincere. However, as Sakura hesitated, Sasuke attempted to kill her with his Chidori, only to be stopped by Kakashi. Sasuke laughs at their continued attempts to convince him to return to Konoha and attacks Kakashi, with the intention of killing him. Taking Kakashi's attempt to remind him about his former comrades in Konoha as an insult to Itachi, Sasuke's Susanoo gained a layer of armour. However, this form was short-lived, as much to Sasuke's horror, his eyesight deteriorates instantly, to the point of seeing a blurred haze at most, and Sakura uses the opportunity to try and strike him down.

Sakura ultimately cannot bring herself to kill Sasuke. Though near-blind, Sasuke senses her and nearly killed her, but she is saved by Naruto. Naruto sympathises with Sasuke's motives, to which Sasuke cynically counters with his pleasure of revenge, as well as revealing his crime of murdering Danzō. When Naruto restrains Kakashi to keep him from killing Sasuke, Sasuke uses this opportunity to try once more to kill Kakashi with Chidori, but Naruto counters with Rasengan. As the two collide, he tells Naruto that his only options are to kill him or die. Naruto rejects both, stating he has a third option. As their clash sends two flying back, one of White Zetsu's clones appears and cushions Sasuke's fall. Tobi then appears and prepares to take Sasuke away, but he tells him to wait so he can hear what Naruto has to say, which is that if they fight again, they will both die together. Sasuke then becomes angry and demands Naruto to answer why he cares about him so much, to which Naruto replies he is doing it because he is his friend, leaving Sasuke shocked. Despite this unperceived event, Sasuke firmly states he refuses to go back on the path he walks. So, before leaving away with Tobi, Sasuke says that they must have a talk.

At their hideout, Sasuke asks Tobi to replace his eyes with Itachi's eyes, as his vision is almost faded due to his reckless overuse of his Mangekyō Sharingan from battling Killer B, A, Danzō Shimura and Team 7 as he wants to defeat Naruto with his full power. After transplanting Itachi's eyes, Tobi claimed that Sasuke would need time to recuperate from the operation and adjust to the new Mangekyō. Sasuke however remarked that it felt perfect and that he could feel Itachi's power flowing into him. Unbeknownst to Sasuke at the time, Tobi also secretly implanted six White Zetsu spore clones to spy on him.

Shinobi World War Arc
Sasuke recovers from his surgery, and asks Zetsu if he could take off the bandages. Zetsu tells him not yet, but when he does, he'll be looking at a whole new world. After some time passes, Sasuke attacks White Zetsu with his Susanoo and sets him ablaze with Blaze Release: Susanoo Kagutsuchi, saying that his eyes could see just fine in the dark so he should try it outside. He then removes his bandages, revealing his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. Back at the Mountains' Graveyard, Sasuke carves an opening through the roof with his sword and — dressed in his old garbs — mobilises. Later, as Sasuke walks to the battlefield in the middle of a thunderstorm, he looks behind him and grins ominously.

Sasuke meets up with some of Zetsu's clones, who demand to know why he left the hideout. When the clones realise that Sasuke killed the original White Zetsu, they attack him. Choosing this time to test his new powers further, he slaughters most of the clones using a combination of Susanoo and Amaterasu. He uses genjutsu on a surviving clone to discover that Tobi has waged war and that the Allied Shinobi Forces were moving to aid Naruto in his battle. Sasuke wonders if Naruto has forgotten what true strength is. He decapitates the hypnotised clone and destroys the last Zetsu clone with Amaterasu before heading towards the battlefield to kill Naruto himself. He then reminisces about his brother and resumes his way to the battlefield. As he notices something coming by the forest, he takes his sword and goes to investigate, only to find his brother, much to his surprise. Sasuke chases after him and tries to catch him with an arm of Susanoo after he calls out to Itachi, but Itachi counters with his own. Positively identifying Itachi, Sasuke asks what he is doing there since he was supposed to be dead, to which Itachi reveals Kabuto had reincarnated him with Impure World Reincarnation. Sasuke bombards Itachi with a slew of questions and retorts his brother's later statement that since he was dead, he would not talk any more by saying that even in death he was running away from him. Itachi then tells Sasuke that he wasn't running away but rather was focusing on doing important tasks like ending the Impure World Reincarnation.

Still pursuing his brother — who even goes as far as to summon a flock of crows in order to blind him — he manages not to lose sight of him and follows him right to Kabuto's location. After seeing him, Kabuto lets out a maniacal laugh and states that his luck was finally changing. After seeing Kabuto's form, Sasuke mistakes him for Orochimaru, but after hearing Kabuto's voice, he realises it's not Orochimaru. Kabuto then tries to take advantage of Sasuke's hatred to help him defeat Itachi. Sasuke, however, having learned the truth about Itachi, sided with his brother over Kabuto, stating that anything left of Orochimaru was his enemy as well and then told Itachi that when this was over he was supposed to keep his promise and talk to him about everything afterwards.

As Kabuto covers his face up entirely claiming that introverts weren't used to so much attention, Sasuke surmises that it's because he wanted to protect himself from the brothers' ocular-based genjutsu. Informing his brother of some of the abilities of the snake, he watches on vigilantly as Kabuto's snakes grow in size and attack them. Activating his Susanoo alongside Itachi, he beheads the snakes that attacked him. As Itachi cautions him to not be so rough, Sasuke tells his brother that with Orochimaru's powers it'd take more than that to kill him. Sasuke manages to get close to Kabuto and rip his hood off with the Susanoo, though much to the brothers' surprise, Kabuto was nowhere insight, hiding inside one of the fleeing snakes. Sasuke quickly reacts by drawing his sword and throwing it at one of the snakes, pinning it to the wall. However, as Kabuto manages to elude them, Sasuke listens as Kabuto tells him that the experiments on his former team-mates had allowed Kabuto to acquire new abilities. Forming his Susanoo, Sasuke fires an arrow at Kabuto which the latter narrowly dodges, Sasuke watches on as Kabuto emerges from the mouth of one of the snakes and declares that after finding the Ryūchi Cave and learning the way of the sage from the White Snake Sage, that he had transcended to a dragon.

As Kabuto's technique is initiated, Sasuke covers his ears and closes his eyes in pain, realising that he can't maintain his Susanoo. As the technique ends, Sasuke opens his eyes to see Itachi's Susanoo protecting him. Kabuto tries to implant doubt and mistrust amongst the two brothers, but Sasuke doesn't fall for them and attempts to hit him with his Chidori Sharp Spear, but fails. As Kabuto tells them that a mismatched pair like them could never defeat him, Itachi tells him that they'd be going with an attack pattern they had used in their youth against a wild boar. Forming his Susanoo arrows, Sasuke is able to hit Kabuto's snake-tail with his arrow, effectively pinning Kabuto to the ceiling of the cave. He later realises that Kabuto was moving to use his discarded sword to seemingly sever his snake-tail. Itachi intercepts the swing however. As Itachi returns to Sasuke, he tells him that beating a giant pig like that was probably no problem for him now, to which Sasuke replies that dealing with the snake before them was the more pressing issue.

Noticing the strong teamwork between the two brothers, Kabuto admits that he is surprised by it. Sasuke explains that he merely wants to know the truth from Itachi's own mouth. Realising that Sasuke is now aware of Itachi's secret past, Kabuto mocks Sasuke for trying to get the truth from Itachi when he has been lying to his younger brother all his life. Kabuto goes on to say it is foolish that Sasuke is helping Itachi when their personal goals are so different; Itachi's being to protect Konoha while Sasuke wants to destroy it. Pointing out that he and Sasuke share similar goals of destroying Konoha, Kabuto again tries to persuade Sasuke to join him. Ultimately, Itachi tells Sasuke not to listen as Kabuto is an even better liar than him. Itachi then admits to Konoha's dark side, but still firmly considers himself a Konoha ninja, greatly shocking Sasuke. Admitting to his own faults for how Sasuke turned out, Itachi promises to tell him something important after the battle, which he intends to finish with "Izanami", the partner technique to "Izanagi". As Kabuto attacks, Itachi blocks it, telling Sasuke the technique has begun and to stay near him.

As Kabuto attacks once again, this time incapacitating Itachi, Sasuke creates a ring of Amaterasu flames around himself and his brother in order to prevent Kabuto from getting any closer. As Kabuto begins chastising the Uchiha, Sasuke lashes out at him but is stopped by a now-regenerated Itachi. Growing impatient, Sasuke questioned Itachi about whether or not they really had to keep him alive as it was hampering them. Seeing that Kabuto was prepared to attack once more, he asks Itachi again if Izanami was ready yet. The siblings come under attack once more as a copy of Sakon — which emerged from the base of Kabuto's naval snake — transformed into Jirōbō and breached their Amaterasu barricade. Without time to retaliate, the two brothers incinerated the onslaught on web produced by the copy of Kidōmaru which appeared next. Kabuto then produced a copy of Kimimaro to barricade their exit with bones after covering their fore with more web. Realising that they were boxed in the brothers activate their Susanoo with Sasuke using his Blaze Release: Kagutsuchi to destroy the web that was in front of them whilst leaving the field of bones to Itachi. Retreating further into the cave, the brothers are afflicted by Tayuya's auditory genjutsu. Using their own genjutsu to break each other free from the technique, the brothers are able to stop the white snake form of Orochimaru from attacking them. However, Kabuto uses this opportunity to emerge from the mouth of the snake and bisect Itachi, much to Sasuke's horror.

As Kabuto attempts to reassert his control on Itachi again with his seal, Sasuke intervenes, launching his sword at Kabuto and then using his Susanoo in an attempt to capture him, forcing Kabuto to retreat. Sasuke then launches a fireball at Kabuto, only for Kabuto to easily counter it with a powerful water stream. As Kabuto then redirects his attention to Itachi, Sasuke rushes to his brother's side, where Itachi tells him once again to stay close to him. Sasuke then watches as Kabuto and Itachi seem to repeatedly clash in the same manner. It is then realised that Itachi's Izanami has finally taken effect, forcing Kabuto to repeat the same series of events with the same outcome every time. Taking the opportunity to question his brother about the technique, Itachi explained the mechanism behind Izanami and when he used it. Seemingly angered when Itachi told him why he used a technique that could be cancelled by the victim, Sasuke listens as Itachi explained his reasons for doing so, before Itachi tells him that he would be stopping the Impure World Reincarnation. Voicing his apprehension at first when he hears this, as it meant that Itachi would also be stopped once the technique was cancelled, Sasuke reacts angrily to Itachi's statement that he was proud to be able to protect his village and claiming that after all the village had done to Itachi, there was no way he could forgive them. Sasuke is later both shocked and confused following Itachi's response that he was stopping the technique in order to help Naruto's desire to change Sasuke.

Resigned to the fact that he could not change his brother's mind, Sasuke told Itachi that it was because he remembered his time with Itachi that he would not give up his vendetta against Konoha and in the same manner that Itachi strived to protect it, he would destroy it. With that, he wished his brother farewell before he noticed Itachi walking towards him with his hand outstretched. Itachi then explains to Sasuke that what Danzō and Tobi had told him had been the truth: he had been given the choice to either die along with his clan or to kill the Uchiha, protecting the village and Sasuke. Itachi reaches Sasuke and puts his hand on the back of Sasuke's head and his forehead on his, telling him that he knows that he can't change Sasuke's mind, but no matter what path he chose, he would love Sasuke forever. Sasuke then watches as his brother's soul is released from the Impure World Reincarnation, leaving him with Kabuto.

Ten-Tails Revival Arc
With his brother removed to the afterlife, Sasuke started to question what a village was, and what shinobi truly were. While still in thought, Suigetsu and Jūgo found Sasuke, and give him the scroll they had found at Orochimaru's hideout. From what he reads in the scroll, he declared that he will find the human who knows everything, even if it means reviving Orochimaru. To this end, he used Anko's Cursed Seal of Heaven along with a piece of Kabuto's altered flesh to revive Orochimaru, ignoring Suigetsu's vehement protests. After catching each other up with what has happened, Sasuke shows Orochimaru the scroll, making him wonder what Sasuke wanted from "them". Tired of being treated as a child by everyone, Sasuke was determined to find the truth of the past in order to find his own path.

While insisting that he still desired revenge, Sasuke explained that he must know what the idea of revenge really meant for him to know if it was truly his decision. Intrigued by Sasuke is done being manipulated and wanting to be his own person for the first time in his life, Orochimaru, curious about what path Sasuke will take once he finds his answers and cleared his confusions, decided to take him to where his questions could be answered. Following the Sannin, their travels took them to Konoha where they briefly sense the volume of Naruto Uzumaki's chakra on the battlefield. Reacting to this as little more than a nuisance, Sasuke tells the group to continue on their journey, which took them to a temple which had fallen into ruin on the outskirts of the village. Retrieving a mask from there, Sasuke followed Orochimaru through the village where he stopped, moved to a high vantage point and surveyed the village, noting that it had changed somewhat. Not one to linger on sentimental feelings, Sasuke pressed on to the destroyed Naka Shrine where he unsealed the hidden meeting hall below the temple. Once there, Orochimaru initiated the ritual to unseal the contents of the Shinigami using the spore clones that had been attached to Sasuke as sacrifices to reincarnate the ones who knew everything: the previous four Hokage. After introducing himself to the Hokage, Sasuke asks Hiruzen why he had ordered Itachi to massacre the Uchiha clan to have him confirm everything he had been told before. Tobirama then tells Sasuke that he was from a clan possessed by evil, revealing how the Sharingan was awaken, and how an Uchiha who experienced loss would spiral deeper into darkness and become unwieldy, and that he, in his attempt to help the Uchiha channel that force, gave them the Konoha Military Police Force, which ultimately destroyed them as well. Though admonished for this by his brother Hashirama, Sasuke told them that he was not pure nor a child and asked the latter what is a village and what is a shinobi.

After Hashirama concluded his story, Sasuke mused that it was nothing if not ironic that the person who had inherited Hashirama's will was an Uchiha. Tobirama, however, corrected the young Uchiha, noting that not only did he himself not hate the Uchiha, but that there were many who had transcended the limitations of thinking only of the Uchiha, presenting his subordinate Kagami as a prime example of this. Having heard all he needed to from the Hokage including the Third and Fourth, Sasuke seemingly broke free of the Curse of Hatred and resolved to protect the sacrifice his brother had made and heads to the battlefield. Upon exiting the Naka Shrine, they were confronted by Karin whom Sasuke simply apologised to. With this, they all prepared to make their way to the battlefield.

Arriving on the battlefield, Sasuke's presence shocked Sakura and Shikamaru, angers Kiba and surprises the rest of the Rookie Nine. After noting that his former comrades were as boisterous as ever, Sasuke earned nothing but scorn from them for his past actions. After declaring to them that he would change the village and become Hokage so that incidents such as these would never repeat themselves, everyone became noticeably shocked. Shikamaru noted that this would be an impossible feat, given what he's done, but Sasuke brushed the comment away, noting that he couldn't care less what they thought. Naruto, recalling Itachi's last words to him about how the village needs to acknowledge you before you can be the Hokage, intervened and corrected Sasuke, noting that he, Naruto, would in fact become Hokage. Sasuke and Naruto then prepared to face off against the Ten-Tails, before being followed closely by Sakura. With that, the three ninja then prepared to enter the fray with Naruto noting that Team 7 had been reborn.

As Hashirama managed to make small openings in the barrier containing the Ten-Tails, Sasuke charged in along with his former team-mates to face the beast. He initially fought several of the Ten-Tails clones using his Kenjutsu skills. Sasuke later saved Sakura from the Ten-Tails' clones that had managed to sneak up on her and warned Naruto not to get in his way. After Sai informed Naruto of how to reach the Ten-Tails' real body, Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto simultaneously used the Summoning Technique with which Sasuke summoned a snake summon named Aoda alongside Katsuyu and Gamakichi respectively. He then used Aoda to slide past the clones of the Ten-Tails, while also fending off their attacks using a more enhanced version of his Chidori-infused sword. After two clones managed to put up a barrier in his way, Sasuke manifested his Susanoo and broke through it with his Susanoo Sword. He then used the Susanoo to fire an Amaterasu flame-enhanced arrow towards the Ten-Tails, which was combined with Naruto's Wind Release: Ultra-Big Ball Rasenshuriken, to do even more damage to the beast. Afterwards, he commanded the Amaterasu flames to burn the Ten-Tails as Sai asked Jūgo if Sasuke was serious in his vow to become Hokage.

Naruto then told Sasuke to extinguish the flames when the Ten-Tails was weak enough to rip the tailed beasts out of its body only for Sasuke to refuse, fanatical on his path to end the "twisted system" and create a new one. Later, as Madara began to use Obito to revive himself, Sasuke and Aoda made their way towards Obito in order to stop the process. After Aoda was captured by the Ten-Tails, Sasuke lunged at Obito, manifested Susanoo, and fired another flame-enhanced arrow at Obito. However, Obito managed to deflect the attack. Just as Sasuke was about to take out Obito with Chidori, Minato teleported to Obito and cut him down. However, he survived the attack and surprised everyone by becoming the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki. Sasuke was shocked to witness Obito cut through the First and Second Hokage so easily. When Naruto questioned his father about whether or not he couldn't prevent teleport the Third to safety, Sasuke told him to stop worrying because it was part of the Hokage's plan to determine Obito's new skills since they couldn't die because they were reincarnated. Sasuke later intercepted Obito's attack on Naruto with his Susanoo and declared that he would be the one to erase the past. However, Obito managed to break through the Susanoo and attack both Sasuke and Naruto.

With Minato unable to teleport to their aid as the marking for the Flying Thunder God Technique had seemingly vanished, Naruto's quick-thinking is able to save them from Obito's attack. Remembering what Minato had said about how the Flying Thunder God Technique worked, Sasuke realised that Naruto had connected them to Minato through the use of chakra arms allowing him to teleport them to safety. Sasuke later watched on as the event unfolded on the battlefield, and on Minato's orders prepared to launch a consecutive collaborative attack with Naruto after Minato had attacked Obito. During this time, when Minato was attacked by Obito, Sasuke reprimanded Naruto, reminding him that they needed to stay focus. He later looked on in shock as the ball Obito had attached to an unaware Minato prepared to expand, threatening to eradicate them all. Manifesting his Susanoo and grabbing Naruto as well, they are saved by Tobirama who teleported the orb away from them. While Tobirama and Minato came up with a new plan of attack, Sasuke rushed forth and launched Amaterasu at Obito, much to Minato's protests. However, Obito managed to deflect Sasuke's attack, stating he could see the build up of chakra in Sasuke's left eye. He and Naruto then launched their counter-attack against Obito forming another Kagutsuchi-infused Rasenshuriken. As they charged, Minato teleported in front of them taking the blow of the technique, Minato then used the Mutually Instantaneous Revolving Technique to land a surprise attack on the new jinchūriki.

Though they believed the attack to have worked initially, they are all shocked to see Obito emerge from the attack unscathed. As they rushed forward, Sasuke noted that Obito would not be an easy one to defeat. As the readjusted their strategy, Naruto informed Sasuke that he was going to go all out again and asked if he would be able to keep up, to which Sasuke noted that he should not look down on the Uchiha. Watching as Obito attempted to deflect Gamakichi's Starch Syrup Gun technique, Sasuke later watched on in shock as Naruto was able to land an attack on Obito, wondering how he had accomplished this. Upon hearing Naruto's explanation of the situation, Sasuke came to realise that he meant that only senjutsu could counter the Ten-Tails and its jinchūriki and the young Uchiha later watched on as Obito trapped them in a barrier and prepared to launch several Tailed Beast Balls at them.

With the situation getting even more dire, Sasuke agreed with Jūgo and noted that he was going to get them both, and Naruto out of dodge. However, when Naruto dismissed their idea and insisted they come before him, Sasuke and the others soon found themselves on the outside of the barrier where the attack had been launched. As Sasuke looked on dumbfounded, Naruto explained what had happened and the Uchiha realised that they had once again used the basic principle of the Flying Thunder God technique to teleport them all outside of the barrier. Watching on as the battle progressed with Naruto and Minato on the front-lines, Sasuke silently wondered how Naruto could so effortlessly control such a large volume of chakra, and contemplated just how far his childhood team-mate had come. Sasuke later watched on as Obito manifested the Ten-Tails and had it assume its final form: that of the God Tree and Obito continued with the Eye of the Moon Plan.

As countless shinobi began being drained of their chakra, leaving everyone else filled with despair, Hashirama had Ino Yamanaka link everyone telepathically so that he could pass on the info that his original had heard about the Ten-Tails and the Eye of the Moon Plan and to try and rally them to continue fighting. While Hashirama's words fail to inspire anyone, Sasuke continued to battle without fear or doubt, donning his Susanoo and cutting down a limb of the enormous tree shocking everyone. Calling out to Naruto, Sasuke asked the young man if he was done, as he himself had just begun. Through Ino's telepathic link, Naruto's emotions and memories were conveyed to everyone, leading the young Uchiha to sympathise with the loss of Itachi. Sasuke, in his complete Susanoo, joins Naruto in an assault. After Naruto informs Sasuke not to forget that only senjutsu will work against Obito, Sasuke tells him that he is not quick to forget, unlike Naruto. With this statement, Sasuke has Jūgo use the senjutsu chakra from his Sage Transformation on his Susanoo, which covers Sasuke's Susanoo with the Cursed Seal of Heaven markings.

Sasuke and Naruto then proceed to attack Obito, who once again used the Truth-Seeking Balls to aid in protecting himself from their assault. In unison with Naruto's senjustsu-enhanced Tailed Beast Ball, Sasuke fires a senjutsu-enhanced arrow at Obito. Sasuke and Naruto were unhappy to see that their combined technique did not harm Obito, due to him surrounding himself in a sphere formed from the Truth-Seeking Balls. The battle continued resulting in Sasuke's Susanoo and Naruto's Tailed Beast Mode form being destroyed. However, Sasuke and Naruto got up on their feet again, their resolves untouched. Standing alongside his comrade, he noted that they would end the battle with their next attack, to which Naruto agrees. With this, Sasuke manifests his final Susanoo which begins to encase Naruto's Tailed Beast Mode mantle.

After Sasuke's Susanoo fully encased Naruto's Tailed Beast Mode mantle, Sasuke then manifested his Susanoo sword. Noticing their powerful combination, Obito manifested a huge shield and the Sword of Nunoboko, preparing to engage the two young shinobi. After agreeing that they had one opportunity to take down Obito, Sasuke and Naruto charged into battle. While the Konoha 11 destroyed the shield, Sasuke's Susanoo sword managed to shatter Obito's legendary weapon. With his sword destroyed, Sasuke and Naruto managed to slash through Obito with the Susanoo's senjutsu-enhanced sword. Due to the success of Sasuke and Naruto's attack, Obito began losing control of the tailed beasts and Naruto began pulling the chakra of the tailed beasts out of Obito. Sasuke and the rest of the Allied Shinobi Forces later assisted Naruto in the great chakra tug-of-war against Obito, eventually succeeding in extracting the tailed beasts from him. As Obito lies exhausted and defenceless, Sasuke drew his sword and quickly went in for the kill, only for Kakashi to teleport in front of Sasuke and prepare to do it himself. As Kakashi was stopped by Minato, the Fourth Hokage told Naruto to help Hashirama against Madara, to which Naruto told Sasuke to join him.

Sasuke arrived to the battlefield from atop Sai's ink-bird and immediately began incinerating Madara with his Amaterasu. However, Madara shrugged off Sasuke's attack and absorbed it. After Madara defeated Naruto and Sai, as well as absorbing Hashirama's Sage Mode, Sasuke attacked Madara viciously with his sword. Madara allowed Sasuke to pierce his bicep and grabbed his blade, while also offering the young Uchiha the opportunity to join him in the battle against the Allied Shinobi Forces. However, Sasuke refuses his offer and informs the elder Uchiha that he plans to kill him, to which Madara responds that he will take Sasuke's eyes as a temporary replacement for his lost Rinnegan. As Naruto and Sai attempted to assist Sasuke in his battle against Madara, the elder Uchiha managed to evade the three attacking shinobi and turned his attention towards the tailed beasts.

Sasuke summoned a hawk to go after Madara, but was halted by Hashirama, who offered him a technique that would be able to bind Madara even his own senjutsu chakra. Sasuke wondered why he'd offer such a technique to an Uchiha, and Hashirama compares him to Madara's brother, Izuna, and as such, had the best chance of stopping Madara without resorting to strength. Sasuke flew towards Madara, and attacked him using an opening created by Tobirama, who was fighting Madara. However, Madara immobilised Sasuke in the air, and fatally stabbed him with his own sword despite Tobirama's pleas. After Madara dropped the younger Uchiha, Sasuke clung to life remembering his resolve to honour his brother's sacrifice, and change the shinobi world for the better. However, Sasuke finally collapsed as Madara walked away.

Final Arc
Tobirama and Karin noticed grimly that they could no longer sense Sasuke's chakra. Later on, Sasuke was approached by a barefooted individual. The individual turned out to be Kabuto who was able to rediscover himself and thus, break free from Izanami. He chose to save Sasuke's life as Obito volunteered to save Naruto's life declaring that he now knew who he was and where he belonged and would pay Itachi back for helping him realise all this. Within Sasuke's unconscious mind, he met the spirit of the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki. He told Sasuke of his family history and revealed to Sasuke his status as the reincarnation of his eldest son Indra. Admitting to his own faults as a father and leader, Hagoromo asked Sasuke to help fix his mistakes. After hearing Hagoromo's request, Sasuke firmly tells the sage his goal for after the world is to reform it as he sees fit. Hagoromo ultimately accepts Sasuke's answer and passed on the Yin half of his chakra and his dōjutsu powers to Sasuke, manifesting a Rinnegan in his left eye. Upon awakening, Sasuke readied himself to return to the battle.

After Sasuke took out Madara's chakra rods from Tobirama's body, the Second used his Flying Thunder God Technique to send Sasuke on the main battlefield, as he teleported him to Minato's kunai that Naruto had taken with him. Madara watched on with surprise as Sasuke arrived next to Naruto, who also met with Hagoromo and obtained the great Sage's Yang chakra and Six Paths Sage Techniques. As the young Uzumaki noted that he and Sasuke are going to defeat him together, Sasuke told Madara to get ready. The older Uchiha replied that he had both their powers, the Rinnegan and the senjutsu of the Six Paths and that they were about to find out who is the strongest in a final battle.

Madara then proceeded to use his various techniques against the duo, to which Sasuke and Naruto's combined power was able to defend against. As Madara continued to seemingly manipulate targets from afar, Sasuke's Rinnegan saw through the charade, discovering that Madara was actually producing an invisible clone to aid him. Realising that the clone was invulnerable to physical attacks, and that it could be damaged only by techniques containing senjutsu or Hagoromo's chakra, Sasuke countered Madara's assault by stabbing him with his sword. Sasuke then explained his analysis to Naruto, and ordered him to prepare an attack with senjutsu. The two then proceeded to assault Madara again. Collaborating with Naruto, Sasuke used an enhanced Chidori combined with Naruto's Sage Art: Magnet Release Rasengan to strike Madara, only for Madara to use his Limbo: Border Jail to absorb the damage. Realising the situation was shifting to Sasuke and Naruto's advantage, Madara instead stole Kakashi's Sharingan as a temporary replacement left eye and used its power to teleport to the Kamui's dimension to retrieve his actual left eye from Obito, but not before Sasuke bisected the older Uchiha.

Shortly afterwards, Sakura was teleported out of Kamui's dimension by Obito to Sasuke's shock. She warned her allies of Madara's potential power should he regain both his eyes. After Naruto restored Kakashi's original left eye, Kakashi asked Sasuke what his goals were now. As Sasuke remained silent, Kakashi chose to not push the question, instead reminding Sasuke that they are still all former members of Team 7. Kakashi also reminded his former students of their first lesson in teamwork. After Madara returns, fully regenerated and with both Rinnegan, Madara created four shadows to hold off his opponents. While Sakura impulsively attacked Madara, Naruto managed to save her from harm, while Sasuke attacked Madara's shadow, but to no avail. Madara then took to the air and performs the Chibaku Tensei. Sasuke responded by unleashing his Perfect Susanoo that flies into the sky and to cuts through the massive meteorites.

Upon noticing the moon had taken the image of Madara's third eye, Sasuke quickly retreated to the ground, and used the wings of his Susanoo to shield Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi from the Infinite Tsukuyomi. When Naruto tried to leave to help others, Sasuke stopped him, telling him to be patient. As everyone asks Sasuke the nature of this technique, Sasuke stubbornly tells them to be quiet, insisting that he is in command. While Naruto is furious at Sasuke's still independent attitude, Kakashi solemnly admits that with Sasuke's Rinnegan, he may be the only one able to save the world. As the light of Madara's technique finally ended, Sasuke let down his Susanoo, noting that only a Rinnegan had a chance of cancelling the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Madara then confronted the remaining free individuals, only for Black Zetsu to suddenly betray Madara and impale his hand through Madara's chest, shocking its audience. As Madara asked his own manifestation why he would do this, Black Zetsu boldly stated that it was actually a manifestation of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki. Black Zetsu then proceeded to expand its being into Madara.

As Black Zetsu continued to overwhelm Madara, Sasuke noticed that all of Madara's shadows had disappeared. Sasuke and his comrades were immediately knocked to the ground after large amounts of chakra burst from the ground and flowed into Madara. Sasuke deduced that the chakra was coming from the people trapped within the Infinite Tsukuyomi, and resolved to stop Madara before he could absorb any more chakra. While Naruto attacked from the front, Sasuke instantly teleported behind Madara and attempted to cut him down. However, Sasuke and Naruto's efforts were futile, as they were trapped within strands of chakra. As Black Zetsu transferred its remnants into Madara, the chakra began to settle, and Kaguya was fully revived. Noticing that Sasuke and Naruto are reincarnations of Indra and Asura respectively, she sent them hurtling to the ground. Explaining that she did not want Sasuke or Team 7 to interfere with her plans of creating her own army, she proceeded to shift dimensions; transporting them into a cave with a river of lava which Sasuke and Team 7 then began to fall into.

Sasuke immediately summoned his hawk to save himself from the molten river, and he quickly saved Naruto as well, ignoring Naruto's pleas to save Kakashi and Sakura, who were saved by a quick-thinking Kakashi. When Naruto questioned his complete disregard for the safety of his comrades, Sasuke informed Naruto that they are the only ones who can defeat Kaguya, and so neither one of them can die, even if they survived at the sacrifice of others, such as Sakura and Kakashi. Kaguya immediately rebutted with a pinpoint attack, which Sasuke tried to block with his Susanoo, but ultimately failed, which resulted in his hawk's wing being pierced as well as Sasuke's left arm. As he fell into the pit of lava once more, Sasuke activated Susanoo to protect himself, and was swiftly saved by Naruto, who discovered his ability to fly. Naruto then proceeded to clash with Kaguya and managed to provide an opening for Sasuke, who rushed in to strike resulting in a massive explosion.

Ultimately, Sasuke's attack fails, and he is forced out of his Perfect Susanoo and begins to fall into the ocean of lava once again. As his blade is destroyed by the lava, Sasuke manages to teleport himself to Naruto's location, and he receives a platform to stand on from Naruto. Angry that his Susanoo has no effect on Kaguya, he and Naruto do not notice Kaguya as she sneaks up behind them with tears in her eyes. Black Zetsu emerges from Kaguya, latches onto Naruto and Sasuke, and begins absorbing their power, while he also explains the history of Kaguya's defeat, his creation, and his attempt to revive Kaguya. Once Black Zetsu finishes his tale, Naruto manages to rip Black Zetsu off of himself and Sasuke, and the two shinobi prepare their counterattack. Sasuke and Naruto later discuss a counterattack plan, which gets put into action when the former uses Amaterasu on Kaguya, albeit she absorbs the attack and the latter uses the new technique. Ultimately, the plan is successful as Kaguya is distracted long enough to be punched by Naruto. Sasuke prepares to strike Kaguya with Yin Release while Naruto proceeds to strike Kaguya with Yang Release. However, the sealing attempt is unsuccessful as Kaguya shifts them to a different dimension and traps the two in a prison of ice. Sasuke uses Blaze Release: Kagutsuchi to free himself and Naruto from the ice. Black Zetsu tells Kaguya that she should separate the two, and so Kaguya emerges behind Sasuke and pulls him into her portal, leaving him trapped in a desert dimension, isolated and confused.

He attempts to find a way to escape, but to no success and quickly becomes exhausted. Sasuke senses Naruto's chakra but is unable to find him. Later he notices Obito and Sakura opening a portal and calls for him to come. The portal becomes smaller as Obito falters but Sasuke shifts to get in and catches Sakura as she collapses. He then explains how his ability works. Sasuke returns to the ice dimension along with Obito and Sakura. As Sasuke makes his way towards Naruto, and the latter asks him if he has thanked Obito and Sakura, which he coldly rebuffed and tells Naruto to focus on Kaguya. Kaguya immediately shifts everyone to a high gravity dimension, and prepares to eliminate Sasuke and Naruto. Thanks to the effects of the gravity, Sasuke and Naruto manage to dodge the attack, but Kaguya launches the attack once more, intent on eliminating the threat. Kakashi and Obito jump in front of Sasuke and Naruto, but Obito uses Kamui to save Kakashi as well, and is stabbed in the process, shocking Sasuke and everyone else.

Sasuke recharges his left eye while everyone listens to Obito's final words. As his Rinnegan's power is restored, Sasuke takes the opportunity to surprise Kaguya and instantly teleports next to her. While Naruto attempts to save Obito, Sasuke informs him that he cannot do anything to save him, and so he should instead focus on Kaguya. Sasuke activates his Perfect Susanoo and flies towards Kaguya's location, preparing to take her on in battle. As he continues to battle her, Sasuke presents a dismayed and angry Naruto an opening, which he takes to rip off Kaguya's arm, with Black Zetsu still attached to it. While Sasuke begins pressuring Kaguya, Naruto launches nine separate attacks, each imbued with on of the tailed beasts' chakra. After hitting Kaguya with it, her body becomes unstable, transforming into an amalgamated mass of the tailed beasts. It produced several outstretching hands, sucking up everything it came in contact with. As it approached Sakura, Kakashi, having inherited Obito's Sharingan powers from the departed spirit, uses Susanoo to save Sakura, much to everyone's surprise.

Regaining control of herself, Kaguya then shaped the tailed-beast mass into a giant Truth-Seeking Ball. Kakashi devised a plan and shared it with his students, telling them to be ready for what could be their last mission as a team. As Naruto distracts Kaguya with his clones, Sasuke waits for the opportunity to leap into action. While Kaguya is distracted, Sasuke swaps place with one of Naruto's shadow clones and appears next to Kaguya. As she attempts to escape, Sakura comes from above and knocks Kaguya down, as Naruto and Sasuke finally manage to touch her with their special sun and moon tattoos they received from Hagoromo, preparing to seal away the Rabbit Goddess once and for all.

Immediately upon contact, Sasuke and Naruto begin the ultimate sealing technique: the Six Paths Chibaku Tensei. Kaguya wonders how she, the ancestor of all chakra, could be defeated by mere fragments of chakra, as she reverts back to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, and is encased by the landscape, creating an enormous satellite similar in size to the moon. After sealing away Kaguya, the moon tattoo disappears from Sasuke's hand, as the sun tattoo disappears from Naruto's hand, and reappears on the hands of Hagoromo. Relieved that they have defeated Kaguya, they immediately worry about how they will return back to the real world. Suddenly, Team 7 and the tailed beasts are summoned back to earth by Hagoromo and all of the previous Kage. Satisfied, Hagoromo thanks Sasuke and his comrades for saving the world.

While everyone celebrates Kaguya's defeat, Sasuke senses some life in Madara, and rushes to eliminate his fallen enemy once and for all. However, he is stopped by Hagoromo, as Hashirama approaches his former comrade. Following Hagoromo's advice, Sasuke listens to Hashirama and Madara's final words to each other, as Madara passes away peacefully and the reanimated Hokage return to the afterlife. As the tailed beasts begin to talk about their future plans now that they are free, Sasuke grimly makes his intent to kill the current five Kage still trapped within Infinite Tsukuyomi known. He then proceeds to take control of the nine tailed beasts and seal them away within separate Chibaku Tensei. As Kakashi asks if he still simply desires revenge, Sasuke plainly states that what he wants is to recreate the world the way it should be, doing so with revolution. Noting that only Naruto still stands in his way, Sasuke faces his former friend and ally. While Hagoromo sadly looks on to see that once again his children battle each other, Naruto firmly says he will end this feud once and for all.

Before they depart for their battle, Naruto urges Sasuke to at least release the tailed beasts, but Sasuke tells he he intends to destroy the tailed beasts, which would require killing Naruto in order to eliminate the chakra of the tailed beasts within him, while also keeping the ones he trapped alive in order to end the Infinite Tsukuyomi. He orders Naruto to follow him, as he wants to take their fight elsewhere. As Sasuke turns to leave, Sakura makes a final plea to keep Sasuke from abandoning them again, only to to be silenced with a genjutsu in order to prevent her from interfering with their fight. Ignoring Kakashi's scolding, Sasuke led Naruto to the Valley of the End. Though Naruto tries to persuade Sasuke once more with Itachi's words, Sasuke rebuttals by preparing to tell Naruto what he means when he says the word "Hokage".

Sasuke explains Itachi's sacrifice to Naruto, stating that Itachi is the definition of a "true Hokage," despite the fact that his one mistake was allowing Sasuke to live so that he could learn the truth about his brother. Explaining his goal further, Sasuke tells Naruto that as he will become the Hokage, he will become darkness itself and take on all of the hatred of the world alone. By absorbing the hatred of the shinobi world himself, Sasuke will eliminate the darkness of the failed system, allowing it to shine once more. Naruto attempts to explain the error in Sasuke's ways once more, claiming that Sasuke does not know anything about his brother or what he believed in. However, Sasuke does not take Naruto's words into account, and states that Naruto's death will be the beginning of the new clean slate he is determined to inflict on the world. With nothing else left to say, Sasuke and Naruto clash, with enough force to begin cracking Hashirama's statue.

Repelling against each other, Sasuke immediately fires a massive fireball at Naruto, who manages to deflect the attack by activating his Six Paths Sage Technique. Leaving Naruto little time to react, Sasuke shifts behind Naruto, activates his Chidori, and knocks Naruto into the water. As Naruto recovers, Sasuke activates his Susanoo and fires three arrows towards Naruto, though he manages to block Sasuke's attack by utilising three of his Truth-Seeking Ball, resulting in several small explosions. Sasuke activates his Perfect Susanoo and tries to slice down Naruto, only for his attack to be countered by one of Naruto's tails as he enters Tailed Beast Mode. The two titans' fists clash together, as memories of the past are shared between the two. Taking a moment, Sasuke warns Naruto to pick up the pace if he doesn't want to die, while Naruto refuses to abandon Sasuke, despite their differences. While Naruto forms a Tailed Beast Ball, Sasuke applies the Chidori to his Perfect Susanoo. The two techniques clash, resulting in a massive explosion, as Naruto and Sasuke enter their inner subconscious once again. Sasuke tells Naruto that they are no longer children, and that despite their differing opinions, they should be able to understand each other at this point.

While remembering Sasuke's words about two high class shinobi learning each other's feelings through their fists, Naruto tries once more to convince Sasuke to stop fighting, stating that his goal is pointless since the five shinobi villages have already united. However, Sasuke explains that they only united to defeat a common enemy; with their enemies defeated, Sasuke believes the world will become like it was before the war. Resolved to becoming the common threat for the sake of the shinobi world, Sasuke explains that he will find some way to gain immortality through the use of his immense power- stating that is what he means by becoming "Hokage." Returning to the real world, Sasuke and Naruto are knocked back as a result of the explosion of their colliding attacks. Pleased that Naruto is becoming serious, Sasuke summons the satellites encasing the tailed beasts and begins channeling their chakra into his Perfect Susanoo, as it changes into a more humanoid form, while stating he is quite possibly the strongest person in the world, which is later noted by Kurama, as he states that Sasuke is on the level of Hagoromo himself. While Naruto summons three shadow clones, Sasuke immediately attacks him from behind, knocking one of his clones into the earth. The two battle in the sky, as Naruto tries to attack Sasuke, but fails as Sasuke uses a lightning-based senbon to counter Naruto's technique, resulting in a massive explosion. Naruto combines his clones to form one powerful chakra avatar and throws two Rasenshuriken, while Sasuke fires a lighting-enhanced arrow, as the two attacks prepare to collide in the air.

Sasuke and Naruto's attacks collide in the air, creating a massive explosion that devastates the land and destroys the heads of the Madara and Hashirama statues. Completely drained of chakra, the two fall to the earth and into the valley once more. Surprised that Naruto has survived the last encounter, Sasuke attempts to use Amaterasu to incinerate Naruto, but fails, as Naruto uses Kurama's chakra to protect himself from the damage. As Sasuke begins to feel the effects of using too much chakra, Naruto takes the opportunity to create clones that attack Sasuke altogether, sending him into the air, Naruto plans to deliver a decisive blow, but Sasuke also manages to land a hit as well. Sasuke summons shuriken to eliminate Naruto's clones and attacks what he believes is the real Naruto body, only to be fooled with a clone as Naruto lands a large blow. Sasuke tries to use his Chidori, but fails, as Naruto activates his Rasengan, only for him to trip and lose the technique. Seeing this opportunity, Sasuke kicks Naruto onto his and begins punching Naruto repeatedly in the face, until Naruto finally manages to break free with a headbutt. As Naruto rises, the two engage in a long battle of taijutsu for an entire day. Upon nightfall, Sasuke and Naruto continue to fight with only their strong wills, as the two are both completely exhausted. Kurama gives Naruto more chakra to use for one final attack, but Sasuke manages to use his Rinnegan's Preta Path ability to absorb Naruto's chakra for his own.

Activating the Chidori and his Sharingan once more, Sasuke prepares to end Naruto's life, stating that he will finally be alone once his one and only best friend is dead. Refusing to give up however, Naruto struck back, sending Sasuke into the wall of the valley. Enraged at his persistence, Sasuke channeled the last of his chakra into a Kagutsuchi infused Chidori and met once more with Naruto's Rasengan, destroying the rest of the valley and taking both his and Naruto's arm. Both completely drained, the two lay next to each other with Sasuke asking why Naruto would go through such lengths for someone like him. Acknowledging that he himself had truly been jealous of Naruto from the start, Sasuke admitted defeat. However, Naruto told him he wouldn't let the Uchiha die on the battlefield, declaring that he would always be there for his friend no matter what, moving Sasuke to tears.

Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow
Sasuke joined his fellow members of Team 7 on a mission to protect the actress, Yukie Fujikaze, as she travelled to the Land of Snow. Later, Sasuke encountered Fubuki Kakuyoku, and defeated her with the Lion Combo. Sasuke used Chidori to damage Dotō Kazahana's armour, which led to him being knocked out. He was seen looking out at the newly created Land of the Spring, with Sakura holding his head, in the ending credits. In a post-credits scene, he was the one who got Koyuki Kazahana's autograph for Naruto.

Naruto the Movie 2: Legend of the Stone of Gelel
Sasuke made a very short cameo when Naruto was unconscious, he had a dream of him and Sasuke walking towards each other. However, they passed by each other without a word; with this, Naruto woke up into the battle. The point of the dream, however, emphasised Naruto's regret over losing Sasuke, and strengthened his resolve not to lose any more friends.

Naruto Shippūden: The Movie
Sasuke was mentioned by Tsunade when Lee became his replacement.

Naruto Shippūden 2: Bonds
Sasuke was summoned by Orochimaru, and was told by him about the recent Sky ninja's attack on Konoha, to which Sasuke made clear that he didn't care. Orochimaru then gave him an assignment, telling him to go retrieve a scroll from a man named Shinnō. Near the end of the movie, he made his appearance just as Naruto was about to finish off Shinnō, stopping Naruto and cutting off Shinnō's flow of chakra by hitting his chakra points with Chidori Senbon, something only the Byakugan can usually see. He and Naruto quickly chased after a fleeing Shinnō, only to find themselves in a deep chamber with a strange large cocoon that seemed to absorb any chakra in the area. It was revealed to be a seed of the Zero-Tails that Shinnō had planted. He taunts both of them and an angry Naruto jumps down to fight him. Sasuke soon follows suit. The cocoon then attacked Sasuke and Naruto, and was able to restrain them until they both released their chakra from the cursed seal and the Nine-Tails respectively.

Together, Naruto defeated the cocoon with the Tornado Rasengan, while Sasuke used his Flapping Chidori. Amaru released Hinata Hyūga and the rest of the villagers who had been taken prisoner as Sasuke and Naruto exited the building. Hinata and the villagers all boarded a flying lifeboat which they found outside the temple. Amaru scrambled to reach a launching lever away from the boat, but Naruto appeared again and ordered Amaru to get in the boat, assuring her that he would take care of the launch. She refused, but Sasuke appeared behind her and threw her in by force.

As the lifeboat left, a tentacle appeared and tried to stop the boat leaving, but Sasuke cut it away. Naruto then forced Sasuke off the flying fortress onto the ship with a Rasengan, leaving him alone to destroy the flying ruins. Sasuke then uses the full cursed seal to fly away. He is next seen watching Naruto being saved by Amaru from a distance. Sasuke turns around and goes back to Orochimaru's hideout. He gave him the scroll Orochimaru had asked for, though Kabuto pointed out that he didn't bring Shinnō and it's not like him to fail a mission. Orochimaru notices that Sasuke seemed different, and asks him if a "good thing" happened to him. He pauses into the doorway, but doesn't say anything and walks out. Once outside, he thinks about what Naruto had said to him as he blew Sasuke onto the lifeboat that he would bring him back home one day. He then resumed his training.

Naruto Shippūden 3: Inheritors of the Will of Fire
Sasuke appeared in a few flashbacks when Sai asked Naruto about what Kakashi had taught him.

Naruto 6: Road to Ninja
The alternate world's Sasuke didn't became a missing-nin and thus is still a resident of Konoha. Furthermore, while still cocky and assertive, this Sasuke is more carefree compared to the brooding loner that Naruto and Sakura know and dresses more casually and fashionably.

The alternate Sasuke seems to return Sakura's feelings by giving her a rose to show how he cares for her that makes her happy. However, it is later revealed this Sasuke takes full advantage of girls being naturally attracted to him, becoming a flirt who gives roses to a lot of other girls, much to Sakura's dismay.

Creation and Conception
When developing the original Naruto manga, Masashi Kishimoto had not initially intended to create Sasuke. After speaking with his editor about the future of the series, he was advised to create a rival character for the series' protagonist, Naruto Uzumaki, which resulted in Sasuke's creation. To learn more about creating an effective rivalry, Kishimoto read a variety of manga to gather ideas on what constituted such a rivalry, and he coalesced these ideal elements into one relationship. By the time of Shinobi World War Arc, the rivalry between Sasuke and Naruto was similar to that of Vegeta and Son Goku in Dragon Ball series. Because Sasuke is intended to be Naruto's opposite, Kishimoto is always careful to make sure Sasuke is never too emotional. With Sasuke's character being that of a "cool genius", Kishimoto feels he has created the ideal rivalry.

Sasuke's design gave Kishimoto a number of problems, making him the most difficult character he has had to create. Because he lacked a proper idea of what Sasuke's face should look like, initial drafts of Sasuke appeared too old or mature for a character the same age as Naruto. Once settling on a proper face, Kishimoto began to work on Sasuke's attire. Original designs of Sasuke had a number of necklaces and ties around his arms and legs, a result of Kishimoto's habit of giving characters as much ornamentation as possible. Realising he could not draw such a complex character on a weekly basis, Kishimoto simplified the design to a basic contrast of Naruto's costume.

For Kishimoto, Sasuke remains the most difficult character for him to draw. While drawing, errors and mishaps commonly result in Sasuke's youthful appearance being lost, a result of Kishimoto's inexperience in drawing characters mature beyond their years. Sasuke's hair, originally kept short to save Kishimoto time, has slowly got longer as the series has progressed, resulting in the amount of time needed to draw Sasuke increasing as well. Sasuke received a new costume during the final portion of the Chūnin Exam Arc, which featured a number of belts strapped around his arms and legs. Due to the time needed to draw a costume of this design, Kishimoto returned Sasuke to his original costume in the following arc. Despite the time and energy Kishimoto spends drawing Sasuke, Sasuke has become his favourite character to draw.

Trivia

 * Sasuke was named after Sasuke Sarutobi, the Third Hokage's father, though their names in turn were likely inspired by the fictional ninja Sarutobi Sasuke. Sasuke's surname, "Uchiha", is another way of pronouncing, which is actually the Uchiha clan symbol. Uchiwa can be used to fan flames, making the flame hotter — referring to the fact that the Uchiha is a clan of fire techniques users.
 * Unlike most characters in Naruto, Sasuke doesn't address anyone with honorifics at the end of their names (except to his parents, clan members, and Itachi when he was a child and after discovering Itachi's true nature), like "Kakashi-sensei" or "Orochimaru-sama", something the Japanese would consider very insulting or rude.
 * In the June 2006 edition of Shōnen Jump, Kakashi remarked that, while Sasuke is a genius, he is dull to teach because he learns everything easily, compared to the less predictable Naruto.
 * Although Sasuke's first appearance is generally thought to be chapter 3, he can actually be seen sitting behind Naruto in chapter 1, page 13.
 * On the cover page of chapter 1, Sasuke is seen riding a hawk, which he later learns to summon. In most subsequent cover pages he is only depicted with snakes, another species he learns to summon.
 * In the Naruto character popularity polls, Sasuke was placed in 3rd in the first, 4th in the second and third, and 3rd in the fourth. He finished 1st in the fifth and sixth popularity polls, and in the third databook, which added results from the previous six polls, has Sasuke as the third most popular character overall with 33,632 votes. In the seventh, Sasuke ranked eighth and second in the eighth, ninth and the most recent poll..
 * Sasuke is one of four characters to have always stayed in the Top Ten of every Character Popularity Poll.
 * Sasuke is ambidextrous, as he typically punches and uses Chidori with his left hand, he wields his sword with his right hand. However, when the Sage of the Six Paths asked him to raise his dominant arm, he chose his left.
 * Studio Pierrot's Settei sheets of Sasuke show that he was 140cm around the time of the Uchiha Clan Massacre.
 * According to the databook(s):
 * Sasuke's hobbies are training and taking walks.
 * Sasuke wishes to fight against Itachi Uchiha and the upper ninja of Konoha.
 * Sasuke's favourite foods are omusubi with okaka and tomatoes, while his least favourites are nattō and anything sweet.
 * Sasuke has completed 16 official missions in total: 7 D-rank, 1 C-rank, 2 B-rank, 6 A-rank, 0 S-rank.
 * Sasuke's favourite word is.
 * According to the first Naruto fanbook, while in the Academy, Sasuke had the highest grade in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu, the lowest grade in cooperation and the second-lowest grade in assertiveness, which was bringing down his average. His overall grade was second place to Ino's.
 * In the digital manga chapters colourized by Shueisha's production team, Sasuke's Rinnegan was coloured red, like Madara and Kaguya's third eye Rinnegan. Later illustrations coloured by Kishimoto instead depict it with the usual purple colouring. The colouration was corrected in subsequent digitally colourized chapters.
 * Sasuke is the second character alongside Rock Lee to have their own spin-off manga, which is called Sasuke Uchiha: Sharingan Legend. It is also created by Masashi Kishimoto's assistant Kenji Taira.

Quotes

 * (To Itachi) "That's okay… Just as long as we can be together sometimes."
 * (To Team 7) "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan, and kill a certain someone."
 * (To Sakura about Team 7) "I know the four of us have worked together. And for a while, I thought I could choose that path instead… but in the end… I've decided on revenge. That's always been my purpose of living."
 * (To Naruto) "I don't look to the future any more. Only the past."
 * (To Naruto) "Just shut up for once! What the hell do you know about it?! It's not like you ever had a family in the first place! You were on your own right from the beginning, what makes you think you know anything about it?! Huh?! I'm suffering now because I had those ties, how on earth could you possibly understand, what it feels like to lose all that!"
 * (To Tobi) "If you want to ridicule me as a brat swayed by his emotions, go ahead. To accept and adopt Itachi's intention would be childish. The foolish sputtering of those who don't know hatred. If anyone who criticises my way of life were to come forward, I'd turn around and kill every single one of their loved ones, so that they too can grasp what it's like… to experience this hatred of mine."
 * (To Team Kakashi) "I finally… I finally got my first bit of revenge for Itachi… it's like the disgrace of the Uchiha clan is being cleansed. Like I'm separating the Uchiha clan from the rotten ninja world. You might even say it's what Konoha always wanted. You always repudiated the Uchiha clan, so now we will disappear from your memories just like you always wanted. When I kill everyone in Konoha! By severing the bond, we will be purified! That will be the true revival of the Uchiha clan!"
 * (To Itachi) "I can forgive you… But I can never forgive Konoha!!"
 * (To Itachi) "I guess anything I say now would be pointless… When I saw you… I decided to follow you here to confirm whether or not what Danzō and Tobi told me was true or not. But that wasn't the only reason… When I'm with you I remember the way it used to be. I remember time spent with the brother that I looked up to… that I loved. That's why… The closer I get to you… The more I'm able to recall what those days felt like… And the more I'm able to understand you. The more I'm able to hate Konoha for the suffering they put you through. In fact, it's becoming even stronger than before. I do understand what you want me to do. It's probably because you're my older brother that you feel the need to put me on the right path. But it's probably because I'm your younger brother that I'll never stop, no matter what you say. As you'll always exist to protect the village… so will I to destroy it. Goodbye… brother."
 * (To Orochimaru) "I'm going to the battlefield… I won't let this village… and my brother… be wasted!"
 * (To Sakura after arriving on the battlefield) "Many things happened… but I decided to protect the village, and I… will become Hokage."
 * (To his former team-mates) "The Hokage created this situation. I'll become Hokage and change the village."
 * (To himself after getting stabbed by Madara) "Like I'd… die… I… won't… die… The reason Itachi lived for… I can't… I won't… let it end here. To make… a true village… so I can show them… what a true Kage is! I… refuse to die!!"
 * (To Kakashi when asked about his current dream) "''While it's true I once desired destruction… and the only goal I had was revenge… things are different now. Because that which is destroyed can always be fixed and rebuilt. Villages freed from the cluthes and employ of darkness… what I desire is to reform the entire Shinobi World! What I am calling for, what I am bringing forth… that is… Revolution."
 * (To Naruto) "I'm the strongest there is now… And I'll begin my journey into the shadows from this moment on."