Board Thread:Naruto Discussions/@comment-25498052-20141004162612/@comment-142748-20141103213226

TheUltimate3 wrote: SuperSaiyaMan wrote: Except they weren't. The manga repeatedly emphasized that Naruto was holding back and exhausted. If they were equals, Naruto wouldn't have gotten all those instances that he wasn't fighting to his full potential. Even Sasuke called him out multiple times on it.

And where did it say Naruto was holding back? When Naruto blatantly says 'I don't want to kill you' to Sasuke after he berates him about 'how long are you going to stay on the defensive'. Naruto had zero intent to kill and was holding back so he wouldn't kill Sasuke. Its blatant.