Board Thread:Wiki Discussions/@comment-25349984-20140826061256/@comment-3568954-20140827081840

AHTKingofkings wrote: Itachi was easily the next Madara or even the guy who could surpass him had he not died of his illness. They have stated multiple times that Sasuke could be the next Madara or the one to surpass him but while Sasuke was considered a skilled ninja, he wasn't considered a prodigy like Itachi and Madara. He was nearly blind and nearly dead when he faced Sasuke and he still could have won, his biggest issue was he didn't have that much chakra but I can agree that hes definitely Minato level and he would have only gotten better had he not been sick

Wrong. sasuke is the next Madara because he in fact is the transmigrant of Indra. No one can become more powerful than Indra Asura and the transmigrants of Indra and Asura. the only person ever to come that close was obito and nagato. and thats because they both had the Rinnegan and in his battle against Raikage. it was noted that prodigies like Sasuke only come every once and a while the fact is Itachi would have never surpassed Madara unless he had some how gained Indra and Asura's chakra. Also. itachi was not Minato level. Itachi was rated as a 35.5 which is equal to Jiraiya and slightly above Orochimaru. Minato on the other hand was in fact a stronger shinobi than Jiraiya. According to Jiraiya, Minato was one of the most gifted shinobi who ever lived,even noting that there hasn't been another prodigious talent to reach his calibre. His abilities were so advanced that even the Fourth Raikage thought that no one would could surpass him.

Anko Mitarashi, in discussion with the Third Hokage about Orochimaru's immense strength and threat to the village, stated that she wished the Fourth had been alive to face him

Even, at a young age, he was able to rescue Kushina Uzumaki from three Kumogakure ninja alone, with little difficulty.

During the Third Shinobi World War, flee-on-sight orders were given to enemy shinobi should they ever see him appear on the battlefield

n the anime, he alone defeated a thousand Iwa shinobi in one battle, later prompting Ōnoki to immediately consider accepting a peace treaty from Konohagakure

During the Fourth Shinobi World War after being reincarnated he was able to give Obito Uchiha trouble despite being the Ten-Tails jinchūriki. He even managed to briefly overpower Obito while both himself and Naruto were in their Tailed Beast Mode and Sage Tailed Beast Mode respectively