Board Thread:Versus Debates/@comment-142748-20150410212019/@comment-142748-20150411233202

Trappedinmygenjutsu wrote: @SuperSaiyaMan

Wood clones would actually be Hashirama's best bet if he wanted to fight Itachi in short range combat, but Itachi hasn't been fooled by shadow clones so it would be difficult to see how this would pan out (Even with clones, the threat of totsuka blade and genjutsu would still be very real). Actually, Itachi was fooled by a Bushin Feint by Kakashi. Shoten Fight, he put Kakashi's Kage Bushin into a genjutsu after a brief taijutsu clash (and Kakashi's clone broke it) and he was held in place for Naruto's Odama Rasengan. That's how Shoten Itachi was beaten, who was Itachi with just his base skills.

Totsuka isn't as much of a threat as you're making it out to be. Unless its faster than Complete Body - Susano'o blades, Hashirama can catch it with ease with the Hobi Technique (those huge hands he created to grab Majestic Attire - Susanoo covered Kurama). Or he can just dodge it all day, let Itachi wear himself out. Hashirama has fought stronger Uchiha in his lifetime (Madara and probably Izuna) but this does not mean that they use genjutsu to the extent that Itachi does. Madara seemed to rely on Ninjutsu and might have not felt comfortable in using genjutsu in the midst of combat (Izanagi fooled Hashirama into thinking Madara was dead). Hashirama hasn't been shown to counter genjutsu and I gave him the benefit of the doubt that Uchiha he fought at least used the sharingan genjutsu. Madara used Genjutsu right off the bat when he was reincarnated, and used it after grabbing A with his Susanoo to put him in a genjutsu. He uses it in fights and Hashirama would have had to face it, and Madara's seems more potent than Itachi's due to being just as smart, but having a stronger and more potent chakra than Itachi does. Plus able to control a Perfect Jinchuriki, Kurama, or a genjutsu strong enough to replicate the effects of Tsukuyomi without even going MS.

You're a little mistaken here. Madara went into the fight with Hashirama expecting to lose, hence why he rigged his eye to use Izanagi a time after he died so he could bring himself back to life. Kirin is enhanced chakra lightning, a lot faster than 4-6 seconds. I would also doubt that many other characters could complete that feat while being: out of chakra, blind, and just about to die of a terminal illness. Actually, Kirin is natural lightning, which the manga said what it was made of. Its why Sasuke could use it even if his reserves were low, he was using nature itself to create and he just shaped it. And yes, it'd take 5-6 seconds to reach the ground considering how high up storm clouds are if we use the speed of lightning, it'd be just under hypersonic speeds.

Itachi's condition wasn't that bad at that juncture, my friends. The only thing that was affecting him at that point of the fight was his blindess, while his Chakra reserves were low, they weren't completely out of it. The moment he began using Susanoo for longer than intended however, he accelerated his illness to the point it killed him. Remember, unless you have the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, Susanoo eats away at your life force and chakra to maintain itself (as Sasuke commented, every cell in his body seemed to ache just maintaining it). Itachi's illness, which wasn't in the terminal stage before Susanoo, jumped up to the terminal stage because of his Susanoo usage. If he didn't use Susanoo, he'd have been able to die just of chakra exhaustion.