Board Thread:Theories and Speculation/@comment-31099706-20170327120301/@comment-734582-20170328110217

J spencer93 wrote: Um Itachi wasn't trying to kill him. That is actually stated. Not sure why that is even trying to be refuted. My point is that he wasn't exactly holding back. Sure he could've finished Sasuke at certain moments (IE he could've stabbed Sasuke with the Totsuka blade in stead of Orochimaru), but the attacks he used, he wasn't holding back. He burned Sasuke with Amaterasu and only stopped when he thought he was dead (or close to it). He poked Sasuke's eyes out in Tsukuyome. This isn't someone going easy on him.

So no, he wasn't exactly going easy on Sasuke, other than not finishing when he had the chance.