Board Thread:Versus Debates/@comment-26636534-20180830184727/@comment-26636534-20181006213754

@Combat

The reason I'm talking about mobility, or in this case the lack thereof, is that is the best way to determine if there is a speed feat or not. If someone outmaneuvers, out-speeds or outruns someone else, we can definitely say the first is faster. Reaction speed is not equivalent to this for obvious reasons.

The main reason it isn't, is due to the nature of the reaction. A shinobi needs to "see" an attack in order to react to it properly. If they cannot sense an attack, or they are out of chakra, jutsu is on cooldown, then they can't react. It's not a direct indication of superior speed when talking about reaction speed.

1) But what does the question mark mean exactly? Orochimaru could be surprised that Itachi doesn't allow him to finish his monologue. Or that he thinks Itachi has lost his cool and is enraged. There is no direct indication. On Orochimaru laughing the attack off, the eight branches technique was cut down by the TB. Orochimaru had seen this and concluded the TB was just a regular chakra blade.

2) That's actually a good point you bring up about Nagato repelling TB. Something I noticed from recently watching the Pain vs Jiraiya fight comes to mind though. ch377, pg 15, Jiraiya fighting SPoP(3) and blindsides a Pain in a smoke cloud. Shared vision is active and the Pain blocks the attack, due to the animal path seeing the silhouettes of Jiraiya and the Pain in the smoke cloud.

ch551, pg 14, smoke cloud in front of Nagato. Shared vision is no longer active. Notice no silhouette from Itachi, Bee or Naruto present. That indicates to me that Nagato couldn't see and therefore he couldn't sense the attack in time. More of a blindside than a speed feat.