Itachi only appeared in 24 episodes and stole the show, it’s safe to say he's one of the best characters.

Very rarely an anime makes a character like itachi. They might not be the strongest or live until the very end but they always have wisdom and answers for the main character and influence the story to a great extent. Itachi is the only one to ever out talk no jutsu naruto, he was sasuke’s hatred and love, the shadow hokage that protected the leaf from a distance. Naruto’s hidden ally in the darkness, orochimaru’s aspiration, He had one of the biggest influences on all the events that unfolded. He got praise from madara calling him a capable shinobi for undoing the edo tensei, hashirama called him a better shinobi than himself. Hiruzen said he thought like a hokage at the age of 7. He was the last man Kisame remembered before he died. He won second fan favorite character in the world wide character poll last year with half a million votes. The G.O.A.T Itachi.