How much older is Itachi than Sasuke in Naruto? Age difference, explained

Fans still consider Itachi Uchiha to be one of the strongest characters to have appeared in the Naruto franchise. However, as fans would know, his brother Sasuke wasn't far off in strength than him. This accounts for the fact that he later donned both the Mangekyo Sharingan and Rinnegan.

With the Uchiha siblings being quite close to each other in strength, it is quite normal for fans to wonder about their age difference. Given that Itachi seemed quite old when Sasuke was born, fans find it confusing to decipher their age difference. Thus, here we will take a look at the same.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers of Naruto franchise.

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Naruto: What is the age difference between Itachi and Sasuke?

Itachi witnessed Sasuke's birth when he was five years old (Image via Studio Pierrot)

Itachi Uchiha was five years older than Sasuke Uchiha. At age 5, he witnessed destruction and death during the Third Shinobi World War. Following that, he became Sasuke's older brother when he was 5 years old.

Years after, when Itachi was 13 years old, he, alongside Obito Uchiha, committed the Uchiha Massacre. At the time, Sasuke was 7 years old. While their age difference at the time looked six, that was only because Itachi's birthday had passed and Sasuke was yet to turn 8 years old.

Itachi and Sasuke during the Uchiha Massacre (Image via Studio Pierrot)

Itachi's birthday was on June 9, while Sasuke's birthday was on July 23. This means that the Uchiha Massacre took place somewhere between the two dates.

Meanwhile, in Naruto Shippuden, Sasuke Uchiha was initially 16 years old but later turned 17 with time. This is further supported by the fact that the war concluded on October 10, which happens to be Naruto's 17th birthday. Given that Sasuke was born a few months prior to Naruto, it is evident that Sasuke had already reached the age of 17.

Sasuke and Itachi as seen in the Naruto anime (Image via Studio Pierrot)

Regarding Itachi Uchiha, his life was cut short at the age of 21 when he passed away following his defeat by Sasuke in their climactic battle. Given that Sasuke was 17 years old by the end of the series, it means that Itachi was killed before June 9 of the same year. This is why he did not turn 22 in the series.

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Why did Itachi Uchiha commit the Uchiha Massacre?

Itachi Uchiha killing his parents (Image via Studio Pierrot)

Itachi Uchiha was a double agent for the Anbu Black Ops leader Danzo, Uchiha Clan head and his father, Fugaku Uchiha. During his time as a spy, he believed that he was working to preserve peace in the Hidden Leaf Village. Thus, when he found out that people of his clan were planning a coup d'état against the Hidden Leaf Village, he informed the same to Danzo.

Upon analyzing the idea of an internal war, Danzo was certain that the war could not be stopped without bloodshed. Hence, he ordered Itachi to massacre the entire Uchiha clan. While he was reluctant at first, he got manipulated into the same after the death of Shisui Uchiha. Thus, he massacred his clan people with Obito Uchiha and managed to get his brother Sasuke Uchiha to be spared.