Itachi's fate is the most tragic in shonen (and this small detail in Naruto proves it)

Naruto is filled with characters that have gone through hardship but Itachi's fate is the one that could be the most tragic in the story. Sasuke Uchiha's older brother was depicted as a cold-blooded, genocidal maniac for most of his life. However, author Masashi Kishimoto pulled off one of the biggest plot twists in anime history by revealing Itachi as a good guy after his death.

Itachi's fate is deeply connected to major events in the story and shows how dark Naruto can get as a series. He was someone that had to kill his own family for the greater good, with the reasons still being debated even after the series ended. This new detail in social media shows how messed up the situation was for the young Uchiha.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the Naruto series.

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Understanding the tragic nature of Itachi's fate in Naruto

Itachi's massacre of the Uchiha clan is his character-defining moment and, in a way, Sasuke's as well. The older one of the Uchiha brothers was ordered by the leadership of Konoha, manipulated by Danzo, to slaughter his clan as they were planning to revolt, although this situation, ironically, would end up causing a lot more hardship to the shinobi world.

For most of early Naruto, the audience views Itachi through the same lens as Sasuke: a murderer who was ruthless enough to kill his own family. It isn't until after his death that Obito Uchiha reveals the truth to Sasuke (and the audience): that Itachi was a good guy and that he had killed his family against his free will to secure peace at Konoha.

This recent fanart on Twitter shows how he even had to go as far as killing the children of the clan, which is a very strong and traumatic element of Itachi's fate. After all, he was only a teenager at the time and was tasked with committing genocide against his own family while being depicted as a criminal and hated by his brother.

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The morality of the decision and its consequences

Itachi's final moments with Sasuke before dying (Image via Studio Pierrot).

Naruto is a series that goes very deep with connecting many different plot threads and Itachi's fate is a very good example of that approach. His decision to murder the Uchiha clan was connected with Danzo, the Akatsuki organization, and the decades-long plan that both Obito and Madara Uchiha had been working on, so is a key moment in the story.

Fans still ask themselves if the people in charge at Konoha made the right call by slaughtering the Uchiha and, especially, handing the duty to Itachi, one of their own. However, there is also a fair argument to be made that they were clan destined to create chaos, and Naruto as a story only proved this point throughout the years.

Sasuke, Obito, and Madara were three of the biggest antagonists in the series, causing damage to the shinobi world for decades. So it makes sense that Danzo, despite how morally corrupted he was, had a point regarding this. All of this only makes Itachi's actions all the more tragic and traumatic for him, which is something that haunted him for the rest of his life.

His dear brother hated him, the village he defended thought he was a crazy criminal, had to work undercover for a terrorist organization, and had to die knowing that Sasuke only wanted to kill him. Itachi's fate is filled with tragedy and hardship, to the point that his being brought back to life and telling his brother that he loves him is the only saving grace he got.

The worst part of this story regarding Naruto is that Itachi was only handed this task because he was strong and loyal to the Leaf Village. While just a teenager, he was given one of the worst possible orders to execute and then had to live the rest of his life being viewed as a monster by the one person he loved the most and is responsible for traumatizing him forever.

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Final thoughts

Itachi saying goodbye to Sasuke (Image via Studio Pierrot).

Itachi's fate is one of the most known in Naruto and anime as a whole. He had to commit a heinous act for the greater good and was hated even by his brother because of it and never asked for anything in return. While there are debates regarding the Uchiha massacre even to this day, Itachi's story is one of the most interesting in the entire series.