Naruto: Did Itachi have cancer? Mystery illness, explained

Itachi Uchiha might not have had much screen time in the Naruto series, but he certainly had an impact on the overall plot. He is arguably one of the most talented shinobis who could have been far stronger than he was in his prime. This is because the show mentioned that Itachi had a mysterious illness that limited his growth and didn’t allow him to grow stronger after a point in the series.

Since the show didn’t provide a solid explanation as to why this was the case, fans have come up with numerous theories to possibly explain this mysterious illness. Some fans believe this was cancer, while others believe it could be something else. Based on the symptoms displayed, let’s look at the list of possible diseases Itachi could have had in the Naruto series.

Disclaimer: All external media belongs to their respective owners and Sportskeeda claims no ownership of the same.

---

Did Itachi really have cancer in the Naruto series?

When Itachi first showed signs of sickness, he coughed up blood that had the entire fanbase worried. Now many fans were quick to theorize what it could possibly be. They were quick to jump to the conclusion that this was a form of cancer and the shinobi could not be cured of this illness. However, based on the symptoms that were shown in the series, it doesn’t seem like it was cancer.

Many fans initially thought this was a respiratory illness from which he was suffering. They even believed that it had something to do with his lungs, which is why there was a lot of blood on his hands every time he coughed. Another set of fans mentioned that it could also be Tuberculosis and since the villages weren’t technologically advanced, it’s unlikely for them to be able to identify what was causing him the problem.

However, there is another angle that most Naruto fans take when it comes to Itachi’s mysterious illness. This is similar to when Naruto seemed to have had an illness, and Sakura discovered that it was because of his chakra pipe narrowing down. The Kyuubi chakra is only supposed to stream through Naruto’s chakra pipeline when the Tailed Beast intends on lending it. However, since this happened way too frequently, his chakra pipeline considered the Tailed Beast chakra as a foreign object and constricted the valves to reject it.

Similarly, Itachi’s mysterious illness could be due to him overusing his Mangekyou Sharingan. Using the eye's abilities quite often can lead to the clogging of the chakra pipeline, leading to Itachi coughing up blood when he uses a Susanoo. It is considered one of the best techniques any Uchiha can use with a Mangekyou Sharingan in the Naruto series. Technically, this should apply to Sasuke as well. But, the reason why Sasuke didn’t suffer the same way was probably because of the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan.

However, all the information mentioned above are fan theories; therefore, the fanbase is advised to take this information with a grain of salt.