Naruto's Uchiha Clan Massacre is one of the biggest incidents in the Big Three anime, as it managed to create the legacy of one of the most popular characters of the series, Itachi Uchiha. While fans consider him to be one of the best characters in the series, a fanart depicting the infamous massacre painted a cruel picture of him.
Ever since the original series, Itachi Uchiha has been known as the villainous older brother of Sasuke. He had massacred the entire Uchiha Clan and joined the Akatsuki.
Later, when the reason behind the massacre was revealed, fans quickly became his supporters, showing massive respect for the character. However, recent fanart helped depict what fans were ignoring while cheering for the character.
Naruto fanart depicts the Uchiha Clan Massacre in a way no one imagined
While Naruto fans knew that Itachi Uchiha committed genocide, they seemed to instantly forgive him after learning why he committed such a tragedy. In the original series, fans were told that Itachi killed the entire Uchiha clan on his own. However, in Naruto Shippuden, it was revealed that he had some help.
In reality, Obito Uchiha attacked the Konoha Police Force Headquarters, as shown in the anime, and slaughtered the Uchiha Clan's military side. Meanwhile, Itachi Uchiha slaughtered the civilian portion of the clan. It meant that Itachi seemingly attacked and killed defenseless people as they showed little to no resistance.
The anime only showed Itachi killing his parents; thus, it completely skipped over the parts where he killed defenseless Uchiha children. Therefore, one fan decided to depict the scenes with fanart, which rightly showed the cruelty Itachi was capable of. Given that he was committing genocide, the fanart isn't far off from what happened.
That said, there is a good possibility that considering the Shinobi's large arsenal of jutsu, he may have chosen a much less cruel method.
How fans reacted to the fanart
Fans instantly flooded the comment, stating how absurd it was that fans defended his actions. It was obvious from the get-go that Itachi had ruthlessly murdered children. The same was also evident from the dead bodies of children shown in the background.
However, instantly after his past was revealed in the anime, Naruto fans began supporting him and believing that he was right for making such a decision.
As per them, Itachi's legacy was not hurt because of a fanart, but due to the actions he committed after making a seemingly "rational" decision.
Even in the comments, one could see Naruto fans defending Itachi's actions. It is true that if Itachi hadn't done that, countless people would have lost their lives all around the Hidden Leaf Village.
However, there might have been a better way to deal with the situation than killing innocent Uchiha clan members. That said, Itachi fans seemed to ignore such a possibility, stating that the character made the right decision.
Meanwhile, other fans tried to understand the gravity of the situation. Itachi Uchiha was only 13 years old during the Uchiha Clan Massacre, so it was difficult for fans to fathom that such a young boy took it upon himself to commit genocide. With that, they garnered a new image of Itachi's past.