How Did Itachi Manga Influence Later Naruto Arcs?

Some nights I flip through Itachi's scenes and feel like his story is a sideways timeline that stitches itself into the main 'Naruto' saga. At its core, the Itachi-focused material—especially 'Itachi Shinden' and the related novels—belongs before most of the events you see in 'Naruto' Part I: it's the backstory that explains why he left Konoha, why the Uchiha massacre happened, and why he joined Akatsuki. Those novels and their manga adaptations fill in childhood, ANBU years, and the tense build-up to the massacre. If you want a reading order that keeps emotional impact, I usually tell friends to read the main 'Naruto' manga through Itachi's first appearances and his confrontation with Konoha, then dive into 'Itachi Shinden' after you've felt the mystery. That way the flashbacks land heavier. Then continue into 'Naruto Shippuden' where the truth about Itachi is revealed more fully and his final arc is played out. The adaptations of 'Itachi Shinden' that showed up in the 'Naruto Shippuden' anime slot are also great if you like the animated mood. Personally, I love how those side works don't just retcon things; they illuminate motivations and make the original scenes richer. If you care about pacing, treat the Itachi manga/novels as prequel supplements that enhance rather than replace the main timeline.

I still get chills thinking about how the manga teases and then slowly reveals Itachi’s life — it isn’t in one neat chunk, it’s spread across several arcs. The biggest, most emotional chunk is during the late 300s of the 'Naruto' chapters (roughly the high 380s to low 390s): that’s where the Itachi–Sasuke confrontation happens and where most of Itachi’s motives, the Uchiha coup hints, and his last conversations get shown in flashback style. After that fight, his background continues to be filled in across the later sequences (mid-to-high 400s in the manga) where you see flashbacks about Shisui, the order from the village leadership, and the ugly politics that pushed Itachi into his terrible choice. There are also earlier small hints scattered in the Part I/early Part II chapters, so if you’re reading straight through you’ll notice pieces falling into place before the big reveals. If you want a clean re-read, follow the high-380s through low-390s first, then jump to the mid-400s sections for the fuller explanation — and don’t miss the tie-ins in the war arc that cement his legacy.

I still get a little chill thinking about how Itachi was built up and then slowly peeled back in 'Naruto'. His first big impact for me was when he showed up in the village with Kisame — that cold, composed entrance where you suddenly realize this isn't some cookie-cutter villain. The Akatsuki debut scene set the tone: menace wrapped in calm, and it made every later flashback and revelation land harder. The flashback to the Uchiha clan massacre is the emotional cornerstone. Learning that he carried out the slaughter, yet spared Sasuke, reframed him from simple antagonist to tragic protector. His use of Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu in confrontations, and especially his Susanoo manifesting the Totsuka Blade and the Yata Mirror, are visually and thematically iconic — they're the ‘this is a legend’ moments that fans quote and redraw forever. Two other scenes that haunt me: the Izanami trap he uses on Kabuto to force the undoing of Edo Tensei, and his final fight with Sasuke where he dies. The Kabuto sequence is clever, showing Itachi's mind-games and sacrificial streak; the Sasuke duel is cinematic and heartbreaking, with the reveal after his death (and later during the war when he's reanimated) turning guilt into a profound, morally complex form of love. Whenever I reread those chapters in 'Naruto' or revisit the 'Itachi Shinden' extras, I always end up thinking about how the series uses one character to blur right and wrong in a way few shonen do.

I still get a little giddy flipping through my battered 'Naruto' volumes when I hunt for Itachi panels. For me the top picks are the big, cinematic moments: the Susanoo reveal with the Totsuka Blade and Yata Mirror (that silhouette is a must-have for any visual collection), the close-up where his Mangekyō activates with the swirling pattern in his eyes, and the quiet panel where he rests a hand on Sasuke's head — it carries so much subtext in one frame. Those three capture power, mystery, and tragedy in different ways. If I were curating a small gallery, I'd also chase the crow-genjutsu panels (especially the ones where the crow breaks away) and the final smile moments during his last confrontation. To make them collector-worthy I look for clean prints: first-run tankoubon color pages, original Weekly Jump pages if they pop up, or high-res scans from official artbooks. I mount them on acid-free board, use UV-protective glass, and keep them out of direct sunlight. Framing them with a narrow black mat elevates the manga panels into something gallery-ready, and honestly, seeing that Susanoo across from my desk still gets me every time.

There's a warm, bittersweet feeling every time I flip between the manga panels and the anime episodes of 'Naruto' when it comes to Itachi. The core story—his motives, the Uchiha massacre, his complicated bond with Sasuke, and the big reveals—stays faithful to Masashi Kishimoto's original work. In the manga you're getting terse, perfectly framed panels that deliver beats with surgical precision; the anime, on the other hand, breathes around those beats with music, motion, and a lot more facial nuance. What really sold Itachi for me in the animation was the atmosphere: timing of cuts, lingering on his eyes, a swell of score when a truth lands. The anime pads scenes sometimes—flashbacks stretch, filler episodes add side interactions—but most of those additions lean sympathetic rather than contradictory. So if you want the pure narrative, read the manga. If you want to feel the full chill in his silence and the thunder in his fights, the anime amplifies those emotions dramatically. Either way, his tragic dignity comes through, and I still get quietly teary at his last moments no matter the format.

I've been hunting down Itachi stuff for years, and honestly the cleanest legal route is through the official 'Naruto' releases. Most of Itachi's story appears in the main 'Naruto' manga, which Viz Media publishes in English — you can read those digitally on the Viz website or via the Shonen Jump app (subscription is cheap and gives access to the whole catalog). I like this because the translation quality is consistent and the pages are properly formatted, unlike dodgy scans. If you want physical copies, bookstores and online retailers sell the collected tankōbon volumes of 'Naruto' (they include all the Itachi arcs). For side materials like the 'Itachi Shinden' novels or special one-shots, check Viz’s shop and major retailers like Amazon Kindle or Barnes & Noble — availability can change, but these are the places that carry official English translations. Libraries and services like Hoopla or OverDrive/Libby sometimes have volumes too, which is awesome if you want to preview without buying. I avoid pirate scan sites now — supporting official releases keeps the creators and translators working. If you're unsure whether a site is legit, look for the Viz or Shueisha logos or well-known retailers.

When I flip through the panels that made me fall for 'Naruto', the one name that keeps popping up is Masashi Kishimoto — he’s the creator and the primary illustrator behind the manga scenes of Itachi. Those haunting Itachi close-ups, the Sharingan glare, the sparse yet intense panels? Those are Kishimoto’s work. He conceived the character, sequenced the scenes, and drew most of the iconic moments across the original 'Naruto' and 'Naruto: Shippuden' manga runs. That said, manga production is a group effort. Kishimoto had a team of assistants who helped with backgrounds, inking, toning, and touch-ups, so some pages were collaborative. When the story moved to animation, Studio Pierrot adapted Kishimoto's designs — and people like Tetsuya Nishio and dozens of animators handled the on-screen looks, so the anime Itachi sometimes reads a bit different from the manga. If you ever want to see exact credits, check the author notes pages in the manga volumes or the staff listings in each anime episode — they’ll show who worked on which version.

Man, whenever I watch the Itachi scenes in 'Naruto' I get that chill — his Amaterasu always felt like a rule-breaking force of nature. From the manga side (and the official databook notes that most fans cite), Amaterasu is presented pretty strictly: it’s a Mangekyō Sharingan technique that ignites black flames on the focal point the user chooses, and those flames will burn relentlessly until the target is incinerated, sealed, or the user puts them out. That gives the power a clear limitation structure — it isn’t limitless, it’s governed by use of the eye (line of sight, activation), by the user’s chakra and ocular stamina, and by very specific counters like sealing tools or other ocular/space–time techniques that can absorb or banish the flames. In contrast, the anime sometimes treats Amaterasu more like a visual spectacle and less like a rigid mechanic. I’ve noticed anime-only scenes and some director choices that make the flames look more controllable, or show them being extinguished by non-canonical things (weather, sudden visual cuts, or generic water effects in fillers). The manga is tighter: you see clear instances where space–time ninjutsu like Kamui can take the flames away, and Susanoo’s legendary defenses (think Yata Mirror/Totsuka in lore) can block or seal attacks — those are canonical counters. Also, the strain on the user is emphasized more in manga panels and data notes: repeated Mangekyō use accelerates ocular deterioration, which is a real limiting factor for Itachi when he’s spamming Amaterasu. My take? I prefer the manga’s rules for clarity — it makes fights feel like chess with concrete counters — but the anime’s flair adds drama. If you’re trying to decide “what actually limits Itachi’s Amaterasu,” go with the manga/databook baseline: it’s limited by activation (eye use, line of sight), chakra/ocular stamina, and specific counters (sealing, absorption by space–time techniques, or Susanoo-level defenses). If you watch the anime, just be ready to see visual variations and filler quibbles that sometimes bend those rules for spectacle.