What Powers Did Sasuke Uchiha Akatsuki Gain From Orochimaru?

Man, that brotherly showdown in 'Naruto Shippuden' hits different. The Akatsuki member who challenged Sasuke after the timeskip was Itachi Uchiha — it’s essentially the moment the series had been building toward for years. He and Sasuke finally faced off in a brutal, emotionally-loaded duel that revealed a ton of backstory and shifted how you see both characters. Watching that fight felt like sitting through a storm: flashbacks, genjutsu, and all the tragic layers peeling back. I was rewatching it late one night with a mug of cold coffee and I kept rewinding the quieter beats — the way Itachi looked at Sasuke, the subtle pauses before huge moves. It’s not just a display of power; it’s the reveal of secrets about their clan, loyalty, and sacrifice. If you’re revisiting those arcs, pay attention to the aftermath scenes too — they’re quiet but important, and they change how the whole Akatsuki storyline feels to me.

I still get excited when I spot a clever twist on a character — and with Sasuke it's no different. Because Sasuke wasn't actually an Akatsuki member in canon, most of the merch that shows him in the black cloak or wearing the red-cloud motif is either alternate-universe art, crossover promotions, or fanmade pieces. That means the most common types you’ll see are mass-market figures (prize figures, chibi takes, and special-edition scales) and a surprising number of posters and art prints where artists reimagine him in Akatsuki garb. If you love hunting, check out keychains, enamel pins, and acrylic stands too — they’re cheap to produce as variant art so indie creators often give Sasuke the Akatsuki makeover. For more official-feeling items, Funko Pop variants or Banpresto prize figures sometimes dip into “what-if” aesthetics, and conventions/Etsy have custom cosplay cloaks and replica rings. I’ve bought a few acrylic stands at a con and a printed poster from an artist alley — both fun, affordable ways to collect that alternate-Sasuke vibe.

There's a lot of fan chatter about this, and I fall squarely on the side that Sasuke never officially wore the Akatsuki cloak in canon. When I go back to the manga panels in 'Naruto' and 'Naruto Shippuden', there’s no scene where Sasuke is inducted into Akatsuki or given the red-cloud cloak and ring the way Itachi and other members were. He does team up with — or at least interact with — people tied to Akatsuki (Tobi/Obito and others), but that’s not the same as membership. The organization’s visual markers are pretty strict: the red-cloud cloak, the straw hats in some missions, and the finger rings with specific kanji. Sasuke never sports those canonically. That said, I love scanning artbooks and game skins, and it’s common to find promotional illustrations, alternate costume skins in fighting games, or fan art showing Sasuke in an Akatsuki cloak. Those are fun what-ifs, but they don’t change the official storyline. If you want the real deal, stick to the manga and official databooks — they don’t list him as an Akatsuki member.

The way that battle ended always hits me in the chest — it wasn’t a clean-cut 'I outpowered you' moment. The fight between Sasuke and Itachi in 'Naruto Shippuden' was brutal and cinematic: Itachi used his Mangekyō Sharingan techniques (Tsukuyomi, Amaterasu) and full-body Susanoo to push Sasuke to the edge. Sasuke answered with his own sharingan-driven tactics and relentless offense, trying to break through genjutsu and those near-impenetrable defenses. But the real twist was that Itachi was already dying. He’d been sick for a long time and had planned much of the confrontation. He intentionally withheld killing intent at critical moments and subtly guided things so Sasuke would deliver the final strike. When Sasuke finally pierced Itachi’s chest, Itachi smiled briefly and collapsed — not because Sasuke suddenly surpassed him in a straight duel, but because Itachi wanted Sasuke to become the avenger and to free him from the burdens he carried. Later revelations show that Itachi orchestrated the outcome to protect his brother and the village, which reframes that whole battle as both tragic and painfully beautiful.

Watching Sasuke's departure always felt like watching a fuse burn down — tense and inevitable. I was hooked by how personal his motivations were: the Uchiha massacre left him hollow, obsessed with one thing — killing Itachi. Konoha’s comfort and the village’s rules felt like obstacles to him, not supports. When Orochimaru showed up with power, secret techniques, and a blunt promise to make him strong enough, Sasuke snapped. He wasn’t choosing ideology; he was choosing a shortcut to revenge. There’s also the social angle I can’t ignore: Sasuke saw Naruto’s friendship as weak consolation. Team 7’s approach — training, patience, and bonds — didn’t match his terror and impatience. Orochimaru offered a form of empowerment that Konoha wouldn’t, and Sasuke, desperate and prideful, took it. Later twists — Itachi’s real motives, Danzo’s role, all that political rot — make his choice tragic in hindsight, but in the moment, it made brutal sense to him and to me when I first read 'Naruto'.

Whenever I rewatch 'Naruto', Sasuke always steals a scene for me — not because he’s a textbook villain, but because he’s gloriously messy. He starts as a sympathetic tragic figure: trauma, obsession with revenge, and a warped sense of justice after Itachi. That sympathy doesn’t excuse what he does. He commits dark acts, abandons friends, fights against his village, and even forms alliances that lead to mass casualties. Those choices push him into antagonistic territory for a long stretch of the story. Still, calling him a straight-up villain feels too small. He’s more of an antihero with an extended villain phase. His motivations are personal and morally ambiguous rather than purely evil. He pursues goals that sometimes align with the greater good (destroying corrupt power structures) but uses methods that harm innocents. That tension — his charisma, intelligence, and tragic justification — is why he’s compelling. By the end of 'Naruto' and 'Naruto: Shippuden', he follows a redemption arc that feels earned: he reflects, fights alongside former enemies, and ultimately accepts a different future. I like him because he shows how messy redemption can be, not because he was ever purely heroic.

There are nights when I fall down rabbit holes of old forum threads and fanart tags, and the Sasuke-in-Akatsuki theories always pull me in. One popular strand imagines him using the group as a tool: he supposedly joins not out of ideology but to access the network and resources to hunt down the real manipulators—think of it as infiltrating a crime family to find the kingpin. In that version, the Akatsuki is a means to an end for revenge, information, and the tailed beasts, not a genuine alignment with their goals. Another camp paints Sasuke as a philosophical saboteur. He adopts their methods to accelerate his own plan to burn the old shinobi system and rebuild it on Uchiha terms. Some fans tie this to deeper manipulation by figures like Madara or Black Zetsu, suggesting Sasuke is either being used or is pretending to be used in order to turn things on their head. Honestly, I love how these theories let you read scenes from 'Naruto' and 'Naruto Shippuden' differently—every shadowed meeting suddenly has layers of chessboard strategy and emotional cost, like a tragedy disguised as a tactical choice.

I still get chills thinking about those tense moments in 'Naruto' and 'Naruto Shippuden' where Sasuke crosses paths with Akatsuki members — but here's the important thing up front: Sasuke never officially becomes part of the Akatsuki. What you do see are encounters, brief alignments of convenience, and a handful of dramatic confrontations where he’s working against or alongside individual members for his own goals. If you want episode checkpoints to watch: focus on the 'Itachi Pursuit' arc in 'Naruto Shippuden' (the build-up runs roughly from the low 100s into the 130s), the big brothers’ fight (the climactic duel between Sasuke and Itachi happens around the high 130s), and the Deidara clash a bit earlier in that chase sequence. Those are the moments where Akatsuki figures are central and Sasuke’s relationship with them is most dramatic. Personally, I binged those arcs on two late nights and it felt like watching a slow-motion train crash — you can see his motivations collide with theirs in every frame.