Ghost in the Shell
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This will be part 1 in a series of threads in which I will make several slightly controversial claims in regards to a matchup between these two shinobi. The next part will be how Kakashi without offensive Kamui can defeat MS Itachi.
Preface: Ever since I joined NB, I have noticed several things pertaining to VS matchups and counters that I disagree with. One such notion is the belief that Kakashi cannot beat Itachi by virtue of not being able to counter the latter's arsenal. There is some truth to this; Susano'o equipped with Totsuka and Yata, Tsukuyomi, and Amaterasu are all pretty much above anything Kakashi has to offer in power bar Kamui (boring ass version of Kamui imo u_u). However, brute force isn't always needed to counter brute force, and Kakashi is one such shinobi that really shines in finese and maximizing the utility of what he has. That will be addressed in my next thread. In this thread, I will set out to prove that 3T Kakashi actually surpassed 3T Itachi in power. No, this isn't a thread to rustle all the Itachi fans out there. I am personally a fan of both characters, and I know their strengths and weaknesses very well. I'll try to be unbiased as possible while explaining my reasoning. All I ask is that you as the user read this with an open mind.
3T Itachi's abilities
-Mastery of 3T genjutsu and precognition
- Ephemeral and Dusk Crow Genjutsu
- Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique, Phoenix Sage Nail Crimson (katon chakra flow thru weapons), Phoenix Sage Fire Technique
- Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet, Water Fang Bullet
- Kage Bunshins, Karasu Bunshins, Daibakuha Bunshins
- Mastery of CQC fighting styles such as taijutsu and kenjutsu
- Known speedster with a 5/5
- Ephemeral and Dusk Crow Genjutsu
- Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique, Phoenix Sage Nail Crimson (katon chakra flow thru weapons), Phoenix Sage Fire Technique
- Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet, Water Fang Bullet
- Kage Bunshins, Karasu Bunshins, Daibakuha Bunshins
- Mastery of CQC fighting styles such as taijutsu and kenjutsu
- Known speedster with a 5/5
3T Kakashi's abilities
- Mastery of 3T genjutsu and precognition
- Lightning Release: Raikiri, Lightning Chain, Lightning Wolf, Shadow Clone, raiton chakra flow through weapons
- Water Release: Water Clone, Water Formation Wall, Water Shark Bullet, Water Dragon Bullet, Great Waterfall Technique
- Earth Release: Earth Wall, Hiding Like a Mole, Tracking Fang Technique
- Kage Bunshins, Rasengan, can open the first of the eight gates
- Mastery of CQC fighting styles such as taijutsu and kenjutsu
- Known speedster with a 4.5/5 (this is a tad outdated with recent feats)
- Lightning Release: Raikiri, Lightning Chain, Lightning Wolf, Shadow Clone, raiton chakra flow through weapons
- Water Release: Water Clone, Water Formation Wall, Water Shark Bullet, Water Dragon Bullet, Great Waterfall Technique
- Earth Release: Earth Wall, Hiding Like a Mole, Tracking Fang Technique
- Kage Bunshins, Rasengan, can open the first of the eight gates
- Mastery of CQC fighting styles such as taijutsu and kenjutsu
- Known speedster with a 4.5/5 (this is a tad outdated with recent feats)
Ninjutsu
Kakashi is superior by a wide margin when it comes to ninjutsu. To start off, Itachi has 2 elements (katon and suiton) that he has above average proficiency with, while Kakashi has 3 (raiton, suiton, and doton) in which one of he is a master, another he is a highly adept user, and the last he has above average proficiency with. Suiton and Doton alone counter and/or overpower all of Itachi's elemental techniques. Consider this:
- Kakuzu Arc Kakashi's
- Itachi's suiton is rather weak compared to other proficient users like Kakashi. He can use it without a water source, but
- Kakashi is a master of Lightning Release and is one of the best raiton users in the manga. He also has the ability to use the Rasengan and Kage Bunshins.
Now, Itachi does have some useful auxiliary jutsus like his crow clone and his exploding shadow clone, but they do not put Itachi above Kakashi in ninjutsu let alone even close the gap in skill, especially when Kakashi can counter with clones of his own.
Verdict: Kakashi >> Itachi in ninjutsu
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used without a water source managed to stop Kakuzu's Katon/Fuuton combo despite being evaporated; the katon ceased to advance [
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]. Kakuzu's collaboration technique by power and AoE far surpasses Sasuke's curse mark enhanced fireball, which in turn surpassed Itachi's fire technique [
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]. By scaling and power progression, War Arc Kakashi's water won't stalemate Itachi's fire. It'll overpower it with ease since a vastly inferior Kakuzu Arc Kakashi's water wall already could overpower it. Then we also have Kakashi's thick
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which he can form without hand seals, an element noted to have resistance to fire techniques, and simply going underground via Hiding Like a Mole [
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].- Itachi's suiton is rather weak compared to other proficient users like Kakashi. He can use it without a water source, but
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that he used as an Edo wasn't much bigger than Kakuzu Arc Kakashi's water wall, which isn't very good considering that water dragon is supposed to be a slightly better technique on a wider scale. Applying power progression and scaling, War Arc Kakashi's suiton should be much better and larger in AoE than earlier versions of Kakashi since Part 1 Kakashi's
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used with a water source was smaller than Kakuzu Arc Kakashi's suiton wall used without one. We also have to account for Kakashi's significant stamina increase which plays a role in the scale of elemental ninjutsu. - Kakashi is a master of Lightning Release and is one of the best raiton users in the manga. He also has the ability to use the Rasengan and Kage Bunshins.
Now, Itachi does have some useful auxiliary jutsus like his crow clone and his exploding shadow clone, but they do not put Itachi above Kakashi in ninjutsu let alone even close the gap in skill, especially when Kakashi can counter with clones of his own.
Verdict: Kakashi >> Itachi in ninjutsu
CQC
I believe Kakashi and Itachi stalemate each other here like they already did in canon. Both are actually very similar in regards to taijutsu and kenjutsu, and both make basic weapons like shuriken and kunais look more powerful than they are due to their superior skill. Furthermore, both have a 4.5 out of 5 score in taijutsu. However, it's conceivable that Kakashi gains the edge in CQC via flowing the Raikiri through his shinobi weapons [
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]-[
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] to enhance piercing power and strength even above Itachi's katon flow since Raikiri chakra flow >>
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= basic elemental chakra flow [
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]. We also have the fact that Kakashi is stronger than Itachi by feats, since he fought with the Kubikiribōchō (heavy ass sword) for a long while. Strength plays a factor in a kenjutsu fights.Verdict: Kakashi >= Itachi in CQC
Genjutsu
Kakashi has the sharingan if people didn't know, which grants him the ability to see through non MS and above illusions. He countered Obito in genjutsu completely in their fight [
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], a 3T genjutsu master. Someone who was capable of using the ultimate 3T genjutsu, Izanagi; someone who was capable of controlling the Kyūbi and the 4th Mizukage. It's safe to say that no illusion Itachi has below Tsukuyomi will affect 3T Kakashi,
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. Genjutsu is a non factor, but if Itachi decides to use it, it'll be countered with another 3T illusion as seen with Kakashi vs. Obito and Sasuke vs. Itachi. Many posters tend to underrate Kakashi's 3T genjutsu but to break good illusions, a shinobi must be able to cast good illusions as well, and vice versa. Verdict: Kakashi < Itachi in genjutsu overall due to Itachi's versatility with Ephemeral and the crows but this advantage becomes null in a 1v1 between dojutsu users.
Speed
By feats Itachi is slightly faster but the margin isn't wide enough to be a factor. A tired and already injured Kakuzu Arc Kakashi had one of his best shunshun feats to date when he dodged Kakuzu's fuuton and intercepted Raiton Gian [
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], which is hyped to be an extremely fast technique, from some distance away. War Arc Kakashi is indeed faster and he's already had his speed hyped up by
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.Verdict: Itachi >= Kakashi in speed
Clone Feints
Both shinobi have a penchant for intergrating clone feint during their fights, and very few make it look so flawless. However, Kakashi is the clone feint king here by feats. For one, Kakashi has a better technique to utilize clone feints with, which is his raiton kage bunshins that paralyzes his foe on contact, even though karasu bunshins are indeed useful themselves. Kakashi has actually fooled Itachi twice before using
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and
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respectively. Conversely, Kakashi actually saw through Itachi's bunshin daibakuha feint in the latter scan, meaning that the former will not be so susceptible to getting feinted. Before anyone says that he got clone feinted by Zabuza in part 1 I know he did, but clearly we aren't talking about an out of shape and rusty Kakashi that hadn't really partaken in many serious missions or battles in a long while at the time. Verdict: Kakashi > Itachi in clone feints
Intelligence
Kakashi gets the nod here. Both he and Itachi are among the smartest and most strategically acute shinobi in the NV, but the same story as told with Clone Feints applies here. Kakashi is a superior strategist, tactician, and also has more experience. We've already seen Kakashi execute good startegies against Itachi himself. We've already seen that Kakashi completely deciphered Itachi's front after he used Tsukuyomi in Part 1
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. We've already seen that Pain Arc Kakashi nearly beat Tendō and Shuradō by a clone feint if backup hadn't shown up in such an inopportune time [
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-[
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](he then came up with another strategy with the Akimichi that nearly beat Tendō). We've already seen Kakashi discern the mechanics of Obito's Kamui with no intel beforehand and subsequently came up with an effective battle strategy to combat against it. Verdict: Kakashi > Itachi in intelligence
How Kakashi beats Itachi with medium difficulty.
In a battle of ninjutsu, Itachi won't hold a candle to Kakashi. With all of his arsenal and illusions completely countered, Itachi will probably resort to using clone feints and bunshin daibakuha to kill Kakashi or try to gain the upperhand in CQC. However, as we have seen in the manga, Kakashi has superior battle acumen and will most likely mobilize his own strategy and/or place his clone feint(s) before Itachi does, as he canonically did twice in their confrontations. Kakashi has also already shown that he can counter clone feints himself, and can already discern the subtle nuances of clone feints due to, well, being a consummate master of clone feints himself. Raikiri streaming at close range may help tip the scales in Kakashi's favor in CQC as well. I see this battle ending with Itachi killed by Raikiri or a Raikiri weapon or weapons after being paralyzed by a raiton kage bunshin or Lightning Wolf fired from another angle via clone misdirections.
So all in all, 3T Kakashi surpassed 3T Itachi in power, and also beats him with moderate difficulty to further prove it. Same story with Edo 3T Itachi if Kakashi gets sealing tags. The tables have completely turned.
***Note: I did not include Izanami because frankly, that is an illusion on a much higher level than orthodox 3T genjutsu. Even so, Izanami isn't enough to close the gap in power between the two, and I doubt an alive Itachi would ever consider using such a jutsu at the cost of one of his eyes which are the source of his power unless circumstance dictates that he does, which it often will not.
Edit: Actually, and in light of Chie and SkyFall25's (Conspirator) points regarding Izanami, I'll just unrestrict it, because it'll have no effect nor will it be of any use against someone who isn't tryng to hide from his true self or anything of the sort. This jutsu actually can probably only be used in very special circumstances as well, because I'm pretty sure most relevant shinobi in the series have their lives in order in terms of self-realization. Doesn't close the gap in power either anyway, so, that's another thing Itachi doesn't have on Kakashi.
THIS IS WAR ARC 3T KAKASHI VS. 3T ITACHI, NARUTOBASE POSTERS. WAR ARC. COMPRENDE?
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