Tobi has proven countless of times that he is an extremely intelligent and well-versed man, and possibly the smartest man currently alive in the Narutoverse. He's managed to manipulate some of the strongest ninjas into doing his complete bidding, while has just been working in the shadows, letting his minions do all of the dirty work. Contrary to what many think, this does not make him a coward. This makes him smart. Why get your hands dirty to accomplish something when someone else can do it for you? And now here's some of Tobi's intelligence and manipulation feats:
1. He manipulated Nagato and most of the Akatsuki into doing his bidding. He was pulling the strings of the entire Akatsuki, and no one (except for Nagato and Konan) was aware of it. All he had to do was sit back and relax while the Bijuus were pretty much captured and delivered straight to him. This shows how manipulative and smart he is.
2. He used Nagato as a tool with the Rinnegan. Tobi let Nagato do all of the dirty work and take the big hits, such as being impaled by Gedo Mazo and invading Konoha, and all he had to do was manipulate him with thoughts of peace. He apparently had a whole plan involving Nagato's Rinne Tensei. Though the plan did fail, he still got many Bijuus in his hands due to this.
3. He knows a lot about the past of the Shinobi world. He knows almost everything about the Sage, everything about the Uchiha, and a lot of other things. He's well versed about many techniques, making him pretty dang smart. He's been shown to know about many Sharingan techniques, and seems to know how to counter some of them (Kamui).
4. He knew exactly when to attack Konoha, and how do it. Granted that his plan eventually failed, he still achieved in bringing about the deaths of Minato and Kushina. He somehow knew when Kushina was going to give birth, and he knew exactly what to do in order to make his attack a success. Also, he somehow managed to figure out that the birth was even going to happen. This shows how smart he is.
5. He's manipulated Sasuke through his story telling and manipulation. By telling him about Itachi's real past, he was able to convince Sasuke into fighting for him. And through Sasuke, he achieved Danzo's death. He also apparently has some plan with Sasuke, involving Gedo Mazo. He's used Sasuke as is puppet, and all he has had to do was pull the strings.
6. He's smart in battle. This is shown when he fought Minato, and also when he fought Danzo's bodyguards. He's used his S/T techs to his advantage many times, showing that he knows how to use his techniques to their full potential.
7. He has a vast knowledge on many seals. He knew that Kushina's seal would be weakest at birth. He knew to slip through the barriers and remove the seal. He also recognized Danzo's seal. That's pretty knowledgeable.
Here's some lists of people used by Tobi as his pawns or minions, through his manipulation and intelligence:
Akatsuki:
Nagato - Used.
Konan - Followed Nagato.
Kakuzu - Used because he ended up capturing a Bijuu.
Hidan - Same reason as Kakuzu. And he killed off Asuma, if that even matters.
Itachi - Never had the balls to face Tobi while living; Not sure if he actually new that Tobi in Akatsuki was the "Madara" he was talking about.
Kisame - Used by Tobi. Led by hopes of peace. Captured a Bijuu.
Deidara - Captured a Bijuu, or two Bijuus. Not sure.
Sasori - Didn't contribute much to Akatsuki, wasn't really used.
Zetsu - Tobi's tool.
Non-Akatsuki:
Yahiko - Created Akatsuki because of Tobi.
Sasuke - Almost caught a Bijuu, attacked 5 kages, killed Danzo.
Rest of Taka - Same as Sasuke pretty much.
Madara - This is a maybe. He apparently had something to do with Tobi.
Kurama - Does he even count? But he was used to bring forth Minato and Kushina's deaths.
Yagura - Completely controlled by Tobi.
Rest of the Bijuus - Do they count? Idk, but they're fighting Naruto.
In conclusion, Tobi's intelligence rivals, if not bests, the intellects of some of the smartest characters in the series. This can give Tobi a huge advantage in many day-to-day situations, including battle (as shown before).
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