The most intelligent character in the Narutoverse.

[stoikis]

Battle-wise: Tie between Shikamaru and Itachi
Science: 1. Orochimaru 2. Kabuto 3. Tobi

I think Shikaku is better than shikamaru in that area

 

[MCYoungJT]

It was a while back that they stated Kakashi was as smart as shikamaru so that may not be valid anymore

 

[Shinobi Train]

It was a while back that they stated Kakashi was as smart as shikamaru so that may not be valid anymore

Ah, but Kakashi can't beat Shikamaru at Shogi... Or at least he said he couldn't in Naruto, don't know about Shippuden.

 

[LeEvilTongue]

Shikaku, Shikamaru's dad. Without him the ASF would have had more casualties.

 

[AirYeezy]

naruto learned rasengan shorter then minato

 

[-Logic-]

naruto learned rasengan shorter then minato

Haha, you absolutely trolled Minato fanboys U_U

 

[Anorien16]

I've seen many threads arguing about Itachi's and Shikamaru's intelligence. I would like to clear things out once and for all so that the fanboys can be silenced. Let me start off by saying that I am indeed an Uchiha fanboy, however, I can acknowledge when any Uchiha would loose. I've admitted Itachi's defeat to several characters many a time, and with full confidence, and not out of reluctance. This will hopefully assure you that I'm not being too biased.

Let's start off with Itachi. We'll begin with some factual information:

1. Itachi has a 5 in intelligence, as does Shikamaru.
   
   
2. Itachi became an Anbu captain at the age of 13! A feat worthy of remark in a thread like this.
   
   
3. Itachi was born into the Uchiha clan as the eldest son of Mikoto and Fugaku Uchiha and was praised by all as the best of his generation, a genius above all others, even by the standards of the battle-adept Uchiha clan, Itachi's prowess far outshone their own. However, few could understand him. When he was only four, Itachi had already witnessed countless lives lost due to the Third Shinobi World War, which emotionally traumatised him and turned him into a pacifist. This is a brief summary of his intelligence. If you look at the parts in bold you'll notice that he was praised by many, and without a doubt already one of the most intelligent character introduced to the series.
   
   
4. At age 7, Itachi graduated from the Academy at the top of his class after only one year, mastered the Sharingan at age 8, passed the Chūnin Exams at age 10, enrolled in ANBU half a year later and became captain by 13. I'm sure the parts in bold surprise you.
   
   
5. When Itachi volunteered to fight Kakashi as they were coming for the Akatsuki in the early parts of the Shippuden, I'm sure he wasn't even scared. He managed to fend off Chiyo, Kakashi, Sakura and Naruto despite not having the Mangekyo Sharingan with him. Although he lost, he did his job, and if he wanted to I'm sure he could have done some serious damage.
   
   
6. One of the greatest feats that Itachi has achieved is breaking out of the Edo Tensei. Although many might argue that it was a completely lucky event and had nothing to do with intelligence. I beg to differ. If that was anyone else they would not have known what to do with KA. KA isn't, and was never supposed to be used for the Edo Tensei. The fact that Itachi, so quickly realized that he could break out of it with KA is tremendous and is also a monument to his intelligence.
   
   
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   Just look at Kabuto's poor face, and his reaction. "Uchiha Itachi... he's clearly on another level to the others!" I wonder if Kabuto had Shikamaru in his mind when he was saying this :noc:
   
   
7. Here we see Itachi blocking Nagato's summon, so he can create a blind spot in the Rinnegan's shared field of vision! This is insanity, I don't know whether he figured this out on the spot, or he already knew about the Rinnegan's shared field of vision, but either way, Shikamaru would never have been able to do this. Some ask why this requires intelligence, it's a physical feat, no? That may hold some truth, but without intelligence such a feat could not have been executed.
   
   
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8. One of my favourite things I like to reminisce about is the time when Itachi analyzed Nagato's Chibaku Tensei. Something I doubt Shikamaru would have been able to do, please note that me saying Shikamaru not being able to analyze Chibaku Tensei properly is just my opinion, it holds no facts. Let's explore this feat.
   
   
9. Here we see Itachi noting almost instantly that is has a gravitational pull! This is ludicrous! What a genius!
   
   
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10. This is practically the same thing, he's analyzing it.
    
    
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11. Within seconds Itachi's already figured out Chibaku Tensei's weakness. What a genius! Note how he also says that you do not have to aim as it's gravitational pull will simply guide the attack. Shikamaru has nothing on this. They seem to think that tactically he's better, which is false.
    
    
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12. Notice how direct, and official Itachi is. He asks the right questions, and gets the job done.
    
    
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13. This is the final feat of Itachi that I'd like to get over with, as this thread has already become a wall of text!
    
    Again, people seem to think that tactically Shikamaru has done more than Itachi, but they can't come up with a shred of evidence. In this fight Itachi teaches Kakashi about the Sharingan. IMO Kakashi got owned. Notice that in this picture Itachi is so calm, and seems to be formulating a plan.
    
    
    
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14. On the next page look at how direct, and sure Itachi's facial expression is.
    
    
    
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15. Here on the next page, Itachi absolutely trolls Kakashi. He performs a Water Style Jutsu without Kakashi even being able to see it even with the Sharingan.
    
    
    
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16. On the next page, I have to admit, even I was confused! Itachi creates a clone, before anyone can even notice it. It confused the living shit out of Kurenai.
    
    
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18. Even Kakashi, the man praised as an intellectual among his generation pales in comparison the Genius of Uchiha Itachi. He admits it himself. He also comments that Itachi hasn't even begun to show his true power, and proceeds to imply that he's simply toying with them.
    
    
    
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May I ask what Shikamaru was doing at age 7? What was Shikamaru mastering at age 8? When did Shikamaru pass the Chūnin Exams? When did Shikamaru enroll to become an Anbu Captain? When did Shikamaru ever, ever, do anything on the scale that Itachi has? When has he ever done something worthy of mention? I'll applaud him for the fact that Tobi mentioned he was a pain to fight, but apart from that, what other big time things has he achieved? Oh yeah, he hasn't done anything extremely special. Never. He wasn't doing any of that. Itachi has been shown to achieve great feats even at a young age. One thing I'd like to point out is that he became an Anbu Captain at age 13. Kakashi became a Jōnin at the age of 13, so technically Itachi was his boss U_U I'm sure we can all agree that Itachi is more intelligent than Kakashi, and already Itachi has achieved a higher rank than him, at the same age. Itachi has also owned Kakashi many times in battle.

I've analyzed the feats Itachi has achieved that I deemed worthy of being mentioned in this thread. If anyone dares to cross me then begin, list any amount of feats that Shikamaru has achieved, and none will match Itachi's. None.

IMO, Itachi beats Shikamaru in intelligence, all round too. He has come up with better tactics, and in seconds. Shikamaru would poop his pants if he saw Nagato's Chibaku Tensei, haha, believe me U_U

Thank you to all who read, please share so that the Shikamaru fanboys may be silenced.

Edit: I believe that my interpretation of intelligence derives from my deep love for Philosophy. Itachi seems to me the philosophic type, and as a result of his personality I've dubbed him the most intelligent. Some of his quotes still interest me, even today. Thanks to all who read.

I think that they are both incredibly intelligent, Itachi has just always had more at his disposal, and he has had an infinitely larger amount of drive than Shikamaru, who as we all know is lazy lazy lazy.

Now, a fact is that whenever Shikamaru makes a plan in battle, he always succeeds as far as the goal of the plan was. Tobi complemented Shikamaru on his intelligence, singling him out. And to the whole "Kakashi is as smart as Shikamaru" thing, I'll admit Kakashi is smart, but honestly, Naruto is the one that said that, and I wouldn't trust Naruto's judgements much at all, he's pretty biased in Kakashi's favor. For instance, I doubt anyone would say that Kakashi truly has a better sense of smell than Kiba, even though Naruto said so. So I will stick with my belief that Shikamaru is smarter than Kakashi.

Overall, it's really hard to tell, because of the difference in their power levels. Shikamaru has made a lot out of a little because he is so weak. For him, the only way to battle is with his intelligence, because as a ninja himself he is always the less powerful one. Itachi however has the massive power levels to go with his intelligence, so we haven't seen him fight purely with his intelligence as Shikamaru does. But he's a thinker.

In my opinion, Shikamaru has more tactical intelligence. In battle, he can make the best use of what he has at his disposal, better than Itachi, because that's all he does and the only way he can hope to win. He can create the best strategies overall. However, Itachi is more intelligent philosophically. He thinks about things like feelings and what makes people do things on a psychological level. He has a drive because he has thought these things through and seems to understand what is really important. Shikamaru hasn't thought those things, and hasn't come to those conclusions, which is why he is so lazy. That shows that Itachi is a better "thinker" than Shikamaru, but I believe that Shikamaru is a better "tactician". Thoughts?

The part in bold was a post made by Fizzy Drink who changed my mind completely, you should read all of it. I agree that Itachi is more philosophical and is a better "thinker" and I actually agree that Shikamaru is a better tactician simply because he does not have the Ninjutsu pool that Itachi does. For this reason, I dub Itachi the greatest thinker of all time, and Shikamaru one of the greatest (his dad's intelligence he has yet to beat) tacticians of all time. I'd still like to know what you guys think overall. I'm still convinced that overall it's Itachi.

All u say is true, but how many shika battles have u seen? Plus itachi has sharingan to analyse, predict moves and see chakra and so get a better idea of things. If itachi was a ANBU cap at 13, shikamaru was offered a post as Fire Lord's bodyguard after the chinin exams..... i think u gave pretty one sided account doing no homework on shikamaru.

 

[Anorien16]

naruto learned rasengan shorter then minato

Well minato created rasengan. So i can say minato learnt rasengan instantly.

 

[KyrenFox]

Hello All

I have to agree with expecting Shikamaru to be the smartest. As Asuma said way back in the original series the reason his scores were so low and he has so little to show as proof of his intelligence is that he's lazy...everything is easy and boring so he didn't put the effort into it.

Also, that test he took for the high score...remember way back in the show when he did a little flashback of that he was yawning for the test as well...so the score he got was again without putting full effort into the test.

I have no way to prove he is smarter because he has to give us examples first. However now that he is taking things more seriously hopefully he will give us more examples. Age comparisons just won't work though since he had no drive.

 

[-Logic-]

Hello All

I have to agree with expecting Shikamaru to be the smartest. As Asuma said way back in the original series the reason his scores were so low and he has so little to show as proof of his intelligence is that he's lazy...everything is easy and boring so he didn't put the effort into it.

Also, that test he took for the high score...remember way back in the show when he did a little flashback of that he was yawning for the test as well...so the score he got was again without putting full effort into the test.

I have no way to prove he is smarter because he has to give us examples first. However now that he is taking things more seriously hopefully he will give us more examples. Age comparisons just won't work though since he had no drive.

Good point, but it's not my fault that Itachi can be bothered to things and Shikamaru cannot U_U

 

[KyrenFox]

Nope, not your fault. Shikamaru started off a lazy bum its just a simple fact.

That fact causes a problem in determining which of the two are smarter...if this is all about IQ test I say we just need to get all the Naruto chars to sit down and take a test with proper motivation given to each one
aka: Naruto - if you win...you get free ichirakuramen for a month! (his chances of winning? uhh...not all that likely but we give the test to everyone so that no one can complain later on not getting a chance)

We need to talk to Kishimoto to get this started up...I'm sure he'll understand *sage nod*

Personal note: I think Shikamaru in the end will be proved smartest as it seems to go with Kishi's whole theme of upcoming generations showing the future promise and all...

truth is though none of us will have perfect evidence to win this argument where we are right now...not on actual intelligence... (giving up on typing more now due to thunderstorm...weak connection)

 

[festus 05]

the ability 2 know techniques is pure talent but intelligence is a totally different thing. comparing the 2 of them, itachi is far better. Given that shikamaru doesn't have the sharingan is a limitation, this is a very big gap between the two. Talking about intellect aside ninjutsu shikamaru is better.

 

[LBeezy]

Shikamaru is the most intelligent. Period! Itachi accomplished all of those amazing feats because he had the uchiha blood line. The sharingan. I mean c'mon people. If Shikamaru was born an uchiha he would have done the same things Itachi did, if not more. You wanna know what can end all the debate? Itachi is dead! Shikamaru is alive! End of story. Shikamaru has survived all of his battles, and he managed to get out of the same genjutsy itachi and sasuke got caught in while fighting kabuto, but shikamaru did it WITHOUT the "almighty sharingan". Now let's look at Itachi. Itachi died while fighting Sasuke, although due to some unknown disease, he still died. He wasn't smart enough to find a cure now was he? No. He wasn't. Shikamaru is the smartest character in the Naruto universe. Plain and simple.

 

[Redd]

I'd have to give it to Tobi. Can't wait for that mask to come off.

 

[-Logic-]

Shikamaru is the most intelligent. Period! Itachi accomplished all of those amazing feats because he had the uchiha blood line. The sharingan. I mean c'mon people. If Shikamaru was born an uchiha he would have done the same things Itachi did, if not more. You wanna know what can end all the debate? Itachi is dead! Shikamaru is alive! End of story. Shikamaru has survived all of his battles, and he managed to get out of the same genjutsy itachi and sasuke got caught in while fighting kabuto, but shikamaru did it WITHOUT the "almighty sharingan". Now let's look at Itachi. Itachi died while fighting Sasuke, although due to some unknown disease, he still died. He wasn't smart enough to find a cure now was he? No. He wasn't. Shikamaru is the smartest character in the Naruto universe. Plain and simple.

Itachi ended the Edo Tensei when all Shikamaru did was amaze Tobi. Wow. Well done Shikamaru. Itachi also stopped a civil war, one which the Uchiha could have dominated, as stated by Blaze Release. If you're going to post at least know what you're talking about

 

[Bright Master]

truthfully, itachi is strong because his high balance of strenght, talent, and smartness. But I defenatly wouldint rate him the smartest. I'd say minato, because he beat tobi's jutsu, and in less than 4 minutes. (2 episodes in naruto time, lol)

 

[keoryn]

Itachi ended the Edo Tensei when all Shikamaru did was amaze Tobi. Wow. Well done Shikamaru. Itachi also stopped a civil war, one which the Uchiha could have dominated, as stated by Blaze Release. If you're going to post at least know what you're talking about

Dude go deeper in youre context of words. You only state what he did, but ask youreself how did he do it?

He stopped kabuto with what? With the secret techniques of his clan. His clan is one of the best there is in narutoverse maybe even the best. He used a jutsu only his bloodline is capable of doing, can shikamaru do izanami? no, Does that mean Shikamaru is less wise than Itachi? Of Course NO.

If Shikamaru had the same bloodline or amount of jutsu's that Itachi had, then his feats would be on pair. but its not his fault. Now just look what he has done with the limited amount of jutsu's he have, doesnt it make him one of the smartest characters out there? I think so, of course im a shikamaru fanboy but i dont just post some crap, i state facts.

Itachi has sharingan which helps him in absolutely everything he has accomplished and without it, i doubt some of his feats would of been possible, he relies on it while Shikamaru relies on his brain rather his eye.

 

[-Logic-]

Dude go deeper in youre context of words. You only state what he did, but ask youreself how did he do it?

He stopped kabuto with what? With the secret techniques of his clan. His clan is one of the best there is in narutoverse maybe even the best. He used a jutsu only his bloodline is capable of doing, can shikamaru do izanami? no, Does that mean Shikamaru is less wise than Itachi? Of Course NO.

If Shikamaru had the same bloodline or amount of jutsu's that Itachi had, then his feats would be on pair. but its not his fault. Now just look what he has done with the limited amount of jutsu's he have, doesnt it make him one of the smartest characters out there? I think so, of course im a shikamaru fanboy but i dont just post some crap, i state facts.

Itachi has sharingan which helps him in absolutely everything he has accomplished and without it, i doubt some of his feats would of been possible, he relies on it while Shikamaru relies on his brain rather his eye.

You can't say that because you can't prove it. Silly boy.

 

[ikinamarie123]

-it would be very difficult to define and qualify them.
during fight, itachi, kakashi, shikaku, shikamaru even the 4th hokage are good on their analysis.
-oro and kabuto are vey good in research.
-the 3rd hokage is very good in mastering jutsu.

 

[Missing Uchiha]

I would say tobi or kaboto