The most intelligent character in the Narutoverse.

[joshu34]

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.

First of all,itachi and shikamaru are pretty close in terms of intelligence.

But the funny fact is,only in intelligence,nothing else.:shrug: shikamaru's got very low level of chakra and not many jutsus.

In a way shikamaru is smarter than itachi in terms of raw intelligence.

But if you look at it from another angle,you will see that itachi has knowledge about jutsu's and techs shikamaru can only dream about and he's got tons of experience.

The conclusion is that,
by feats=itachi by raw intelligence=shikamaru! and that's a fact!xd

btw,i gotta confess something,if shikamaru had chakra reserves like naruto or atleast sasuke and if he had awesome techs like itachi man,he would have been nothing short of a legendary ninja in konoha!

 

[MasqueradeNX]

Shicamaru...Kabuto...Tobi...Itachi... Kages

 

[Prime Rib]

minato outsmarts them all

 

[kekerot]

i think minato is the smartest i mean we never saw that he failed...he owns his every battle he beat tobi in sec. no one did that

 

[keoryn]

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

ok fine, I cannot prove it. But like i said on my earlier post most of the feats accomplished by itachi wouldnt been possible without his sharingan and uchicha bloodline.

When he ''trolled'' kakashi, when he got out of the edo tensei, You think he would be able to analyze any opponent without his sharingan? Shikamaru can do it without having any special eye or anything of that matter. This is intelligence, i mean you are seriously confusing RAW TALENT WITH RAW INTELLIGENCE.

Itachi is related with more with Talent than Intelligence. Shikamaru is pure Intelligence.

 

[Nokturn]

Shikaku of the nara clan. How can u dumb a$$ strumpets even think that shikamaru would be smarter than his dad....he hasn't even beaten him in shogi once! A very close second is the 4th Hokage: not only did he create a jutsu similar to the tailed beast bomb but his breakdown during the fight with Tobi is insane! Within that small amount of time he planned for something 15 years in the future(although he didn't know how long it would take. Last but not least need i remind all manga readers that he gave the Hiddens Clouds A&B duo one to grow on!! Nuff said!!! 1 more thing! Even the 5th stated: that man never made a wasted move, everything he did had a reason behind it! Reading is fundamental young ones!!!

 

[Nokturn]

Umm Not Really I would like to See Shikamaru And his No name Dad Plan some1 Whole Life And succed

No offense but ur a dumb a$$!!! His no name dad is leader of the Nara clan which is apparently one of if not the most intelligent clan in the ninja world and please believe no one heard of his dad's exploits because none rarely survive the encounter! The next episode will clearly show who's the best tactician in the ninja world....Strumpets!!!

 

[Nokturn]

Ok after reading every single thread I do understand why alot of u are on Tobi's jockstrap but let me say this......If I had the TIME he had to plan all of this (and please believe Tobi's older than everyone!) I would look like a super genius too!!! Silly mortals! SMH

 

[-Logic-]

Ok after reading every single thread I do understand why alot of u are on Tobi's jockstrap but let me say this......If I had the TIME he had to plan all of this (and please believe Tobi's older than everyone!) I would look like a super genius too!!! Silly mortals! SMH

Lol, thanks I guess

 

[KyrenFox]

While I am not casting my vote to Itachi as the most intelligent (though he is deffinitly intelligent) I don't think its fair to be saying the reason he isn't the smartest is because he's dead. (which i saw being done a number of posts back...sorry didn't' grab the quote) Choosing to die might be a poor choice to most of us sane people who live in a calm world, however we were not put into the horrid position Itachi was.

He chose to be a 'good boy' and obey orders and kill his own family and clan. He tormented his own younger brother so that he'd obsess about hunting him down.

In the end he fought to the death to keep Sasuke going, to get the curse mark out of sasuke, and he believed he deserved death...he didn't have any huge desire to survive the fight. It was a fitting end to be killed by his brother as retribution to the clan.

I'm still going with Shikamaru when it comes to basic intelligence...and yes I expect him to pass dad because again I think thats just our writers style in the narutoverse. Time will tell in the end of course..

I do think Minato (sp?) was very smart in his own way and I think Madara is smart.... however I do agree with the point of Madara that he's been around an awfully long time so he's had plenty of time to scheme up all of this.
Minato... he's only been in so many episodes to get a feel for.

 

[F1N1X]

seriously people keep saying shikamaro when even shikamaro is not smarter than his father :sy: seriously why is itachi even here U_U his ability makes him look smart,if i was to say it would be kakashi that is the smartest

 

[natzzz]

kakashi is smarter than itachi. he handles stronger opponents with less chakras and jutus.shikamru >kakashi,itachi.shikamaru's dad>shikamaru.

 

[Kiiszame]

shikamaru hands down.. you cant really define intelligence in one objective form.

 

[Bunsofdeath]

The most intelligent character in the narutoverse would have to be sage of six paths..... I mean he did invent jutsus so it only makes sense.....

 

[Shinobi Train]

Something tells me no one will ever come to an agreement on this...

Shikamaru: "What a drag..."

:scorps:

 

[ixc]

People are stupid, the man who made this thread has come up with facts that Itachi is smarter than Shikamaru there are no facts that Shikamaru would be smarter than Itachi. But people don't even see the wisdom that Itachi had to say in his life and even in death (People: OOOH BOORING TOO MUCH TALKING LESS FIGHTING BOOOOOORING) I bet that no one other than Itachi himself could come up with such quotes and wisdom.

 

[KyrenFox]

Ok thats it...which one of us is gonna go email Kishi and ask him who he designed to be the smartest?

 

[Shinobi Train]

People are stupid, the man who made this thread has come up with facts that Itachi is smarter than Shikamaru there are no facts that Shikamaru would be smarter than Itachi.

I beg your pardon. I came up with a real life example, that beats all, but it was ignored for some reason :no_ignore: . I am Shikamaru to some degree.

 

[keoryn]

People are stupid, the man who made this thread has come up with facts that Itachi is smarter than Shikamaru there are no facts that Shikamaru would be smarter than Itachi. But people don't even see the wisdom that Itachi had to say in his life and even in death (People: OOOH BOORING TOO MUCH TALKING LESS FIGHTING BOOOOOORING) I bet that no one other than Itachi himself could come up with such quotes and wisdom.

ok, i think you are taking it a little overboard. The creator of the anime is Kishimoto, he can write absolutely anything he wants relating any characters.

What happens if the next manga chapter, Naruto says some wisdom quotes? Does that make him a ''genius''? like seriously just because someone said 8 impressive words in the correct words doesn't make him ''smart''

 

[Ngylle]

is not tobi the retarded that thought that with a pair of chains he was going to defeat minato, when he saw how minato abilities works, tobi became retarded when he fought minato.. so minato would be able to find out tobis obvius abilities.. like Torune an Fu..

Tobi is retarded..