Okay, I just want to say a few things in a way that will hopefully clear things up. Sage master's point is that Itachi is not a genius because his great plans did not work out. His plan of maintaining the Uchiha name DID work, however. Yes, he massacred his family, but only on orders and only to maintain peace in the village he loved. Did he maintain that peace for an extended period of time? Yes. So that plan succeeded. No genius can guarantee plans for an indefinite period of time; otherwise, Orochimaru would be alive and in possession of the Sharingan.
Itachi's other plan was to be the target of Sasuke's hatred in order to make Sasuke grow into a powerful shinobi. If Itachi had valued the village over Sasuke, he would have killed Sasuke as he was ordered. His true plan in allowing Sasuke to live was for Sasuke, and this plan succeeded. Is it Itachi's fault that Sasuke is now a crazy person hellbent on revenge? No. That is the fault of the elders and this Madara impersonator.
Also, in the battle between Itachi and Sasuke, Itachi only fought Sasuke to the very end so that he could permanently seal away Orochimaru and free Sasuke from the curse seal. Did he succeed? Yes. Another plan that worked out.
You also say that Orochimaru and Minato are two geniuses who rank above Itachi as far as genius goes; where is the proof in that? They were two excellent battlers, but they never showed any plans for Minato and the one Orochimaru publicized (taking Sasuke's eyes) failed abysmally, so this is an unfounded argument.
Itachi implanted Shisui's eye into Naruto before Sasuke even declared his intentions to destroy Konoha. "I hope you never have to use it." This implies that he suspected that Tobi would corrupt Sasuke and turn him against Konoha, and he planned ahead. The fact that he even suspected this and knew exactly how to overcome this shows INCREDIBLE planning on his part. Yes, he ended up using the genjutsu on himself, but only to free him from the most powerful controlling jutsu in the manga, one that every single past Kage (save for Minato) was helpless to resist. He then sealed the leader of Akatsuki, after expertly analyzing and successfully dispelling his most powerful attack.
It's that his plans may have had some backlash, but the central intention (preserving the family name and peace in Konoha, transforming Sasuke into a powerful shinobi, and using Shisui's eye to take absolute control of someone threatening his village) of each and every plan came to fruition. Please explain to me how Itachi was not a genius.
