Well I guess that right there was a fail on sasuke's behalf, but we know for a fact that Itachi blew an instant whole through jirayia's technique and as far as I remember his tech was quite powerful. We also know that it burnt Raikage's arm within seconds, while he had his lightning armor (that alone is a huge thing). Also you need to remember the damage it did to the hachibi...amaterasu was practically able to kill the second strongest tailed beast in mere seconds (if sasuke wouldn't have stopped it and wouldn't have cut the tentacle, the hachibi would have been killed). I think you need to look at the bigger picture here and see the damage it did, rather than how many people it killed.
ok let me go over all the times Amaterasu has been used. its purpose in being used and whether it completed its purposes or not.
1. Itachi used Amaterasu to escape Jiraiya. Itachi and Kisame was trapped in Jiraiya Toad Belly jutsu and there is no escaping that jutsu. Itachi did mangae to escape using Amaterasu though. that was a success for Amaterasu
2. Itachi used Amaterasu to attack Sasuke and subdue him to "take his eyes". there were couple of times he used Amaterasu on Sasuke during the fight. the 1 time Sasuke countered with fire jutsu, another he dodged it and another where Sasuke appeared to be hit but in actuality he also dodged it by Orochimarus jutsu. Amaterasu failed multiple times that time. failure by Itachi.
3. Itachi implants his powers into Sasuke. he sets a trap for Madara, Amaterasu would attack Madara from Sasuke's eye at the sight of Madara's sharingan. purpose is to protect Sasuke, kill Madara, keep Madara away from Sasuke and prevent Madara from tellin Sasuke the truth. Madara in the shadows escapes the attack (probably from space/time or Inazagi), lives and tells Sasuke everything. Amaterasu fails. failure by Itachi
4. Sasuke used Amaterasu to subdue Hachibi. Sasuke and friends had used everything to fight Bee but in the end the last resort was relying on Amaterasu to beat Bee. it wasn't meant to kill him, because Sasuke needed him alive. but what happened is that Bee was not captured, he escaped Sasuke and friends and Amaterasu had failed in subduing him for the capture. faiure by Sasuke.
5. Amaterasu was used offensively to attack Raikage. A however swiftly dodged it with ease. Amaterasu failed in even touching Raikage but hit a random Samurai instead. failure by Sasuke.
6. right after above where i explained Raikage dodged the offensive amaterasu, he appears behind Sasuke for an attack. Sasuke with Sasunoo up combines it with covering himself with Amaterasu, now using it defensively and in attempt to force Raikage not to continue with his attack. but in to everyones shock Raikage doesnt slow down and continues to chop Sasuke despite there beinh black flames covering him. Amaterasu failed once again. failure by Sasuke
7. right after that Sasuke s knocked onto the ground and continues to cover himself with black flames even though Rakage is continuing with another attack and show no signs of ceasing. Sasuke manipulate the flames to take shape of spikes to harm Raikag but is interupted by Gaara. the flames do no reach their target and does nothing. Amaterasu fail. failure by Sasuke. or maybe Gaara for interupting
8. remember that random Samurai that was hit by Amaterasu? he doesnt even die thanks to Kankuro and Temari removing his armor. Amaterasu fail. failure by Sasuke.
9. Sasuke is approached by Gaara at the summit and attacks him with multiple flames in attempt to harm Kazekage. Gaara effortlessly deflects them with his Absolute Defense Sand protecting himself and even his brother and sister. Amaterasu fail. failure by Sasuke
10. Sasuke is fighting Danzo, fueled by rage and fighting for vengence. he attacks Danzo with Amaterasu to harm and kill him. Amaterasu connects and engulf Danzo but Danzo escapes death by using Inazagi. Amaterasu doesnt accomplish killing Danzo. Amaterasu fails. failure by Sasuke.
so in conclusion out of 10 times we have see Amaterasu being used in the manga to kill an enemy, subdue a foe or escape from a fight, 1 out of 10 times Amaterasu has been succesful in accomplishing its purpose.
this is why i say Amaterasu is overrated. because 90% of the times when used it has failed in the purpose of why its being used. it hasnt done any damage. Bee escaped and Raikage chose to lose his arms.
Yeah, but all I'm trying to get out their is you can't base an entire fight between top class shinobi's with one attack.
Amu was barely used for the purpose of killing, Itachi used it to escape Jiriaya belly of that frog or whatever which Jiriaya stated no one has ever escaped, than he used it on Sasuke obviously not to kill but burnt Oro snake at the end, He would've killed Tobi (He even stated it) but Izanagi that can probably escape jutsu's even stronger than Amu, than Sasuke used it on Bee but distinguished it as he was not ment to kill him, than on the Samurai and in the start Sasuke didn't even wanna battle them but the Samurai did get saved and Sasuke wasn't really focused on him, here is were they could've killed on Raikage did cripple him and if Raikage kept going he may have killed Sasuke but his own life would've gone in the process (I wouldn't see the story get any further if Raikage did die as his village may hold a grudge against the leaf and story would have a twist rather have see Raikage still in the show), And last I'm pretty sure he did use it on Danzou which he closed one of the sharingan as Danzo had his incomplete Izanagi. LOL
I know it hasn't killed anyone but has done its toll of damage and their have been quite a lot of strong jutsu that have barely played an effective role but it's the way it is right now
thats exactly what i am trying to say! people are always saying "Itachi uses Amaterasu and its over" that has never been the case in the manga and its rarely the case for strong ninjas
actually you should look at my above statement to Anub. their was many incidences where it was used to kill. sometimes to subdue an enemy. but it never accomplished any of that except to allow Itachi to escape Jiraiya.
it doesnt matter at all the times what "coulda, shoulda, woulda" or "what ifs" happened (example if Itachi knew all about Madara, or Sasuke hadnt severed a tentacle of Hachibi) what matters is what actaully happened and what happened the majority of when Amaterasu was used is that it failed on fulfilling the reason it was used for.
you starting to understand why i say its an overrated technique? its like if Rasengan didnt subdue Kabuto, didnt kill Kakuzu, destroy Pain bodies and help finish defeat Kyuubi when Naruto had used it, i would say Rasengan is an overrated attack.