Perhaps a thread was needed to address this issue. Take not too much notice for the the title as its misleading, though ill admit that its main purpose was to command attention there is a hint of truth in it, though at first you'll be confused, I'm certain you will later grasp why I say this. Some would already know this in just as much detail. Some would be able to deduct how the manga is going and this thread will only prove their idea's correct and perhaps give them more answers, others not so much and might even try to champion my reasoning.
Anyway as the title says "Naruto will never surpass Minato & Sasuke will never surpass Itachi" the reason behind this is because they were NEVER the aim or should I say they were never the touchstone for Naruto and Sasuke but rather a medium for them. Some might call it a wall they must climb others might call it surpass, though in both cases its true, either Itachi/Minato were never the benchmark.
I'll start with Sasuke and his relationship with Itachi. I'll try to make my point and short and sweet as possible. Throughout the series Itachi has been portrayed as the person whom sasuke must surpass, this is due to the fact that they are brother's, an example is
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and
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, but also the next generation surpasses the previous, therefore the younger brother surpasses the older. Both orochimaru and tobi have both commented on sasuke's eyes surpassing itachi.
Tobi comments here;
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Orochimau comments here;
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As you can see the immediate person whom sasuke has to surpass is itachi. Itachi is a medium and nothing else. Reason why itachi is a medium for sasuke is because they have a relationship, this relationship is their sibling bond.
In Naruto's case his medium is his father, Minato. What people also seem to forget is that before naruto found out about the 4th being his dad he said he planned on surpassing all the previous hokage's and not neccesarily the fourth. Its those who knew the relationship between Naruto and Minato are those who hinted this idea to the reader;
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That is the relationship that Naruto and Minato have. He is whom Naruto firstly has the surpass and its been hinted
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and
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when he got sm , other comparisons have been made. But the whole point of this was basically to show you that, Itachi is to Sasuke, like Minato is to Naruto. In both cases those who knew the older generation have commented that its the next generation that will surpass them because of the bond they have and no one else therefore the immediate person sasuke will surpass is Itachi and him only, just like how the immediate person that naruto will surpass is Minato and him only.
However alot of people seem to think, Itachi/Minato are naruto's touchstones for some reason and this has never been the case even in part 1 if we were to forget the latest chapters and where the manga is going. Itachi/Minato are nothing more than stepping stones for Sasuke/Naruto, the are mediums for greater things. The true benchmark, the people whom Sasuke/Naruto were destined to surpass are Hashirama and Ems Madara. Its no coincidence that from way back in part 1 at the valley of the end Sasuke stands on Madara's head, whilst naruto stands on Hashirama's,
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and
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. Its already been stipulated in part 1 that its those two who are the touchstones for naruto and sasuke. It was a given even before we knew about the latest chapters. Though naruto isnt a senju since the uzumaki are connected to them, naruto will surpass the leader of the senju, hashirama, whilst sasuke will surpass the leader of the uchiha, Madara. This also comes down to the older/younger brother scenario and this again has been echoed with the latest generation. Sasuke as we know is an uchiha and they are descendants of the older brother, its no surprise that sasuke was born before naruto;
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Since the senju are descendants of the younger brother and the senju/uzumaki are linked, naruto represents the younger brother and no surprise that he refers to sasuke as his brother;
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Sasuke is the older of the two brother's and thats why its no coincidence that he also represent's the older brother and the uchiha ancestry and the same can be said about naruto and the younger brother ancestry.
Whether Bm naruto has surpassed hashirama is up for dispute and this thread is NOT it afraid. I believe bm naruto and hashirama Are roughly equal, so no naruto has not surpassed hashirama. However there has been a hint there is one more upgrade for naruto which would spell out his superiority to hashirama and would in turn give him the epitome of the sage's body, the combination of sage mode and bm mode;
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Sasuke on the other hand is abit behind. He isnt equal to ems madara because he hasnt shown us much at all after gaining the ems and for us to make a judgement on. He has to atleast show us perfect susano which would make him roughly equal to ems madara. However like naruto there has been hints that sasuke will get an upgrade which would spell out his superiority to ems madara and would in turn give him the epitone of the sage's eye, the rinnegan;
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If sasuke was to surpass nagato in turn he surpasses ems madara, but also in order to surpass nagato he would need to awaken the same eyes. The only uncomfortable thing i have is the senju dna which sasuke it seems needs to have to gain the rinnegan so perhaps he might in turn get the older brother's eyes instead.
To conclude, Itachi/Minato are mediums for Sasuke/Naruto and should not be confused as the touchstone for either. That is reserve for hashirama/Madara. I know some already would know majority of this however it seems others cannot see were the manga is heading
