Sasuke was without a doubt, the strongest Genin by the end of Part 1 but he was still heavily nerfed throughout the series. So much so it's laughable. Let's take a look:
Sasuke's receipt of the cursed seal from Orochimaru meant that his ability to use the sharingan was nerfed. This was a necessary evil during the forest of death because a healthy, sharingan-wielding Sasuke would steal the spotlight from Naruto by soloing in an instant. Those mist ninja Naruto beat in the forest for example, would have been instantly blitzed.
Sasuke can't watch the chunin prelims or use his sharingan? Pretty convenient, since if he was present he could just copy almost everyone's moves and witness Gaara's abilities (and Lee's shortcomings vs him) and come up with a battle plan for him. But no, that would be too convenient.
Limiting chidori to two shots was super-convenient too, since Gaara didn't really have an answer for the jutsu.
Not to mention the fact that part 1 Sasuke doesn't have any offensive genjutsu feats, despite owning a sharingan. Pretty convenient since genjutsu was pretty much a one shot on Naruto
Despite all these nerfs he still slapped Naruto down 3 times and was without a doubt the strongest genin by the end of part 1.
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Sasuke's receipt of the cursed seal from Orochimaru meant that his ability to use the sharingan was nerfed. This was a necessary evil during the forest of death because a healthy, sharingan-wielding Sasuke would steal the spotlight from Naruto by soloing in an instant. Those mist ninja Naruto beat in the forest for example, would have been instantly blitzed.
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Sasuke can't watch the chunin prelims or use his sharingan? Pretty convenient, since if he was present he could just copy almost everyone's moves and witness Gaara's abilities (and Lee's shortcomings vs him) and come up with a battle plan for him. But no, that would be too convenient.
You must be registered for see images
Limiting chidori to two shots was super-convenient too, since Gaara didn't really have an answer for the jutsu.
You must be registered for see images
Not to mention the fact that part 1 Sasuke doesn't have any offensive genjutsu feats, despite owning a sharingan. Pretty convenient since genjutsu was pretty much a one shot on Naruto
You must be registered for see images
Despite all these nerfs he still slapped Naruto down 3 times and was without a doubt the strongest genin by the end of part 1.