Couple things here.
1. Itachi was lying to Sasuke in that story; we can't surely separate truth from lie.
2. We don't have any clue where Mangekyō Madara stood.
3. We don't know the full circumstances of Tobirama beating Izuna.
Madara, on the other hand, doesn't think much of Tobirama and Hashirama subdued Tobirama with a chakra-flex.
And Itachi.
1. According to Iruka, he was the strongest Hokage. That's decisively incorrect.
2. According to the common folk, he was the strongest Gokage, but Itachi's stronger than any of the Gokage.
The 7th Gate wouldn't beat Itachi.
Orochimaru would sooner fight Hiruzen then than he would face 17 year old Itachi though.
Not to mention Orochimaru said that if he had Itachi, there would have been zero problems with Hiruzen or Konoha.
They were much, much weaker back then though. Tsunade didn't have her seal. Orochimaru didn't have his kinjutsu.
Jiraiya might have had Fukasaku/Shima, but he didn't seemed to have summoned them in the flashback.
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Where was this stated? He might have given Pain a good fight, but beat him? Doubt it.
Overhyped by the databook and manga.
Still, it's hyped in the manga to be better than any Uchiha and comparable to soul-reading.
Sure, but think about it. Itachi is arguably hyped to be the most skilled in genjutsu.
He's hyped to have some of the most powerful ninjutsu, not just Amaterasu, but legendary items.
And his taijutsu/weapons, well, I'll address that next:
Kabuto distinguished Itachi's projectile-skills as being too damn good and basically top tier.
Not many ninja can hang with Killer Bee, Naruto, etc.
Indeed, which is more or less the argument of the OP.
1. Itachi had no reason to lie about that at all.
2. Very powerful.
3. He beat him.
Madara doesn't think very highly of anyone, and Tobirama was also telling Hashirama to shut up and let the grown up talk.
Where can Itachi's hype even begin to compare to Hiruzen's?
1. Hiruzen agreed with Iruka. And how is it incorrect?
2. That's debatable.
Why not? You move so fast you create fire from the intense friction, a single punch causes cataclysmic hurricanes. The Eight Gates also only relate to physical ability, not jutsus.
Proof of that? Orochimaru seemed pretty interested in killing a 21 year old Itachi.
If Orochimaru had Itachi's
body.
They were still at least around Kakashi's or Sasuke's level at the beginning of pt.2, and they weren't famed for their individual ability but their flawless teamwork. Hanzo didn't just beat three powerful ninjas, he beat three powerful ninjas that complimented each other perfectly.
There are a lot of inconsistencies in the manga. Like why didn't Obito just teleport into Naruto's room and kill him?
Pein suggested that if Hanzo didn't lose his conviction that he could had beaten him. Hanzo was oblivious to the fact that he had become weaker, and Mifune calling him a rusty blade made him remember that Pein made a reference to that as well.
Overhyped is still overhyped.
Better than any other vain, self-absorbed, egotistical Uchiha? lol. Calling it soul reading is also a hyperbole, it's just being intuitive, and even then he has hits and misses.
The most skilled in an ambiguous ability? Granted, although untrue. Shisui is hyped to be superior. Although I will agree that, outside of MS, genjutsu is his best area.
I don't disagree with you there, but they don't put him ahead of anyone.
So... Itachi can hit a bullseye better than any other character can hit a bullseye? That's not spectacular.
Neither did Itachi, he pulled back. Naruto also wasn't using his super strength or Body Flickers.
I have to disagree, the OP is saying that Itachi's power isn't subjective at all and he's #1.