Okay, it’s been a day. I think I'm sufficiently calm enough to provide a coherent, eloquent analysis on the whole Sasuke situation. I’ll try to keep this as free of shipping bias as I possibly can, and let me apologize in advance in case any SasuSaku influence comes through.
So let me start off by saying that Sasuke’s intentions are not inherently evil.
Notice how I said intentions and not actions. We know that Sasuke has a serious problem with the current institution because it really, really, really screwed him over personally in more ways than one, such as:
actively and systematically oppressing his entire family based on the actions of a few (who would be considered in any other case exceptions rather than the norm)
committing genocide against his entire family, killing off everyone whether they posed a legitimate threat or not, on the basis of the family’s potential reaction (keep in mind that no coup d’etat had actually happened yet) to the oppression described above
thoroughly manipulating the one person with everyone’s best interests at heart, unfairly forcing him to choose between his village and his family and execute said genocide, and then turning him into a scapegoat for the entire incident
refusing to provide Sasuke himself any sort of support after his family’s massacre (this isn’t explicitly stated in canon, but I think Sasuke would have been much better adjusted if the village had offered him more support, though still obviously not okay by any means)
refusing to do anything while known, highly-ranked criminals pursued Sasuke because he was the easiest target for Uchiha genes (again, not explicitly stated in canon, but it’s astounding how the village didn’t at least tighten security around Sasuke when Orochimaru first came after him, especially since he was the last member of such a prestigious clan)
Sasuke has stated multiple times that his problem lies with the system as a whole — not with specific people. What he wants is to tear down the old system and build a new one — one that will ensure that what happened to him doesn’t happen to anyone, ever again. By this logic alone, we can see that Sasuke has come a long way since the Kage Summit arc, where he blindly har har lashed out at Danzo, at the Kages that got in his way in his pursuit of Danzo, and even at his own teammates and former teammates.
What’s more, Sasuke’s current goal is fundamentally very similar to Hashirama’s.
On the simplest, most basic level, Hashirama and Sasuke are the same in the sense that they both saw at least one serious flaw in the old system, that they were personally hurt by this old system, and that their ultimate goal is reform. Hashirama called it “building a village” back then; Sasuke calls it “revolution” now.
Every argument stating that Sasuke has learned nothing and has gone back to his old ways is invalid by this logic.
Because, for the first time in his entire life, Sasuke is making his own decisions, rather than following (or being manipulated into following) a path that others have laid out for him. His extremely negative opinion of the system on which his world currently operates has been shaped by the numerous hardships and tragedies he’s been forced to endure — too much for any one person to bear.
Sasuke was once someone defined by his obsession with the past — but for the first time, he’s looking to the future.
I think we all can agree that Sasuke is going about all of this entirely the wrong way. He’s essentially trying to play a game of politics with brute force and violence. In his eyes, the only way for a new, better system to emerge is to violently tear down the old one upheld by the five Kages.
Because all Sasuke has focused on up until this point is getting stronger so that he can take down a specific target, he has absolutely no clue about the finer details of the very system he’s trying to tear down. If Sasuke succeeds in killing the five Kages, then the Kage’s will be replaced by people appointed by the villages’ respective councils — people of the generation directly responsible for his plight.
This is because violence is the only thing Sasuke knows. To him, the natural order is disorder because his entire life has been nothing but disorder — so in his eyes, the only way any positive change can be enacted is by revolution.
For a large chunk of the story, Sasuke has been a chaotic neutral character. From the time Itachi died for the first time, to when Itachi died for a second time, Sasuke veered dangerously into chaotic evil territory. But now, Sasuke is chaotic good.
For context, I’d say that Kakashi is lawful good, Naruto is neutral good, and Sakura is somewhere between the two. Because all four of them are good, we know that they all have only the best of intentions — they all want positive change, but their interests are clashing because they disagree on the methods for bringing about this change.
This is a very delicate situation, and I sincerely hope that Kishi doesn’t trivialize it to: “Oh, Sasuke’s going crazy again; let’s beat some sense into him with the power of friendship!” Sasuke has every right to feel the way he does, and I actually agree with his goal — the system on which the Naruto world currently operates is shitty and needs to be changed, but not necessarily in the way Sasuke’s imagining.
To be honest, I think Sakura has the best hope of understanding Sasuke at this point — Kakashi automatically and incorrectly assumed that Sasuke’s just looking for revenge, and Naruto is too focused on trying to prevent Sasuke from succumbing to Indra’s curse, which, in his eyes, is becoming more and more imminent. Sakura is the only one who has made a sincere effort to understand Sasuke’s motives this entire war arc, outside the context of any curse or destiny, and I hope she finally gets her answer.
I hope Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi take the time to actually listen to him and understand where he’s coming from. I hope that Team Seven can come to a consensus that actually does incorporate Sasuke’s goal, instead of just brushing his desires aside as the ranting of a crazy person.
So let me start off by saying that Sasuke’s intentions are not inherently evil.
Notice how I said intentions and not actions. We know that Sasuke has a serious problem with the current institution because it really, really, really screwed him over personally in more ways than one, such as:
actively and systematically oppressing his entire family based on the actions of a few (who would be considered in any other case exceptions rather than the norm)
committing genocide against his entire family, killing off everyone whether they posed a legitimate threat or not, on the basis of the family’s potential reaction (keep in mind that no coup d’etat had actually happened yet) to the oppression described above
thoroughly manipulating the one person with everyone’s best interests at heart, unfairly forcing him to choose between his village and his family and execute said genocide, and then turning him into a scapegoat for the entire incident
refusing to provide Sasuke himself any sort of support after his family’s massacre (this isn’t explicitly stated in canon, but I think Sasuke would have been much better adjusted if the village had offered him more support, though still obviously not okay by any means)
refusing to do anything while known, highly-ranked criminals pursued Sasuke because he was the easiest target for Uchiha genes (again, not explicitly stated in canon, but it’s astounding how the village didn’t at least tighten security around Sasuke when Orochimaru first came after him, especially since he was the last member of such a prestigious clan)
Sasuke has stated multiple times that his problem lies with the system as a whole — not with specific people. What he wants is to tear down the old system and build a new one — one that will ensure that what happened to him doesn’t happen to anyone, ever again. By this logic alone, we can see that Sasuke has come a long way since the Kage Summit arc, where he blindly har har lashed out at Danzo, at the Kages that got in his way in his pursuit of Danzo, and even at his own teammates and former teammates.
What’s more, Sasuke’s current goal is fundamentally very similar to Hashirama’s.
On the simplest, most basic level, Hashirama and Sasuke are the same in the sense that they both saw at least one serious flaw in the old system, that they were personally hurt by this old system, and that their ultimate goal is reform. Hashirama called it “building a village” back then; Sasuke calls it “revolution” now.
Every argument stating that Sasuke has learned nothing and has gone back to his old ways is invalid by this logic.
Because, for the first time in his entire life, Sasuke is making his own decisions, rather than following (or being manipulated into following) a path that others have laid out for him. His extremely negative opinion of the system on which his world currently operates has been shaped by the numerous hardships and tragedies he’s been forced to endure — too much for any one person to bear.
Sasuke was once someone defined by his obsession with the past — but for the first time, he’s looking to the future.
I think we all can agree that Sasuke is going about all of this entirely the wrong way. He’s essentially trying to play a game of politics with brute force and violence. In his eyes, the only way for a new, better system to emerge is to violently tear down the old one upheld by the five Kages.
Because all Sasuke has focused on up until this point is getting stronger so that he can take down a specific target, he has absolutely no clue about the finer details of the very system he’s trying to tear down. If Sasuke succeeds in killing the five Kages, then the Kage’s will be replaced by people appointed by the villages’ respective councils — people of the generation directly responsible for his plight.
This is because violence is the only thing Sasuke knows. To him, the natural order is disorder because his entire life has been nothing but disorder — so in his eyes, the only way any positive change can be enacted is by revolution.
For a large chunk of the story, Sasuke has been a chaotic neutral character. From the time Itachi died for the first time, to when Itachi died for a second time, Sasuke veered dangerously into chaotic evil territory. But now, Sasuke is chaotic good.
For context, I’d say that Kakashi is lawful good, Naruto is neutral good, and Sakura is somewhere between the two. Because all four of them are good, we know that they all have only the best of intentions — they all want positive change, but their interests are clashing because they disagree on the methods for bringing about this change.
This is a very delicate situation, and I sincerely hope that Kishi doesn’t trivialize it to: “Oh, Sasuke’s going crazy again; let’s beat some sense into him with the power of friendship!” Sasuke has every right to feel the way he does, and I actually agree with his goal — the system on which the Naruto world currently operates is shitty and needs to be changed, but not necessarily in the way Sasuke’s imagining.
To be honest, I think Sakura has the best hope of understanding Sasuke at this point — Kakashi automatically and incorrectly assumed that Sasuke’s just looking for revenge, and Naruto is too focused on trying to prevent Sasuke from succumbing to Indra’s curse, which, in his eyes, is becoming more and more imminent. Sakura is the only one who has made a sincere effort to understand Sasuke’s motives this entire war arc, outside the context of any curse or destiny, and I hope she finally gets her answer.
I hope Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi take the time to actually listen to him and understand where he’s coming from. I hope that Team Seven can come to a consensus that actually does incorporate Sasuke’s goal, instead of just brushing his desires aside as the ranting of a crazy person.
