Itachi

[XwingRob]

Inner Sakura will defeat Itachi.
Duuuuhhhhhh..... [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[Neji-Aniki-sama]

That's the problem. Fear.
If you know the Nibelungen Saga, you know that Notung, Siegfried's sword could only be reforged by somebody who didn't know what fear was. That's the reason Mime couldn't do it. This dwarf gives a fairly precise description of such emotion, but I digress.
Siegfried never learned what fear was, that's the main thing about him and it's repeated ad nauseam during almost all the unending hours of the operatic cycle. And, mind you, he tried to learn it many times, so he actually wasn't as stupid as I am painting him.
But not knowing fear was his undoing. People more learned on that subject know that they're better off not trusting strangers and not drinking stuff that's offered by your gf when you're not sure of what kind of mood she is in, since it may lead to stabbings in the back, as it in fact did.

[IamSpazzy]

A thought for what kind of person Itachi is. I think Itachi is probably the best duelist in Naruto's world. However in spite of his one on one prowess, he isn't the most powerful ninja in Naruto's world only because ninja's don't actually have to face each other down at high noon. Summons, having more than one ninja face off against Itachi at once, other blood limit abilities would all pose significant difficulties to Itachi.

However, in spite of the fact that Itachi can be beaten, I think his mystique is the fact that he's so good one on one, and a lot of other ninjas especially Sasake want to beat Itachi by themselves, and not part of a concerted effort. So while I think Orochimaru could beat Itachi if he planned it properly, Orochimaru is looking to beat itachi in a dueling type situtation.

Perhaps that's Itachi's real weakness. The fact that he's over reliant on his Sharingin and isn't a great tactician.

Levels are a rough measurement of one's ability and it does not guarantee one's ability to beat someone else. I think it's possible to be a high level ninja specializing in only one aspect of nin, tai, or genjitsu. No one has ever stated that you needed to be good in everything. And I think Itachi could very well weak in taijitsu, only because he's got very little need for it. As for Gai matching up well with kakashi, no one has ever said that Kakashi couldn't be smarter than Itachi, and it's Kakashi's brain more than his Sharingan that poses the greatest challenge to Gai. For all we know, they could have been fighting long before Kakashi got his sharingan

[CyberPunk]

all this speculation....
there's proof that itachi is a great tactician and leader because he was promoted to anbu CAPTAIN at the age of 13. that means he was commanding others during missions. he also killed his entire clan, a clan of sharingan users. in that clan, you would think that someone else would have mastered the sharingan and be able to see through the mange technique, right? that means itachi probably is awesome in all aspects of being a ninja. just because the anime hasn't shown his taijutsu skills, save for the kick he gave kurenai, doesn't mean he's weak in that field.