Naruto Anime Analysis

Season 3: Episode 129

Source: Wikipedia,
"Brothers: Distance Among the Uchiha."

"Naruto rises from the flames unharmed, and Sasuke remembers his childhood while doing battle with his enemy. Itachi used to be a cheerful Uchiha and a good brother while being the Uchiha's best ANBU captain. Fugaku Uchiha always favoured Itachi best. Sasuke tries to best Itachi, without success, until Itachi begins to become more distant from the clan and starts to rebel against the Uchihas."

Analysis

The following episode will focus on Sasuke's relationship with his family, especially Sasuke Uchiha.

Naruto rises from the flames unharmed. During the fight, Sasuke remembers his encounter with Itachi when he came back to the leaf village to find Naruto. Anyway, during the encounter between Sasuke and Itachi, Itachi said something that bothered Sasuke. He said that Sasuke is weak because he doesn't have enough hate. Therefore, this shows that their kind of relationship is strained. Sasuke may say that he hates Itachi, yet at the same time, he still cares about him. He is conflicted with his emotions, which is evident when he remembers his past days with Itachi.

Itachi used to be a cheerful Uchiha and a good brother while being the Uchiha's best ANBU captain. Sasuke and Itachi had a very close relationship, as is evident in his memories. For instance, Itachi explains the origins of the Leaf Police Force and why the Uchiha are in charge of it. He said, "It was the Uchiha clan's earliest ancestors who established the police here in the village, so when they created the symbol of the organisation, they used the family crest. Since a long time ago, the Uchiha have always ensured peace here. The crest is a testament to our clan's pride and a way of life centuries old. Over the years, the Uchiha clan has grown smaller. But even now, nearly all of us are part of the force and work to uphold peace in the village, which is good because only the exception of Shinobi can weed out the criminals hiding among their brethren." Itachi has given one a better understanding of the Uchiha clan. One of the main objectives of the clan is to ensure peace and security in the village, hence why they are in charge of the leaf police force.

Fugaku Uchiha always favoured Itachi best. Sasuke tries to best Itachi without success. Fugaku Uchiha is the father of Sasuke and Itachi. He was always mainly focused on Itachi instead of Sasuke. For example, he forgot about Sasuke's entrance ceremony at the Ninja Academy because he was talking to Itachi about attending a certain mission with him. Itachi, being a good brother to Sasuke, reminded his father that he was supposed to go to the entrance ceremony to support Sasuke. If it weren't for Itachi's interference, Fugaku Uchiha would have missed it; hence, the father highly favoured Itachi over Sasuke.

Fugaku Uchiha always compared Sasuke to Itachi. For instance, he told Sasuke that he should be a fine shinobi like his older brother; hence, it explains why Sasuke was always training. He wanted approval from his father. At the same time, at the Ninja Academy, people noticed he was a Uchiha and expected him to be the best, so he always felt a lot of pressure to be the best, just like Itachi Uchiha. Therefore, the relationship between Sasuke and his father is complicated. Sasuke loved his father, yet he wished that his father wouldn't compare him to his brother.

Moreover, his father pays more attention to Itachi than himself. For instance, he has high hopes that Itachi will make it to the ANBU ranks, which compelled Sasuke to train more to keep up with Itachi. Sasuke spent most of his life trying to keep up with Itachi, which explains why he wants Orochimaru's power. He not only hopes to kill his brother but, one day, surpass him.

There is another example to show that his father favoured Itachi best. When Sasuke received his report card, he passed. When he showed his father, he was still comparing him to Itachi. He said, "Keep excelling like this, and you'll be just like your brother in no time." Instead of just saying well done to his son, he compared him to Itachi. If you look at Sasuke's expression, he felt disappointed in himself; hence, he felt he was not good enough. To support this, Sasuke said in his mind, "Father. I wanted you to say, That's my boy to me." Comparing him to his brother was not good because it had affected him in the long run by constantly trying to keep up with Itachi. Moreover, it may have fostered resentment toward his brother before Itachi even killed the Uchiha clan.

Although Sasuke was always compared to his brother, we cannot ignore the fact that Itachi also had an issue with his father. For instance, Itachi was always pressured to do things by his father, like attending missions or the assembly. Moreover, he also had a mission at the Leaf Village. At the same time, Itachi is the Uchiha clan pipeline to the village nerve centre. It's a must for him to attend the Uchiha clan meeting.  Therefore, a lot of responsibilities might have made him feel overwhelmed, which affected his time when it came to spending time with his little brother. In other words, he never really had enough time for himself.

Sasuke confides in Itachi, saying that their father only cares about Itachi. Itachi said wise words, saying, "Being the best isn't always cracked up to be. When you have power, you become arrogant and isolated from the world. No matter how covered and sought after you are in the beginning, with us, it's different because you and I are flesh and blood. I'm always going to be there for you, even if it's only an obstacle for you to overcome. Even if you do hate me, that's what big brothers are for." Itachi and Sasuke had a very good and close relationship. Itachi promises to be there for his brother, no matter what. For instance, Itachi, who was aware of Sasuke's efforts, tried unsuccessfully to divert part of their father's attention to Sasuke. However, things will eventually change. 

Itachi begins to become more distant from the clan and starts to rebel against the Uchihas. It all started when the Uchiha clan members began to suspect Itachi of being a killer because they thought that Itachi had a hand in Shisui Uchiha's death. There was a rumour that he had ended his life. Moreover, Itachi and Shisui were close friends. This was evident when the clan members said, "You kind of looked up to him like an older brother." Furthermore, when they thought he was the killer, Itachi said, "You shouldn't judge people by their appearance or by your preconceptions." Itachi is offended in the sense that he considers Shisui his brother, so when they think that he killed Shisui, it angers him even more.

Itachi starts rebelling against the Uchihas. First, he said, "Obsessed with the organisation. Obsessed with the clan. Obsessed with our lineage. A worthless competition that enslaves us and limits our capabilities, leading us to fear what you don't understand."  Second, he said, I've had enough. There's no hope left for this pathetic clan." Last, he said, "The people of this clan are all the same. You focus on the trivial and lose sight of what's most important. Change is impossible in this state of ignorance. How can we evolve when regulation is all we know?" Although Itachi apologises after Sasuke says to stop, Itachi is already distant from the clan. This is evident when we're shown the intensity of Itachi's Sharingan, so Sasuke's memories go from bad to worse.

Back at the battle between Naruto and Sasuke, Sasuke said, "Let me show you the true power of the Sharingan." What is true power? The audience is left in suspense until they watch the next episode.

I liked the episode in the sense that there was a better understanding of the Uchiha clan. However, I was a bit disappointed because I didn't get to learn more about Sasuke's mom. I only saw the scene where she treated Sasuke's wounds. 

The lesson from this episode is shown in Itachi's phrases:

"Being the best isn't always cracked up to be. When you have power, you become arrogant and isolated from the world. No matter how covered and sought-after you are in the beginning,

"You shouldn't judge people by their appearance or by your preconceptions."