The Uchiha clan is undoubtedly the most famous clan in the entire Naruto series. The clan has a dark history, which is why other clans feared them. The Uchiha clan, led by Madara Uchiha formed an alliance with Hashirama Senju and the Senju clan.
This alliance laid the foundation for the Hidden Leaf. Sadly, due to people like Tobirama Senju, and Danzo Shimura, the Uchiha clan was ostracized and then massacred. When the story of Naruto started, there were only two known Uchiha survivors— Itachi and Sasuke. Itachi had joined the Akatsuki after slaughtering his entire clan, while Sasuke was young and training, so he could beat Itachi. The two brothers are undoubtedly among the most talented characters in the series, but who had the more potential?
Itachi and His Feats
Itachi was born a prodigy, and he was able to breeze through the Academy without any problems. He was on track to become one of the greatest ninjas of all time. Itachi served in the ANBU and completed several high-profile missions, but none of them was as big and gruesome as the task of murdering his parents and the rest of the Uchiha Clan. Itachi only spared his younger brother, and after completing his mission, Itachi left the village and joined the Akatsuki.
Itachi's skills were incredible, and it didn't take him long to get settled into the Akatsuki. Itachi was paired with Kisame Hoshikage, who respected the former Leaf ninja a lot. Itachi did not participate in many fights due to his mysterious illness, but over the course of the story, he did demonstrate what he was capable of. Itachi was an incredible ninja, with no glaring weaknesses. He was proficient in ninjutsu, bukijutsu, taijutsu and genjutsu. Itachi's mastery of genjutsu made him a deadly opponent, as he could simply put an opponent out of commission by just pointing his finger at them. When Orochimaru tried to take over Itachi's body, the latter defeated him without any effort, which led the Legendary Sannin member to openly claim that he was no match for the Uchiha. Itachi's next biggest fight came against his younger brother, Sasuke.
The Younger Brother
Sasuke had an immense amount of pressure on his shoulders when he was young because he was constantly compared to his highly talented older brother. However, the two brothers did not let the difference in their skills affect their bond. They were very close to each other and Itachi always looked out for his younger brother. Unfortunately, all of that changed when Itachi was forced to kill his entire clan. At the time, Sasuke couldn't comprehend what had happened, and he was traumatized for life.
Sasuke grew up hating his older brother for what he had done to their parents and the rest of the clan. Sasuke was only focused on getting stronger in order to defeat Itachi. His biggest test before facing Itachi was Deidara, who was the youngest member of the Akatsuki. Sasuke's fight with Deidara was captivating, and the Uchiha had to toil a lot to beat his opponent. In a last-ditch attempt, Deidara decided to blow himself up, however, Sasuke's ingenuity rescued him from certain death.
The Fight Between The Two
Itachi vs. Sasuke was not a close fight by any means. Itachi was holding back for the entirety of the fight as he didn't want to kill his younger brother. If Itachi wanted to win, Sasuke would have died within a few minutes. Itachi didn't even use the Susanoo till the very end, and after seeing the power of Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan, Sasuke felt powerless, and he completely accepted his fate.
It took Sasuke a lot of time to surpass Itachi, and it is fair to say that didn't happen until Hagoromo gave him one-half of his powers. Many people might debate that Sasuke with the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan was more powerful than Itachi, but Itachi was still the superior fighter with a bigger variety of Jutsu. It is certainly a fact that Sasuke received a big amp in the form of the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, but it does not mean Sasuke would have walked out the winner.
The fight could have gone either way as Itachi's Susanoo had the Totsuka Blade and the Yata Mirror. Sasuke would have only won by outlasting Itachi, and if the latter had no reason to hold back then he would have gone all-out. When the two brothers fought against Kabuto, it was only because of Itachi's knowledge that they managed to defeat him. This proved that Itachi had other cards up his sleeve and Sasuke had no way of knowing about them.
It is heavily implied that Itachi was the more talented of the two brothers. He would have been invincible, but his illness did not let that happen. Itachi always had to be careful while fighting as prolonging a fight could have affected his chances of winning it. Sasuke wasn't too far behind him, and by the end of the series, Sasuke was the second-strongest ninja in the series, with only Naruto ahead of him. The best thing about the brothers was their bond, and no fan can disagree that when they were reunited during the Fourth Great Ninja War, emotions were running high. After all that hatred between the two brothers, it was absolutely incredible seeing them reconcile and express their love for each other.