Naruto's Itachi Uchiha was the elder brother of Sasuke Uchiha and a boy hailed to be a genius. At the age of 7, Itachi is known to have had the wisdom of a Kage, which is unheard of in the Naruto world.
Yet, as fans know him, Itachi is a man who, admittedly, made many mistakes throughout his life as a ninja. While he is hailed as a hero who did everything he could to save his village akin to a Hokage, he is also a person with several flaws and countless mistakes to his name.
8 Made Decisions For Sasuke
Perhaps one of the worst things that Itachi Uchiha ever did was making decisions for Sasuke back when they lived happily together.
Being a kid, it would've been extremely hard for Sasuke to discern the truth and Itachi used this to push Sasuke down a road that he thought was best for him. Instead of being honest with his brother, Itachi decided on some things that had a grievous impact on Sasuke while growing up.
7 Pushed His Own Brother Down A Path Of Hatred
Sasuke had a childhood that every child deserves until Itachi turned his entire world upside down. Not only did he lie to Sasuke repeatedly but he also forced him down a path of hatred that he didn't want to take.
Itachi instilled hate within Sasuke and for a child of 8, this was traumatizing to the point where he became obsessed with gaining power, no matter the source. Sasuke leaving the village to seek power from Orochimaru was simply because Itachi had pushed him to a point of no return.
6 Made Sasuke Suffer With Tsukuyomi At The Age Of 8
After the death of Fugaku and Mikoto, Sasuke eventually arrived near their corpses and found his brother there. For Sasuke, Itachi was probably the only source of comfort at the point but he soon realized that the man was responsible for the tragedy in the first place.
With his Mangekyo Sharingan, Itachi used the Tsukuyomi on him and made him witness the death of his parents, along with several other members of the clan again and again. Given that the Tsukuyomi is an incredibly powerful jutsu, Sasuke was utterly traumatized and eventually passed out.
5 Asked Sasuke To Kill His Best Friend
Not only did Itachi break Sasuke mentally on the day of the Uchiha Clan tragedy but he also put some of the worst ideas in his mind such as killing his best friend to gain the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Itachi wanted Sasuke to become a hero of the village once he killed him but if Sasuke murdered a friend to attain power, it is safe to say that nobody in the village would consider him a hero for it. On the contrary, Sasuke would probably have been dealt with harshly. Thankfully, Sasuke never followed through with Itachi's bad idea.
4 Massacred His Entire Clan
Itachi's biggest crime to this day remains to be the slaughter of his own clan that he took part in. While there is no doubt that he had Konoha's best interest at heart, Itachi killed thousands of people simply for existing and wanting better.
The Uchiha clan was mistreated by Konohagakure time and again and it was understandable why they wanted to stage a coup but Itachi put an end to that. Not only did he kill those who were involved in the coup but everyone else, including innocent children as well.
3 Put Sasuke In A Coma Again
After Sasuke became a member of Team 7, he ran into Itachi Uchiha following the death of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage. Having become obsessed with revenge thanks to Itachi's trauma-inducing genjutsu, Sasuke's first instinct upon seeing his brother was to kill him.
Needless to say that he failed miserably and Itachi Uchiha absurdly cast another genjutsu of the Uchiha Clan Massacre on him, putting him in a coma for weeks. The fact that Itachi has complete control over space and time in the Tsukuyomi world means that he probably showed the image of his dead parents to Sasuke innumerable times.
2 Planned To Manipulate Sasuke With Kotoamatsukami
At some point, Itachi realized that his plan had massively backfired and instead of protecting the village, Sasuke would want to destroy it after he realized the truth and to counter this, his solution was to lie yet again.
By using Shisui Uchiha's Kotoamatsukami, Itachi intended to manipulate Sasuke by stopping him from moving against the village. There is certainly no doubt that Sasuke turning his vengeance on the people of the village was wrong, however, not teaching him right from wrong and instead manipulating him was just as wrong.
1 Kept The Truth From Sasuke
Itachi kept the truth of the Uchiha Clan Massacre from Sasuke and forced a burden on him that he was never ready to accept. Eventually, he came to the realization that manipulating Sasuke and trying to shape him to live the way he wanted was wrong.
To make things right, Itachi told the entire truth to Sasuke and expressed his undying love for his brother. Sadly, the damage was already done at this point and Sasuke had become a criminal all across the shinobi world. Things would've been much different for him had Itachi been honest and not decided to hide the truth from Sasuke.