Naruto die-hard fans must realize that Itachi Uchiha, Sasuke’s older brother, is the most loved character in this ninja-themed anime. Why?

Well, aside from bearing Uchiha name and Sharingan, Itachi is actually one of the anime characters who always act selfless. He always put his village and his brother first on every action that he takes -- although it eventually makes Itachi banished from his beloved village.

Therefore, let’s find out together the story behind his sacrifice and also what makes Itachi Uchiha loved by the fans!

1. Put Other People First and Always Cautious

First of all, we need to discuss about the conflict that happened between Senju and Uchiha before the establishment of Konoha. The two clans always clashed before Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha finally managed to stop the war that has been going on for centuries and formed the Konoha Village together with the aim to start a new peaceful era.

However, Madara feels like the Uchiha Clan had no place in Konoha. Although Hashirama wants Madara to become the Hokage, the villagers choose Hashirama. The suspicion continues for several generations even after Madara’s death, making the Uchiha Clan to be the second class citizens and never get a higher position in the Konoha Village administration.

This leads them to resent the village condition even more and at one point the Uchiha decides to plot a coup d’etat; leads by Sasuke’s father, Fugaku Uchiha.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi and the elders of Konoha including Danzo finds out about the Uchiha plan and decides to destroy the clan, afraid that if their plan is success then there will be an endless war like before.

However they cannot send any ninja to accomplish this task. Because if they find out that the Senju accomplice tries to kill Uchiha, the Uchiha will have a reason to start a war and kill many innocent people. 

Therefore, the Third Hokage then decides to assign a fellow Uchiha to massacre his own clan – none other than Itachi Uchiha.

Itachi, along with his friend Shisui Uchiha, from the beginning are disagree with this plan with the same reasons as the Third Hokage. He choose to protect the villagers that he loved dearly from unnecessary bloody conflict and only driven by the ego of the Uchiha Clan higher-ups, Itachi must kill all of his family members by his own hands.

He sacrifices himself willigly to be branded as a traitor and discarded by the people who didn’t understand the true motive behind his action and makes his brother’s heart filled with revenge. All for the sake of peace.

2. The Genius Ninja Who Is Very Powerful 

Of course the Third Hokage and the elders of Konoha not choose Itachi just because he is an Uchiha but also because they know that he is the only one who can accomplish this hard mission.

Itachi is a model ninja. When he was still in the Academy he always managed to get an excellent grade, with the highest scores in the Ninja Academy right behind Minato Namikaze. He also able to learn various of ninja techniques by himself, even the Jonin class high level ninjutsu.

Not only sharpen his skill, Itachi also likes to learn about history. From there, he learns about the history of Uchiha clan and begins to worry about the future of peace in Konoha Village.

At the age of 7, Itachi graduates from the Academy with the highest score in his class. Then, at the age of 10, he passes the Chuunin exams and enters the Anbu a year later. He is promoted to Anbu Captain at the age of 13. His academic and career success become his family’s biggest pride.

After the death of his close friend, Shisui Uchiha, Itachi managed to awaken Mangekyo Sharingan that giving him Tsukuyomi genjutsu and the black flames that could not be extinguished, Amaterasu. He also has Susanoo and the Sword of Totsuka that can seal any person it pierced into; and the Yata Mirror, a shield that can reflect any attack. These two weapons made Itachi’s Susanoo essentially invincible.

Thanks to his techniques and abilities, many people consider him as one of the best ninja in the world. Orochimaru, the member of Sannin, admitted that Itachi is stronger than him. Obito claimed that Itachi can kill Sasuke easily even when he want to even when he is badly injured. And Shisui, who is said to be the strongest Uchiha during his time, said that one day Itachi will surpass him and become the one who protect the Uchiha name. 

His power is not only from his ninjutsu and fighting skill, but also from his “heart”. Realize the consequence if he chose not to or kill his own parents, Itachi is able to do it even though his hands are shaking and his heart is filled with grief.

3. A Very Loving Person

And most of all, despite the fact that Itachi killed all of the Uchiha Clan members, until the end of his life he was very fond of his family. And vice versa, although he betrayed the Uchiha Clan himself, his parents did not harbor prejudice and were very proud of his eldest son for being able to carry out such difficult task. Before they died, they also asked Itachi to look after Sasuke.

This was actually already done when he chose to finish off the Uchiha Clan. At one point, Danzō felt that Uchiha's behavior was already preposterous and there was no other way to stop the Uchiha Clan uprising. He also gave Itachi two choices: support the rebellion and let all the Clan members be slaughtered including Sasuke, or kill them all before the plan could proceed and Sasuke could be left alive. His choice is obvious, right?

Then after his task was completed, Itachi deliberately filled Sasuke's heart and mind with hatred and revenge so that one day Sasuke could master the Mangekyō Sharingan. Besides that when he was killed by Sasuke, Itachi would give his Sharingan eye and give the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan; as well as by killing Itachi, Sasuke would be able to clear his Clan's name and considered as a hero of Konoha. He also threatened Danzō because he could not be trusted, saying he would revealed this to other Ninja Villages if he dared to touch Sasuke.

Even to ensure that all the plans can run smoothly, when he was contracted with terminal illness, Itachi tried to continue to survive with only medicine and sheer willpower.

I think those are the reasons why Itachi Uchiha has always been the most loved character among the Naruto fans. What about you, DG Friends? Do you agree or have other reasons (maybe just because he is handsome)? Let's discuss it together in the comments section, okay?