One of the best highlights in Boruto is seeing Sasuke Uchiha’s redemption as the final part of a compelling journey from tragedy to heroism that first began in Naruto. As inspirational as that may sound, Sasuke sadly had to go through years of villainy before he could become a hero. This was due to his worst influencers, who led him down a path of hatred, crime and murderous intentions.
Due to his goal of killing his brother Itachi for the massacre of their clan, Sasuke struggled to balance friendship with training. With Orochimaru’s promise of strength, Sasuke followed him into the darker side of society despite knowing he was essentially prey for his new mentor. After escaping those clutches and finally killing Itachi, Sasuke would have achieved peace if not for Obito — disguised as Madara Uchiha — who pulled him back into a life of hatred and vengeance with Itachi and Konoha’s biggest secret. Each of these influencers led Sasuke into becoming a major antagonist, but Sasuke’s life would have been a lot brighter without one in particular.
Sasuke’s Brother Itachi Began the Entire Tragic Journey
Sasuke initially adored Itachi and aimed to become just as strong. Sadly, their wholesome brotherhood was never the same after Itachi massacred their clan. Though he spared Sasuke’s life, he took the extra step of showing the boy a genjutsu of every murder he committed, causing a trauma that would stay with Sasuke for the rest of his life. As much as he trained to avenge their clan, his efforts were for naught when he faced Itachi again as a Genin. Facing his little brother, Itachi pulled the kid’s gloves off and pummeled Sasuke, reminding him that he was weak and required more hatred.
If the physical beating wasn’t bad enough, Itachi placed Sasuke under the same traumatic genjutsu as before, reshowing the horrific murders. What Sasuke didn’t know was that these criminal acts were all a part of an act to make Itachi look like a villain and spare the village from a war with the Uchiha clan, who’d planned to stage a coup d’état. This led Sasuke to believe that Itachi never loved him and that the village had always been a peaceful haven. Itachi’s great deceit and horrific actions drive Sasuke toward hatred and villainy — though that was never what he intended for his beloved little brother.
Itachi ultimately wanted to foster peace, especially for Konoha and Sasuke. With tensions rising in the Uchiha clan, Itachi agreed to control the problem by himself and thus killed off the entire clan. The one person he couldn’t bring himself to murder was Sasuke, prompting him to create the narrative that he would be a villain — and Sasuke would be the hero to take him down. Even as he waited for Sasuke to become strong enough to face him, Itachi did what he could to protect the kid from the likes of Danzo, Orochimaru and Madara Uchiha. Though his plans didn’t fully work out, he reconciled with Sasuke and told him the full truth, teaching him how important love is. Sadly, this didn’t stop Sasuke from his path of hatred.
Orochimaru Brought Sasuke Into the Naruto World’s Underbelly
With his eyes on Uchiha power, Orochimaru put a literal target on Sasuke early on in Naruto, leading the latter into his obsession with power. After the failure to kill Itachi during their reunion, Orochimaru sent the Four Sound Ninja to convince Sasuke to leave Konoha. While using the most questionable methods to enhance Sasuke’s training, Orochimaru intended to use the young ninja for his own personal gain toward immortality and power.
While Orochimaru is fully honest about his ill intentions, he also genuinely supports Sasuke’s need to face Itachi. He’s straightforward and doesn’t appear to manipulate or lie to Sasuke. Even after being killed by Sasuke himself, Orochimaru cared enough to help him pave a new path when he was brought back to life. By connecting him with the past Hokage, Orochimaru indirectly helped Sasuke let go of his hatred and come to his own understanding of how to make the world better, leading him one step closer to fully healing. Despite these positive aspects of their relationship, however, Orochimaru is far from a Saint.
Obito Uchiha Pushed Sasuke to Become the World’s Greatest Threat
As part of a long-term plan to take over the world, Obito disguised himself as the legendary Madara Uchiha. After Itachi’s death, Obito captured Sasuke and manipulated him into a rage with the truth. Convincing him to exact revenge on Danzo and all of Konoha, he pushes Sasuke to commit crimes on behalf of the Akatsuki. Even after following Obito’s advice, the villain still tried to control Sasuke by keeping him away from the war.
As terrible an influence as Obito is on Sasuke, there was some good that came from his actions. By revealing the truth behind Itachi and Konoha’s biggest controversy, Obito showed the critical issues with the ninja world’s politics and also helped Sasuke toward forgiveness. Even more critically, Obito shared the truth with Naruto and Kakashi; this inadvertently helped Naruto bridge the gap between himself and Sasuke, which was needed for their final battle. As with Orochimaru, however, these positive impacts aren’t enough to make Obito a good person.
Itachi Uchiha Was Sasuke’s Worst Influence in Naruto
Though Obito had a direct impact on Sasuke becoming public enemy number one, Sasuke’s driving force was always Itachi. Granted, the latter had to play the role of the evil rogue ninja, but placing Sasuke under a horrific genjutsu that brought back his childhood trauma only served to break down his mental state. Even with Orochimaru’s curse mark and promise of power, Sasuke was still on the side of good. But the crushing reminder of his hatred for Itachi, and his inability to achieve revenge, drove Sasuke to desire power over anything else.
This scene between the brothers caused a drastic change in Sasuke, leaving him drowning in hatred. It is why he went to Orochimaru — who was at least straightforward about his intentions — and why he was so easily manipulated by Obito. While Itachi’s words of compassion in his dying moments certainly helped Sasuke heal, the damage was already too far gone for him to extend those feelings of love to anyone else. Sasuke was broken by his older brother more than once even before being used by Obito and Orochimaru, making Itachi the worst influence on Sasuke’s character in Naruto.