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Sasuke & the Uchiha Clan: An Analysis

Chapter 11

An Irrelevant Scene

I don’t think Sasuke’s confrontation with Orochimaru reflects Sasuke’s honest feelings about his clan, since the purpose of Sasuke’s speech to his sannin sensei was about making the sannin’s death as humiliating as possible, not about bragging about how Sasuke’s clan is so exceptional compared to everyone else.

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Sasuke was feeding Orochimaru’s narrative in order to make Orochimaru’s demise at his hands even more stinging and devastating. Sasuke's words here are all a ploy to humiliate Orochimaru, making his words are about spite, not substance. So while Sasuke mentions the power, talent, and intelligence of his clan in that scene, I wouldn't take his words about the Uchiha clan in this particular instance too seriously and would dismiss them from any serious discussion in regards to Sasuke’s feelings for his clan.

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However, Sasuke’s arrogant drivel about how the Uchiha are brilliant geniuses probably has kernels of truth hidden in it, so Sasuke is not 100% off the hook. Sasuke likely has a bit of sense of superiority about his clan, though I think it’s not quite as inflated or exaggerated as this scene makes it appear, as I think Sasuke’s arrogance about the Uchiha clan in this moment is purposefully overstated.

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Sasuke was arrogant around Orochimaru in this scene, but there was a point to his words to Orochimaru beyond mere arrogance. It was spite and hate, emerging in the form of arrogance. It’s Sasuke getting revenge on the man who’d killed thousands and planned to murder him as well. Sasuke was disgusted with Orochimaru and wanted Orochimaru to know it. So Sasuke hit it where it hurt: Orochimaru had coveted the power of the Uchiha more than anything, so Sasuke showed Orochimaru just how powerful the Uchiha were, dangling the thing Orochimaru desired most in front of him, frustratingly just out of the sannin’s reach. Sasuke was toying with his opponent, showing off the abilities that Orochimaru had wanted so badly, showing Orochimaru that he couldn’t have the one thing he had coveted above all.

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If Sasuke continued to propagate throughout the series how amazing the Uchiha were and bragged about how inferior Orochimaru was, boasting that the sannin was defeated by his brilliant Uchiha mind, then I would seriously factor in this moment into consideration on Sasuke’s feelings on his clan. But Sasuke doesn’t mention the brilliance of his clan again. When others later talked about his victory over Orochimaru, Sasuke waved it off dismissively and didn’t think it was any accomplishment worthy of note or praise. He didn’t bring it up unless necessary, and he never mentioned the greatness of his clan factoring in his ability to defeat Orochimaru, like he had when he was actually facing Orochimaru. Sasuke didn’t use the sannin’s defeat as a reason to crow about how superior his clan was beyond his confrontation with Orochimaru, which shows that Sasuke is generally disinterested in boasting about his clan to others, and that him rubbing the Uchiha’s power in Orochimaru’s face was not pointless gloating about his clan, but psychological warfare.

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In fact, in future mentions Sasuke downplays himself by saying that defeating Orochimaru is not a big deal nor a particularly impressive feat on his part, so I don’t feel like this scene can seriously be considered in a meaningful discourse on thoughts of Sasuke’s feelings about his clan. Scenes for dissecting Sasuke’s emotions for his clan would be better found elsewhere when Sasuke is being more honest and sincere.

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However, people's words don't come from nowhere and even facades can hide grains of truth, which begs the question: Does Sasuke believe the Uchiha are so genius that no one outside the clan could possibly compare?

 

Sasuke might have an over-inflated sense of his clan's power, since he has firsthand knowledge of some of the Uchiha’s power and think more highly of his clan and their power than is reasonable, plus everyone around him regularly praised the elite prestige of the Uchiha. Generally though, I think Sasuke has a fairly accurate sense of the Uchiha's power. Sasuke was extremely prodigious and strong, and he certainly is not playing humble by constantly downplaying his talents. Sasuke isn’t going to incessantly brag and boast about his abilities, but he's not going to understate and undermine his talents and skills either, nor the mighty abilities of his clan. He’s straightforward about his abilities as they are, aside from the usual trash talk when taking on more than he can chew in battle, something that essentially every Shonen anime character who ever existed does. But usually, the only opponents Sasuke tends to rub his Uchiha heritage in their face are those who bring up his clan affiliation first, opponents such as Rock Lee or Orochimaru. 

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