The character Itachi Uchiha is one of the strongest characters in the Naruto universe. He is the older brother of the secondary protagonist, Sasuke Uchiha, and slayer of the Uchiha clan. He is able to use some of the most powerful jutsu in the series and plays a pivotal role in the plot. A new fanart reimagines Itachi as a samurai warlord, garnering the respect he deserves.
Initially, Itachi is depicted as a villain. As the series goes on though, it's revealed that he's actually a hero who took on the burden of dirtying his hands so that the world would stay clean. To prevent a war that would result in meaningless destruction and innocent lives being lost, Itachi killed his entire clan and family, with the exception of his little brother, Sasuke. Afterwards, Itachi banishes himself and joins the rogue Akatsuki to await the day that Sasuke would come and confront him.
Itachi's burden is reminiscent of a samurai enduring hardship, and fanart found on Instagram depicts Itachi exactly as that. Creator al_sahiim equips Itachi with black and gold samurai armor, accented with purple. Finer details like floral patterns and nicks in the metal decorate the armor. He is brandishing a katana in one hand and forming a hand seal in the other. Coming from the background, the ribs of his powerful Susanoo envelop him. The kanji for purple is stamped in the middle of the image, serving as a watermark for the artist. Contained in the post are also similar art depicting Naruto and Sasuke as samurai as well, though Itachi is still undoubtedly the centerpiece.
Placing Naruto characters in samurai armaments is a popular trend, but the attention to detail in this particular piece is stunning. Two things in particular stand out; the slash through the Hidden Leaf symbol and the placement of the sun and moon on the left and right of his helmet. The slash through the symbol on the helmet takes its inspiration directly from Itachi's headband in the series, which is made after Itachi joins up with the Akatsuki. The sun and moon also represent 2 of Itachi's other powerful jutsu, Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi. Their placement refers to how they are cast. Amaterasu is cast from Itachi's left eye, and Tsukuyomi from his right. These are references to the gods the jutsu are based on. Sharingan patterns and Akatsuki clouds make up other details in the armor.
Itachi is one of the best characters in Naruto. It's only fair that the artist would make a fanart that's as cool as the actual character. Even though he unfortunately does not make it to the end of the series, Itachi still resonates with fans to this day.
Source: Al Sahim