Naruto Series: Itachi Uchiha (INFJ)

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MBTI and Myers-Briggs related content

Ni:

“It’s foolish to fear what we have yet to see and know”
“You Focus on the Trivial, and lose sight of what is most important, Change is impossible in this fog of ignorance. How can we Evolve when Regulation is all we know?”
“…the trappings of a clan never bound Itachi. He was able to think about the future of shinobi and the village, and always had misgivings regarding those futures.”
– Saritobe about Itachi

Itachi’s personality type is a very obviously that of an Ni dominant. From a young age, he ponders the meaning of life, death, a shinobi and a village. He doesn’t seek out other people to answer these questions, but dwells on them, trying to work out his own interpretation. His fighting style focuses heavily on deception. He learns the Shadow Clone Jutsu at a young age, and uses it to skip school. When he’s older, he creates vast and elaborate GenJutsu to deceive his opponents and manipulate their actions. He focuses on the future and where events are going to lead. He frequently realizes what’s going to happen before it does, and he creates strategies and contingency plans based on it. For instance, planting a suggestion in the eyes of his subordinates when he first met them because he distrusted them, and putting Orochimaru in a Genjutsu when they first meet up, knowing Orochimaru will attack him. In addition, Itachi latches onto the crow symbol as a young child, and uses it heavily to precede his appearances and his GenJutsu, which is a demonstration of Ni symbolism.

Fe:

Those who turn their hands against their comrades are sure to die a terrible death.”
Self-sacrifice….A nameless shinobi who protects peace within it’s shadow…THAT is a true shinobi…”

While the show makes Itachi appear like a Te auxiliary early on, his Fe/Ti becomes very apparent later on. During Itachi’s back story, child Itachi demonstrates Fe constantly. In an academy sparring match, he is shown defeating his opponent, and then catching the kid’s head before it hits the ground. When the kids run down the halls proclaiming how amazing he is, Itachi is bothered by all the attention, desperately hoping they’ll stop, but he never says a word. He generally avoids conflict and fighting, only launching into action to defend himself when he absolutely has to. When faced with the decision to kill off the Uchiha, his Fe was forced to decide between loyalty to the clan and loyalty to the village. He determined that for the future of the village and the clan (surviving through Sasuke), the Uchiha had to be destroyed. Itachi appears to be in an Ni-Ti loop for the entire show due to his tragic life, which would explain the general lack of emotional expression. However, he is generally very soft in his dealings with Sasuke, prior to wiping out the Uchiha clan. When Sasuke finally manages to kill him, Itachi can’t help but find one last secret way to express his love for his brother: tap Sasuke on the forehead like he did when they were kids.

Ti:

“Knowledge and awareness are vague, and perhaps better called illusions.”
“Obsessed with Organization, obsessed with the clan, obsessed with ourselves. A worthless compulsion that enslaves us and limits our capabilities, leading us to fear what we don’t understand.”

Ti is abstract logic. Ti users prefer to not extravert judgement or explain what they’re thinking before the thought is fully formed. Itachi demonstrates this in his detached style of thinking, pondering, and strategizing. Ni-Ti also is the deadly combination that allows someone to go deep down the rabbit hole, logically speaking. He over time develops disgust for organization and the confines of the clan, because he sees where it is all leading. He is neither commanding nor bossy, and never appears to desire any form of command. What Itachi does and how he goes about things frequently makes no sense to the observing eye. His methods are never direct, and his strategies remain solely in his head. When he is revived and fights alongside Naruto, Itachi suddenly tells Naruto to be quiet because he needs to retreat into his mind to form a strategy. This is characteristic of a Ti user.

Se:

Itachi’s inferior Se is most clearly seen in his fighting style.  He demonstrates a preference for fighting at a distance, with illusion and deception. He avoids hand-to-hand conflict like the plague, and when forced to physically fight, Itachi finds a way to get out of it as quickly as possible, which indicates the lack of a strong sensory function. Beyond that, low Se is impulsive and indulgent, and Itachi rarely demonstrates either of these things, but he does live most of his life in an Ni-Ti loop. He does lash out angrily at his father multiple times prior to the destruction of the clan, and he also lashes out a group of Uchiha who were accusing him of killing Shisui. As a child, after Tenma dies, Itachi mourns the loss and wishes that he’d had more skill so that he could have saved Tenma. The desire for more skill could possibly be low Se. In addition, when Orochimaru tries to steal his body, Itachi reacts instantly and angrily, nearly killing Orochimaru. If Kabuto hadn’t stepped in, Itachi would have.

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