I still don't like the person x > person y, so person z > person x because person z > person y argument. In other words, Jiraiya could beat Oro because Oro is afraid of Itachi and Itachi didn't want to fight Jiraiya. Such arguments are flawed on their face, because each individual fight would proceed much differently than the others. The situations are different, you can't say Oro without any preparation could beat the Third every time anymore than you can say Jiraiya could beat Itachi if Itachi was prepared to take him on.

Really, guys, I'm getting tired of these arguments. Also, Itachi is NOT INVINCIBLE. Even 1 on 1, he can not take out any random ninja in Konoha. Gai revealed the method to beat his magenkyou sharingan way back when they first came to Konoha: just don't look at his eyes, then he can't use his ultimate technique on you. Itachi is fast, but so are Gai and Kakashi, and probably other ninja that haven't even been introduced. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that "this person is stronger than that person" argument should be referenced to a certain situation or certain techniques in order to make the discussion worthwhile.

Chidori vs. Rasengan vs. Sakura: I still think these techniques are each unique, and not just the same thing. First off, they are quite different in basic terms of execution. Chidori is a jutsu, it requires hand seals and probably some skill at doing lightning jutsu. Naruto (and probably Sakura) could not do this jutsu, plain and simple. Speed helps its success, but isn't necessary. It also seems to require a lot of chakra, because it's not really concentrated - it turns your hand into a lightning scalpel.

Now look at Rasengan. It's not a jutsu, so it can be performed by anyone who can learn fine chakra control (Sakura could probably learn this technique if someone taught her). It's unknown how much chakra this takes, it could be as much or more than Chidori, but the effects are much more devastating. Witness the comparison in destruction achieved after the rooftop battle; Sasuke was pissed because he realized his technique was inferior. Rasengan might also have other uses besides killing, while chidori is basically an assassination jutsu.

And finally examine Sakura's technique. There is no visible chakra involved, so it seems to require less chakra than both Chidori and Rasengan. However, the destruction wrought was substantial. This technique might be less effective at penetrating defense and causing damage to people, but for tearing up the ground or punching through trees/walls it seems to be ideal (Tsunade heavily used it for this purpose during her fight with Kabuto). Sakura could probably use her punch many times while chidori and rasengan would drain your chakra very quickly. And anyone thoeretically could learn Tsunade's strength with enough training and discipline - mostly it requires chakra control, which any basic ninja has a foundation in.

The point I'm trying to make is that each technique has its own challenges for use, purposes for use, and not everyone can learn every technique. Chidori is probably the most specialized, with Rasengan next, and Sakura's punch the least specialized. So they are different techniques and not just the same thing over and over IMO.

I don't know why everyone's complaining about this episode. I thought it was good. A little slow, but what do you expect after 2+ years of filler? I'm glad that they're trying to draw it out a little more to avoid fillers in the near future. And Deidara is just cool; the music they use when showing the 2 akatsuki is awesome. I don't know why some people are referring to it as "Star Wars" music, they have nothing in common except they're both using a vocal chorus.