Originally posted by: hiten mitsurugi
The fact that Itachi retreats means that he is conscious of his existence, therefore he is afraid to die. Someone who is afraid to die becomes weak. If you don't take chances because you are afraid of your own mortality, then you can never become the strongest. You just become a person who does what they can to survive. There is nothing scary or badass about that.
itachi didn't run away cuz he was afraid of dying, he did it cuz there was no rush to capture naruto. k thx.