i dont think itachi is the most powerful out there. i think long term orochi is a bigger threat since he can soul transfer but in his current body he is not that strong.

looking at manga trends, it seems like sasuke and naruto will have to kill/defeat orochi and itachi.

problem is naruto's not wanting to kill people, at least he hasnt had to yet. orochi HAS to die and thats why i think sasuke will take him on, and itachi will have to fight naruto, because he hunts naruto and the kyubi. itachi doesnt have to die, just be defeated. now the special eye can only be blocked by another sharingan but i think naruto defies even the bloodlimits. We have seen bloodlines as superior to the regular ninja and constantly heard about how uchiha is the best bloodline. the only things that seem superior to bloodline are the demons like kyubi and the sand racoon.

we have seen a ton of elite fighters and while everyone knows naruto has the greatest potential he isnt even close to that yet. he is growing at a tremendous rate but still not close to the end.

now the third had no bloodline, he was just a genius and i think the first two hokage were good, but the 3rd was superior to them. i think the 4th was in turn superior to the 3rd, he developed the rasengan and the death jutsu that sealed the kyubi, and he was the only 'summon' the 3rd was worried about. i dont think the hokage have to be stronger each time but that definatly seems to be the trend so far. you can have ninja that are superior to bloodlines, but they are rare enough to be hokage. also i take back one thing, the 1st hokage has some weird power with plants that might be classified as a bloodline. the point was that bloodlines are not the end all be all.

now major villains are orochi/kabuto and itachi/akatsuki. orochi has the largest longterm threat because he is a genius and has a method for immortality, even if not perfect. the body he has might not be as good as sasukes but it certainly is superior since it was a fight among clans that he had captured so its not too shaby either. i hate to admit it but i see a time jump happening with sasuke training under orochi. orochi cant take sasuke's body for a while from kabuto's statement so he will just train him and bring him more under his control.

back to why naruto has to fight itachi, its more a matter of sasuke NOT fighting him if we are expecting a happy ending overall. He must reject the avenger attitude and with his great potential and being corrupted by orochi, he will have to fight orochi and kill him so as to free himself. killing orochi is necessary and i dont know if naruto has it in him.

itachi has the eye but i think naruto will eventually gain a protection from genjutsu via the kyubi. the strong willpower of the demon will help naruto against mind attacks. . total guess but its plausable. rememeber the scroll at the beginning that naruto stole that had eight jutsu, which the 4th used to seal kyubi? maybe one of those helps naruto and i definatly expect him to slowly learn all of those eight.

i think most would agree itachi is definatly one of the stronger of akatsuki, but each in their own way is superior and sannin level elite. the sharkfin sword is what makes that other member elite, its a badass weapon and i think that is what puts him in akatsuki level. i dont care to speculate about the rest but we have a LOT of plot to deal with and kishimoto is going to be writing naruto for years. i see the anime far exceeding DBZ if they follow the manga completely.

a side question on ranking, would we classify naruto as kakashi level since he defeated kabuto who we know is kakashi level? i think kaakshi would mop the floor with naruto if he had too, which would be a horrible story but anyway.