I had preferred Naruto over Sasuke, but then... Itachi came along and kicked Sasuke's ass in part I, and I had a new love... No homo, but everything about Itachi just got me going when he first showed up.
Then he turned good guy. I mean, he was still badass, but *he could have worked so well as an ultimate villain for the series over Obito.
If there are any of the Uchiha hacks that I truly envied, it had to be the genjutsu.
*on topic to the chapter itself, I honestly feel Itachi, had it not been for circumstance, could have been easily equated to Madara in terms of power. Madara's large susano'o woulda been nothing more but a super large target to hit with his super sword. ^_^
Nevertheless, it irritates me a little bit how Hashirama acted, even as Hokage. Tobirama honestly struck me more to heart as a Hokage to get things done, with Hashi merely the voter pleaser.