in a fight between itachi and pain, pain would win

I will begin by thanking my opponent's debate. ----- While I admit that I was in error about the Sharingan increasing the user's speed, this was not integral to my reasoning behind Itachi's >9/5 speed; in fact, it was not even a factor. My proof for Itachi's high speed rating is entirely mathematical, and is shown in the debate I cited as source "[1]". As to why Itachi's speed rating in the actual databook is only 5/5, this can easily be explained by the fact that Itachi's speed exceeded the scale's limits. Being "off the charts", the closest measurement to accurate that the scale had was a full 5/5 ranking. Furthermore, as I showed in the cited debate [1], the Third Databook was written at a time when, in the series' plot, Itachi was suffering from terminal disease, which obviously severely impaired his speed. Thus, my claim regarding Itachi's speed has not been adequately refuted, and the assertion that Itachi's speed dwarfs Pain's still stands. ----- I will now defend my strategy from refutation. First of all, the video shows Itachi to use the technique almost instantaneously with virtually no time spent concentrating chakra, and Itachi is known to weave handseals even faster than the video shows, with his casting of ninjutsu being virtually instantaneous due to the speed with which he weaves seals [17]. Thus, the time it takes to concentrate the chakra would not be a factor. Furthermore, though Nagato is able to see chakra, he is not able to mimic a jutsu with the Rinnegan or predict an attack [3]. Thus, Nagato would not be able to "read" the technique and thus would be unable to counter it. "Attack 1" Animal Path: By running into the forest, Animal Path would be directly exposing itself to the Gouenkyuu. The forest is close enough to Itachi that, at the speed the Gouenkyuu was shown moving at in the video, it would take at most two seconds for the Gouenkyuu to reach the forest and detonate. As Itachi is capable of activating it virtually instantaneously, it takes two seconds for Itachi to activate Gouenkyuu and for Gouenkyuu to detonate. It is highly unlikely Animal Path would be able to cross ten meters reach the forest within two seconds, meaning that Gouenkyuu would detonate before Animal Path could reach the forest. Furthermore, the shockwave from the Gouenkyuu, which detonated a considerable distance from the user in the video, appeared to be powerful enough to rend the earth even at that far a distance. Even if Itachi were to diminish the size of the Gouenkyuu for the battliefield, the shockwave would almost certainly be enough to shatter the skeletons of Konan and Animal Path, as well as stun them and blast them away from the forest. Preta Path/Asura Path: Preta Path would not be able to maneuver to Asura and cross all 10 meters into the path of Gouenkyuu within the two seconds it takes for the fireball to hit its target, the forest, and detonate. When they attempt this, they will suffer severe physical damage from the technique's kinetic shockwave, which Preta cannot absorb due to it being a byproduct of the detonation and not a chakra-composed technique. Deva Path: This tactic would not be successful for obtaining intel on Itachi's location, as Itachi would make his clones immediately after firing Gouenkyuu. As I have proven this would be instantaneous and have shown that Itachi can make lengthy strings of handseals in less than a second, this tactic of Pain's would fail, as Kage Bunshin only takes one seal to activate [18]. Thus, while Deva Path expends a substantial amount of chakra gathering rain clouds in a cloudless environment, Itachi is able to fire Gouenkyuu and create his two clones in no more than a second, quickly going on the offensive. Human/Naraka Path: I have shown that Itachi's speed far exceeds Pain's, a claim my opponent has failed to counter. My opponent has also not provided a method for Naraka and Human to avoid destruction by Bunshin Bakuha. Human and Naraka would be easily outsped by Itachi and his clones, who would cut them down with kunai. Itachi would then use Destiny Threat on Nagato and kill him instantly, winning the battle. Konan: Itachi would easily be able to detect Konan's attack and evade it due to his great speed, predictive abilities, and the Sharingan's ability to see chakra. Konan controls paper by imbuing it with chakra [19]; thus, Itachi would be able to see the chakra in the paper and would know to evade. "Attack 2" Animal Path: With its skeleton pulverized by the Gouenkyuu detonation, Animal Path would be physically incapable of moving into the forest. Thus, it would not be able to summon Nagato to a safe location. Even if the incapacitated Animal Path were to summon Nagato, Itachi's speed combined with his ability to see chakra would allow him to quickly locate Nagato by tracing the flow of chakra from the bodies to Nagato. Preta/Asura Path: These bodies' skeletons were also shattered by the shockwave from Gouenkyuu due to their proximity to the explosion, as "Attack 1" had them moving to intercept Gouenkyuu. This would cause them to be within the range of the shockwave, causing their skeletons to be pulverized (or, in Asura's case, causing its internal circuitry to be severely damaged). Thus, they would be physically incapable of enacting "Attack 2". Human/Naraka: See "Attack 1". Deva: The Rain Tiger at Will technique is not capable of the described maneuver [20]. Furthermore, if Deva were to attempt to blind Itachi with a ninjutsu, Itachi would be able to predict the attack with his Sharingan and evade with his immense speed. Konan: See "Attack 1". Also, Itachi would be able to instantly incapacitate Nagato with Destiny Threat, nullifying Attacks 1 and 2. ----- "Pointers": 1) Itachi could easily use a smoke bomb to hide himself, which would not slow him in the slightest due to his immense speed of hand movement [17]. 2) Itachi would use the Hosenka/Shuriken technique to prevent nullification of the fireballs from nullifying the technique. This would not be meant specifically to counter Fujutsu Kyuuin; rather, it is intended to heighten the chances of doing damage while testing Pain's defenses. ----- I will end by presenting another strategy. STRAT2: Itachi could simply look across the 15 meter distance at Nagato and kill him instantly with Destiny Threat. With his Sharingan combined with his own immense speed of thought, Itachi would be able to discern the fact that Nagato, who already appears rather conspicuous due to his chair and lack of clothing, is the controller of the technique. Knowing this, Itachi could hit him with Destiny Threat immediately, killing him and ending the battle. The fire engulfs the whole body, thus damaging the chakra receptors on Nagato's back and impairing his control of the Pain bodies. Thus, by using Destiny Threat immediately, Itachi instantly neutralizes the Pain bodies and kills Nagato, who lacks any way to counter or defend against Destiny Threat. ----- To summarize the debate thus far: CON has presented two strategies, both of which still stand. PRO has failed to counter CON's first strategy. CON has countered PRO's strategy. None of PRO's strategies are functional, while both of CON's strategies still stand. ----- I will end by thanking my opponent for the debate and by wishing him luck at the tournament. I would also like to thank the viewers for their time. Please vote CON when the time comes. ----- SOURCES: [17] http://naruto.wikia.com... [18] http://naruto.wikia.com... (Right-hand side) [19] http://naruto.wikia.com... [20] http://naruto.wikia.com...