SS2 Vegeto

The fact that he admitted Itachi could kill him certainly makes it difficult to take his "invincibility" literally. It's basically a way of expressing that his strength is transcendent/godly, not that beating Madara can't happen, since...apparently it can happen.

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Nikushimi

Itachi did that as a last-ditch effort to protect Sasuke, should Madara ever get his hands on him in the first place. And obviously, Madara wouldn't expect an Amaterasu to the face from Sasuke.

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SS2 Vegeto

You have a point there, but you can't use his status as "an invincible immortal" to say that he can't be beaten if he can die.

Naruto Manga Returns

Itachi states that "Today, Madara is a pathetic shell of his former self. He's no longer worthy of being considered the greatest Uchiha."

If he is no long worthy of being considered the greatest Uchiha, that means one of the other two is worthy of being considered greater than him. "Today, Madara is a pathetic shell of his former self". From this, Itachi follows that Madara is no longer worthy of being considered the greatest Uchiha. So, because Madara is a pathetic shell of his former self, he is no longer worthy of being considered the greatest Uchiha. In support of this referring to a decline in power, such a thing is implied by Madara himself 22 chapters beforehand.

Naruto Manga Returns
Naruto Manga Returns
Naruto Manga Returns

"Soon...soon, all our goals will be achieved...and when they are, everything will be as it should...the sharingan's true power...my power...Uchiha Madara's power..."

So, according to this logic his power is not currently as it should be.

This leads me to believe one of two things. Itachi is now on reasonably equal footing with Madara, disappointed in his mentor's decline in power or otherwise simply finding no reason to acknowledge him as a superior. The power of the eternal mangekyo sharingan would allow him to replace Madara as the strongest, surpassing him once and for all. Or, Itachi is now more powerful than Madara, and believed that with his limits or capacity shattered forever through the power of the eternal mangekyo sharingan, his power could exceed Madara's true power, gaining a power greater than him in his prime.

The "invincible immortal" line was pointed out in this discussion as a contradiction to this, I think, but I do not believe there is a necessary contradiction, but to the contrary believe that what I just described would very much justify my expressed interpretation of this line.

Who knows, I could be wrong.

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Nikushimi

Let me just cut your argument down to size, because there's a fatal flaw right at the start:

Itachi said he wasn't worthy of being considered the strongest. Meaning he is, but Itachi has so much contempt for his ideals that he believes Madara needs to be kicked off the throne (hence why Itachi was sitting in it).

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SS2 Vegeto

You misinterpreted the line. He wasn't worthy of being considered the strongest. What you said would be correct if the line read that he wasn't worth of being the strongest.

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