Why Does Sasuke Want To Destroy the Hidden Leaf in Naruto?

Anyone who turns around and vows to destroy their childhood home and everyone who lives there will need a good reason, unless they are irredeemably evil. However, Sasuke seems like an honorable and good person, so why does he want to destroy the Hidden Leaf village?

Sasuke wants to destroy the village due to three major reasons. The first is the massacre of the Uchiha clan, the second is the exile of the Uchiha clan, and the third is the realization that the village is filled with rotten leaders and likely cannot be turned around.

Let’s look at Sasuke’s reason for revenge, evidence why he turns against the Hidden Leaf village and why he was put on this path to destruction in the first place.

Why Is the Hidden Leaf Village Significant?

Located in the Land of Fire and home to Naruto Uzumaki, the village is the staging place for the Uchicha clan’s downfall.

Following the attack by the Nine Tailed Fox, the Hidden Leaf village’s leadership believed that the Uchiha clan was behind the attack, resulting in the rest of the village becoming highly suspicious and shunning them.

This event only serves to make the underlying animosities worse, with the Uchiha clan deciding to stage a coup d’etat. This involved putting those in the Uchiha clan inside the overall power structure to fight it from the inside.

Some, like Itachi, turned double-agent, but eventually it became clear that Danzo Shimura’s plans were to destroy the entire Uchiha line.

After failed negotiations, Shimura offered an ultimatum: the Uchiha would be wiped out if they attempted a coup, or Ichchi and Sasuke would be saved if Itachi himself killed all of the remaining Uchiha.

Eventually, Itachi had to confront his parents, who bizarrely accepted that he had chosen the village over his family, and willingly accepted death.

As Sasuke was away at the time, Itachi attempted to make Sasuke believe that his actions were only to further his own power in the village, even going so far as to use his tsukuyomi ability to make Sasuke believe that the murders were for a different purpose.

He even taunted Sasuke, saying that he was too weak and so would never be an enemy of Itachi, and that is why he spared him. He also planted the seed of vengeance ni Sasuke’s mind by saying that the shame would never be lifted from Sasuke until he killed Itachi.

Itachi hoped to spur Sasuke to kill him, to help Itachi get closure for the horrible acts he perpetuated, including killing all his friends and family. This is mainly because he could not live with himself anymore, but for honor’s sake could not just commit suicide.

This extended so far as to Itachi not wanting to even just give up and let himself be killed by Sasuke, as fought to his full abilities to stop Sasuke. The first fight was just after the massacre, which Itachi won pretty easily.

The second was a closer affair although Itachi showed his power and stamina to last for a long time versus the much improved Sasuke, only for Itachi to reveal the truth behind the massacre and urge Sasuke to continue his quest for revenge.

This opened Sasuke’s eyes to the scheme and horrible fate Itachi was forced to choose, restoring his love for his brother and his clan that spurred him onwards to destroy the village.

It also meant that Sasuke became determined to kill Shimura as well, eventually catching up with him at the Samurai Bridge where Sasuke took him out.

Why Did Sasuke Destroy the Hidden Leaf Village?

Revenge is the primary reason Sasuke is determined to destroy the Hidden Leaf village.

Revenge for his slain family and all his clan, as well as the realization that Itachi was forced into the original actions of killing everyone by Shimura, is a big part of Sasuke’s motivation.

This is particularly so after Sasuke was defeated by Naruto, as he realized he wasn’t strong enough to take on Itachi and win.

Sasuke went to the Academy to get better, and even though he was young, he was old enough to know that the Uchiha clan was hated by the village’s authorities, and had long been disregarded by the village.

In the end, it seems that Sasuke blames the village, especially its corrupt leadership through Shimura, Root’s leader, for first the separation of the Uchida clan, and of course, the massacre of them.

Hiruzen Sarutobi’s sparing of Shimura’s life despite having clear evidence of treason is another sign that perhaps Sasuke’s view of the Hidden Leaf Village is one that is irredeemably broken.

In the end, it was the combination of the massacre of his family, the de facto exile of the Uchiha clan and the rotten leadership that turned Sasuke against his former home.