Thread 280681181

How was Sasuke not the most capable young shinobi during part 1? He seemed to me as someone who was far more capable and versatile than even Neji, but some people even put him behind Gaara.

>>280681181 (OP)
kid Gaara had raw power. Part 1 Gaara was already a jonin level threat.
Neji, Lee and base part 1 Naruto was chuunin level at best.

EVERYBODY STAND UP

>>280681181 (OP)

Part 1 Neji is better for defense and has a 1HKO move in his arsenal. Sasuke would probably have lost in a 1v1 against him.

Gaara however was stupid strong, he had to get nerfed by being clinically insane. Dude was the best of the best and he would have destroyed Sasuke in the tournament if going full Shukaku mode wouldn't get you instantly jumped by a hundred leaf ninja

>>280681181 (OP)
He had alot of technical skill but was lacking raw power. Not much you can do when Gara can throw a literal tsunami at you.

>>280681181 (OP)
Gaara and Kimimaro were the strongest teens in part 1. Both CM2 and one tailed mode would lose to them.

Sasuke also spent far more time in the hospital than actual training. My calculations say:
>hospitalized in the prelims
>Chunin finals are 25 days after the prelims
>Sasuke goes missing on day 15
>10 days of training for Chidori and Lee's speed
>a few days more after 3rd hokage's funeral and Itachi's arrival
>month long coma
>then leaves
He barely had 2 weeks of proper training all through part 1. This was Kishimoto's way of giving him an inferiority complex later on, while still keeping his prodigy status intact.

>>280681661
Will chidori get through rotation? It got through all of Gaara's defenses repeatedly, even half-shukaku Gaara's. Their speeds are similar otherwise.

>>280681950
Logically no. Rotationh works by not only spinning Neji's chakra, but incoming chakra too. It gets wrapped up in the whirlwind and dispersed away from Neji. It's why it's the Hyuga clan's secret technique, it's a virtually perfect defensive move.

Chidori in contrast worked on Gaara both because Gaara's defense is static so the ultra-vibrating lightning chakra could pierce though, and he's also an earth-elemental user. Lightning dominates over earth, so Gaara would have trouble defending against many lightning-type attacks.

>>280681181 (OP)
too edgy

>>280681181 (OP)
Neji was a better ninja and was only hamstrung by kishimotos inability to write characters

>>280681181 (OP)
Sasuke without the curse mark doesn't have the hacks like Gaara or Naruto that shit out Godzila sized monsters and still fight on. Part 1 Sasuke with Sharingan lost to Lees leg. That's how underpowered he is.

>>280684027
If gaara didn't have antagonist plot armor he would have got his emo shit pushed in

>>280684066
and if Gaara had his tantrum sooner Lee would have his entire body shattered from just a fart

>>280684126
Jinchuriki isn't surviving a hole in their skull garra is tank with low health
Anyone else in the chunnin exams is getting slammed by this

>Jinchuriki isn't surviving a hole in their skull garra is tank with low health
>Anyone else in the chunnin exams is getting slammed by this

Shut yo bitch ass up

Isn't this the only guy that did not have kids after the timeskip?

>>280684339
>>280684339
Ignore hoes focus on the grind

>>280681181 (OP)
Take away his curse mark and he's basically Neji tier. Which is top 2 best shinobi without any demons inside of them.

>>280681181 (OP)
he was

>>280684339
No. He has a kid for some reason. Kiba, Shino, and Tenten don't have kids.

sakura was hot in part 1 before she got rid of the dress

>>280681181 (OP)
He's explicitely below the sound 5, Gaara, depending on the moment Naruto, and I would put him below Neji and Haku too, counting only young shinobi in part 1.

>>280684174
Neji with rotation would defend from it.

>>280681181 (OP)
For being one of those generational geniuses, he really didn't measure up to the other geniuses. At least at this point in his life

>>280685906
He could use nature transformation as a 7 year old with no prior training in Chakra. Kakashi said that genins need 6 months to even manifest their chakra nature. Only Sasuke and Temari had nature transformations in part 1. Gaara too but his was due to a kekkai genkai. Sasuke's problems are constant hospitalization and not having a good long term teacher early in life.

>>280685906
It kind of makes sense. He was good for his age but he was an orphan that was mostly self taught since all of the other Uchiha were dead. Neji's clan was still around and being in the branch family his entire purpose was to be trained to protect the main family. Lee may not have been considered a genius or prodigy on the same level, but he got special attention from Guy and was being directly trained.
Sasuke didn't really have a mentor until Kakashi came along.

>>280686003
And Kakashi had barely any time to train him.

>>280684126
So shukaku wasn't originally a biju but an evil spirit or some shit? He became one tail on part 2?

>>280681181 (OP)
Sasuke gets humbled throughout part 1 actually, he just gets his ass kissed by everyone in-universe because the Uchihas were OP.
His only real advantage at this point is the Sharingan and Kakashi teaching him how to be a fast learner.
He's also hospitalized most of the time, and when he isn't he's trying not to pass out from Orochimaru's molestation mark.
They were setting him up to go crazy from the very beginning which culminates in big bro mopping the floor with him later.

>>280686173
Yes. When Shukaku was first introduced he was explicitly referred to as an evil spirit that had been some old monk/priest in Suna that became corrupted after his death and was sealed into a tea kettle and later sealed into Gaara. It was later retconned into the old monk being Shukaku's first Jinchuriki.
Kishi didn't have the full concept of the Tailed Beasts and the whole Jinchuriki thing planned out until later. Even Kurama wasn't referred to as a Tailed Beast until way later.

>>280686173
If Shukaku was originally a bijuu, Gaara would have died when full shukaku was released. That's the (retconned) rule for non-perfect jinchuurikis.

>>280681181 (OP)
Yeah nah, I'm daring to say he would have been curbstomped by weightless Lee. Hell he was about to get mogged before the chuuni exam combats started.

>>280685337
>depending on the moment Naruto,
he won against Naruto

>>280684913
Made for beatings, by Ino

>>280686649
OH NONONONO

>>280681181 (OP)
He never beat anyone relevant in all of Part 1 btw.
Which is the point, he sucks and needed cheap power.

>>280686803
He beat Naruto

>>280684339
He would’ve been better off dying during the surgery. The only loss would’ve been Guy killing himself cause of their suicide pact.

>>280681181 (OP)
Because back then he had a fire breath move and nothing else. Even his martial arts was just alright.

>>280688311
Orochimaru beat Naruto, Sasuke was just a pawn.

>>280688658
That's some opinion. Why stop there then? Orochimaru beat the kyuubi not Naruto who was a non-entity, and Naruto also didn't win a single fight in part 1 because he got carried by kyuubi in all of them.

>>280688893
The kyubi was actually a detriment for Naruto for most of part 1. Also Naruto wasn't manipulated by the kyubi.

The thread is about Sasuke being the most capable young shinobi so I don't think getting a free powerup by orochimaru would count towards that.

>>280688311
Sorry, that's true.
After getting the power and defecting, thus ending Part 1.
Doesn't change the actual point really.

>>280688311
>Naruto who spent an entire day and a half fighting, running while Sasuke was resting in a barrel and getting Snake steroids, fighting with killing intent while Naruto only wanted to save him
Really makes you think

>>280690115
>fighting
He fought no one seriously.
>killing intent
They both went for the maim. And it's presumptive that Naruto had any real control over kyuubi's form at this point.
Naruto's shadow clone whip would have killed most genins. Despite that during the actual fight Sasuke breaking Naruto's neck came as an accident. Sasuke's shocked reaction to that makes it questionable if he actually wanted to kill him by that point (and when the moment came, he didn't).
>>280689044
>detriment
Ridiculous opinion. Naruto wouldn't beat a single opponent without the kyuubi in part 1. That's like saying Sasuke's Curse mark was a detriment (and it did actually almost cost him his life against Gaara and a defeat against yoroi, unlike Naruto). Naruto was never a prodigy. Irrespective of by how much you think his chakra control would have been better without the kyuubi, it would never make up for the massive buff it gave him.

>>280690567
>He fought no one seriously.
He fought and ran and chased for day and a half
>They both went for the maim.
Not really, Naruto is the only one who doesn't confirm his shit and just asks Sasuke if he changed his mind instead of going for worse injuries
Sasuke tries to Chidori him
>Sasuke breaking Naruto's neck came as an accident
Anime filler

>>280690567
Naruto beat partial Shukaku (who beat Sasuke) without Kyuubi though.

>>280690596
>he fought and ran
It was nothingburger
>Naruto is the only one who doesn't confirm his shit and just asks Sasuke if he changed his mind instead of going for worse injuries
The whip was after that. Sasuke didn't use anything but taijutsu until then and Naruto wasn't holding back on punches. The first big killer attack Sasuke uses was dragon flame jutsu which was in response to Naruto's killer whip attack.
>Sasuke tries to Chidori him
That was before the actual fight started. Naruto's words actually got to Sasuke later, when he puts on his headband. It wasn't like Naruto was trying to talk while Sasuke was trying to kill him. They both indulged each other. It's unclear if Sasuke genuinely wanted to kill him after that.
Besides, both of them are impulsive. The fight on the roof wasn't meant to be life and death initially, but both of them worked themselves into shoot killing each other.
>anime filler
The pile driver was. Sasuke accidentally kicked and broke Naruto's neck in the manga. That's what brought forth one tails chakra cloak. Something Naruto had even less control over.
>>280690629
Naruto being able to make 2000 clones was because his reserves had grown greatly due to kyuubi's chakra leaking into his own over the years, as Jiraiya had later explained. Even if you count it in his favor, he won at best one round of a larger fight without the kyuubi.

>>280691156
>It was nothingburger
Full day of chasing and running. Cope
>The whip was after that
Anime filler
>That was before the actual fight started
He chidori'd him through the chest
>Sasuke accidentally kicked and broke Naruto's neck in the manga
That never happened

>>280681181 (OP)
In part 1, when Naruto was actually good, the side characters actually were allowed to not be shitters.

>>280691249
>part 1, when Naruto was actually good
Lol
Naruto was never good, or if it was then it was never significantly better than Shippuden. Always been a mediocre manga at best
>the side characters actually were allowed to not be shitters
Who exactly?

>>280691288
I'm talking about Naruto the series, you dumb fanboy.

>>280691351
So am I.

>>280681181 (OP)
I was so hyped when Naruto summoned Gamabunta.

>>280691363
Then what do you means 'who exactly'? The chunin exam had feets for all of them.

>>280684339
? He has a kid.

>>280691455
Feets maybe, feats not so much.
Ino and Sakura were nothing.
Choji had more good scenes and feats in part 2.
You're right about Neji.
Kiba got more in part 1 but was always a joke.
Hinata got more or less the same.
Lee had more but was turned into a joke the moment he beat Sasuke and never recovered, always jobbed.
Sand trio always had good stuff in part 1 and 2.
Shikamaru got more in part 2 than 1, or equal.
I could go on.

Point is K11 ninjas are irrelevant to the story mostly. Part 2 had side characters do tons of things, just not K11 ones.

>>280691156
>Naruto being able to make 2000 clones was because his reserves had grown greatly due to kyuubi's chakra leaking into his own over the years, as Jiraiya had later explained. Even if you count it in his favor, he won at best one round of a larger fight without the kyuubi.
Nta but ok, then we can't count Sasuke's sharingan, therefore the chidori and his win against base Gaara?

>>280691817
Who counts that anyway?

>>280691578
Sakura got better in part 2, but otherwise, all the Konoha girls were useless.
>Lee was a joke
That's a fucking lie and you know it.
You're also forgetting the sound 5 fights.

>>280681181 (OP)
Lee folds him in half and not even using as many gates as he used against Gaara

>>280684126
Counting jinchuriki forms in fights is bullshit. If Lee can beat base Gaara is all that matters

>>280691468
Not his kid

>>280681181 (OP)
He struggled against base Naruto without 3 tomoe Sharingan and base Naruto is the jobbiest shitter in the whole Sasuke Retrieval arc

>>280691241
>he chidori'd him
Nta but Kurama instahealed him. Sasuke didn't really get a chance to use any killer moves on him later because their fight in the manga is purely just taijutsu. In fact, it felt like it was Naruto who went for the kill first during their fight.
>>280692010
Naruto was already in kurama mode (the red eyes, fangs and nails one)

>>280691941
Chunin exams? Maybe. He is a better matchup for Lee than Gaara was. But Sasuke did much better against Gaara than Lee did.

>>280692239
Oh yeah after Kakashi's training Lee has no shot

>>280692164
He literally pierced his shit retard
This isn't a question of "feeling", he literally went for killing moves that would have been lethal if not for something he never knew about, meanwhile Naruto's endgame was to save him

>>280686755
here you go, retard

>>280681181 (OP)
I'd rank him Gaara > Kimimaruo > Neji > Sasuke.
That being said, by the end of part 1 he's probably even stronger than Gaara. He defeated a fucking jinchuriki at the end.

>>280692164
He struggled against base Naruto before he went Kurama.

>>280692353
>He's better than naroto
Ok but he isn't the best young shinobi at that point.

>>280692353
>carried by Oro as always

>>280692414
lol how he isn't? the only one who can be superior to Naruto and Sasuke by the end of Part 1 could be Gaara and highly doubt that

>>280692500
Gaara would fuck them up retard

>>280692475
>carried by Kurama as always
also Oro mark isn't as impactful as Kurama

>>280692284
Sasuke did initially want to kill him, but during the actual fight he didn't try any of that killer shit. When he actually got the chance he pulled back. One tailed Naruto came across more murderous during the fight if anything. The panel I posted, Sasuke would be dead if he wasn't in CM2 which Naruto knew nothing about. Kyuubi makes him unstable.

How does Sasuke beat this?

>>280692500
Rock Lee unironically pushes the shit up Sasuke's asshole regardless of mark.

>>280692537
how, he lost against Naruto

>>280692387
When he didn't use the sharingan. After that he made light work of him.
>>280692266
Sasuke is only as fast as weightless Lee, not 5 gates Lee. Lee vs Sasuke during the finals is a 50-50

>>280692634
Sasuke uses the 3 tomoe sharingan and it's over. Also he already copied his movements and Lee is a cripple. Sad!

>>280681181 (OP)
Actually the most capable young shinobi was Shikamaru as he was the only one who achieved Chunin rank, no ifs, else or buts about it.
Faggots having wonky magical powerlevels with retard strenght doesn't make them capable shinobi as they can't even control their powers properly.

>>280692621
He hides until he runs out of chakra? Lol better question is how does choji beat sasuke.

>>280692621
By letting him fall.
>>280692651
Shukaku Gaara has no defense. Gaara in Sasuke retrieval arc was also powercrept massively. Mind you I am talking about 1v1

>>280692591
¿Te despertaste?
Se parece a ti. De vuelta al patio de butacas

>>280692475
naruto literally get carried by both uzumaki chakra and kyuubi which is the strongest nuke in the workd, way better than a shitty curse mark

>>280681807
That actually makes a ton of sense.

Sasuke will legit always training in part one or looking moody like a jackass.

Dude only got beat by gaara.

>>280690115
sasuke only just got discharged from the hospital, not much better

>>280693417
I would say the pill ritual made up for that and then some.

>>280685986
Real if sasuke wasn't constantly getting hoed he would've been top tier even early

>>280692500
Neji would defeat both of them pretty easily simply because they have no counter to rotation, and Sasuke especially as he doesn't even have a secondary chakra reserve like Kurama, so after being poked he autoloses.
Also Gaara easily beat them, same for drunk Lee, and even not drunk he might manage it.

Sasuke had 2 nature transformations by chunin exams.

Kill yourself, narutard.

i'd say part 1 power ranking would be kimimaro > sasuke > naruto > gaara > lee >= neji > choji = kiba > shikamaru in power

>>280693588
Lee isn't winning against eop1 Sasuke and Naruto. Gaara would. Neji is a tossup.

>>280691935
>Lee was a joke
I mean, he kind of was. He got dicked on by the Sound Ninja in the forest and almost died.
Had to go all out against Gaara and ended up crippled.
Got uncrippled and went to go help with the Sasuke retrieval. Only ended up stalling Kimimaro for a little bit and again almost died if Gaara wouldn't have shown up to bail him out.
And then even in Part 2 his biggest accomplishment is beating a clone and then does barely anything to the end of the series.
Lee funnily enough gets a lot of love in filler and side material, but in the actual series he has one of the worst track records outside of his first appearance.

>>280693655
neji got clowned by a weaker naruto, he isn't doing shit

>>280692621
Like Jirobo did, lifting him by going CM2
>>280693655
Drunk Lee pushed Kimimaro at CM, wich all the sound 4 together didn't manage to.
Drunk Lee humiliates Sasuke and Naruto.

>>280693917
drunk lee is pretty op, lee only started losing because the blood loss woke him up and made him turn off the drink mode
though i know it's more of a meme mode than anything, it was really cool

>>280693917
He did not "push" Kimimaro. You're an actual delusional Leefag if you believe that.
He landed ONE hit while drunk and Kimimaro admitted his movements were too erratic to follow. He didn't even activate CM until after that, after which he completely shut down everything Lee did, even blocking a direct hit from him when he opened one of the Gates. Then he was about to kill him until Gaara showed up.
Granted, Lee himself was also nerfed because he was still recovering from surgery, but it was barely a fight at all.

>>280694229
>after which he completely shut down everything Lee did,
Yes, pushing him to use the CM doesn't mean he pushes him in CM mode, he still made him use it, wich is more than all the sound 4 combined.
I dislike how Kishi used the offscreen fights of the sound 4, like that and against the Jonin, in hypetools where they are used to hype other characters, humiliating them like that to powercliff Kimimaro or using them to show that average jonin are strong just to never portray them as such is pretty sad.

>>280694221
>lee only started losing because the blood loss woke him up and made him turn off the drink mode
Also not true. He started losing the moment Kimimaro actually fought seriously and activated his CM and used his Kekkei Genkai more.
A fully healthy Lee who could actually open the other Gates possibly would have had a chance, but even then it's a toss-up. Kimimaro was supposed to be another one of those bullshit once in a lifetime super prodigies like Itachi and Nagato, but he also had AIDs or whatever that weakened him.

>>280693877
Eop1 Neji was stronger

>>280693877
>got clowned
Not even remotely what happened, pretending it was such is demented.

>>280694577
>>280694517
he literally got one shot by a punch lmao

>>280692621
Chidori his cock

>>280694666
That's just how people do a lot of fight against secondary gimmick antagonists, set the HP of the protagonist to ∞ and of the antagonist to 1, or to 1 but multiple health bars for multiiple forms, so the protagonist can endlessly struggle until the time come for him to win.
The in-universe explanation is people having relatively low stamina, especially after consuming a lot of it for jutsu, while Naruto has the fox who heightened his.

>>280692591
No......... Sirs....

How the FUCK did Sasuke lose to Naruto with 9 Bijuus?

>>280695366
naruto had plot armor like usual

>>280695366
>Sasuke
>not jobbing

>>280695366
Bro if Sakura can beat a member of the Akatsuki then Tenten can beat Madara

>>280695366
He didn't use the one ability of his rinnegan that he actually uses to some positive effect. It also never made sense to me how he had the best vision on the planet yet somehow completely overlooked a Kurama clone gathering planet tier nature energy. And this was when he could see nature energy itself, not just chakra.

>>280695366
The question should be why didn't sasuke use his rinnegan at all? Especially that chakra absorption ability to absorb the 2 ultra big rasen shuriken and then rekt naruto

>>280681181 (OP)
>How was Sasuke not the most capable young shinobi during part 1?
Because Neji and Gaara existed.
>but some people even put him behind the guy he lost against
Well yeah.

>>280684126
If Gaara had his tantrum sooner Guy would have one shotted him

>>280686173
Yeah the bijuu/jinchurriki stuff was a retcon worked into part 2 of the manga

>>280693588
>Neji would defeat both of them pretty easily
yeah neji clears naruto without issue. i think everyone could agree its a fight that is fated to end in narutos defeat, and you cant fight fate.

>>280696330
if Guy would have one shotted him then he would be fired for being a sperg

>>280696151
The excuse was that his Rinnegan was new.

>>280695366
because sasuke is a complete shitter carried by plot powerups. he never internalized anything itachi tried to teach him and even years later his appproach to every single fight is 'i will win because my power level is bigger'. he has no tactics no tricks and his plan A is to stand in front of someone, announce he is going to use his strongest technique, begin charging it in front of them, and hope they let him do it so that they can clash into it with a slightly less powerful attack, where he can use his power to win the clash and defeat them.

>>280696556
He still used tactics until he gained Mangekyo. After that his intelligence had to be nerfed or he would have been powercrept even harder than he already was. Also
>Itachi
What could the king of asspulls teach anyone about battle tactics?

>>280692717
Shikamaru lost to a girl, TWICE. Lmao

>>280695572
Akatsuki where turbojobbers, retard. Even Itachi jobbed.

>>280697177
Name 1 non-jobber in Naruto
gg retard

>>280696940
Sexism isn't a thing in a world where magic exists.

>>280697205
Minato CHADmikaze.

>>280697272
More like Jobbito to the Fox

>>280696438
He would have been promoted to Hokage for stopping an emo WMD

>>280698107
Minato death wasn't to show how strong kurama was but rather about how much he loved his son. The tailed beasts are forces of nature. It's like saying someone jobbed to old age.

>>280698164
That emo is like 90% of the sandnigger military power, your ass is getting executed for sure

>>280698249
>Throw your only atomic bomb in another country territory
>They take care of it, dismantling it before it kills anyone
>"hurr durr they should punish the hero who protected his village"
Dumbass. Also if they lost 90% of their military power then they are in no position to demand anything or even get into a fight about it.

>>280698249
He killed him with overwhelming power in one shot in self defense

>>280698345
Nta but that's similar to the Hyuga incident.

>>280698345
he was just misunderstood and you killed him, probably out of racism too, the other villages will cancel all trade deals and you will starve or execute Guy and Lee too

>>280698411
After that the Cloud village sends designated breeding ninjas to diversify Konoha. The Gokageist agenda.

>>280698411
Nah, the other countries would gladly take their part off the wind country territory, doubt they would give a fuck about the actual suna wellbeing. What do they even export, sand? Lol. If anything the daimiyo would execute the sunagakure high ranker for allowing their most precious and unstable asset to fool around on a foreign country.

>>280681181 (OP)
Most ninjas at that age are very similar in power until they gain some mastery of their chakra nature, develop abilities related to their kekkai genkai, or learn more abilities special to their clan.

At that point Neji was probably the strongest of all the genin. Gaara is a close second but because he had a great control of his tailed beasts powers. Rock Lee is a possible farther off third due to his amount of training and physical prowess.

I swear Kankuro is always overlooked at these discussions. He was an absolute beast in comparison at that point in the story. He could have instagibbed naruto pre-rasengan.

>>280698891
The fucking Chunnin exams are set up so no country gets too powerful and you just assassinated another nations star pupil breaking an oath and a treaty. The other nations might attack the sandniggers but the leaf will be like Nazi Germany in WW2, the thing they will blame for everything. Guys, Lees and probably the Hokages heads on spikes is the only way anyone would forgive them

>>280699035
What I don't understan is why there weren't any students from the other major villages besides sand and the host leaf ones.

>>280699181
there are sounds and mysts or whatever

>>280699035
>assassinated
perfect crime. I don't think any faction would appreciate having a tailed beast released in the village. not to mention that they would be quite happy with the of arrangement where major village loses it's nuke. Suna wouldn't be able to make any demands. the only thing it would change is that no one would make a mistake like sending your nuke to another country.

>>280699218
Sound is not a major village and I don't remember seeing anyone from Mist, Cloud or Rock.

>>280699252
>>280699181
kishimoto didn't know what to do with ninja from those village yet

>>280696697
>What could the king of asspulls teach anyone about battle tactics
This. Itachi got out of nearly every single rough situation we ever see him in by pulling out some bullshit as of yet unseen technique.
>beats Kakashi with a glance using Tsukuyomi
>Amaterasu that burns hot enough to tear through a mountain-sized toad stomach (fire which fails to do that much damage that quickly to anything ever again)
>was actually piloting a body double against Naruto and the gang during the Gaara rescue arc
>Susano'o out of nowhere to escape Kirin
>Izanami as the most batshit niche counter to Kabuto ever

>>280698405
And they wouldn't have to bend the knee in this case because Suna was a poor fuck village with few resources and only one bijuu. Kumo was armed to the teeth because they still developed new weapons and techniques during peacetime and they had 2 bijuu as well as an able-bodied leader. Suna didn't even have an actual Kazekage at the time. They'd be in no place to make demands at all.
Kumo got to make demands because Konoha was weak at the time and Hiruzen wanted to avoid a fight at all costs.

>>280700932
To be fair, Amaterasu is a jobber technique, and Tsukuyomi is a >genjutsu. His Susanoo was absolutely cracked though thanks to having special equipment no other Susanoo had.

>>280696151
Naruto threw the rasenshuriken in response to Indra's arrow. Sasuke couldn't have absorbed it because it didn't get close enough. The explosion from their impact is what rekt them both.

>>280681181 (OP)
He relied too much on taijutsu for a ninja that didn't specialize in it. Even chidori is just a basic melee combat tool. Part 1 Sasuke would have looked really silly If Rock Lee hadn't spent most of part 1 as a cripple .

>>280699181
There probably were, they just didn't make it through the written exam or forest of death.

>>280704306
>He relied too much on taijutsu for a ninja that didn't specialize in it
That's just most shinobi. Taijutsu, weapon skills, and misdirection are the bread and butter of the rank-and-file, and Sasuke still stands above most genin in taijutsu skills. In part 1, Kishimoto hadn't yet really pushed the envelope with ninjutsu spam, and Sasuke had pretty average chakra reserves.