Spoilers? Eh. Only if you're SUPREMELY behind on Naruto, which WAS the tale of a young ninja living in a ninja village and his quest to become the very best ninja possible despite the hardships he's faced throughout his life at being a village outcast - yadda ya. As of late it's become more of a medium for displaying bigger and bigger battles where it's been more about who has the cooler moves than, let's say - character building?

Anyway. One of the key characters in the tale, Uchiha Itachi, dies from a mysterious illness. But the manga never specifically refers to what it is. Well, for those who don't know, manga fans - often referred to as otaku if they're ESPECIALLY dedicated - are not a group of people who will be satisfied leaving questions unanswered. Check any forum, and you'll see numerous posts on what might've been, what the real reasons are behind a plot device - etc.

One such fan devised that Itachi must have had microscopic polyangiitis, laying their reasons out in a very logical and observant manner.

When a manga for prepubescent Japanese boys can be dissected through science, religion, philosophy and anthropology, you KNOW it's on.

--case p.