Sasuke belongs to the Uchiha clan, a notorious ninja family, and one of the most powerful, allied with Konohagakure (木ノ葉隠れの里, English version: "Hidden Leaf Village").

Despite becoming empathetic toward his teammates Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno, Sasuke's feelings of powerlessness force him to abandon his friends and his home in his quest to become stronger, and to find Orochimaru.

His impressive fighting skills, plot contribution, and rivalry with Naruto Uzumaki received some praise, but he was criticized as a stereotypical rival in the mold of similar characters from other shōnen manga and as exhibiting a cold personality.

Discussing the series' future, his editor, Kosuke Yahagi, advised him to add a rival character for the protagonist Naruto and he created Sasuke.

[5] When plot developments made Sasuke one of the story's antagonists, Kishimoto called him and Naruto yin and yang because of their differences and complementary natures.

Since the beginning of the story's serialization, Kishimoto planned to conclude the series with a fight between Sasuke and Naruto, but he was uncertain whether the characters would end up as friends or enemies.

[8] Kishimoto had read a variety of manga to obtain ideas for the creation of an effective rivalry between two characters, which he incorporated into Naruto and Sasuke's relationship.

[9] To contrast Sasuke with Naruto, Kishimoto made him less emotional and depicted him as a "cool genius"; he felt he had created an ideal rivalry in the pair,[10] and when one character progressed he ensured the other did as well.

[13] The final fight between Sasuke and Naruto was considered one of the biggest challenges ever faced by the staff from Pierrot as it took an entire month to adapt it from the manga.

The final clash between Sasuke's Chidori and Naruto's Rasengan moves involved references from other scenes of the series to give the viewer a bigger emotional impact.

He wanted to explain the connection between Sasuke and Sakura in the spin-off manga Naruto: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring (2015), which focuses on their daughter, Sarada Uchiha.

Two other scenes written by the staff which surprised Kishimoto were Sasuke's use of one of his taijutsu moves and the combination of his Susanoo technique and Naruto's recreation of the Nine-Tailed Fox.

He lacked a clear idea of how his face should look, saying Sasuke seemed older than Naruto, his contemporary,[24] and felt this inconvenience was a result of his inexperience in drawing characters who were mature beyond their years.

[24] Mid-way through Part I, he drew a new costume for Sasuke with belts strapped around his arms and legs, but he returned to the character's original design because it took less time to draw.

Sugiyama stated that by the end of the series, Sasuke realized how much he had hurt Sakura's feelings and apologized to her after his final fight against Naruto because of this.

[32] Yuri Lowenthal, who voices Sasuke in the English dubs, said he was honored to receive the role since many actors had auditioned for it, and he added that the job was stressful.

[39] During a mission, Sasuke awakens his Sharingan — his clan's inherited ability to see through illusions — which allows him to learn imperceptible movements at a superhuman rate.

[56] Sasuke initially prepares to fight Naruto but instead decides to protect Konohagakure after he encounters the re-animated bodies of Itachi[57] and the First Hokage Hashirama Senju.

[31] He rejoins Naruto to oppose Orochimaru's former test subject Shin, who takes the Uchiha surname for his own while seeking to avenge Itachi and revive the Akatsuki to end the peace.

[67] A novel by Mirei Miyamoto focuses on Sasuke's work in his village where he replaces Konohamaru Sarutobi as the leader of Boruto, Sarada, and Mitsuki's team.

[75] Not long after Naruto is freed by Boruto and his team, the village is invaded by Isshiki Otsutsuki, Jigen's true identity, who is searching for Kawaki.

Sasuke investigates the wheareabouts of Code, the final member of Kara, and after returning to the village, Kawaki seals Naruto and Hinata in another dimension, and tries to kill Boruto.

Just after that, former Kara collaborator Eida accidentally alters reality using her power of Omnipotence, swapping the memories of almost the entire planet, about Boruto and Kawaki.

[105] Tejal Suhas Bagwe from Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment for the Degree of Masters of Arts in English describes the usage of god themed techniques within the Uchihas as major references to Japanese mythology especially when awakening the stronger Mangekyo Sharingan.

The contrasting relations between these two characters is a common theme within the manga, as not only this is explored through Naruto and Sasuke but also through the two other connected ninjas, Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha.

The film makes Boruto's character become complex when learning of the shinobi code his father and master use which was also compared to the samurais' bushido while developing a sense of individuality when deciding what to do with his life when growing up.

Butcher wondered whether readers considered Sasuke a more-relatable character after he had embraced Naruto's positive outlook on life in the series finale.

[125] Bandai also produced a limited-edition adult figurine of Sasuke as he appears in the Naruto finale and the Boruto franchise, which impressed Scott Green, a writer for Ain't It Cool News and Crunchyroll.

[128] Reviewing the series' first part, writers said they enjoyed Sasuke's fights but disapproved of his dark personality, which resembled the stereotypical rival in shōnen manga.

[136][137] Although critics enjoyed Yuri Lowenthal's voicing of Sasuke,[138] Theron Martin of ANN said the actor had difficulty sounding younger in flashbacks.