He was putting him through fights making him stronger, gave him Itachis eyes...he would of used him in the war. It's only when Kabuto came along Sasuke became less important to him.
Yeah, then Naruto and Sasuke would kill each other off. No fun that way. At least Madara wouldn't be revived in an immortal state with the Rinnegan though...
But is the manga interesting? I don't really care about beautiful and well-drawn battles as much as a really good and interesting plot.
Yes, definitely. I'd say watch the non-filler episodes as much as you can instead of reading the whole manga though. Once you reach the last ep, start manga.
BTW, when Nagato revived the people of Konoha, he died due to his low chakra levels, right? It's not like the jutsu itself is a self-sacrificing one.