Why do linked lists use pointers instead of storing nodes inside of nodes

It’s not just better, it’s the only possible way.

If you stored a Node object inside itself, what would sizeof(Node) be? It would be sizeof(int) + sizeof(Node), which would be equal to sizeof(int) + (sizeof(int) + sizeof(Node)), which would be equal to sizeof(int) + (sizeof(int) + (sizeof(int) + sizeof(Node))), etc. to infinity.

An object like that can’t exist. It’s impossible.