Board Thread:Versus Debates/@comment-25626003-20150530135803/@comment-26275777-20150530154917

Yeah, there's a reason why Itachi, pacifist as he's supposed to be, opposed the coup. It's not a simple matter of killing Hiruzen and/or Danzo, or even the Uchiha taking over the village. There is no evidence whatsoever that they even considered the existence of the other clans, which are either firmly on Hiruzen's side (Sarutobi, Akimichi, Nara, Yamanaka, arguably Aburame and Inuzuka), or have no love for the Uchiha (Hyuuga). And then there's the Sannin - though they were scattered, I doubt Jiraiya or Tsunade would take kindly to someone murdering Hiruzen, and Orochimaru wants some of that sweet sweet Sharingan.

Throw in Root as well, plus a large chunk of the regular ANBU (let's assume that there are some that would just follow the Hokage hat regardless of who's wearing it), and it's assured that even if the initial coup effort succeeded, in-fighting would have continued for ages. It would undermine absolutely everything about the village - the clans came together by treaty after all, not right of conquest. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them just noped the fuck out rather than weigh their honor against their lives. Some are guaranteed not to run though. The Hyuuga would probably rather die, down to the last child, than live in an Uchiha-run establishment. So let's say they kill off the Hyuuga. Nice work - that's a sizable fighting force and reconnaissance team gone.

Mind you, the academy has to go, because they're ninja. Nothing and no-one is an untouchable target, and it would be plain stupidity to send your kids to a large, easily identifiable building during a power struggle. Anything from training "accidents" to kidnapping to just blowing up the whole thing could happen. The clans would probably be the first to pull out their kids, who would make valuable hostages for good behavior and who they can train on their own. The academy instructors (depending on allegiance) eventually get more caught up in the struggle than in teaching clanless, talentless kids. Speaking of which, who's running the village while this shadow war is going down? Who's doing the day-to-day work of assigning missions, guarding, all that shit? The Uchiha can't risk sending any of their own out on missions and weakening their hold over the village. Sending the other side seems like a good idea but there's too high a chance that they'll use the opportunity for sabotage or they'll chicken out and defect, further weakening the village's resources. And really, who would be submitting missions to a village in turmoil, when there are several others that would gladly offer their services? Even the civilian population would feel the strain of their once safe haven turning into a battleground, and may well decide to try their luck somewhere else. So Konoha's economy starts to weaken.

And all the while the other Great Nations are hovering like vultures. Kumogakure relishes the opportunity to get stronger, and stealing a bloodline or heck, even a jinchuuriki would be easy as fuck when any disappearance or death can be conveniently blamed on the other side. Iwagakure has a long-time grudge to settle, and now that the Yellow Flash is gone and the village is crumbling it's as good a time as they're going to get. Sunagakure is poor, a struggling desert colony, and would love to extend their borders into the fertile Land of Fire. Kirigakure just fights because who needs a reason? And now all four have a common target that's smack dab in their center and already doing half the work of destroying itself.

Man, Itachi may get hate for genocide and torturing Sasuke and whatnot, but his actions straight-up saved thousands of lives. As for the Uchiha, I'd have some sympathy if the incumbent leadership was fucking the village up or something, but their reasons for revolution can be summed up as "Waaaah it's our turn to lead now" and that's an incredibly shitty reason to want the seat. As someone whose country went through a fantastic amount of military coups in three decades I just can't get behind that idea. Leadership is never about you, it's about what's best for the community you're leading, and there is no evidence whatsoever that a hostile Uchiha takeover would have benefitted anyone but the Uchiha.