Board Thread:Naruto Discussions/@comment-31278419-20170217002708/@comment-734582-20170217225814

Raidra wrote: Remember that Kimimaru's clan got wiped out because they thought they could take on the Hidden Mist village no problem. It's not unheard of for clans to make boneheaded moves in the series. Considering Juugo's kekkei genkai, it probably was genetic bloodlust.

But like i said, it's not like the Uchiha would just stand in front of the village and say "well this is a coup, please come out to fight". Half of Konoha would be under their control before anyone knows what's going on. Problematic ninja would either be out of the village (it's called good planning), or have a kunai to their throat and a seal on their stomach/eyes/whatever.

As the police, the Uchiha would be in an excellent position to pull off a whole lot of otherwise suspicious stuff, and they can abuse the hell out of it during the coup, before anyone realizes it's a coup.

The one thing they missed is that Itachi was a double agent, and a coup's not worth much if you know it's coming (Since the element of surprise / the first strike is essential to a coup)