in any case if you want a practical resolution , the answer would be to eliminate the immediate threats and then work on creating a safety net for deescalation.
The Immediate Threats are the Elders and Danzou. Attacking them is Treason and War at that time. Deescalation isn’t possible in that Scenario. Even if you solely attacked Danzou, tue Root will not be quiet. Deescalation isn’t possible and the elders would cry foul ontop of that. Deescalation isn’t possible in that scenario either.
Hiruzen was privy to everything and sanctioned it. Attacking a sitting Hokage? Come on… Deescalation isn’t possible in that scenario either.
the idea that every child or member of the clan down to the infant must be killed to avoid future uprising isnt pragmatic its fear mongering and used by people IRL to justify genocide, its also irrational and logically flawed, the argument frames killing as the only solution to prevent future hatred, which is a form of false dichotomy.
Except Danzou was deadass serious & more then capable of making it happen, and he wasn’t wrong in what he told Itachi. The kids old enough to understand that LEAF NINJA are killing their family leads to animosity against them among their ranks (We’ve seen it happening in the middle east for decades, as well as in Africa, so it is definitely realistic and more then likely to happen). Children not old enough understand will grow to understand. It’s not realistic to think you can hide the fact it was an inside operation that killed your clan.
There would be no Shinobi World Wars in the history books over the slaughtering of a prominent Village Clan, which would definitely trigger a SWW. No records of Rogue Ninja Arrested or killed in the numbers necessary to take down the clan (Or Strength). You’d have to invent an adversary, rewrite Uchiha History to a degree and suppress the truth among all of top Leaf Village Ranks & Clans to the best of your ability, hoping nothing leaks, no gossip, etc etc. Just to justify not killing the infants and toddlers, which
ITSELF is equally egregious.
You wouldn’t be able to hide the Village having committed genocide of all Men, Women and Children of a Certain Age in one of the strongest clans for decades without someone to pin it on. So yes, they “would” be considered a future threat / liability for the Village if allowed to grow older and this is supported by IRL examples as well. We can denounce it and acknowledge the wickedness of it, but that doesn’t mean the threat to the Village isn’t there or tangible in that scenario.
It overlooks numerous other approaches, such as rehabilitation, education, diplomacy, or peaceful integration, which could address the root causes of hatred and prevent violence without resorting to atrocity.
There weren’t numerous other approaches to be had. The situation was beyond that. The Uchiha had already been prepping for it and diplomacy had failed.
THEY wanted control of the Government or at least substantial say in the Government by the time Itachi was presented the ultimatum. Anything other than a roadmap to that end wasn’t acceptable to the Uchiha and Danzou and the Elders weren’t having it (And Hiruzen wasn’t effective in Diplomacy). It left the Uchiha in limbo, growing bitter and bitter.
In reference to what we know of the verse, the only way to cool things down was either create a new organizational structure in the Leaf Government (May nor May Not be Subject to Daimyo Approval), add Prominent Uchiha as advisors to the Hokage (But this likely would cause a stir with the other Clans w/o representation) or Place Fugaku as the Next Hokage Nomination (Which Danzou & The Elders would likely kneecap this possibility). Anything short of these things and the Uchiha are not budging.
Itachi himself had the knowledge of Madara Uchiha which alone would have deescalated a lot of suspicion around the uchiha at the time
Not True. Itachi had knowledge but no tangible evidence. The Uchiha would also reject the notion of having the Yamanakas dive into his mind and memories for obvious reasons. It would be just like how Boruto is right now.
more importantly Itachi himself comes to understand that he made the wrong choice by suggesting that it was possible for sasuke to have changed the clan in a way that would have prevented this whole ordeal.
Iirc, it came off as more of a “maybe” then fact. And if we’re applying any level of realism to this, that would not suffice at all. At best it could get Fugaku to back off it, but all that would do is eventually lead to an Uchiha Civil War. Most likely with factions seeking to depose Fugaku.
