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One of the complaints I see often is that the whole Uchiha Massacre could've
been avoided if the Third Hokage had just met with Fugaku and talked things
over, and a lot of people say it's just a giant plot hole that they didn't,
and it was all really because the massacre has to happen for the sake of the
plot of _Naruto_ , so the characters are doing things that don't make sense,
yadda yadda. But is there any valid explanation for why the Third Hokage
wouldn't talk to Fugaku?


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naruto
Why did Hiruzen not meet with Fugaku?


I can actually think of two reasons the Third Hokage would avoid meeting with
Fugaku.

## #1 Political Reasons

One of the Uchiha's earlier grievances was how Fugaku, who distinguished
himself during the war and earned the moniker "Wicked Eye Fugaku", was passed
over for Fourth Hokage. More insultingly, he was not even considered, with
Orochimaru being the only other person whose name was mentioned. Even after
the Nine-Tails incident gives the Uchiha greater problems, they do not forget
the insult done to Fugaku.

Given how vocal the Uchiha are for their support of Fugaku, I think we can
safely assume the Third Hokage knew how they wanted him to be Hokage. In this
case, it would be extraordinarily awkward to meet with Fugaku to talk things
over. Any sort of official meeting would give Fugaku legitimacy to his claim
to the title of Hokage! In fact, it may even stir up the Uchiha more if they
get impatient. The sentiment might be something like, "You've recognized
Fugaku, so why haven't you announced him as your successor yet?!" And if the
Third Hokage happens to die? Things might get quite chaotic, and a civil war
would be likely. Having increased the legitimacy of Fugaku, the Uchiha might
actually attempt to stage a coup and assassinate the Hokage.

Okay, let's stop and think. Things might be fine if Fugaku really was
announced to be the successor. Does the Third Hokage want Fugaku to be Hokage?
Would he be okay with that if it would pacify the Uchiha? The answer is a
resounding no.

After the war, the Third Hokage resigns to satisfy those saying he messed up.
But he handpicks Minato Namikaze to be his successor as Fourth Hokage.
According to Danzo and Orochimaru, the Third Hokage chose Minato because he
intends to keep ruling the Hidden Leaf with Minato as his puppet (this is in
episode 349, I believe).

I honestly believe it is the case that the Third Hokage intended to use Minato
as a puppet, at least to some degree. Minato is quite young after all, and
young leaders tend to get manipulated. The Third Hokage has a vision for the
village and he believes things will go smoothly if the village continues to be
run his way. Danzo and Orochimaru have a different vision, which the Third
Hokage believes he must stop at all costs. Minato is the perfect proxy, a
young man quite sympathetic to his own vision, especially when compared to
Danzo and Orochimaru.

And where does this leave Fugaku? The Third Hokage would absolutely never want
him to be Hokage. Fugaku, like Danzo, has a different vision for the village
than the Third Hokage. With his primary concerns being with his own clan, it's
somewhat doubtful he would even be able to see the big picture when it came to
ruling the whole village. He might even abuse the position to enrich and
empower his own clan at the expense of the village, creating political
instability. Additionally, unlike Minato, Fugaku has no ties to the Third
Hokage, so the Third would not be able to control him at all. Even if Fugaku
does somehow prove to be a good leader, he would not do things the same way as
the Third Hokage; he would not continue with the vision the Third Hokage has
for the village, and this is greatly undesirable.

Given all this, it is understandable the Third Hokage would not want to meet
with Fugaku.

**Danzo Manipulations**

This still falls under the first reason, but the Itachi light novels make it
clear Danzo wants the Uchiha to plan a coup so that he can fulfill his long-
held ambition of wiping out the biggest threat to village security. Because of
this, it is probable he would try to manipulate the Third Hokage into
believing meeting with Fugaku is not a good idea, possibly by the very same
reasoning I'm using above. When you have an agitator trying to increase strife
between the Uchiha and the village, this is a possibility. Thus, even though
speaking with the Uchiha is surely a sane approach to lowering tensions, when
the Third has Danzo whispering in his ear, you get the seemingly insane
approach of publicly ignoring them until things get as bad as they can get.
It's not a plot hole, it's crazy by design, because Danzo always wanted Itachi
to kill all the Uchiha!

## #2 Fugaku's Sharingan

Meeting with anyone with a Sharingan is a giant security risk. With it's
potent genjutsu, the Third Hokage would have to worry about being manipulated.
He trusts Shisui, obviously, but he also has knowledge of Shisui's power,
which is not a good thing here. Knowing a Sharingan exists that can manipulate
someone without them even knowing would make him a little paranoid another
Sharingan might be able to do something similar.


CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-03-29T18:05:39.697
66552
2022-04-01T16:10:28.493
2022-04-01T16:10:28.493
19307
19307
66551
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