Thanks!
1) if Minato (and Kushina) survived the 9-tails attack - with Sarutobi getting off his ass and being the one to seal the fox instead - how do you think events (particularly concerning the Uchiha) would have unfolded?
Okay so that makes Minato the current hokage.
The problem with Minato is that we didn’t see much of him as hokage so it’s hard to guess what he’d be like, however, when he met with Sasuke as edo tensei it was suggested that maybe he would have handled the coup attempt differently. Knowing that the Uchiha massacre happened because:
1. Hiruzen couldn’t control Danzo (his friend),
2. Konoha current leaders never trusted the Uchiha (except for Hiruzen who was too weak to stand up for his belief),
We could deduce that Minato wouldn’t fall in the same mistakes since he isn’t a friend of Danzo’s and was never hostile towards the Uchiha. He trusted them enough to be able to see that the one behind the nine-tails attack was Madara; someone with held grudges against the village and the Uchiha. With this in mind it’s hard to see Minato agreeing to chase the Uchiha to the outskirts of the village since he doesn’t even suspect them.
What if the other leaders pressured him to push the Uchiha out there as a precaution? I still think he wouldn’t allow it since he’s said to be rational. He’d try to reason with the leaders; that pressuring the Uchiha would only anger them and that would result in turning them against the village. If Minato is the wise leader he’s said to be then he won’t play to Madara’s hands no matter what.
Since he won’t be able to prove who the masked man was, Minato will have to find a solution that would answer the leaders demands yet keep the Uchiha feel trusted. To reach that he’ll have to discuss matters with Fugaku -the head of the Uchiha- so HE (Fugaku) would keep the Madara-sympathizers under control instead. Showing Fugaku such trust would ensure his loyalty since he’s proven to be loyal already. Also, Fugaku was one of those who turned their backs on Madara so -just like everyone else- he didn’t want a war to break between the Uchiha and the Senju. Being the wise hokage he is, Minato would also put his money on this bit, that the Uchiha don’t want war. They all want the same thing so it’s best to keep the leader of the Uchiha a friend rather than turn him into a foe. The Uchiha will think the same too hence will continue to maintain peace.
In canon, the Uchiha only planned the coup after they were chased to the outskirts of the village. That bit showed them clearly how little trust Konoha put on them so showing them the opposite would actually bring them closer.
As for Danzo and his Root, yeah, he might try something behind the hokage’s back but Itachi wouldn’t be there to help. He’ll have to use Madara instead (Danzo’s ruthlessness + Madara’s grudge). Without Itachi and Shisui be his side, even if Danzo succeeded at pulling some strings, his plan with Madara will mostly likely fail since the Uchiha clan as a whole will be his opponent. With Shisui and Itachi by Fugaku side, those Uchiha eyes will most certainly beat Madara’s. Also, Konoha will take the Uchiha side on this since they’re part of the village.
Bottom line: there won’t be a Uchiha massacre. Th Uchiha military force will live on longer.
2) How would Minato’s survival affect the continuation of the shinobi system, in your opinion?
I think Minato would have made a better hokage than Tobirama and Hiruzen. That on itself would have fixed a thing or two about Konoha’s system.
Tobirama never trusted the Uchiha because of his flawed theory about their powers but we never saw Minato act hostile towards the Uchiha + he was able to tell that the one behind the attack was Madara, which means he actually trusted the Uchiha and was able to see that they wouldn’t have a reason to destroy their home. If he trusted the Uchiha then he wouldn’t have a reason to chase them to the outskirts of the village or to ill-treat them. If the hokage still trusts their loyalty then the Uchiha will feel home and will keep protecting the village as before.
If Minato follows the same policy with every clan in Konoha, if he shows everyone trust and makes everyone feel welcomed at the village of Konoha then the other clans as well won’t have a reason to destroy this peace. If people aren’t trying to destroy peace then Konoha won’t have to go extreme. Actually, if a member goes rogue like Madara of the Uchiha did, the clans’ leaders themselves will abandon said member. Nobody wants war and if there is no reason to start one then those who tried to start it will be shamed, abandoned and eliminated or kicked out.
Would that fix the shinobi world? Since Konoha was an example to follow, their policies would have influenced the other nations and maybe end up fixing something about the shinobi world, but I’m not going to say it would make it perfect because to reach that the other nations need to bury the hatchet and work together, they will need a reason to do so and the only reason out there is “Peace”. While some might do anything for peace other might do anything for power; with the tailed beasts out there being treated as weapons, the world’s nations might never reach true peace thanks to the thirst for power.
Conclusion: Minato’s survival might actually fix Konoha’s system and make Konoha unbeatable. It might fix Konoha’s relationship with the other nations either out of fear or out of mutual benefits but we can’t say that it would fix the entire world per se since cooperating between all nations’ leaders is required for that to happen. Konoha might be able to pull that but slowly, one step at a time.
3) Because I’m an Ame fan, if Yahiko somehow survived the attempt on his life, how do you think this would affect a) the development of Akatsuki? b) Akatsuki’s impact not only on Ame, but on the shinobi world and the shinobi system?
I’m not sure if I remember everything about Ame since I didn’t pay much attention to it but I’ll try to answer based on what I recall.
1. How is would affect the development of Akatsuki:
Yahiko established the Akatsuki to stop war without violence and I don’t want to sound idealistic but I think his attempt was the best answer to end that war, by getting the three nations to agree to a peace treaty. Had Danzo and Hanzo not interfere with his movement I think Akatsuki would have had a good chance of changing something about the war that’s been going on back then. To save Amegakure, Akatsuki will have to begin a peace negotiation with The Leaf, The Stone and The Sand village. We can’t say that would have worked but it might. If it works then the war ends and the Akatsuki lives to protect their peace and grow even stronger.
If Yahiko survives the trap then it means he now knows that Hanzo isn’t to be trusted with Amegakure so Akatsuki will have to take that man down. As the new leader of Ame, Yahiko will attempt a peace negotiation with Konoha. As a sign of good will, he’ll expose Danzo’s conspiracy to the high ups of Konoha to gain their trust. That should pave the way to a peace treaty with Konoha. With Konoha as their ally, Ame becomes stronger, now they can also sign a peace treaty with the Stone and the Sand villages. It’s not granted but is expected to work since fear and power could also make it happen.
2. How is would affect the Shinobi world:
Had Akatsuki lived to grow into something big then Ame would be like the new “answer” just like Konoha was before. What Yahiko’s team started would probably influence the other nations to follow their footsteps just like what happened once when Hashirama and Madara made peace and built Konoha, it influenced the other clans and resulted in creating the answer they called “the village”. Akatsuki could probably make the dream Hashirama talked about after forming the village come true (a world where all shinobi work together for peace). Ofc it still won’t be a utopia but it won’t be hell either. If the other nations follow Akatsuki footsteps then the world will reach peace again because Akatsuki’s idea is reaching peace without violence so even if they started by signing peace treaties, little by little, they will grow to form stronger bonds with the other nations.
Would it last tho? It would be naive to say yes since the old grudges haven’t been dealt with properly but it might last awhile, at least until someone feels threatened by Akatsuki’s or the great nations’ strength and starts seeking power to stand up against them when in need. They’d be digging their own graves by doing so tho.
4) Unrelated to the AU of the first 3 questions, if the minor villages banded together, helped each other to grow economically, overcoming the aftermaths of the wars grew in such a way that together they managed to rival one of the Great Five Nations, and demanded reparations for the damage inflicted upon them by the conflicts of the Great Five Nations, what do you think would be a realistic outcome/reaction to that? From the major powers (Kage and daimyo) as well as the main cast, particularly Naruto and Sasuke who would probably be concerned with this? I patiently await any thoughts you have to offer.
There shouldn’t be anything like after the 4th war since everyone is supposedly cooperating to maintain peace now. It would be like reviving the buried grudges that they all decided to forget during the war and that won’t do anyone any good. It would only be taken as an attempt to start another war. But let’s say it happened anyways:
If the kages are serious about maintaining peace then they’ll try to solve this peacefully. They might even submit to few demands for the sake of reaching an agreement but if the unified nation push more than it should then their demands will start getting rejected resulting in a conflict that might lead to either war or just a broken relationship that might lead to war somewhere in the future.
However, with Naruto the superhero in there a war won’t happen since he’ll just TnJ everyone :P
Say Naruto’s TnJ never works (which is kinda impossible in Narutoverse), in that case Sasuke would go with threatening the unified nation but it’s not to rule by fear per se, rather it’s to slap them with the ugly reality; that if you’re to keep pressuring one of the five great nations then it won’t end well for anyone especially the newborn nation itself, If they keep pressing then a war will break and both sides will suffer but in the end the newborn nation wouldn’t be able to defeat any of the five great nations since they’re already working together. It would be 1 kid VS 5 men. To prevent such ugly war from happening Sasuke would go with ruling by fear to reach a solution without having to shed blood. If it still doesn’t work then it’s war and the unified nation wouldn’t stand a chance with those gods in the other side. It would be hell for everyone and the ones who’ll be blamed for it are the small nations who thought it would be a good idea to act all highly and mighty and bring the old grudge back at a time of peace. The five nations are unified now, they’re to be treated as one. They’re unbeatable so it’s better to join them than to oppose them.
Let me know if I missed any important detail.
