Thread:Omega64/@comment-4503935-20190703001710/@comment-10330822-20191122010828

Well, if you believe the filler, then yes he could have. XD

Realistically, it depends on how tough you think Minato is compared to Hiruzen. Part of the reason that the massacre happened is that Hiruzen spent too much time failing to find a peaceful solution that it allowed Danzo to take what he considered "necessary action". Likewise, as we saw, Danzo got off rather easily despite going behind Hiruzen's back in this way.

Now, one thing critical of Hiruzen's reign as Hokage was that he never wanted to deal with the more darkside/wetwork stuff that keeps Konoha in power. That is why Danzo was assigned that role and given the power to do that. To essentially do what Hiruzen wouldn't.

However, Minato is a different person from Hiruzen, having apparently slaughtered 1,000 shinobi in a single battle, part of me believes that while Minato is idealistic like Hiruzen, he is not idealistic to Hiruzen's degree.

As such, the Uchiha massacre might have ended differently because Minato probably would have handled it differently. Now, whether that would have stopped the massacre is another story.

If we choose to believe the contents of Itachi Shinden, Fugaku was never the instigator of the coupe. Rather Fugaku was believed to be pushed by more hostile members of the clan. This is sort of confirmed in the anime filler of the alternative course of events that Fugaku is working with Minato to keep rebellious elements of the Uchiha in check after Minato prevented the massacre.

It's also worth mentioning that the essential "straw that broke the back" was the treatment of the Uchiha under suspicion of the Nine-Tails' attack being their doing. This happened because Minato was not capable of reporting Tobi's influence on the attack. If Minato lived, Tobi's part he played in the attack is well-known, and Uchiha probably would have been under less suspicion. Which creates the possibility the coupe plot would never happened in the first place and the massacre would be unncessary.

Likewise, I don't think the councilors would have as much power over Minato as Hiruzen, kind of like the lack of power they experienced over Tsunade. The sad truth is Hiruzen was kind of a pushover to the more militiant council, which resulted in the council having more power than it should.

Remember, power resides where the Hokage lets it reside. If the Hokage doesn't want the council to have influence, they won't.