"Now let's start, shall we? Let me ask you a question. Since when did the people of the village started hating the Uchiha clan? What was the reason?"
Itachi glared at him for a moment, before beginning to think. He was the successor of the Uchiha clan, and he had been trained in the art of politics since a young age.
"The people of the village started hating us after the attack of Nine-Tails. People thought we were behind the attack by controlling the Nine-Tails. The rumours that started spreading after that were also a big factor in people hating us. It did not help that we were not present at the site of the attack due to Danzo and his people obstructing us at the gate. Another reason was people did not like our Uchiha police enforcing the rule either."
Rudra looked at him with a smile and praised, "As expected of a prodigy, you mostly identified the key points. Now let me ask you another question. Danzo, the person who stopped you from performing your duties, is it possible he was also the one who started the rumours? To further push Uchiha hate into the people?"
"And if so, do you really think the person you are spying on your clan for, was truly unaware of the blocking of your clan during the attacks or spreading the rumours? Do you really think anything his teammate did, was without his permission or was he really unaware of it? Or did he silently approve all the decisions and let his teammate do all the dirty work, while he preached about the will of fire all day long and pretended to be innocent? Did you really think the founding clan of Hidden Leaf would want to launch a coup unless they have no other choice at all?"
The more Itachi heard, the more shaken he felt until his pupils dilated when thought about all the things in more depth. He felt the ground beneath him shaking, overturning all the principles he had in his life. "So the clan was innocent and in the right after all? Did we really have no other option? Is the whole village against us?"
Suddenly he felt a warm hand pet his head, and when he looked up he found the smiling face of the vile person in front of him giving him some warmth. The vile person did not seem so vile for a moment.
"Don't worry my boy. Since you called me dad, your dad will tell you the solution to all the problems. Most of them are pretty simple to solve. Let's start with the image of the clan with the village. Most people assume that you were the ones behind the attack due to rumours, so we put a stop to that. Then we spread counter rumours, about how Hokage stopped Uchiha clan and did not let them help people."
"Put a stop to it how? Also didn't Danzo spread the rumours?" Itachi asked cluelessly.
" Eeh, poteto potato. Danzo, 3rd Hokage, it's all the same. Also, did I praise you too early? Think about it. You guys are Uchiha Police. You guys are literally everywhere. How hard will it be to capture the people who are spreading rumours? As for spreading rumours, don't tell me the strongest and biggest clan can't even do just a simple task?" Rudra looked at him with disdain as he said it.
Feeling triggered by the look in his eyes, Itachi replied furiously. "Of course we can capture the people! But they are likely root agents, and if we do it Danzo will likely appear and come to bail them out and that will put us against him and Hokage!!"
"He will definitely come to bail them out!! I am counting on that to bail him out for the next part of the plan!! As for opposing Hokage, do you really think he will let you guys live peacefully even if you did not go against him? Do you remember what two clans found the Hidden Leaf? Where is the first clan now? How many are left of the Senju clan? Do you think it's easy to wipe out such a strong clan without someone deliberately pulling the strings?"
Itachi eyes widened in shock and he had a look of frustration in his eyes. No matter how mature he acted, he was after all an 11-year-old kid suffering from PTSD. "But we did nothing wrong. We only want to live in peace and protect our people. When did we ever do anything wrong?"
"It's nothing that you guys did, it's what you are capable of, rather what you can be capable of if given proper time and environment. Hiruzen Sarutobi or rather the whole world fears the second coming of another Madara Uchiha or Hashirama Senju. Those two people were so strong that even if one of them was present here and all 5 ninja villages combined and attacked him together, he would win without even suffering a single wound."
Itachi's mouth was left hanging open in awe as he heard about the powers of his predecessors. Looking at him Rudra felt he should not give too much shock to the boy and patted his head.
"Don't worry too much about things like that, it's too far away right now from you. You should focus on saving your clan and yourself first. Here is the rest of the plan..."
After hearing the plan, Itachi got up from his seat in shock and said, "What you are asking us to do is impossible!! Even if what you told us about is true, we will likely end up going against the whole village, which will definitely lead to a coup!!"
Grinning Rudra said, "Not necessarily. As long as you guys have two additional things, you can pull the plan off. It will still be a risky plan, but at least the chances of succeeding will be high. You guys will need absolute power and a strong ally. As for power, you guys have Fukaku. As long as he uses his new eyes, there should be nobody in the village who can beat him except one person. And that person is not the Hokage. Call Shishui and all the active duty Uchiha clan ninjas back lest he gets made into a hostage before launching this plan or they will end up dying. As for allies, you should look for *********"
Hearing the Itachi gained his composure back, a bit barely. Looking up at the man who told him so much, he finally asked the question that plagued his mind the most. "Who are you? Why do you know so much? And why are you helping us?"
Standing from the seat, Rudra looked at the boys dead in the eyes and said, "Remember my name boy. I am Rudra D. Ōtsutsuki, and I am just preparing for the future. A grim and dark future where they will arrive. And we don't have a lot of time left....."