This was all pragmatic reasoning after the fact. Vito simply did not see a good reason to pay Fanucci money and felt the world would be better off without him. He was angrier about the attempt to extort money from him than he was fearful of Fanucci. This boldness and leadership is what bound Tessio and Clemenza to him for life.
Yes, and we see two graphic examples in deleted scenes from II:
Prior to the Fanucci murder, Clemenza acts as if he's in charge. He shows Vito the ropes, plans the dress holdup, and, when he and Tessio are dining with Vito, gets patronizing-- angry--with Vito when he asks why they have to pay Fanucci.
In a deleted scene after the dress robbery, Vito's driving the truck with the dresses. Clemenza goes into a building to "sell" some dresses to a housewife, who he then beds in return for the dresses. When he emerges from the building (buttoning his fly), Vito complains about the time he took. "She couldn't make up her mind," replies "boss" Clemenza, who then orders Vito to deliver the rest of the dresses to "Dadino."
But in another deleted scene following the Fanucci murder (after Sr. Roberto makes his hasty retreat from Vito's office), Clemenza introduces the young Hyman Roth to Vito. As soon as Vito comes in, Clemenza removes his hat, and refers to Vito (to Roth) as "Mr. Corleone."
Big turnaround in attitude.
