"If necessary, I can go to the Land of Water and wreak havoc there." Uchiha Yi thought for a moment, then said to Hiruzen Sarutobi, "Kirigakure has plenty of strong shinobi. I hear they have a group called the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, each as strong as an Elite Jōnin. If they go to war with Konoha, they'll probably slip into the Land of Fire to cause trouble.
"Rather than wait for them to strike, I might as well strike first."
Hiruzen Sarutobi was genuinely tempted by Uchiha Yi's suggestion. He had every confidence in Yi's fighting ability.
After all, Yi had mastered not only Sage Mode but also the Flying Thunder God Technique. No one understood better than Hiruzen how much damage Yi could do on a battlefield.
In a one-on-one fight, there was probably no one in Kirigakure who could beat Yi—not even the Mizukage.
If they sent a host of powerful shinobi to overwhelm him, Yi could escape with the Flying Thunder God Technique. If anything held him back, it would be Nawaki and the others.
Yi was best suited to fighting alone. If he truly cut loose, Kirigakure might not be able to withstand the havoc he could wreak single-handedly.
But Yi would have Nawaki and the others with him. It was precisely because Hiruzen trusted Yi's strength that he dared put him in charge of the team. Losing even one of them would be painful.
After all, they were the future backbone of the Hokage's faction and might even become its core. They were also bridges between the village and its great clans. Nothing could happen to them.
That was especially true of Hyuga Rinka. Among the Hyuga Clan's younger generation, only Young Clan Head Hyuga Hiashi outranked her.
As long as Hyuga