After a long silence, Shikaku Nara asked Uchiha Yi, "You spent over a year on missions in the Land of Water. You must know something about Kirigakure. How many Ninja do they have left?"
"Five thousand at most. But Kirigakure is in even worse turmoil than Konoha. It's full of rival families. The Mizukage could barely keep them under control before, but he still had a grip on the situation.
"Now, though, even the Third Mizukage has probably died by my hand. Kirigakure has no leader, and I doubt anyone there can make a decision." Uchiha Yi thought for a moment, then sighed helplessly.
If he could, Uchiha Yi would have had no qualms about wiping out Kirigakure and the Land of Water.
But if he did that, every manner of troublemaker would come crawling out of the woodwork. He needed to deal with all of it after becoming Hokage, not settle everything while Hiruzen Sarutobi was still in office.
Ultimately, Uchiha Yi hated having his hands tied. He could arrange for Hiruzen Sarutobi to be made a figurehead, then succeed him smoothly—or simply kick him aside and take charge himself.
But Uchiha Yi had a sense of right and wrong. Until Hiruzen Sarutobi wronged him, he could hardly turn on him. He wasn't heartless; he had his own principles. Hiruzen Sarutobi might not have protected him every step of the way, but he had certainly made things easier for him.
As Uncle Sarutobi, Hiruzen Sarutobi had been more than decent. Whatever awful things he had done in the original story, he had treated Uchiha Yi well. He had given him whatever Ninjutsu he asked for. Uchiha Yi had never had to put up with any nonsense, and Hiruzen had never even demanded that he choose between the Uchiha Clan