[POV: Mitsuro ]
Mitsuro raced through the forest toward the orphanage, his feet landing silently on branches and leaves like the paws of a predator. His eyes were calm, precise, and focused. With a single leap, he reached the small orphanage building and slipped inside. He raised his hands and performed the seal.
"Kage Bunshin!"
With a puff of smoke, another Mitsuro appeared beside him. Without a word, the two split up and ran to opposite sides of the building. The original Mitsuru went to place the explosive tags at the base of the wooden pillars, while his shadow clone summoned the bodies he had prepared and arranged them in their proper places. At the same time, both searched every corner of the dormitory for Shiro.
Mitsuro connected the tags with thin, heat-resistant wires and pulled them toward the door. He glanced at the sky. The moon was at its peak.
Inside, his shadow clone had laid five children's bodies side by side in the main room, lying still on the floor like broken dolls. He placed a body his own size in another room. Then, he took a thick lamp oil and poured it over the bodies and the wooden pillars of the room. The cold, sickening smell of the oil made the air heavy. The small flame in the shadow clone's fingers cast a horrifying reflection on the wall, as if the room were filled with dancing shadows. He held the flame near a pillar, letting the oil slowly catch fire.
He stepped back for a moment, raised his right hand, and held two fingers in front of his face.
"Puff!"
The shadow clone vanished, and instantly, the memories of its actions flooded Mitsuro's mind. Mitsuru went to the kitchen and turned the stove's flame to full. He positioned a curtain near the flame so it would slowly catch fire. He placed a pot on the burner, put some noodles inside, and positioned the end of the wires connected to the explosive tags under the pot so they would slowly ignite. Everything was ready for the empty orphanage to begin its slow burn.
He stepped outside. He paused for a moment and looked at the small building behind him. The orphanage, where the sounds of children's laughter used to echo, was now quiet and dark. The small fire inside, like an animal in a cage, growled softly, waiting for the moment of its release.
He looked around. "Where has that spoiled Shiro gone?"
BOOM!
Suddenly, a massive sound came from a distance. An explosion that shook the entire ground. Mitsuro was stunned. "What was that?! Did Itachi plan to blow up the clan?" In the original story, it was never mentioned that Itachi slaughtered the clan with a bang!
He quickly jumped to the top of a house. The sound had come from the direction of the clan's grain warehouse. A strange fire lit up the village's darkness. What is going on?
Mitsuro moved swiftly across the rooftops. Clan ninjas were emerging from their homes, running toward the fire. He wanted to run in the same direction as everyone else, but he stopped halfway. "No… I should look for Shiro instead. Kids usually either run away or watch in wonder when there's an explosion… especially a weird kid like Shiro! He's not stupid enough to go see what exploded." But a thought kept repeating in his mind: "Why would Itachi have blown up the grain warehouse?"
He stopped himself from overthinking. For now, he had to find Shiro. He remembered that the boy had recently started visiting the house of Uchiha Izumi. She was Itachi's childhood friend, the one who became Itachi's first victim. "Maybe Shiro got the urge to visit Izumi again. The stupid kid! Is this really the time to be playing?"
He ran toward the clan's houses, heading west. With every step, the smell of blood grew stronger. It was clear that Itachi had recently begun his massacre. He scrunched up his nose in anger.
"That ungrateful bastard!"
He went toward a house with an open door. The bodies of a family were gruesomely sprawled on the ground. Their eyes were wide with terror, a fear born from seeing the familiar face of their killer. These scenes burned Mitsuru from the inside.
BOOM!
Suddenly, another explosion was heard. Mitsuru crouched down. Black smoke rose into the sky. "IItachi wants to tell the whole village? Didn't he attack the clan in secret?!" The smell of burnt flesh was slowly filling the air.
Without hesitation, he turned and ran with all his speed toward Izumi's house. His feet slid silently across the rooftops. He leaped from one wall and landed on the roof of another house. From up there, he saw Itachi's face. In that moment, his eyes filled with rage and sorrow. Itachi was staring at a specific spot and then suddenly vanished from his sight. Mitsuro ran toward that same spot; he didn't want to confront Itachi, but that was before the massacre had started. Now it was too late. He couldn't let the slaughter continue right before his eyes.