Naruto rushed forward with staggering speed, already forming the required hand seal. In dozens of smoke bursts appeared exact copies of the boy. There were so many that they filled the entire street, yet even this space proved insufficient for them, forcing some to materialize on rooftops.
Not a single clone wasted time, instantly transitioning into movement through the Body Flicker Technique. Like locusts, the blond horde instantly engulfed the entire district, breaking into houses and assessing the situation in search of those who might still be saved. Yet almost all of this proved futile.
When clones found something they deemed important, they vanished in smoke puffs, transferring all necessary information to the original. This was how the King learned that presumably two different individuals had operated here. One killed quickly and without excessive cruelty, using precise stabs or wide slashing sword strokes, while the other...
The other was a Beast who had pulled human skin over itself. Merciless and enraged to such degree that even the smallest Uchiha children's bodies remained broken, mutilated and divided into several parts after his passing. He both sliced and tore. At minimum, he definitely wielded two different weapons.
Clan civilians and shinobi were often caught right in their beds, few having time to react or even offer resistance. All victims wore home clothes, clearly unprepared for battle. None even managed to hide. This was a sudden massacre whose sole purpose appeared to be complete extermination.
Amidst this phantasmagoria of incredible cruelty, something strange and even incongruous was the motionless body of a young teenage girl on the ground, her lips frozen in a relaxed, peaceful smile. In her eye sockets rested two rubies with immobile black dots - the Sharingan. One clone appeared before her, emerging from Body Flicker Technique. It knelt down, attempting to detect pulse or breathing.
A mole under the right eye, chestnut hair... Naruto had apparently seen this girl around the village several times. Uchiha Izumi. Now she lay on the ground, lifeless and still, dead from cardiac arrest. This specifically confused Uzumaki. A shinobi dying in battle from heart failure was already bordering on fantasy. But to die from heart attack with such peace on one's face...
Only two options existed here - either a very specific poison, which sounded extremely far-fetched and pointless, or genjutsu. Genjutsu of horrifying level capable of making the mind see visions that induced peacefulness followed by death. Genjutsu of such caliber could only be performed with Sharingan, meaning this was another Uchiha's doing. And among all Uchiha, only two in current generation were famed for their illusionary might - Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi.
Considering how recently the village had been shaken by sad news of Uchiha Shisui's tragic suicide... The clone immediately dispersed, transferring its information to the original.
The entire environmental reconnaissance took no more than five seconds, and by the third second Uzumaki Naruto had already reached the first of two "butchers". A man in a mask with a single eyehole, long spiky black hair, dark cloak and chain in hand burst into someone's home. Almost immediately, a woman's scream full of primal horror rang out.
Without slightest hesitation, the King followed the murderer inside, attacking just as the combat chain was about to split the young woman's skull. Two Naruto clones broke into the same house through windows in different rooms. The first found nobody in the living room and immediately moved to assist the original, while the other instantly scooped up a wailing infant bundle from its cradle before jumping back outside, rushing away from Uchiha district.
The blond knocked down the mask-wearing man who expected no resistance, preventing his chain from reaching the target. A clone that had caught up with its creator channeled nearly all its chakra to reinforce its artificial body, grabbed the woman around the waist barely managing to fit her over its shoulder, and dashed for the exit using Body Flicker.
The masked monster's reaction wasn't slow. With inhuman flexibility and strength he pushed off the floor with his hands, the thick chain lashing through the room like a rage-maddened serpent, nearly tearing off Naruto's entire arm. The boy narrowly avoided the terrifying attack, only to meet a breath-stealing kick from the killer.
Had the blond not reinforced his ribcage with chakra, the consequences of this strike would have killed him within minutes of agonizing torment. Sent flying from the house like a bullet, Uzumaki wheezed painfully and confusedly, his blue eyes bulging as his back shattered the stone masonry of one of the founding clan district's many walls.
For the first time, the King experienced such pain - something neither his new human body nor his former Chimera Ant King form had ever known. The bomb detonated by the Hunter Association Chairman in his past life had rendered Meruem unconscious almost instantly, but this... This was completely new and uncharted territory for him.
Such sharp and all-encompassing pain.
Quickly regaining composure, Naruto grimaced and forced his body to stand, preparing for continued combat. He formed hand seals, and in another burst of white smoke ten clones appeared. The optimal number allowing Uzumaki to fight effectively without clones hindering each other, acting in coordination instead.
Almost mockingly, the killer exited the attacked house at leisurely pace. The single hole in his tiger mask gaped with impenetrable darkness. The chain clinked as the monster dragged it along the ground. The long chokuto still hung at his belt, not yet drawn. He already clearly sensed his victory.
Naruto narrowed his eyes. This was something that could - no, must - be exploited. Otherwise only death awaited him.
"Boy." A muffled hoarse voice reached Uzumaki from beneath the unknown's mask. "I'll forgive you just once and let you leave. Turn around right now and run away."
A crimson ember flared in the eyehole. Startled Naruto, the real one, immediately shut his eyes, leapt onto the wall behind him and rushed away. His clones attacked instantly - they feared no Sharingan genjutsu.
Each copy blurred into motion through Body Flicker, surrounding the masked man from all sides.
The chain reared up, slicing through air with such ferocity and speed that the very atmosphere howled as if in unbearable agony...
***
Seven of the King's clones observed from shadows as an extremely cautious and slow-moving armed teen carefully progressed through the Uchiha clan head's inner courtyard. Each already knew this was Uchiha Itachi. While other clones searched for survivors, these seven monitored the main perpetrator. Attacking the Uchiha genius when he was at his most alert and tense would be clearly foolish.
Therefore they waited for him to enter and become engaged in battle with his own parents.
This was their only chance to meaningfully intervene in events...