It did not take long for Pakkun to determine the general direction of the lingering scent, because target had remained relatively stationary. Minato did not waste a single second once Pakkun gave the subtle indication of the direction. He lifted the small ninja hound with his prosthetic right arm and flicked away.
Thirty seconds later they arrived at the location where the scent trail abruptly ended. They stood in the middle of a crowded market district near the border where they found some clothes which were left behind, where vendors shouted prices and customers haggled over dried fish, vegetables, and woven cloth. The thick mixture of spices, grilled meat, fermented sauces, and livestock made the air smell funky and difficult to parse even for an experienced tracking hound.
Pakkun sneezed once in irritation and lowered his nose again, trying to separate the layered odors. The scent had been here, but it was now fragmented and drowned beneath the overwhelming presence of civilians and the food shops.
Minato did not question Pakkun's ability or press him for answers. He understood immediately that the overlapping smells were creating interference. Instead, he stepped forward calmly and surveyed the crowd with a detached expression.
"The enemy should not have traveled far," Minato said quietly. "It is my turn now."
He formed a one-handed Tiger seal and expanded his chakra sensing technique. His sensory perception spread across the village, extending nearly five kilometers in every direction. He could distinguish trained shinobi from civilians by density and chakra control alone even when they are not kneading chakra. Since he doesn't know the opponents chakra signature until he has actually seen them, he could only rely on the who the nearby ninja are.
This was a border settlement between two powerful nations, so shinobi traffic was not unusual. However, the ratio still favored civilians heavily. He filtered the signatures rapidly.
No one was actively suppressing their chakra.
Minato's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Smart," he muttered. "If they attempted to suppress their chakra, they would stand out immediately."
Kakashi had mentioned two children among the enemy ranks, and one of them appeared to be giving commands. That detail remained prominent in Minato's mind as it is easier to filter out children as they are not that many. He shifted his focus to that of younger physiques with decent chakra control.
He identified three clusters that fit the approximate description.
The nearest group was seven hundred meters away. The second group was roughly one kilometer out. The third group was approximately three and a half kilometers distant.
Minato crouched briefly and addressed Pakkun.
"I located three groups that match the profile. I will take you to each. Once we are close enough to them, you should be able to confirm their scent."
Pakkun nodded.
Minato vanished again.
A second later he appeared in front of the nearest cluster which was about 700 meters away. A jounin-level shinobi and two children sat beside a well, appearing fatigued but relaxed. Their chakra signatures indicated a minor village escort mission.
Minato stepped forward without speaking. Pakkun jumped from his arm and sniffed each of them carefully.
After a few seconds, Pakkun shook his head.
"Not them," he confirmed.
Minato did not apologize or explain. He simply disappeared again.
The second group was one kilometer away, concealed behind a storage warehouse. When Minato arrived, the three shinobi froze in terror. Their chakra signatures were distinctly Earth Release dominant, and their formation indicated they were spies. Most likely Iwa shinobi.
Pakkun sniffed quickly and again shook his head.
"Not them either," he said.
The Iwa spies watched in stunned silence as the Yellow Flash vanished as abruptly as he had appeared. They exhaled shakily, realizing they had narrowly avoided a confrontation with the man who had decimated their forces in past campaigns.
Minato focused on the third cluster.
The chakra pattern there was different.
One signature radiated elite jounin-level density with an unusual chakra concentration at ocular region. Another who had young physique was fluctuating irregularly, suggesting either injury or genjutsu interference. The third signature also carried a decent chakra control.
Minato's gaze sharpened.
"He is using genjutsu," Minato murmured. "Kakashi described they had ocular abilities similar to the Uchiha."
He did not hesitate.
He grabbed Pakkun and vanished once more.
Two seconds later, Minato materialized in front of Yushiro, Darui, and Kaien.
Yushiro stood slightly ahead of the others, his posture controlled and alert at the sudden appearance of enemy. Darui stood behind him, visibly tense but steady. Kaien's eyes were unfocused, his mind was put on genjutsu barriers deliberately.
Pakkun's nose was already inches from them before they could react.
He inhaled sharply and growled low.
"Minato-sama, it's them," Pakkun said firmly. "These two children were the ones who were present two hundred meters from that battlefield."
Yushiro did not waste a single heartbeat.
His reserves had been replenished significantly from the blood he had siphoned earlier from Might Guy. Red liquid surged from concealed containers at his waist and from beneath his sleeves, forming instantly into a sharpened blade extending from his forearm. Simultaneously, a layer of pressurized blood spread beneath his feet, allowing him to glide with terrifying acceleration.
He moved. To ordinary eyes, Yushiro vanished with a terrifying speed even Darui or Kaien couldn't react what happened.
To Minato, he was fast, but not beyond comprehension.
Yushiro arrived in front of Minato in less than a blink, channeling every ounce of chakra into the blade to make it sharper and longer. Blood surged behind his elbow, acting as propulsion to increase the slash velocity to its maximum threshold.
The blade descended toward Minato's neck.
Minato did not flinch.
Yushiro's blade cut through nothing but afterimage.
A flash of yellow light erupted behind him.
Minato appeared at Yushiro's blind spot, a blade already in his prosthetic hand. He did not strike immediately. Instead, he observed.
"So you are the one," Minato said coldly.
Yushiro twisted mid-glide, forcing his blood construct to reconfigure into a shield as the blood barrier collided with Minato's blade.
~~
A/N: Minato can only thank pakkun for tracking.
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