"Damn it!"
Hyuga Ao examined the traces. Under the Byakugan's observation, there were two signs of struggle in the living room.
Her heart tightened. Could Kana have been captured too?
A buy-one-get-one deal?
She gazed into the distance and, sure enough, found a trail of red hair carrying Kushina's scent. She immediately followed it, only to discover two small sets of footprints ahead of her.
The footprints clearly hadn't been left by the attackers. Judging by their size, they probably belonged to two boys around her age.
Were two people already ahead of me? Hyuga Ao felt somewhat relieved.
One of them was probably Minato. But who was the other?
There was no time to worry about that. Following the strands of hair and the footprints, Hyuga Ao sped forward and began her pursuit.
Elsewhere, Minato and Nawaki had set out together that afternoon. One was going to look for Kushina, while the other was going to look for Kana.
After discovering that Kushina and Kana were missing, Nawaki exploded. He knew Kushina's identity. The instant Minato found the strands of hair, Nawaki immediately began pursuing the trail and sent a message through the communication Snake, informing Orochimaru of the situation.
They had left only moments apart from the attackers, with no more than an hour between them.
After hurrying all the way through the night, they finally intercepted the attackers at the border of the Land of Fire.
Under the moonlight, two red-haired figures were being dragged along in restraints. On the other side were three attackers. They had obvious Cloud Ninja characteristics, yet wore ordinary civilian clothes from the Land of Fire, with nothing on them that could prove their identities.
Minato and Nawaki discussed it and chose to set an ambush at a higher point ahead.
The