Getting the scent of an enemy would have been top priority, at least in Itachi's case, if he had tracking animals available to him. But he was a ninja, and he couldn't expect others to think the same way.

"That's something, at least." He didn't care much about hearing the actual details of this plan, as his curiosity only went so far and he didn't know anything about the person this man was after. He wouldn't wave off the details if they were given, however.