Who Are You

Just as everyone's gaze converged upon the house, a mysterious figure hidden in the shadows watched these little ones quietly from afar.

"Blind fools have actually come here again, ruining my plans and nearly snatching away my sacrifices."

These words seemed to be squeezed out from between the creature's teeth, and one could clearly sense a deep-seated hatred.

Unaware, Shen Ye and his group expanded their search range, deciding to observe the surrounding area.

"Shen Ye, I've made a new discovery!"

Minato leaped onto a tree branch and waved his hands in all directions.

Hearing Minato's call, the others turned and rushed toward him, regrouping in no time at all.

Looking at the Altar surrounded by countless shrubs, Shen Ye furrowed his brows.

If they hadn't been conducting an indiscriminate search at this very moment, they never would have discovered the existence of this Altar, which went to show just how well-hidden it was.

"Since it's hidden here, it means the guy who built it doesn't want to be found. Perhaps those five guys were just tools."

"I have some research on Altars; let me take a closer look."

Hatake Sakumo slowly crouched down, gathering the chakra within his body bit by bit into his palms before gently pressing them against the Altar.

The Altar emitted a faint glow, and a suction force appeared at its center, causing Minato and Shikaku to stumble as they were nearly pulled inside.

However, Shen Ye felt nothing at all, save for a gust of wind blowing past his ears.

Hatake Sakumo hurriedly stopped his movements and turned to look at Shen Ye.

Seeing the expression on his face, Shen Ye knew trouble was coming; the Altar had far exceeded the scope of what they could understand.

"Requiring five sacrifices to increase one's own strength—such an Altar is not permitted in Konoha, and would be condemned throughout the entire ninja world."

"We should hurry back to the village and report this matter to the Third Hokage; with our current abilities, we cannot handle this."

"I'm afraid you no longer have the chance to leave this place. Since you've discovered this secret, it would be better to stay and serve as sacrifices; four little ones will barely suffice."

The guy who had been hiding in the shadows could no longer restrain himself now that his Altar had been exposed, and he stepped out of the darkness to appear before them.

Shen Ye shook his head helplessly; a battle was inevitable after all. As expected, this mission was not so simple.

"Whether you can keep us depends on your strength. You are only one person, yet we are four!"

"Four little ones who aren't even Genin want to fight me? Did I just hear some grand joke?"

Shen Ye crossed his arms over his chest, wondering what he was thinking.

Minato stepped forward, intending to confront the guy, but was pulled behind Shen Ye.

Taking a few steps, Shen Ye walked to the front of the group, lifted his head, and looked at the guy before him, his lips moving.

"Who are you?"

"Who am I? I am an enemy of Konoha, the god of death who will end your lives today, little ones."

"I am asking for your name, so that I may leave a tomb for you after you die."

"Killer Bee."

Shen Ye scratched his head; he had no impression of this name whatsoever.

Whether in the original story or after transmigrating here, the name Killer Bee was an unfamiliar existence in his mind.

Regarding an unknown enemy, Shen Ye chose not to launch his own attack immediately; after all, not knowing the guy's strength meant he needed to probe him slowly.

But Killer Bee was very impatient, stomping his feet against the ground as he lunged violently toward Shen Ye.

"Shen Ye, look out!"

Minato rushed toward Shen Ye, but he was a step too slow; Killer Bee had already stopped right in front of Shen Ye.

His palm, like a pair of pliers, clawed toward Shen Ye's throat, intending to end the fight in one move, but he hadn't expected Shen Ye to dodge it with a simple tilt of his head.

Killer Bee was somewhat surprised; he was just a child, yet he possessed such reaction speed.

At this moment, Minato had already arrived behind Shen Ye, his fists clenched as he swung them repeatedly at Killer Bee.

Forced into a corner, Killer Bee had no choice but to retreat, dodging Minato's attacks.

The fists missed and struck the air, so Shen Ye patted Minato on the shoulder and signaled to Shikaku and Hatake Sakumo.

Although they had only joined the team recently, Hatake Sakumo could fully grasp Shen Ye's intent, so he and Shikaku spread out to surround Killer Bee.

The four of them encircled Killer Bee, which actually made Killer Bee even happier.

If these four little ones had stayed close together, it might have been difficult to take them all down, but once they scattered, he could defeat them one by one.

"Earth Release, Earth Collapse Technique!"

Killer Bee stood in place and began weaving hand signs; the surrounding ground began to tremble faintly, and suddenly, a massive fissure split open in the earth.

The ground beneath Shen Ye and the others slowly rose into mid-air, showing a tendency to converge.

"Strength of a Hundred!"

Shen Ye swung his fist, slamming it directly into the soil beneath his feet; the immense power dispersed slowly from the point of contact between his fist and the ground.

Accompanied by a rumbling sound, the rocks shattered into countless small pebbles, and Shen Ye flipped a few times before landing on the ground.

The other three lacked Shen Ye's exquisite ability to control power, so they likewise chose to leap away from the range of the boulders.

"Hmph!"

Killer Bee let out a cold snort and accelerated the movements of his hands.

The boulders finally collided, but instead of the massive crash one might expect, they fused into an even larger rock that hurtled toward Shen Ye.

Through his covert observation, he had already determined that Shen Ye was the leader of this group; as the saying goes, to capture the bandits, one must first capture the king.

Shen Ye curled his lip. So, this guy's target had been him all along, and everything up until now had just been a setup.

Against such a massive boulder, even utilizing Strength of a Hundred and Partial Multi-Size Technique would be insufficient to neutralize it; he had no choice but to temporarily avoid its edge.

"Minato!"

"Understood!"

Minato responded, casually tossing a kunai marked with a seal in a specific direction.

"Flying Thunder God!"

Before the shuriken had even stopped moving, Shen Ye's figure vanished from his spot and reappeared in mid-air, grabbing the shuriken Minato had thrown and landing on the ground.

The massive boulder slammed into the earth, causing the surrounding ground to tremble violently.

"I didn't expect a brat like you to be so quick at running away, but you won't be so lucky next time. You're the ones who stole my sacrifice, aren't you?"