Escorted Back to the Village

"You must be dreaming; do you really think you can seduce us with such crooked, evil paths?"

"Crooked paths? Do you have any idea how much power one can gain by absorbing the energy within the altar? I could ascend to the rank of Jonin in an instant, do you understand?"

Shen Ye curled his lip. A ninja who needed to rely on the power of an altar just to reach the rank of Jonin was nothing but trash.

Killer Bee's potential was capped for life; he would never be given another chance to activate an altar again.

The escape of those five burly men might have actually been a blessing; otherwise, they would have likely become ghosts beneath that altar long ago.

"Alright, take him back to the village and let the Third Hokage decide his fate. Such actions have crossed the bottom line of what it means to be a ninja; it's enough to execute him ten thousand times over."

Shen Ye intentionally tried to scare Killer Bee, though in truth, he had no idea how the Third would actually deal with this guy.

Perhaps once they extracted the information they needed, Killer Bee would be completely useless, left to spend the rest of his life in a Konoha prison.

"But how are we supposed to take him back? None of us can use sealing techniques to suppress his chakra."

"True. We can't just keep him restrained with the Shadow Bind Technique forever; we need another way."

Shen Ye rubbed his chin. He hadn't considered this until now; it seemed he needed a foolproof method.

After weighing his options, Shen Ye decided to use the most primitive and violent method to prevent Killer Bee from even thinking about escaping.

Watching Shen Ye approach him with a wicked grin, Killer Bee gulped, sensing that something unpleasant was about to happen.

Sure enough, Shen Ye raised his fist high, precisely controlling the chakra within it to amplify his strength, and brought it crashing down onto Killer Bee's head.

With a dull thud, Killer Bee's body twitched before he slumped against the shadows still binding him.

"You can release the jutsu now. I'm confident this guy won't wake up until we reach the Hokage Office. The Strength of a Hundred is truly a fantastic technique."

Shen Ye shook his fist, admiring his handiwork with satisfaction.

Namikaze Minato felt a bit at a loss. At this moment, both Shen Ye and Hatake Sakumo looked terrifying—not the kind of people one should easily provoke.

It was fortunate that he was teammates with these two monsters; if they were enemies, he would surely meet a miserable end.

"Let's move!"

"Wait, there's one more thing to do before we leave. We can't leave that altar behind."

Namikaze Minato nodded, leaped to the side of the altar in a few bounds, and fell into deep thought as he stared at the faint, flickering light, unsure of how to proceed.

"Hatake Sakumo, you handle the destruction. I don't have much experience with this."

Hatake Sakumo rolled his eyes at Namikaze Minato, picked up a rock from the ground, and tossed it directly into the altar. The stone landed perfectly in the center.

A rumbling sound erupted, the light within the altar died out instantly, and visible cracks began to spread outward from the center point.

Dusting off his hands, Hatake Sakumo turned and followed Shen Ye back toward the village, while Namikaze Minato shrugged and trailed behind them.

After they had walked a considerable distance, a massive explosion erupted from the direction of the altar. Hatake Sakumo's lips curled upward slightly.

"Real men never look back at explosions. You guys should be worshipping me right about now."

Shen Ye's mouth twitched. He confirmed that his initial assessment of Hatake Sakumo had been correct: once you got to know him, he became just like Namikaze Minato.

Still, the atmosphere was much lighter now. The mission that had been weighing on everyone's minds was finally over, and they had been the ones to end it.

Looking at Killer Bee slung over Shikaku's shoulder, a strange feeling welled up in Shen Ye's heart. He realized he had truly integrated into this world.

After traveling for some time, the group finally returned to the village.

Aoba Yamashiro stood at the village gate, looking at the group of youngsters with a surprised expression, especially since there was a stranger draped over Namikaze Minato's shoulder.

"You kids aren't at the Ninja Academy. What are you doing outside the village?"

"Big Brother Aoba, can't you tell by the guy Minato is carrying? We helped the village complete a very important mission."

Aoba Yamashiro nodded, looking Killer Bee up and down.

Noticing the prominent bruise on the man's head, he couldn't help but look surprised.

Without wasting any more time, Shen Ye and the others rushed straight toward the Hokage Office, ready to hand Killer Bee over to the Third.

The office was currently filled with several of the village's ninjas; it seemed the Third had summoned them for a meeting.

As they pushed open the door, everyone's gaze fell upon Shen Ye. He scratched his head awkwardly and stepped aside.

"I'm not the star of the show today. You should all be looking at this guy instead."

Namikaze Minato placed the unconscious Killer Bee on the floor and wiped the sweat from his forehead; carrying this guy all the way back had really drained his stamina.

"What is the meaning of this? And who is this person?"

"The five burly men who ran off earlier did so because of this guy. They were his sacrifices."

"Sacrifices?"

The Third frowned. He hadn't expected the situation to be this grave; involving human sacrifices was something the ninja world could not tolerate.

Shen Ye nodded and recounted the entire process in detail.

Everyone in the room gave them a thumbs-up, looking at the youngsters with gratified expressions. This was the future of Konoha.

At such a young age, they were already capable of working together to subdue enemies several times stronger than themselves. Their future potential was limitless.

However, the Third's face remained expressionless, his eyes even filled with a hint of reproach.

"Do you have any idea how dangerous this was? If you had encountered a more powerful enemy, you might not have made it back to the village today, do you understand?"

"Rest assured, Third Hokage, we know our limits. It is our honor to contribute to the village."

"Leave this fellow to us. Although such behavior is extremely risky, you completed the mission perfectly, and that deserves to be rewarded."

Minato's eyes lit up instantly. Having tasted the sweetness of success once before, he was not about to act coy this time; he had already decided in his heart what kind of reward he wanted.

However, the Third Hokage simply retrieved four scrolls from the corner of the room and handed them to Shen Ye.

"These are four ninjutsu tailored specifically for you. Consider them your reward for this operation. From now on, do not take such risks without orders from the village, understand?"