[It's when Hiro mentions the person staying dead that it occurs to Minato that there's another angle they haven't talked about and he frowns, crossing his arms while he ponders the matter further.]

I know it's permanent, but...what if sacrifice wasn't one of us? That might explain why the blood looks so recent. [That's still disturbing though, and while Minato might not have an opinion on the natives he'd prefer for them to stay alive.]

I think it'd be best if we left it alone for now. We don't know anything about this altar, and it seems like it's located pretty close to the city...destroying the altar or removing the objects might anger whatever's staying here. [Translation: Let's not have a repeat of the incident with the ghosts.]