The Worst Way to Dodge Intrusive Questions

[A/N: This is a very long chapter. It and the following one will be information heavy. They're necessary though. As such, I've condensed them into two chapters rather than breaking them into separate parts. That way, they won't feel as stale to consume as they would have had I broke them into six releases. This chapter is an abbreviated council session for world building. In the future, I likely won't write them out unless absolutely necessary.]

Council Room

The shinobi council is a body of Konoha's most influential military clans that allows them to keep informed and provide input on the critical functions of the village. It was created by the Third Hokage in the middle of his rein to better advise his decision-making, though most of the power was still held in his hands and by extension the three elders. Although there used to be a civilian part of the council with excess authority, it was defanged and separated due to systematic corruption.

On the shinobi side, although the Hokage always has the final say, there are concessions made from time to time to appease the various clans. After all, formally, Konoha is less a united nation and more a conglomeration of clans under an ironclad alliance. Since joining the village, the clans reserved the right to leave at any time, so it was important to consider their opinions on major issues.

Considering this mission involved bringing a new major clan into Konoha, securing one of Orochimaru's more important bases intact, and the discovery of new threats to Konoha, Minato was obligated to call a session.

Luckily for him, he would trust all of them with his life. Yes, even Hiashi. Thanks to events that happened in the past 16 years, the more suspicious members had already been dealt with.

The council room was fairly large and was located inside the Hokage Monument. The walls looked to be made of carved granite with long, thin rectangular-shaped lights attached to the ceiling in rows, illuminating the room in incandescent light.

Hidden via genjutsu were a menagerie of complicated-looking arrays spread across every corner of the room. The shape held little meaning than to serve as a distraction for would-be seal breakers. The seals protecting this room used to be written in the standard Uzumaki kanji but were rewritten by Kamui on her father's request. With the full efforts of the Uzumaki/Namikaze family, this room would likely be the last standing structure in Konoha a millennium from now.

In the center of the room was a large U-shaped table made from the strongest trees the First Hokage could make. Minato sat at the head of the table in his capacity as Hokage, while the sides consisted of the clan heads. In attendance was Itachi Uchiha, Hiashi Hyuga, Asuma Sarutobi and Shibi Aburame on the left of the table and Tsume Inuzuka, Kushina Uzumaki, Inoichi Yamanaka, Shikaku Nara, and Choza Akimichi on the right.

Behind Kushina stood Mikoto Uchiha as a special attendee for this session. Since she was no longer a clan head, she couldn't normally attend. Due to the special nature of this meeting, she and a few others were invited.

She had just returned from saving team seven and would be making good on her promise to deliver the goods once this meeting was finished. The seals to suppress Jinchuriki weaker than seven tails had been made by the Hokage long ago, so they were ready on demand. She would just have to brief him in private before she went.

Next to her were Ibiki and Anko from interrogation and Uzume Uzumaki, the head of Konoha's medical and science department in Tsunade's absence.

Uzume had light-white skin, scarlet red hair tied into a bud with two chin-length strands framing her face, black pupilless eyes, and a steady demeanor. She wore a white lab coat that went down to her knees over a light blue, button-up, collared blouse. She also wore loose-fit black slacks and black, close-toed shoes.

Kamui, Reina, Naga, and Yugao stood in front of the table's opening as they were the presenting party. Himiko was asked to wait in the waiting room since she hadn't officially joined Konoha. Naga was allowed due to her current contract with Kamui. Though, the reality of the situation was that if Naga wasn't found to be sincere, she'd be executed in a heartbeat.

Currently, the council members were having small discussions amongst themselves while they waited for the Hokage to start. The opposite was true for the mission returnees; they were silent, preparing the testimonies they were inevitably going to be asked to present.

"Everyone, the council is now in session." Minato firmly stated, getting everyone's attention and silencing the room.

He continued, "Now, as you are all well aware, we're here to debrief the S-rank mission to retrieve the Kocho clan. Now, normally we wouldn't hold a council meeting for something like this; I would do it myself. However, due to the severity of the initial mission along with the various findings, I've decided that you all should be informed, and I trust everyone in this room.

"That said, these mission details will be classified at the highest level until I say otherwise. Since we have some new faces in the room, I'll clarify. If any details of this briefing are released without my consent, the shinobi will be charged with treason with the punishment ranging from a minimum of being stripped of chakra and memories to a maximum of execution. Any questions?" His expression was stern, eyes focusing on the presenting team, his daughter included.

Despite her relation to him, he had a duty as Hokage to make sure she understood, though Naga was the real outlier in this situation; Reina too, but Naga's was personal. The problem for him was that if Naga messed up, Kamui would suffer the same punishment; that's the condition for employing private retainers from outside the village.

No one spoke up.

"Great. Now, Jonin Yugao." He stated, getting her attention. "Can you please give us a run through of your mission from start."

"Yes, Lord Fourth." With a nod, she stepped forward and did a light bow before regaining her bearing. Her posture, while upright, wasn't tense or stiff. Unlike samurai, shinobi didn't often require drill and ceremony.

Yugao proceeded to recount the details from the mission's beginning up to the point where Kamui teleported the botflies to Konoha.

Before she could move past that part though, Shibi raised his hand, silencing the jonin.

"I would like to express gratitude on behalf of my clan." He stated near-emotionlessly. "Not only the compendium, but the live colony as well. They will both contribute greatly to our strength. To warn the group in advance, I will likely be requesting a mission to escort clan members to that location to collect samples of the various other insects detailed in that book."

As he said this, Kamui noticed almost all the other clan heads' eyes twitch at the man's words. Clearly, bolstering the Aburame clan's 'diversity' was a bittersweet prospect.

"I must say, I haven't been this excited in a long time. Once again, you have my gratitude." He finished. The various clan heads who had grown up together caught sight of a barely noticeable glimmer of excitement in the man's shaded eyes. It was only due to their long years of friendship that they noticed. Everyone else missed it.

For those who caught it, the sight put a smile on their face. It really took a lot to make the man express excitement of all things.

Shikaku spoke up, "I'll thank you as well. While I will admit that I'm personally a little rattled at the prospect of bringing insects of such… creative means into Konoha, bolstering a clan's strength the way you have is commendable. As the Jonin Commander, I will make sure to add an official commendation to your private records."

The other clan heads nodded in collective agreement. Seeking opportunities to strengthen Konoha while on missions was something to be commended and such behavior should be honored.

Hearing this, Kamui's face broke out into a grin, while Reina's remained unchanged. From the Kocho woman's perspective, she was receiving credit for her ancestor's work, so it wasn't something she was personally proud of outside her capacity as clan head.

Seeing this topic seemingly conclude, the Hokage spoke up, "Thank you Shibi, Shikaku. Now, Yugao, please continue."

"Yes, Lord Hokage."

Yugao continued her explanation up to the point where Kamui was first brought into Naga's twisted mindscape. It had been interesting seeing the council's disturbed expressions when talking about the various other forms of wildlife they had encountered, including the Giga-Crocalisk. When she finished explaining that part though, there was another interruption.

This time, it was from Hiashi whose eyebrow had risen in confusion.

"Jonin Yugao, a moment." He tersely interrupted.

Yugao nodded, waiting for the man to make his inquiry.

Seeing her acknowledgement, Hiashi turned his attention to Kamui and Naga.

"Can you explain how you ended up in the snake girl's mind? I understand you were still a good distance away and a feat like that's unheard of at any distance farther than line-of-sight." He asked.

Kamui shook her head.

"I can't. I don't know how it happened myself. I was just there." She succinctly replied.

"Surely you have theories. Shameful as it is for me to admit, you're one of the leading experts in jutsu theory. Anything would help." He pressed, getting varying reactions from her family in the room.

Although she had a smile on her face, Kushina's hair had started waving around in nine bundles. Itachi was as impassive as ever, though his right hand twitched ever so slightly. Even Mikoto was fighting to keep her chakra from invading her eyes. Though he likely meant no disrespect and even intended a compliment, the way Hiashi's statement came out didn't feel like a compliment. It was due to knowing how the man really thought that they restrained themselves.

Seeing this, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio shook their heads.

'This is why dealing with family dynamics in front of the council is so troublesome to deal with.' Shikaku thought tiredly.

To Hiashi's question, Kamui pondered for a moment.

Before she could speak though, Naga raised her opinion, "One thing I noticed in my distorted vision was a strong flash of sunlight. Oddly enough, it actually relieved my pain for a time. Shortly after that, Kamui arrived. I hadn't thought anything of it at the time, but with Himiko's appearance towards the end of the mission and the known tales regarding her self-described 'mistress', it's not out of the realm of possibility that her lady might be responsible."

Kamui thought for a moment and nodded. "I would say that's our best lead. Unless there was a resonance neither Naga nor I were aware of. My best guess would be that our minds were connected by Amaterasu."

With narrowed eyes, Inoichi voiced his suspicion, "You're telling me that you believe a Kami did this?"

"Considering who you are, I certainly won't dismiss the claim immediately, but we would like to know why you believe a Kami may have been responsible." Shikaku voiced calmly, trying to take the sting off Inoichi's clear disbelief.

While he had a hard time believing it himself, Kamui was an anomaly that uncovered facets about chakra that he'd never even considered; it would be wise to hear her out before making rash judgements.

The others were of similar mind. There was no one in this room who hadn't known Kamui to do revolutionary things. Hell, even Hiashi knew. It was one of the leading reasons his clan committed the atrocities it did.

"We'll expand on this more at the end, but I'll say one thing. When Himiko arrived during our later confrontation with the sound four, she was teleported by a beam of super-heated sunlight that was able to precisely spread its heat evenly across a village-wide earthen barrier without harming any of us. The control needed to perform a feat like that is beyond anything I've ever thought possible. That's not to mention the incorporation of space-time in a manner much more proficient than either myself or Lord Hokage can currently accomplish."

That got everyone's attention. Their eyes widened like saucers hearing someone they hadn't known about being more skilled than their Hokage. What's worse, Amaterasu's existence implied the existence of others of comparable skill. Even Minato's eyes narrowed at his daughter's assessment. She knew what he could do. If she believed the being was better than him, he believed her, albeit not without grave concern.

"Also, her chakra was of a higher quality. What I felt from the beam had a higher density to it than even a tailed beast and that's not mentioning its composition." She finished, letting the room fall back into silence.

That statement really stunned the room. By this point, most of them had come to the knowledge that while her status as a Jinchuriki was in question, Naruto's was not. They didn't know about him initially, but rumors eventually circulated amongst the clans. Considering the girl's proficiency with seals, they had no doubt that the girl had felt the nine-tails at some point. Well, that and every clan had collected small portions of its chakra for future study, so it wasn't that hard to come across.

"I'll wait to voice my questions until you finish the debrief. It would be counterproductive to ask now without the full context of the rest of the mission." Shikaku stated to tactfully silence the questions of both himself and the rest of the room, receiving nods of agreement from almost everyone in the room, though Hiashi had looked like he had a question.

"I'll continue then." Yugao spoke up, ready to continue.

Her explanation continued up until they reached the lab. Their discussion went all the way until the point where Kamui ripped the memories out of the scientists' heads.

"*Sigh* Kamui, you know that was reckless." Mikoto somberly stated from her part of the room, concerned that her daughter once again put her emotional state in danger.

"I agree. Even discounting my role as your father, as Hokage, I don't think it was the best move. Seeing through the lens of people like that and experiencing their emotions while you're at it was dangerous, especially on a mission." The Hokage sternly voiced.

Kamui nodded in acceptance at her family's words.

"I know it may be hard, but can you explain what you saw in there." Inoichi asked, wanting to both learn more of Orochimaru's operations and get an idea of what he was dealing with for Kamui's eventual therapy appointments. Make no mistake, it would be mandatory after what she admitted doing.

Before Kamui could reply, Mikoto asked, "Can you show us?"

As soon as she asked the question, Mikoto flinched. She hadn't meant to ask that question. She wanted to know though. While Kushina would be fine with just being there for her, she felt it her duty to advise as the only parent with a sharingan. Itachi wouldn't be a good choice to advise; as smart as he was, he didn't understand emotions very well.

The others were similarly surprised. Uchiha using genjutsu to project what they've seen on missions wasn't uncommon, but it wasn't often done for subject matters like this. Also, it could only be done one at a time, though from Mikoto's words, it was implied that it could be simultaneous.

"Are you sure this is wise Mikoto? I have no doubt that everyone can handle it, but if her testimony is any indication, it will be graphic." Minato didn't know how she would do it but showing everyone something like this wasn't something he would personally recommend. If everyone in the room, aside from the mission team and intel specialists, weren't hardened clan heads, he would strongly advise against it.

"*Sigh*… from an intelligence standpoint, this would be a golden opportunity. Kamui is intelligent, but she's still a fresh genin, so she may not have interpreted everything as we would. That said, something like this would make sleeping a lot harder for the next few days." Shikaku asked tiredly, the rational and responsible parts of his brain working to crush the lazier part. He'd been inside that compound; he knew very well what they should expect. Unfortunately, he also knew its importance.

Mikoto nodded. She'd made up her mind. Although it does have obvious mission benefits, she really just wanted to see it as her mother.

Minato pondered in silence, while listening to the other's opinions. Finally, when it started to quiet down, he looked his daughter in the eyes.

"I think this is for the best. There is no way for Kamui to verbally convey this information to us in any short length of time. Although, she could seal the memory for record later, the method wouldn't make much of a difference. Can you do it Kamui?" His tone was of a professional, not a father.

Kamui pondered for a moment, wanting to try this out.

["It should be possible. Just combine our training with using the Hyuga's vision and project our chakra omni-directionally. While you're focusing on that, I'll pull them inside our mind; it's something I've been meaning to try since we were pulled into Naga's. I'll handle the transfer. It'll be weak though, so remind them not to resist. Also, make sure to warn them about your eyes; with the strain of the technique and your inexperience in using it, you probably won't be using them for a day or so. Are you sure you want to do this?"] Yume explained, having long devised a method to do this.

'I am. We needed to train it anyways. We even have free guinea pigs. Plus, if the results are what I'm expecting, it'll help later. Thanks Yume' Kamui determinedly thought, accepting the annoying and eventual outcome.

["*Sigh* It's a good thing you received that excess yang chakra."] Yume muttered.

Kamui ignored that last comment.

"I should be able to. Just don't resist. I haven't had the time to train this yet, so the genjutsu will be very weak. If at any point you don't want to see it, breaking out should be easier than doing so for a D-Rank genjutsu. As a side note, I won't be able to use my eyes for a bit afterward; it's still new so I'm expecting some heavy strain." She cautiously explained, informing them that this wouldn't be easy.

Her parents winced at the statement. They hadn't expected this to be strenuous. Still, they knew her well. She wouldn't do this if it was too dangerous. That didn't mean they weren't worried though, particularly Mikoto. Minato sighed, having a bad feeling at what kind of stunt his daughter was about to pull. He had a much better understanding of the lengths Kamui would go in her trainings/stunts than anyone else in their immediate family.

Closing her eyes, Kamui focused her chakra into her eyes. Beneath her eyelids, her sharingan awakened and started glowing.

The people in the room could feel the chakra build up but didn't know what the girl was doing. The only one who had an idea was a certain Hyuga.

In an instant, Hiashi's byakugan flared as he tried piecing together what the girl was doing based on her chakra. Immediately, he noticed the lack of chakra in the girl. Well, lack as compared to before where it had been almost endless. Instead, most of it seemed to disappear. He could feel her chakra going… somewhere, but he wasn't sure where.

When he focused on her eyes though, his own widened in shock and confusion.

'What the hell is she doing? It's almost as if…

In that moment, her eyes opened, releasing a wave of purple-tinted silvery-white chakra omni-directionally from her sharingan.

As soon as it landed, the occupants felt a tug on their consciousnesses. Having been warned though, they didn't resist and were pulled into the girl's mind.

The lives of the scientists flashed before their eyes. Emotion after emotion; Atrocity after atrocity. They experienced the lives of these men, which only became clearer in their eyes as the visions slowed down at the point when the scientists became Orochimaru's henchmen.

They were made to experience it all. Different council members saw the stories from different perspectives, each picking up numerous details Kamui hadn't even noticed, especially Shikaku. He realized that, to his horror, the strategy they built against Orochimaru was doomed to fail. There were too many details they hadn't known. Ibiki and Anko had come to similar conclusions.

The rest of the council had their own thoughts, but they hadn't been as intense. It was deeply disturbing what those scientists were really doing in this lab. The experience added new color to any personal observations they'd made of the lab since it arrived.

As for the mothers in Kamui's family, well, they were horrified. Seeing what their little girl experienced in those demons' minds nearly brought tears to their eyes. In Minato's case, his expression hardened as he took a mental note to visit Inoichi after the meeting. Therapy sessions needed to be scheduled, no matter how fine she said she was.

Finally, she even took the time to transmit the little that she had received from Jirobo, which was about six months' worth of memories. From the feeling she was getting from her eyes, she didn't think she would be able to if not now. She'd just let her sensei give the context.

For Kamui, the process felt like a painful eternity. She could feel the burning in her eyes as they handled a surge of chakra that was being projected continuously in a relatively unfamiliar way over the course of 10 minutes. She wasn't Itachi who could rely on Tsukuyomi, which could project everything in a couple of seconds.

The strain was compounded by Yume's use of the human path to transfer the memories. It was a testament to the spirit's skill that she could condense all that into a short 10 minutes.

In short, her eyes hurt, a lot.

The result… as soon as she released the others, her eye snapped shut with pain and to the horror of quite a few in the room, streams of blood flowed from her eyes like miniature rivers. Her sharingan deactivated faster than it had in a while.

'Owww. I guess this is what Yume meant back then when she said my body wasn't… strong enough. I had forgotten how painful this was. Well, let's see if this works.' Kamui thought.

Although her eyes felt like they were being boiled, this wasn't the first time this had happened. It was a semi-frequent occurrence when she learned to teleport using her eyes. At the time, she just made sure to send a reinforced shadow clone home to pose as her until she could see, though she had a feeling that her father knew the truth.

It was just that back then, she hadn't had her current sensing method to rely on. Those were scary nights spent mostly underground to avoid detection. The only company she would keep during those times, outside of Yume, was Uzume.

"Kamui!" Kushina and Mikoto body flickered to the girl at speeds the others didn't think the jutsu capable of.

Kushina embraced her so fast, she almost tackled the girl to the ground. Mikoto, on the other hand, focused her sharingan on the girl's eyes, trying to read the flow of chakra. Although the sharingan couldn't see chakra points, it could see the flow itself. She wanted to make sure it was unimpeded.

Out of the two, Mikoto was feeling particularly guilty for suggesting this whole thing when this was the result, completely forgetting that the girl knew it was going to happen and had done it anyways. As such, she devoted her entire focus to making sure her daughter was alright and let Kushina do the doting, though she did eventually notice that her daughter wasn't particularly surprised or concerned.

'She planned this… didn't she? Oh, wait. That's what she warned us about…' Mikoto thought exasperatedly, her analytical mind starting to kick back in.

It didn't take long for Mikoto to finish her inspection. Fortunately, she hadn't found any crippling issues. In fact, she noticed the injured areas were regenerating at a rate visible to her sharingan; she would have to ask about that later. They would also need to have a conversation on better ways to accomplish whatever hairbrained scheme she was trying to get away with.

"I'm fine. This isn't the first time this has happened. Ask Lord Hokage; he knew." Kamui quickly deflected as much blame as she could to her father, who shot her a look of sheer disbelief and betrayal.

Luckily, she couldn't see it.

Hearing this, Kushina's muscles tensed, her haired started to wave, and her chakra coated her as if she were still the Jinchuriki.

"Oh, he did? Ya know, this is becoming a trend, isn't it Mikoto?" She growled out, failing to hold back the rage in her voice.

"Indeed. It seems like we must have a word with him." Mikoto replied, her eyes set on the blond-haired offender, who was currently sweating nervously. Silent, small bolts of black lightning could even be seen arcing around her if one looked close enough.

Letting go of Kamui, Kushina stormed off to have a word with her husband, followed closely by a quiet, but furious Mikoto whose sharingan had inadvertently activated.

While the two had words with their husband, Kamui gathered water formed chakra in her hand and wiped away the blood. Her regeneration had closed the leak during the hug, so it was just a matter of cleaning up.

After washing her face for ten seconds or so, she pulled as much water from her face as she could and converted it to vapor. Lastly, she created a gust of warm air to finish drying her face.

Next to her, a calm but slightly shaken Uzume silently arrived next to her and started her own examination of the injury. Aside from Minato, she was the only one who knew about the girl's previous endeavors. The previous times the girl did this, she had asked the older medic for help and to keep everything a secret from her parents after the examination. Uzume had secretly informed the Hokage though.

"D-did you awaken your mangekyou?" Itachi asked the question that came to everyone's minds seeing the scene. Blood dripping from the eyes usually signified that.

Kamui shook her head in denial.

"That's not what this is. It's just the strain of the technique. To do what I just did, I poured chakra through my eyes as to project it in an omnidirectional wave. That's how I pulled you all in the genjutsu. It's just one of the newer techniques I'd come up with, so it's unrefined. I had already planned to train the technique, just not for 10 minutes in one go." She explained, scratching her head in embarrassment.

'Is she trying to replicate the byakugan too?' Hiashi mentally guessed dispassionately. A decade ago, he may have erupted in fury. Now though, his clan's pride had cost them too much. Especially now, he wouldn't antagonize the village more than he already has.

"Reckless. Clearly, you're not in your right mind. Maybe Lady Uzume should run you through safe ways to train. *Sigh*…" Resignation dripped from his voice as he once again remembered how stupid his younger sister could be. It was only the fourth's lack of fear that eased his worry.

Hearing her older brother, Kamui just scratched her head nervously.

'Maybe that was a bad idea…' she thought in resignation.

Next to her, while the others were staring at her with worried eyes; Naga's narrowed.

'Was accepting this contract a good idea?' she thought, not one bit concerned. If she wanted to blind herself, that was her business. She was more worried that her 'master' would get herself killed. As for the contents of the vision, that was nothing new to her.

With the Ino-Shika-Cho trio

"Inoichi… We've seen a lot in our time, but those memories… it's honestly…" Choza whispered, not from a desire for secrecy, but in shock at what they'd just witnessed.

For his part, Inoichi had mulled over the comprehensive nature of the ability and compared it to his own. In addition to considering the effects it could have on the girl, he was also trying to see if he could replicate the technique using his clan's techniques.

The transmission was simple enough; they had an advanced technique that could handle that portion without any of the strain Kamui just displayed. No, what he wanted was the method of pulling memories from the soul. Kamui and Yume may not have realized it, but showing someone like Inoichi the memories also gave hints on the nature of the memory collection itself.

When he heard his friend, he looked up at him.

"Frightening. Collection of memories like that would normally be something I'd personally extract from victims. Dealing with that much malice, hate, and depravity is something we Yamanaka train all our lives for. I don't think she considered that when she did the pull." Inoichi theorized sternly, keeping the jutsu crafting thoughts to himself.

"Regardless, I'll be sure to see how it affected her emotions and worldview. Uchiha are notorious for burying their emotions, especially geniuses like Itachi, Kamui, and Shisui, so this should be interesting."

Shikaku didn't even give the two the time of day. He was busy writing down his findings in a scroll he had unsealed. There were a lot of new details he'd noticed that weren't previously known about the snake. A lot of misconceptions needed to be corrected before they could even consider an operation. Hell, with the little bit of intel they saw from Jirobo, he realized that all their assumptions on Orochimaru's goals had been wrong. That said, it wasn't as if this was the same Orochimaru they were used to dealing with.

From what he saw in the sound ninja's memories, the man made a drastic change in the period after Kamui removed Anko's curse mark. The change started around the time he integrated with the white beast core. It was barely noticeable then but became exponentially so both times Kamui removed a curse mark. These weren't Jirobo's observations, they were his own based on the man's memories.

The changes were largely positive for the snake. His view shifted from a cynical monster hellbent on escaping his eventual death into that of an egotistic monster who strove to become the perfect lifeform. The goals weren't that different on the surface, but they represented a completely different outlook on life and a far more dangerous threat to Konoha in the long run.

Then, there was this new organization he joined and their new counter toward space-time ninjutsu. Those were the game changing pieces, potentially war starting.

Shikaku wasn't the only one thinking. In fact, the other attendees were writing down the notes from their perspectives as well. They all had different views and perspectives so they would each catch something different from the same set of information; it's why the Hokage decided to perform the debrief before the council.

Although they were concerned for the girl, there were people handling that. The content itself was more important and most of them didn't have eidetic memories, so they had to record what they knew before they forgot.

Like Shikaku, Orochimaru's new counter to space-time ninjutsu left them realizing that Minato was no longer the same deterrent force he once was. If the snake decided to sell that to the other villages…

Seeing everyone making productive use of this time, the Hokage decided to let his wives chew him out in the meantime. Although he had his own personal observations, he was blessed with an eidetic memory, so he didn't have to record it now and distracting his wives gave his daughter the time to handle her problem. Like she said, he had been aware of it happening in the past, so this wasn't particularly new. If she wasn't worried, he wouldn't be. He'd just need an explanation from her later.

Deciding it would be best to take an hour recess. Minato paused the meeting to give everyone the time to handle both the critical findings and allow him to pacify his enraged wives.

Council Chamber (One Hour Later)

The council had resumed session and Yugao had just finished going through the last of the mission's details. They decided to wait to discuss Naga's contract with Kamui until the end. At this point, it was too distracting for them to pay attention to.

The explanation had been anticlimactic since the final battle's important details had been seen from Jirobo's memories. The only new interesting one was Toa Kocho's betrayal, though that was out of necessity. Under similar circumstances, very few of them could say they would make a different decision, Hiashi especially.

"So, what is this contract you have with Oro-the Kocho woman?" Choza asked. He almost referred to her as Orochimaru's daughter but restrained himself considering all their information on the subject.

The other council members, who had largely started to lose interest, perked up at the question. With the debrief completed, it was time to address this part.

"Hmm" Kamui pondered aloud. Turning to Itachi with her currently closed eyes, she tentatively asked, "To properly explain this would require me to go into detail about the Uchiha's biology. As such I need the clan head's permission."

Itachi's eyes widened at her words. Not only him, everyone in the room except those on the mission team balked.

Suggesting that it's related to the Uchiha clan's biology implied that this wasn't a unique trait to herself, that it was a technique theoretically all Uchiha could perform. As such, asking for permission made sense. That didn't mean the other clan heads weren't disappointed.

Without hesitation, Itachi shook his head.

"If what you say is true, I'm afraid I cannot make a decision without knowing what it is. Knowing my sister, if it was something I already knew, she would have used allusion. The fact that she hasn't implies that it's something I, in fact, don't know. Am I off base little sister?" He asked with composure, understanding his sibling enough to catch her meaning.

Kamui nodded with a smile.

It didn't matter to her whether the secret was out. She just didn't want to inconvenience her big brother by making his job any harder than it was.

"*Sigh*, normally I would solve this problem using Tsukuyomi, but with her eyes' current state, I don't think that will be an option." He explained to the room. His mangekyou abilities were no secret at this point.

'Maybe that's why she pulled a stunt like that in the middle of the council. It was a good plan if that was the case. There were much better alternatives though; maybe it's time for some sibling bonding.' He thought, appreciating the shrewd tactic to force a level of privacy, something he hadn't believed his sister capable of.

Minato and Mikoto were of similar opinions.

"*Sigh*, I figured it would be something like this." Shikaku mumbled.

"You did?" Choza asked, not understanding how he could have known.

"I'm the jonin commander. I've already seen the Uchiha perform strange techniques with their summons. If that 'beast core' is actually alive, then applying one of their obscure summoning techniques isn't too far out of the realm of possibility." Shikaku explained in his usual laid-back bored tone.

Most of the others didn't know what Shikaku was talking about; they hadn't paid that much attention to the Uchiha Clan's summons. Itachi and Mikoto's eyes widened into near saucers though, Itachi especially. He had many techniques to impart his sharingan's visual prowess to his crow summons or even perform a perfect transplant into one without straining their chakra supply. If he followed that logic… he roughly knew what Kamui did. Now, he just needed the specifics.

"It seems there's little else to discuss. We all know how important clan secrets are, especially concerning bloodline physiology. From the documents the Hokage has already filled out, she will still have to go through the same procedures as the other Kocho. With her already having a validation session with T&I, I don't see any problems with leaving this issue to his discretion." Shibi spoke up, not wanting to waste time pondering something that wasn't his business. He trusted Minato; the man hadn't yet given him reason to do otherwise.

Hearing the normally neutral Shibi's suggestion, the other clan heads nodded, though with mixed emotions. Clan business was something they themselves promoted. If they pressed on this issue, the Hokage would then have precedent to press into their clans' business when he deemed necessary. While they didn't believe Minato would do that without just cause, he wouldn't always be Hokage so bad precedents mustn't be set.

"I agree." Minato stated his opinion with a proud smile. His daughter had come a long way from the little girl who exposed Hyuga secrets without care. "We have a lot to think about. Shikaku, gather the jonin members of the task force for dealing with Orochimaru; please be in my office in three hours. We have much to discuss.

"*Sigh* Yoshino's going to throw a fit." Shikaku mumbled in resignation.

"Whoopish!" A verbal whip-like sound came from Asuma who looked to hold an imaginary whip raised in his right hand. He even made whipping motions to drive his point.

His joking stopped, however, when the wives in the room turned and glared at the offender.

Next to Asuma, Shibi turned to him.

"I believe the phrase is 'time and place.'" Shibi dispassionately commented, surprised the man would joke like that in present company.

"Ok. Ok. It was just a joke." He nervously dismissed, trying to get the angry women off his back.

"Seems like you're not too different yourself; at least the Nara's getting laid." Naga joked, prompting several in the room to chuckle at his expense.

"Ok, the council is dismissed. Itachi, Mikoto, Kamui, and Naga please come to my office. Also, Kamui, please bring Himiko as well. We'll handle both discussions in succession." Minato quickly concluded the meeting, trying to end the meeting before someone did something else stupid.

Although this was Uchiha business, no one doubted that Minato would be allowed to learn. There are many benefits to marrying a clan head. If the Uchiha hadn't lost so much of their political power at the time, that marriage never would have been allowed. Therefore, no one commented on him blatantly implying that he would be present for that discussion.