Chapter 1

Two figures were seen talking in the living room of a two-story house.

"Have you told anyone?" Asked the first figure, a beautiful fair-skinned young woman with violet eyes and long red hair with shoulder-length strands that framed both sides of her face and a black clip that parts her hair to the left. She was wearing a high-collared, sleeveless blouse under a long, loose-fitting dress with a wristband on her left wrist and standard shinobi sandals. 

This was Kushina Uzumaki, one of the last surviving members of the once-mighty Uzumaki clan, former jinchuuriki of Kyuubi the Nine-tailed demon fox and secret wife of The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.

"No, only the Jonins who were with me that night have some knowledge and I've ordered them to stay silent about it." Answered the second figure. An old man sitting in front of her, who appeared to be in his late 50s, replied to her.

"I was waiting for you to gain consciousness and report the events of that night before making any decisions. But there are bound to be some people who have made the connection." 

He was the Third Hokage, wearing his customary Hokage hat and haori with a red, full-length kimono that is tied using a white sash. He took a poof from his pipe before he continued. "Now that you have awakened, you can describe the circumstances that led to Kyuubi's escape from the seal"

She stayed silent for a few moments to collect her thoughts before speaking, "It was going well for us, I had given birth to my children while Minato made sure that Kyuubi didn't escape. The childbirth had gone without any complications. Minato was holding Kana whereas Menma was in Taji's care and I was waiting to hold my children." 

"Then suddenly Minato and I heard a short scream and turned to see Lady Biwako and Taji lying on the ground with blood flowing from their necks and a masked man wearing a hooded cloak standing over them with a bloody kunai in his hand."

"By the time we were aware of his presence, it was too late. He… h-he was holding Menma hostage and had a Kunai pointed at him." She paused for a moment, reliving the gut-wrenching moment. The sheer terror that she felt when the man threatened to kill her newborn child will always haunt her.

Even though he had suspected it, Hiruzen was still surprised to know that someone not only had the classified information about the weakening of the female jinchuuriki seal during childbirth but was also able to enter a fortified location guarded by ANBU squads and sealing barrier while killing all the guards seemingly without much effort. 

If that wasn't enough, he was able to sneak up on someone as skilled as The Fourth Hokage, which spoke in itself about his abilities.

"He threatened to...to k-kill my baby if Minato didn't move away from me. It was clear that he was here for Me. When Minato tried to stall him, he t-threw Menma away towards the wall… to separate us." She continued, "His attempt was successful, Minato was able to catch Menma but found that there were explosive tags attached to the blanket wrapped around him, which forced him to quickly teleport somewhere else."

"Now that I was alone and too exhausted to do anything, he took me somewhere and tied me up using fuinjutsu and extracted Kyuubi from the seal using the sharingan in his visible right eye. He then put it in a genjutsu and ordered it to crush me when he realized that I was still alive."

"I was saved by Minato who had arrived just in time. He brought me to our safe house outside the village, where he had left Menma and Kana"

Taking a deep breath she gathered her thoughts, "I was with my children while Minato left to take care of Kyuubi and the masked man. A few minutes later, he teleported near our location with Kyuubi."

She can still vividly remember everything that happened next.

FLASHBACK

"I've got to erect a barrier right away…!" said Minato while supporting Kushina. She could tell that he was exhausted and didn't have much chakra left.

"...I can still… do it… Minato…" she mumbled gasping for breath. Before he could do anything, golden ethereal chains with pointed kunai-like tips appeared from her back. First, they buried through the ground and came out to restrain Kyuubi completely, then formed a dome-shaped barrier to prevent it from running off.

*Cough cough*

Blood came out of her mouth as she coughed harshly, waking up the infants.

"" WAAAH WAAAH""

"Whoops...woke...them up…sorry…Menma…Kana…"

"Kushina…" Minato looked at her with worry clear in his eyes.

"I'll take...Kyuubi with me..to my death...so that...the interval until... he emerges again...is delayed. It's all I can manage right now with my remaining chakra to help you three. Thank you, Minato… for everything up till now."

He looked shocked for a moment before his expression turned despondent as he said, "Kushina… you are the one… who made me the Fourth Hokage! Who made me your man! And made me the father of these children! And yet I'm useless!"

"Minato...don't look so sad. I...I'm happy...I'm...you love me plus today is our children's birthday...so...most of all...if I were to imagine myself alive, and our future together as a family of four then...I...I can't see us being anything but happy...If I were allowed...just one regret...I wish I could have seen...them grow up."

"...Kushina...there's no need for you to die and kill Kyuubi. You can still live to raise our children, I will use the Death Reaper Seal to split the Kyuubi into two halves and seal them into Menma and Kana within Eight Trigram Seals, while also sealing some of its chakra into you to ensure your survival. You must live, for me, for our children" 

"Why do you have to make our children jinchuuriki? Is it really necessary to sacrifice them and for what... the village... the power balance?" She asked, hoping to change his mind, " and that jutsu… it results in the casters death! You don't have to sacrifice yourself for my sake."

He shook his head, "I'm not doing this just for the village, we both know what would happen if Konoha doesn't have a jinchuuriki. Not only that, from what I've observed I have a feeling that the masked man will bring destruction to the world. He's a mad man hell-bent on destroying everything in his path and our children will need all the help they can get to stop him." He brought his hands to caress her cheek and turned towards their children.

She could see the pride and warmth in his eyes as he talked about their children, "I fully believe that they will be able to control Kyuubi's power and you will be there to help them. There are some things that only a mother can do and they will need you more than me. As their father, it is my responsibility to ensure their safety and well being and I'm willing to die for it"

As much as she wanted to, she could not argue with him. Although Kushina hasn't seen the damage and the deaths caused by Kyuubi's rampage with her own eyes, she could envision the great loss Konoha has experienced and if there was no jinchuuriki, the other great villages may take it as an opportunity to attack and destroy Konoha once and for all. It was the most viable option to ensure the safety of their children.

Thus she was forced to watch with a heavy heart as Minato completed the sequence of hand seals and summoned the Reaper. First, he took some of Kyuubi's chakra and sealed it inside her using a Four Symbol Seal, instantly she could feel a bit more invigorated as she slowly regained some of my strength. 

Then he took half of the Kyuubi and put it inside the Eight Trigram Seal drawn on Menma. 

As he went on to seal the remaining half into Kana, she saw it move to attack their daughter and quickly used her slightly recovered strength to tighten the chains binding it and change the path of the enormous arm moving to crush the infant.

"Thanks, Kushina…" he said with a fatigued smile while giving her the right trigram sealing key and turned towards the crying babies. "Menma, Kana… my words to you as your father… is to always listen to your mother and…  take care of each other." With those words and a smile on his face, he stopped breathing and fell over as the Reaper vanished, having fulfilled its purpose with one more soul in its stomach.

All she could do was stare at the now-dead body of her husband and the love of her life, with her mind numb and eyes full of tears. Her vision started to get blurry and she felt herself getting lightheaded before passing out.

FLASHBACK END

She had woken up in the hospital three days after that. The first thing she had done was to make sure that her children were safe and held them in her arms before breaking down as all the grief and anguish finally hit her like a sledgehammer.

Because of her amazing healing abilities and the tremendous vitality provided by her Uzumaki heritage and Kyuubi's chakra, she didn't have to get through the problems faced by normal women during the postpartum period. It only took two days for her to recover and she was allowed to leave the hospital with Menma and Kana.

Currently, the three of them are staying in the house, Minato and she had bought and were planning to move in after the children were born. Once again she was reminded of his absence in their lives. Oh, how she wished he was here with them but she also knew well enough that wishing doesn't do any good but make life even more miserable and she wouldn't allow herself to drown in misery. For the sake of their children, she will keep on moving and make sure that they live happy lives.

As she was lost in her thoughts after explaining everything, Hiruzen reflected on the given information. This was certainly disturbing news, to think that there's such a dangerous man roaming around the world with such skills and power yet he is completely unknown. After contemplating for a few minutes he asked, " did you see anything that can help us identify this masked man?"

Breaking out of her thoughts, she shook her head, " no, there's nothing more that I can tell you. All I could see was the Sharingan in his right eye, he was also wearing a dark cloak and was likely changing his voice using chakra"

"This is troubling, we don't even know if he was an Uchiha or someone not of the clan who has acquired sharingan." Which is highly unlikely, for someone not of Uchiha bloodline to be able to use the dojutsu to such an extent would be impossible. Even amongst the Uchiha, only Madara was said to be capable of controlling the Kyuubi. That means either there is someone in the clan that has a grudge against the village or a rogue member of their clan. 

"The village is already in a disarray and if this information got out, it would ultimately lead to a civil war. Still, I would have to discuss this with Fugaku and hopefully, we will be able to identify the masked man. The sooner we can find him the better because we don't know what he will do next." Said the Third Hokage.

Kushina nodded in agreement before asking, "what about Menma and Kana's jinchuuriki status, are you going to tell anyone else?" Her face was completely neutral as she waited for his reply.

Hearing the question, Hiruzen couldn't help but frown, " You have to understand, this is a matter of village security and the council needs to know about it. If they are not informed, it would create a sense of distrust and suspicion among them. Which is the last thing we want with the damage Konoha has already suffered. The meeting will begin tomorrow at 9 AM. The clan heads will be there, your presence will be required as well."

"I see, I will be there" was all she said without any emotion in her voice and her face set in an impassive expression. Which worried him slightly, as Kushina was always very expressive. He never thought that he would ever see her acting like this.

"I think it's time I leave, I have a lot of work to do regarding the reconstruction of the village. Take care of yourself and your children." said the Third Hokage before leaving.

A few minutes after he left, her face lost its impassive visage. Now visibly sad and frustrated, Kushina buried her face in her hands. She was now worried for her children. Jinchuurikis are always feared and hated, even the village higher-ups considered them nothing more than weapons, something that should be kept on a tight leash.

Having gone through it, Kushina knew what it's like to be seen as just a weapon and a military asset. 

Despite her unrivalled skills in fuinjutsu and her unique ninjutsu along with the devastating taijutsu style, all of which combined with her unpredictability and aptitude to make complex multi-step plans on the fly made her a threat comparable with her now-deceased husband. She was rarely allowed to leave the village, even then it wasn't without at least two squads of ANBU watching over her from the shadows. 

Being not only the Kyuubi jinchuuriki but also quite possibly the last Uzumaki, she was considered too valuable to be allowed to go outside the village. At least not before producing more Uzumaki to ensure the continuity of the clan. 

And now her precious children will have to go through a similar experience. Perhaps even worse, because, unlike her situation where only a select few knew her status. There's a high possibility that the information may leak out. 

If that were to happen then, there's no doubt that the villagers will show their true colours. She knew how shallow and bigoted the villagers are, having seen their hypocrisy many times. She has seen with her own eyes how quickly they can change their views.

Those who bullied her because of her hair and being an outsider tried to impress and date her when she grew up, either to claim her body or the wealth, power and knowledge of the Uzumaki clan or both by offering marriage proposals. Even when she was in a relationship with Minato.

She had seen how they mocked and made fun of Might Duy. How the same people, who preached about teamwork and will of fire drove Sakumo Hatake to commit suicide even when he followed the ideals he was taught to believe in. 

She wouldn't be surprised if Hiruzen's advisors intentionally leak out Menma's and Kana's jinchuuriki status. 

Whether it is to pressure her into handing over her children to be trained as the village weapons or something else entirely. 

She doubted Hiruzen would be of any aid in such a case. While the old monkey may preach about the will of fire and try to portray himself as a parental and sympathetic figure. She knew that he wasn't above manipulating people or turning a blind eye when his advisors and former teammates sacrifice or manipulate anyone, as long as he believes that it would benefit the village.

Even she would have fallen for the mask of kindness he wore if it weren't for the gift she had received due to becoming the jinchuuriki of Kyuubi. Unknown to anyone, after the Kyuubi was sealed inside her. She had gained the ability to sense negative emotions much like Lady Mito, possibly a passive ability unique to those who hold Kyuubi. It allowed her to sense the chakra and intentions of people within the range of 5km. 

Because of this gift, she was able to see the true nature of those around her. She knew that the old windbags had been trying to manipulate her from the day of her arrival in the village.

They had even staged her abduction and rescue to ensure her loyalty to the village when they realized that she had no ties to the village. It wasn't that hard for her to figure out that it was all planned. 

After the sealing she could feel the people who followed her, from their suppressed chakra and emotions, she was able to assess that they were the ANBU assigned to guard her. 

On that exact night of her abduction, they were suspiciously absent. And even her kidnappers gave the strange and familiar feeling of suppressed emotions she usually felt from her guards. There was also the fact that no foreign shinobi could get past the barrier erected around Konoha without being detected unless they had inside help. 

Even their behaviour was peculiar, they could have easily taken her out of the borders of Konoha before anyone suspected anything and tried to search for her. Yet they were rather lax and slow as if they didn't want to succeed and were waiting for someone to show up. Which was exactly what happened. 

By that point, she had realised that it was all orchestrated because it's precisely what she did when she was doing a prank and wanted others to believe they had caught her. When Minato showed up, he seemed genuinely worried about her. While on their way back to the village, she was easily able to get information out of him. And from his emotions, she could tell that he was unaware of the plot and truly believed that she was abducted.

Still, there was the question of who was the one pulling the strings. It wasn't too long before she found the perpetrator. Believing Hiruzen would have some idea of who orchestrated her abduction. She made a plan to get the information. 

When she and Minato were standing in the Hokage office reporting what had happened, she acted like she couldn't stand properly. Something that was even more convincing with her already healing but still visibly injured legs. She had fallen to the floor and discreetly planted a tiny and invisible seal that can record sound. It was something that she had made when she was in Uzushiogakure for pranking purposes. 

While it can't transmit the information over distances, it was able to store the information which can be retrieved later, making it effective even when the area is sealed inside a privacy barrier. 

Fortunately, no one had found the listening seal and a couple of days later. She was able to retrieve the information by transferring it to another seal she had on her and went to the Senju clan compound. Where she was living with Tsunade and Nawaki. 

Listening to the recording, she found that it was all arranged by a man named Danzo, who she would later learn was a member of the Konoha Council. He was also Hiruzen's friend and former teammate. He had done it to make sure she develops distrust, paranoia and hatred for anyone not affiliated with Konoha and to manipulate her into forming a close relationship with a talented and loyal shinobi her age. 

This would not only decrease the chances of her defection but also ensure that the village would gain the secrets of the Uzumaki clan. While the Hokage didn't know about it in the beginning. He still allowed Danzo to go without any reprimand because ultimately it would benefit the village. 

From then on, she was always wary of the Hokage and council members. Her emotion-sensing turned out to be a blessing which allowed her to rebuff all the attempts to manipulate her. Even helping her turn Minato's loyalty towards their new family instead of the village.

There's no doubt that they would try to manipulate her children and turn them into weapons loyal to the village, something that she'd never allow to happen.

She was broken up from her downward spiral of negative thoughts by her children's cries. Getting up from the couch and walking into their room she found them being tended by her shadow clone that she had left with them.

"The diapers are clean. They're just hungry…again." said her clone with Kana in her arms. She shook her head with a soft smile at how needy the tiny Uzumaki were, seeing that her daughter is being taken care of, she went to Menma's crib and picked him up. 

Perhaps he realised his mother's presence as he calmed down a bit and gazed at her with teary violet eyes that shined like amethysts. 

Her lips curled up into a smile as she held her son. Truly, her children were perfect and she is and will always be proud of them. 

While Menma was born with Minato's blonde hair and tan skin tone he had her eyes. Whereas Kana has inherited the signature Uzumaki red hair with a fair skin tone from her along with her father's blue eyes. They also had six whisker-like birthmarks on their faces, three on each cheek.

After feeding the twins and putting them to sleep - which was not an easy job - she went off to her bed. In the last few days, she has learned to take any chances she has, to get as much sleep as possible. There's no telling when she'll be required to feed them or change their diapers. Both of them have ostensibly bottomless stomachs which meant frequent diaper changes. 

NEXT DAY

Unfortunately, sleep didn't come to her easily. She was still reeling from the experience she had gone through. It was either the grief of losing Minato or the thought that the masked man could appear any moment to take her children away from her, keeping her awake most of the night. 

Between that and the number of times she had to wake up and cater to her children, she had barely been able to get a couple of hours of sleep. If it weren't for her stubbornness and Uzumaki genes there's no way she could have kept going. 

She had heard Mikoto and a few others talk about how taxing it is to be a mother for the first time but to experience it, in reality, was a whole different thing altogether. It wouldn't have been this difficult if Minato was here. 

She snorted in amusement, knowing him, he'd be hovering around her and the kids, fussing over the smallest of things. He was such a worrywart. 

She couldn't help but reminisce about the times she had spent with him. To think she had written him off as flaky and unreliable at the first glance. Instead, he turned out to be the best man any woman could ask for.

He had saved her when she was at her lowest and had lost all hope for a happy life. 

Forced to leave her home and family in Uzushiogakure at the young age of 6 years, she was brought to Konoha without being informed about anything, only to be told that she has to become the jinchuuriki of Kyuubi. 

To say she was shocked and terrified would be an understatement, having heard of the immense and fearsome power of the nine-tailed demon fox, capable of destroying mountains and creating tsunamis with just a swing of its tail.

It was Lady Mito, her grandaunt who comforted her and told her that to counter the fox's hatred, she needed to fill herself with love. For some time, Lady Mito was her only source of comfort but even that didn't last for long. The elder Uzumaki passed away after the transfer of bijuu took place, leaving her alone.

She didn't have anyone to take comfort in. Being a foreigner and having a distinctive hair colour she was bullied and teased by the children while adults did nothing and then she heard about the destruction of the Uzumaki clan. Learning that her home and family were no more, she had broken down and wept for hours. 

Not long after that, the sham that was her attempted kidnapping happened. Just one hardship after the other. At that point, even she had started to hate herself.

Meeting Minato was a blessing, he had brought light to her bleak world. That is something she'll never forget and will always love him for it. 

More than his strength it was his kindness, loyalty and caring nature that made her fall in love with her. Only after they had professed their love for each other, did she fully understand what Lady Mito meant by filling one's heart with love. 

Losing him was akin to losing an irreparable part of her.

Even now it was hard for her to believe that he was gone, cursed to suffer in the belly of the Reaper for all eternity. 

Hard to accept that he wouldn't be with her to raise their children, that Menma and Kana would grow up without their father.

She would never hear that silly laugh of his or see the sheepish faces he made when he surprised her by just appearing around her. 

She can never hear the ridiculous jutsu names he came up with or hear him confess his love for her every morning.

She didn't even realise when the tears started falling from her eyes.

Forcibly collecting herself, she wiped the tears off. She can't be miserable, not when she has a responsibility towards her children and Minato wouldn't want her to wallow in despair.

Taking a few moments to compose herself she rose from her bed and created a shadow clone to look after Menma and Kana while she went into the bathroom to get ready. After having breakfast and feeding the little gluttonous imps, she created another shadow clone and sent it to attend the council meeting. She didn't want to leave the twins in someone else's care, not even with the ANBU assigned by Sarutobi guarding the house. 

With the shadow clone, Hokage tower

Arriving at the council chamber she saw that everyone was already present. The Konoha governing council consists of The Hokage, his advisors, Jonin commander and ANBU commander.

Currently, the council was made of The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. With his advisors being his old teammates who were just as old as him. They were Homura Mitokado, an old man with grey hair, a beard, glasses as well as a constant frown that he's always worn. As a member of the Konoha Council, he wears similar garbs to those of Hiruzen.

Koharu Utatane, an aged woman with grey hairs pulled back in a twin bun locked by traditional pins and pearled earrings. She wears a simple long kimono, closed by an obi, a jacket, and a sash over it.

Danzo Shimura, a seemingly frail, old man, is usually seen walking with a cane. He had black, shaggy hair, and his right eye was bandaged and an x-shaped scar on his chin. He wore a white shirt, with a black or dark grey robe over the top of it covering from his feet, to just over his right shoulder. The robe concealing his bandaged right arm.

The position of Jonin Commander is presently held by Shikaku Nara, her former batchmate and the head of the Nara clan. He was a man in his early twenties with two scars on the right side of his face which were probably his most noticeable feature, he had dark hair tied up into a spiky ponytail, dark eyes as well as a goatee. His ears were also pierced and wore a meshed shirt underneath his flak jacket, deerskin coat over that and handguards.

The last member of the council was the ANBU commander. He was dressed in a white cloak and black trousers with bandages tied around his right leg, arm guards, gloves and black sandals. He also has brown, spiky, hair and wears a mask with a dog motif inclusive of pointed ears, detailed eyebrows and three, thick stripes with two along either side of his cheek and one on his forehead.

Along with them were the Clan-heads of the most prominent clans of Konoha.

Shibi Aburame, the head of the Aburame clan, like all members of his clan, has his eyes obscured by dark glasses which feature a single tassel hanging down from one side. He has very spiky short black hair and a moustache. He typically wears a high collared outfit, while carrying a gourd on his back that is used for holding more kikaichū. 

The Aburame Clan is one of the four noble clans of Konohagakure. At birth, members of this clan are offered several special breeds of insects as a nest, residing just under their host's skin. These insects will then live in symbiosis with their host from that point on. Because of this, its members are characterised by their use of insects as weapons.

Tsume Inuzuka, head of the Inuzuka clan, has an animalistic look. She has long, spiky, untamed brown hair, vertical slit-like pupils, elongated canine teeth and nails. She also has clan fang markings on her cheeks as well as markings over her eyes and a dark shade of purple lipstick. She wears the standard outfit of a Konoha shinobi consisting of a flak jacket and a black suit underneath with the sleeves rolled up and bandages around her legs. 

The Inuzuka Clan or Inuzuka Family is a family of shinobi in Konohagakure known for their use of ninken as fighting companions and are easily identified by the distinctive red fang markings on their cheeks.

Hiashi Hyuga, the leader of the Hyuga clan. He has long, brown hair, and featureless white eyes like all members of his clan. He normally wears very traditional, loose-fitting robes with a long-sleeved, brown haori. 

The Hyūga Clan is one of the four noble clans of Konohagakure, as well as one of the strongest clans in the village. All members born into this clan possess the Byakugan, a kekkei genkai that gives them extended fields of vision and the ability to see through solid objects and even the chakra circulatory system, amongst other things.

Shikaku Nara, who led the Nara clan( also held the position of the Jonin commander). The Nara Clan or Nara Family is one of the many clans of Konohagakure. They are known for tending deer and their ability to manipulate shadows through the use of Yin Release.

Inoichi Yamanaka, head of the Yamanaka clan. Inoichi had long ash-blond hair reaching into his lower back, which he wore spiky on top and ending in a long ponytail, light green eyes and strong facial features, which included a well-defined jawline. 

The Yamanaka Clan is a family of shinobi found in Konohagakure. They specialise in mind related techniques, and they own and run a flower shop in the village. They traditionally lead the Konoha Barrier Team.

Chōza Akimichi, head of the Akimichi clan. Chōza is a tall, plump man with naturally brown hair, but seems to wear a long, spiky red hairpiece. He has purple markings on his cheeks — a common trait in the Akimichi clan. He wears a samurai-like outfit which entails a black suit complete with armour that has the kanji for "food" on it. He also wears a rope belt, hand-guards, and instead of a forehead protector — a hachimaki tied around his head. 

The Akimichi Clan is one of the four noble clans of Konohagakure. Many of their clan's techniques revolve around the manipulation of their body weight and size through the use of Yang Release.

Fugaku Uchiha, was the head of the Uchiha clan as well as the leader of the Konoha Military Police Force. Fugaku had short, brown hair that reached to his shoulders and onyx-coloured eyes, with visible creases below them made more pronounced whenever he adopted a stern look. He was currently garbed in the standard flak jacket, along with a black shirt with the Konoha Military Police Force symbol on the shoulders, shin-guards and a black, open-front apron with white diamonds on the bottom. 

The Uchiha Clan is one of the four noble clans of Konohagakure, reputed to be the village's strongest because of their Sharingan and natural battle prowess.

 As she took the empty seat left for her, she could feel the gazes of her fellow clan mates and former batchmates directed towards her, presumably because they haven't seen her in the last few months. 

However, before any of them could say anything, the Hokage cleared his throat," a few days ago our village was struck by a disaster. It has left our village in shambles, destroying a lot of infrastructures and taking the lives of many brave shinobi and civilians. We are gathered here to assess the damage and discuss what needs to be done to recover from this tragedy. Because of Kyuubi, we have lost…."

While the others were in the midst of the discussion, Kushina was lost in her thoughts. With the threat of the Masked man still looming over, she'll have to prepare for the inevitable confrontation. First of all, measures need to be taken to disable or at least impair his strange but powerful space-time ninjutsu. 

It was far superior to any technique she has ever come across because, unlike the Hiraishin, it not only didn't require a pre-made marker but also allowed him to phase through objects, probably by sending part of his body somewhere else, which explains how he was able to bypass the barrier and why her attempts to attack him with her chains were fruitless.

Completely nullifying it would be difficult without knowing how it works but having helped Minato recreate the Hiraishin and sparring against him regularly, she has decent enough knowledge on the workings of space-time ninjutsu. It would take some time but she's confident that she can create a barrier to hinder if not outright prevent space-time manipulation within a certain range.

Then comes the genjutsu, sharingan's annoying ability to cast illusions with a mere glance also needs to be taken care of. For the genjutsu to work, the caster needs to inject their chakra into the target to control the chakra flow of a target's cerebral nervous system, thereby affecting their five senses. 

Taking that into account. The best possible counter would be a personalised dense shell/barrier of yin nature chakra that would wrap around her body like a second skin, to repel any foreign chakra and prevent it from entering her body. Thereby making her highly resistant to genjutsu. 

Though it would likely interfere with any medical ninjutsu used on her. She doesn't have to worry much about that because of her high healing factor.  Either that or She can just add a secondary function to protect herself from any harm by adding another layer of chakra to reinforce her skin, it would reduce any damage she could sustain.

And last but not least, she needs to learn space-time ninjutsu. While she knew how the Hiraishin(Flying Thunder God) works, she could never use it herself because of the seal holding Kyuubi inside her. For the technique to work the user has to put the primary sealing array on themselves that is bonded to their body and chakra. That's the basis of the technique. It also creates a dimensional void that is used to change their position in space-time by passing through it to any location marked by the secondary sealing formula, which acts as a beacon and gateway. 

The problem is that the primary seal is extremely complex and large enough that it covers most of the torso. 

Earlier, she already had a seal on her to hold the Kyuubi, which functioned by creating a pocket sub-dimension that is tied to the jinchuuriki's mind and chakra circulatory system. Adding another sophisticated seal over the existing one would have been disastrous. Now that she doesn't have Kyuubi inside her. She can learn to use her husband's signature technique without any problems. 

She'll just have to - 

"Kushina!" 

"Huh, yes?" Broken out of her thinking, she saw that everyone was staring at her expectantly. 

"Would you please explain what happened on the night of 10th October?"

Nodding in acceptance she described everything to those sitting in the council room.

Most of them were surprised by the given information, the clan heads except for Shikaku were unaware of the fact that Kushina was a jinchuuriki. While they knew that Konoha had a jinchuuriki of its own, none of them expected the redheaded loudmouth to be the one holding the Kyuubi. Safe to say, they didn't know how to deal with this new knowledge.

After listening to the recount, almost everyone present in the council room started throwing wary glances towards the head of the Uchiha clan, whose frown seemed to be more pronounced than usual. 

Having enough of their suspicion directed at him, "If you have something to say then just say it." dared Fugaku.

The first one to retort was Hiashi, "There's nothing that needs to be said. From Lady Uzumaki's testimony and the statements of various eyewitnesses, we know for certain that it was a member of your clan that orchestrated this entire incident. Let's not forget that no clan member of yours was seen on the battlefield."

"You have no clear evidence that indicates it was a member of the Uchiha clan and not someone with a stolen sharingan" scoffed the Uchiha clan head, "I don't know who the masked man was but one thing I am sure of is that he isn't a member of my clan. Regarding the absence of the Uchiha, we were ordered by the council to stay away from the frontline and secure the civilians. All of the members were accounted for and no one was missing."

Before anything else could be said, their argument was put to halt by the Hokage, "That's enough! We are not here to argue with each other or throw around accusations." 

Facing the Hyūga head he continued, "And Hiashi, you shouldn't condemn an entire clan because of the actions of one man, who may not even have any association with the clan in question.

"The report from Barrier Division states that they were alerted of an unregistered chakra signature exactly a few moments before the appearance of Kyuubi. This implies that he wasn't a citizen of Konoha and could simply have taken the sharingan from an Uchiha."

"I apologise for my thoughtless words, Lord Hokage. I'll keep it in mind not to do that again." Hiashi assured. 

"Shikaku, what can you glean from all the information we have right now" implored the Hokage"

"Troublesome." Shikaku released a weary sigh, "We don't even know why he did this or who he is. All we can determine is that he's after Kyuubi and will go to any lengths to get his hands on it."

"Not only that but he somehow managed to acquire such sensitive and classified information that only a handful of people knew. Either he's very good at procuring intel or he is working with someone in a very high position. We can rule out the second option as the only ones who knew were the five council members and they have already been checked for any sign of treasonous action"

The Jonin commander stroked his chin while looking over the report, "Since the ANBU assigned to guard location had been chosen at random and weren't given any information about their mission, there's very little chance of one of them being the source of intel" 

He turned to address the Hokage, "Lord Hokage, with your permission I would like to request for Lord Hyūga to check for any sign of genjutsu on the council members." This made everyone present in the room look at him curiously, especially the Hyūga clan head.

The Hokage quirked his eyebrows before taking the smoking pipe from his mouth, "And why? if I may ask." 

"Considering that his genjutsu was powerful enough to control the Kyuubi and his ability to appear wherever he desires, it is possible that he could have used it on someone from the council to get the information" Shikaku replied.

This brought a thoughtful look on the face of the Hokage. While the rest of the council members' faces, except the ANBU commander, appeared to be somewhere between indignation and deliberation. 

Though ultimately, the hokage permitted the head of the Hyūga clan to go along with Shikaku's request. 

Nodding in acceptance Hiashi activated his byakugan and scanned for any evidence of foreign chakra in their bodies but didn't find anything unusual, "There is nothing that indicates that the council members were put in a genjutsu." 

"Kakashi is the only other person alive who was aware of the date of delivery but even he didn't know about Kushina being a jinchuuriki." said the Hokage before he turned to the ANBU commander, "Since he is not present in the village at the moment, I'll leave that up to you" 

"Troublesome" Shikaku mumbled, "I guess we'll have to put that on hold for a while. Moving on, knowing that he is after Kyuubi, we will have to make sure that both of the children are protected all the time." He announced.

At this, words of agreement echo throughout the room. Seeing as they were not only jinchuuriki but also the last few members of the once great Uzumaki clan and children of the Fourth Hokage, their protection was necessary. 

"Having the Hokage Guard platoon mark them with the Hiraijin(Flying thunder formation) formula would also reduce the chances of them being taken." He proposed.

"This is a great suggestion," praised the Hokage before he appealed to Kushina, "do you approve of this?"

After a brief moment of reflection, she agreed. It was better to have a contingency plan. She also trusted Raido, Genma and Iwashi to protect Menma and Kana with the same steadfastness that they had towards her husband. 

If only for the time it takes her to learn Hiraishin. After that, she can easily remove their mark.

In the end, it was decided that in addition, the children will also have two ANBU squads, each with a sensory type shinobi watching over them all the time.

There were a few minutes of silence before it was broken as Danzo cleared his throat, "Now that everything is over, there's something else that needs to be done. The villagers are still apprehensive and uncertain. They have gotten louder with their questions."

Here, Homura pitched in, "They are asking about the Kyuubi's attack, about its appearance in the village, where the Kyuubi is and if it will come back."

"If we don't tell them something soon, they will lose their trust in the village leadership. Even the shinobi are getting restless for answers." Spoke Koharu, in agreement with her fellow advisors.

This brought a frown on a lot of faces.

"We can't tell them the whole truth," said the Hokage, "it will create panic and doubt within the villagers if they learn that there is someone with such power that wants to destroy the village."

"That's not accounting for how they will react towards the Uchiha and Uzumaki clan after learning about the Masked Man or the fact that Kyuubi has always been in the care of the Uzumaki clan. It will sour the relationship of both clans with the village. That's the last thing we want right now." He continued.

Though, from Danzo's expression, the hokage could tell that he was displeased with what he had heard and he wasn't the only one to realize that.

As he continued to explain his plan to the council, Kushina was closely observing Danzo after the spike of negative emotions she felt coming from him.

She could sense Danzo's dissatisfaction and from his emotions, she realized that he was planning to leak this information to use them as scapegoats. It would direct the hatred and grief of the villagers towards both the Uchiha clan and her family, while also making them question the Hokage and doubt his decisions. She knew how much he desired for the position of Hokage, so it wouldn't be far-fetched for him to ruin their trust in Hiruzen.

It seems that she would have to make sure it doesn't happen, never would she allow her children to be used in such a way. No matter what she has to do.

Her attention was brought back to the meeting by Danzo's gruff voice, "On that matter, we should focus on what to do with both the jinchuuriki. With Konoha sustaining such heavy losses we have to make sure that they are trained properly."

Her fists clenched as she heard him speak and sensed his intentions for her children.

The vile mixture of greed and hunger for power wafting off of him brought about an intense desire to snap his neck.

Danzo continued, ignoring the disapproving expressions of the people around him, "they have considerable potential that will serve the village extensively. The fact that now we have two jinchuuriki, both having half of the Kyuubi, would help Konoha recover its lost power and bring it to greater heights.

"I volunteer to provide them training-"

"Just shut up! I have had enough of your bullshit!" Thundered Kushina slamming her hands on the table, "My children are not tools or weapons to be used and they never will be."

Everyone in the room was too stunned by the sheer fury and venom in her voice, to interrupt her.

The intensity of her rage didn't lessen as she continued to speak, "And you must be pretty delusional to believe that any mother, least of all I, would ever allow you or your ROOT to come near their children let alone teach them."

"This concerns the village security, it matters not what you think. They are jinchuuriki, hence they belong to the village and will serve as Konoha's weapons to their last breath, whether you agree or not." Spoke Danzo, in a matter of fact voice, breaking the only bit of restraint she had.

What happened next caught everyone unprepared.

Before anyone could react, Kushina released an intense burst of chakra, shattering her chair and the table before leaping at Danzo, wrapping her hand around his throat and slamming him on the opposite wall.

All he could do was widen his lone visible eye before he found himself at the mercy of the Uzumaki woman, unable to move or use his chakra. It took a moment for him to catch on to the sealing marks crawling on his body.

In his long life, there have been a lot of instances where he had almost died and a few moments where he had truly feared for his being but never had he felt so helpless. 

Dangling from the vice grip on his neck and staring into the bestial red slitted eyes of the enraged Uzumaki, he couldn't help but think that he would die today.

However, he was saved by the timely interference from the rest of the Clan heads. Having gotten over the surprise of chakra burst, flying splinters and her sudden attack at the councilman, they hastily stopped her from potentially killing him.

Shikaku used his Kageshibari (shadow binding) to stop her movement while Tsume and Chōza held her and tried to pry her away from the Elder. Even then, Kushina's physical strength proved to be formidable and made them struggle.

"That's enough!" Ordered the Hokage before dismissing the ANBU guards that had jumped in to protect him from any potential attack. 

"Kushina! Let him go, right now!" He commanded, making her glare at him for a moment before releasing his former teammate, leaving him lying on the floor paralysed by the seal. "Do you have any idea what you have done? Physically assaulting a council member is a severe crime. What do you have to say for yourself?" 

The people gathered in the room had a hard time believing what had just happened. While they were aware of Kushina's explosive temper, none of them had seen her this furious. What was even more surprising, was the sheer power and speed she had unleashed. They had no idea that she was this powerful.

"He threatened to forcefully take my children and the heirs of the Uzumaki and Senju clan. I was well within my rights to attack him." She replied frostily.

"What rubbish are you talking about, girl? First, you assault a council member and now that you are questioned, you start speaking nonsense." It was Koharu who spoke next after getting over the shock, "And what do you mean by the heirs of the Senju clan? There is only one Senju alive and she is not in the village."

Instead of saying anything, she unsealed a folder from her wrist and handed it to the Hokage.

There was a tense silence for a few minutes as he went over the documents inside the folder. After reading it he passed it onto the jonin commander.

"Troublesome" Shikaku breathed out, "she's right. With this and the way Councilman Shimura worded his statement in front of all of us, she can't be punished"

Homura and Koharu were outraged at this, "What's in that folder that would allow her to go unpunished for assaulting a council member?" Asked Homura.

"According to these documents Minato was the grandson of Tobirama Senju and after Minato's and Kushina's marriage, both the Senju and Uzumaki clans had united. Since Lady Tsunade has no child that means Minato's children are considered heirs of the Senju/Uzumaki clan." Explained Shikaku.

Taking a breath he continued, "What Lord Danzo said to Kushina, the current head of the clans, can be considered as a declaration of war against not only one of the founding clans of Konoha but also the royal family of Uzushiogakure. Which are now the same." 

"There's also the fact that Konoha's clan charter won't allow anyone to take the children under their custody without the approval of the clan head." He clarified.

Once again everyone was surprised by the new information. As absurd as it sounded, there was no denying that the Second Hokage was known as a private person so he could have a family that no one except a few knew about. 

Ultimately, after looking at Minato's birth certificate, his DNA report and other credentials that verified him as a member of the Senju clan and the grandson of Tobirama Senju, they were forced to drop the issue.

After the whole debacle, Kushina was reprimanded for her actions but nothing more than that. She also had to release the seal she had placed on Danzo, which she did but not before threatening him. As soon he was free he had left the council room, not wanting to stay after the disgrace he had suffered through.

It took a few more hours for the meeting to end before everyone started leaving. The clan heads stopped to give their condolences to her before she dispelled herself.

At her house, Kushina was playing with Menma and Kana when she received the memories of the clone. Her face displayed various emotions, shifting from her previously happy expression to neutral, annoyed and furious before settling on a small smirk.

Inside a bar(Konoha)

The current Ino-Shika-Cho trio was sitting around a table with a few drinks on the table.

"Damn, today's meeting was filled with too many revelations. Just one after the other and I never thought I'd see Kushina angry enough to almost murder someone. Do you think she would have killed him if no one stopped her?" Questioned Chōza before filling the empty sake cup.

Taking a sip of sake, Inochi shrugged, "From what I can tell, she could have killed him. What about you Shikaku, what do you think?" 

"Troublesome" mumbled Shikaku, "She's reckless but not stupid. In fact, she's quite cunning, so no, she wouldn't have killed him." He replied.

"Her possible motive to attack him could be to intimidate him and the others, to show that she's not afraid to act and to make him behave recklessly. There could also be another reason for it but it's not possible to say what goes through that troublesome woman's mind." He finished with a sigh of annoyance.

ROOT HQ (underneath Konoha)

Danzo could be seen sitting on his chair in his office, stewing over the humiliation he went through. 

He hadn't anticipated this. After he, Homura and Koharu were able to convince Hiruzen to restrict the Uzumaki from going outside the village, they had thought that she would weaken over time.

Even more so after her pregnancy and losing the Kyuubi but it seems to have an opposite effect. Somehow she's more powerful than she was before they had forced her to retire. Apparently, she had never stopped training herself.

Now she has become a thorn on his side. To get his hands on at least one of the jinchuuriki, preferably both, he would have to go through her. 

She's too much of a wildcard to be left alone. As much as he would like her to be captured and her eggs removed surgically, to be transferred into women of his choice and give birth to stronger soldiers under his command, it's too much of a risk. There's a very good chance that she would be found and saved if left imprisoned for long.

Killing her would be the best option. Which is not an easy task, without knowing about her capabilities.

He stopped thinking about that and looked to his right, "What do you want now, Orochimaru?" 

His response was an amused chuckle, "Nothing, It's just that I have learned something interesting. Heard you were almost killed by the hands of the Uzumaki." Said the person identified as Orochimaru, before he started laughing harder.

He was a tall man with a snake-like appearance. He has very pale skin, golden eyes with slitted pupils, purple markings around his eyes and fang-like teeth. He also has pronounced cheekbones and straight waist-length black hair with some locks covering and framing his face or to his shoulders. 

His current attire was the standard Jonin uniform. He was one of Konohagakure's legendary Sannin and a student of the Third Hokage.

Danzo's cane creaked in his tight grip, "If you don't have something useful to say then leave, I don't have any patience for your antics."

"Now now, don't take your anger out on me. I am just here to inform you that the arm from Shin is ready to be transplanted to you. If you want, we can perform the procedure right now. Unless you want it done later" Assured the snake Sannin.

"We will do it now." Replied Danzo.

"I see, then I must prepare for the surgery." Orochimaru nodded his head before leaving.

Danzo stood up from his chair, "Fuu, Torune, both of you will watch over and make sure he doesn't do anything suspicious. If something happens then eliminate him."

A few days later

Konohagakure was struck by another misfortune.

Councilman Danzo Shimura was found dead in an underground lab with a right arm that appeared to be someone else's.

Primary suspect, Orochimaru of the Sannin. 

It was discovered that he had been doing illegal experiments on the citizens of Konoha and the Elder was his latest victim.

However, he had already run away after being attacked by the ROOT.