Naruto, Living Expenses, and Sasuke's Pocket Money, Kushina's Complete Outburst

!!!3,000 ryo?!!

He's only allowed to spend 100 ryo a day!!!

"Damn you, Hiruzen Sarutobi!"

Inside the Soul Space, seeing the living allowance Hiruzen Sarutobi had provided for Naruto, Kushina was overcome with rage. Her chakra erupted, and her red hair began to float as if caught in a gale.

Minato couldn't help but let his expression darken as well, gritting his teeth as he said, "How could the Third Hokage treat Naruto like this!"

Even excluding their real estate, the couple had possessed hundreds of millions of ryo in savings before they died—the interest alone was more than 3,000 ryo a day!

Although they knew their assets had been confiscated, they truly hadn't expected the Third Hokage to disregard their contributions and their past friendship so completely that he would only offer a monthly allowance of 3,000 ryo!

And he told him to be frugal?

A young child had no ability to cook for himself!

This was precisely why, even though they knew the Anbu couldn't take proper care of Naruto, they still couldn't bear to see him living alone.

At the very least, living with them meant Naruto would have a hot meal every time he ate; one had to know that the Anbu's rations were not bad at all—they could even be considered sumptuous.

Yet, a single bowl of the cheapest Ichiraku Ramen cost 60 ryo, and even a bowl of plain rice cost 15 ryo!

And 3,000 ryo!

He would likely only be able to afford instant noodles.

But even instant noodles weren't cheap!

A pack cost anywhere from 10 to 30 ryo; taking the average of 20 ryo, that would be 1,800 ryo a month!

At such a young age, he needed to drink milk, right?

Not even counting high-quality milk, even the ordinary kind cost about 1,000 ryo a month for one bottle a day!

Then there were daily necessities, clothes... not to mention toys. If he were to attend the Ninja Academy in the future, he would need to purchase ninja tools; a single kunai cost hundreds of ryo. How could 3,000 ryo possibly be enough!

"Tsk tsk tsk~! To think he gets as much as 3,000 ryo a month; Hiruzen Sarutobi is truly generous. You should know that ordinary orphans don't even get 1,000 ryo..."

The snarky one had logged on!

Kushina whipped her head around: "Damn it, Sasuke! How can you still be gloating at a time like this?!"

Sasuke appeared several times a week, and after more than two years, the two sides had become quite familiar with each other.

After all, no matter how good a relationship was, if you spent every day together, you would eventually run out of things to talk about. Now, as long as there were no special circumstances with Naruto, they had started practicing ninjutsu, and Sasuke's appearances served as a nice change of pace in their lives.

As long as he wasn't being sarcastic and acted like a normal person, the two sides got along quite harmoniously; they didn't even mind guiding him on how to properly use their abilities.

But this talk about orphans only getting 1,000 ryo—could her and Minato's child be compared to a normal orphan?

They were once a wealthy household with hundreds of millions of ryo!

It was one thing for Hiruzen Sarutobi to confiscate their wealth, but for him to be unwilling to provide even a decent living allowance—how could they accept that!

"Then do you want me to help you curse him?" Sasuke blinked his eyes.

"..." All talk and no action, why don't you actually curse him then!... Kushina was so angry her teeth itched.

Then, thinking of something, she asked, "Sasuke, how much pocket money do Fugaku and Mikoto give you a month?"

"This..." Glancing at the image of Naruto, Sasuke gave a subtle smile: "That's a bit hard to say."

After all, his pocket money was different from the average person's.

It was because his father knew that Elder Nobuhiko was with him and had guessed they had other schemes in mind. Worried that he might need money but too embarrassed to ask, his father had specifically given him extra.

His father would even ask if it was enough every time he gave it to him, and whenever he heard that Sasuke hadn't spent much, he would always look a bit disappointed...

Stare!

He hadn't intended to provoke them, but seeing Kushina staring at him with such a stubborn look, Sasuke could only helplessly open his palm.

"5,000 ryo?" Kushina was stunned.

It's not that much of a difference... less than double... as if!

A difference of less than two times didn't seem like much.

But Sasuke didn't have to worry about three meals a day, nor did he have to buy any daily necessities; 5,000 ryo was pure pocket money!

Just thinking about how a person's total monthly household expenses were less than someone else's monthly pocket money showed the scale of the gap!

But it wasn't over yet!

"Add a zero." Sasuke's voice rang out, concise and shocking.

Five thousand ryo, and he had to add a zero?... Kushina's heart jolted. She widened her eyes, instinctively covering her mouth as she gasped: "Fifty thousand ryo?"

What kind of family is this, damn it?

Oh~ the Uchiha clan head's family? Never mind then... as if!

He's not even three years old yet!

Does he need that much pocket money?

Unaware of what Kushina was thinking, Sasuke smiled and nodded. After all, he was an honest child; one couldn't lie, could they?

With the confirmation received, Kushina did the math.

A 16.6-fold difference!

And that was just pure pocket money!

One month of that was worth more than a whole year for Naruto!

The massive disparity made her grit her teeth: "Damn you, Hiruzen Sarutobi!"

If looks could kill, Hiruzen Sarutobi would have been killed by her countless times over by now!

She wasn't even asking for 50,000 ryo; even if it were just the minimum 5,000 ryo for a D-rank mission, she wouldn't have reacted this strongly!

Thinking of the image of Naruto eating instant noodles for every meal in the future, and the possibility of him suffering from malnutrition, her heart stung like a knife. She looked at Sasuke with a sorrowful expression: "Sasuke, can you please help Naruto..."

Seeing this, Sasuke couldn't help but sigh inwardly and said: "Aunt Kushina, you know the situation of our Uchiha clan. Naruto's identity is special; it's impossible for me to approach him without a valid reason."

Kushina's expression froze.

That's right... given the Uchiha clan's situation, how could Sasuke risk being suspected by the higher-ups just to approach Naruto?

Even secretly slipping Naruto some money to improve his life would be impossible.

Naruto trusts the Third Hokage implicitly right now, and he is under Anbu surveillance.

If a sum of money of unknown origin suddenly appeared, there would be no need for the Anbu to report it; Naruto would probably go and tell the Third Hokage himself, wouldn't he?

By then, the entire Konoha would likely be turned upside down by the Anbu!

Realizing this, Kushina's face was filled with grief. Then, thinking of something else, she whispered: "Sasuke, why hasn't your Uchiha clan staged a coup yet? Why haven't you killed Hiruzen Sarutobi? Surely you should be capable of it by now, right?"

A coup? Kill Hiruzen Sarutobi?... Sasuke was stunned.

Minato Namikaze was shocked: "Kushina!"

Kushina turned her head sharply, her eyes already red and brimming with tears: "Minato! Can't you see it clearly yet?!"

"Hiruzen Sarutobi promised me he would take good care of Naruto! He gave his word! And now? 'Demon Fox'? He has to live alone at two and a half years old?"

"Does he know how to cook? Does he know how to do laundry? Does he know how to clean?"

"The living allowance is only 3,000 ryo!"

"Our child will only be able to eat instant noodles in the future!"

"Even with that kind of junk food, he can only afford one pack per meal. Will he be full? Can he grow up healthy?"

"If he eats a little more, he won't even be able to afford milk!"

"Hiruzen Sarutobi doesn't even care about our past contributions and old ties anymore. Are you still naively clinging to these ugly politicians who feast on human blood and wantonly toy with our child?"

"Are you still feeling grateful toward the man who pushed you into the position of Fourth Hokage only to treat you as a puppet, so he could continue acting as the power behind the throne?"

"Even so, we have already sacrificed ourselves for Konoha!"

"Whatever debt of gratitude there was, it has been paid in full!"

"Why do they have to treat our child like this!"

"Why!"

By the end, Kushina couldn't help but bury her head in her hands, tears streaming down her face...