So, Rie truly did not know how to face Kushina!
Even more, she did not know how to speak about this thing. To say that these people, who were once so close to Kushina, had not taken care of her son at all?
Of course, there had been care, as Rie and the others had done their best within their capabilities.
That meant letting their own children interact normally with Naruto, and if Naruto passed by, they would not look at him with discriminatory eyes.
But compared to the help Minato gave them back then, it truly was a drop in the bucket.
Within the cultural values of the Ninja World, this was called failing to repay a lord's loyalty and righteousness! This was a very serious accusation!
Seeing Rie's expression, Kushina also somewhat understood!
Kushina tentatively said: "Naruto... he hasn't had a good life these years?"
Kushina did not know the name Uzumaki Naruto, but she knew of Jiraiya's [Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja].
Based on her understanding of Minato, if they really had a son, it would most likely be this name.
And seeing Rie's reaction, Kushina confirmed it.
"Yes." Rie nodded tremblingly: "He... you understand, regarding the Jinchuriki, the Third Hokage-sama, he..."
Rie did not quite know how to put it.
But with just the words 'you understand', Kushina understood.
"Is that so? That's how it is. As expected of the Third Hokage!" A cold light flashed in Kushina's eyes.
"Let me guess, was he playing that old trick again? First suppress, then have someone or himself come to the rescue, making himself the only light in the other's heart?"
"Uh..." Hearing Kushina's words, Rie had not expected Kushina's judgment of the Third Hokage to be so precise.
But she also nodded: "Exactly right!"
Since Kushina knew, Rie's words flowed more smoothly: "Even though Naruto is your and the Fourth Hokage's son, the Third Hokage never once thought about protecting him!"
"On the contrary, when Naruto was only one or two years old, a rumor that Naruto was the demon fox's reincarnation began spreading in the village!"
"And at that time, the village had suffered heavy losses during the Nine-Tails Attack. The villagers would not care whether Naruto was innocent… they would only vent their anger."
"So, from a young age, Naruto suffered abuse!"
"There are things they don't say, but we know. Naruto had no breast milk to drink. The wet nurse caring for him would feed him by boiling water to make powdered milk and then directly pour it down. Every time, Naruto would wail loudly."
"If not for Naruto being the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki and also of your bloodline, he would have died long ago."
"Back then, only during Anbu's shift changes did Inoichi and the others dare, under the Third Hokage's ban, to secretly go and feed Naruto at night."
"But, with great difficulty, Naruto grew up, and again he faced ostracism from the villagers!"
"The inheritance from the Fourth Hokage and you was completely taken by the village. Naruto could not even buy food with his orphan's subsidy!"
"Even if he bought something, what Naruto got were defective products… milk about to expire, instant noodles about to expire. If he ate a boxed meal, half of it would be sand."
"Regarding all this, we saw it and felt anger in our hearts, but the most useless part was, we could not defy the Third Hokage's intentions!"
"Because what the Third Hokage wanted was to make himself the only light in Naruto's heart!"
"So, Kushina, you know, as the Fourth Hokage's old subordinates, we dared not intervene with Naruto!"
"And the only one who could intervene with Naruto, with both moral authority and justification, was Kakashi. That child was also pitiful. After the Nine-Tails Attack, his teacher died, his teacher's wife died, his previous teammates died. Kakashi completely sank into despair."
"So, Kakashi also could not manage Naruto. Naruto relied on the Nine-Tails to endure until now."
"Previously, when Inoichi came back and told me, they went to Naruto's house and found Naruto could only drink expired milk every day!"
"In that milk, some had gone bad and was completely undrinkable. Some had not gone bad, but it was not much better. But Naruto had to drink it all indiscriminately because the expired goods store was the only place he could buy things!"
"Because of this matter, whether it was our family, or the Nara, or the Akimichi Clans, we all automatically distanced ourselves from the center of power and entered a resting state."
"It's only recently, because of Orochimaru's attack, the Third Hokage died, and Naruto was completely liberated. Because of that, we finally dared to help Naruto!"
"As for the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade-sama's arrival, it put Konoha back on the right track!"
"Now, Naruto has finally endured until things got better."
"But that child, ah... truly pitiful!"
Remembering Naruto, Rie once again affectionately and pityingly shook her head.
Hearing Rie's words, even though Kushina was from another world and this Naruto was not her real biological son, she was also extremely enraged!
Even if Naruto was not her biological son, he was still a member of the Uzumaki Clan.
What right did the people of Konoha have to treat the Uzumaki Clan like this?!