Minato Namikaze

Minato Namikaze (波風ミナト, Namikaze Minato ) was the Fourth Hokage of Konohagakure , although he was Lord Fourth, he also had the shortest reign of Hokage. He was famous in life for his speed, leading to the moniker of Yellow Flash of the Leaf (木ノ葉の黄色い閃光, Konoha no Kiiroi Senkō ). He died during the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's Attack, sacrificing his life to seal a part of the Nine-Tails into his newborn son, Naruto Uzumaki .

## Background [ ]

### Early life [ ]

Minato entered Konoha's Academy with the dream of earning the villagers' respect and recognition by becoming Hokage. When Kushina Uzumaki moved to Konoha, she was placed in the same class as Minato. Minato was immediately drawn to her bright red hair, finding it beautiful. Minato was a natural prodigy as a ninja, the likes of which appears only once in a generation. When he was added to a genin team under the leadership of Jiraiya, Jiraiya took a special interest in Minato and took him on as his apprentice, teaching him many of his own signature abilities. In time, Minato's exceptional skills led Jiraiya to believe he might be the Child of the Prophecy, someone who would someday save the world.

Years later, after they graduated and became ninja, Kushina was kidnapped by Kumogakure forces. Konoha mobilised its ninja to retrieve her, but only Minato noticed the strands of red hair Kushina left behind to mark their path. Minato, acting alone, rescued her from her captors. On their way back to Konoha, Minato confessed his admiration for her hair and her strength, causing Kushina – who had previously believed Minato "unreliable" and even "girly" – to fall in love with him.

### Konoha's Yellow Flash [ ]

Minato and Kushina were a couple from the time that he rescued her, and with his love, Kushina was able to keep the Nine-Tails sealed within her at bay. They eventually married. From observing a Tailed Beast Ball, Minato began a three year process of creating the Rasengan, the height of shape transformation. He would spend the rest of his life trying to combine it with his own nature.

After proving himself an accomplished and responsible ninja, Minato was placed in charge of his own team, consisting of Rin Nohara, Obito Uchiha, and Kakashi Hatake . In the anime, the Third Hokage gave Minato the special task of helping Kakashi overcome the bitterness caused by his father's death and remind him of the human element of being a ninja. Minato gave his team a bell test upon its formation in order to teach them the value of teamwork. Minato often held back less against the prodigious Kakashi than with Rin and Obito so they couldn't obtain the bells without teamwork. Unfortunately, Kakashi realised this, but only used Obito and Rin as a means to an end to obtain the bells. Nonetheless, he passed them because they accomplished the goal of the test by working as a team. Although he did encourage them to improve their teamwork afterwards, a message that Obito and Rin took to heart, but fell on deaf ears with Kakashi.

When Konoha became involved in the Third Shinobi World War, Minato's obligations became split between training his students and helping with the war effort. During a mission into Kusagakure to destroy the Kannabi Bridge, Minato transferred leadership of the mission to Kakashi – who had recently become a jōnin – while he headed to the front lines. He met up with the surviving and out-numbered Konoha ninja and single-handedly wiped out the opposing Iwagakure forces. In the anime, his victory in this battle against a thousand ninja convinced the Third Tsuchikage to accept a peace treaty. When he rendezvoused with his team afterwards he found Kakashi and Rin and surrounded by Iwa-nin, Obito having already been lost. He rescued them, helped them complete their original mission once they recovered, and returned to Konoha with them to mourn Obito. Minato's competing obligations would later repeat the tragedy of Obito's death: while he was away on another mission, Rin was kidnapped by Kirigakure and died during Kakashi's attempt to retrieve her.

Minato encountered A of Kumogakure a number of times during the war. During their first meeting, Minato and A fought with their speed, with Minato proving to be faster. He received orders to retreat before their competition could resolve, but he lingered to compliment A and his brother, B, a jinchūriki like Kushina; he encouraged A to take care of B and remember he was a person. A pursued Minato, so Minato moved against B, threatening to kill him if A didn't let him and his team go. Minato was confident he and A would someday meet as Kage . Before this however, Minato was facing off against 1000 Iwa-nin and won easily and this is how he got his name of Konoha's Yellow Flash.

### Fourth Hokage [ ]

For his performance during the War, Minato was chosen over Orochimaru to become Fourth Hokage. He taught the Flying Thunder God Technique to the Hokage Guard Platoon to better aid them in their duties of serving the Hokage at any given time. In the anime, he also tried to help Kakashi, now an Anbu, emerge from the darkness he'd fallen into after Obito and Rin's deaths. During the gradual transfer of responsibilities from the Third Hokage to him, the Third advised Minato to restore Kakashi's value of life by tasking him with protecting Kushina during her pregnancy.

As a jinchūriki, the strain of childbirth would weaken the seal keeping the Nine-Tails sealed into Kushina. For that reason special precautions had to be taken: the child would secretly be delivered in a remote location outside of the village, with barriers around the area and several Anbu guards as extra protection. Minato was not greatly worried about the birth, and in fact gave Kakashi the day off in gratitude for his good work. He and Kushina had already decided on a name for their son, "Naruto", after the main character of Jiraiya's (The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi) first book, hoping that their Naruto would be just as determined as the character (and thus its author). Jiraiya tried to convince them to make a different choice since that would make him Naruto's godfather, but they insisted that this was a good thing.

Naruto was born on the night of October 10. Only moments after the birth Minato began making preparations to restore the Nine-Tails' weakened seal, but he was interrupted by the arrival of a masked man, otherwise known as Tobi. Tobi killed the Anbu guards and midwives and took the newborn Naruto hostage, threatening to kill him if Minato didn't back away from Kushina. Minato immediately took Naruto back from him, yet discovered explosive tags had been planted on Naruto. Minato was forced to teleport away to keep Naruto from harm, allowing Tobi to escape with Kushina. He found a safe place for Naruto and teleported to Kushina in time to save her from being killed by the Nine-Tails, extracted from her body by Tobi. He reunited mother and son before heading out to protect the village.

Minato returned to the village in the early stages of the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha, arriving in time to (Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder) teleport away a (Tailed Beast Ball) before it destroyed the Hokage Rock. He attempted to reach the Third Hokage so that he could inform him of what happened, but was interrupted by Tobi, who tried to (Kamui) warp him away. Minato reacted in time to escape, but Tobi pursued him. Because Tobi was controlling the Nine-Tails' actions, defeating him was of prime importance in order to save Konoha. Minato initially struggled to successfully strike him but, after several failed attacks, he finally hit him with a Rasengan and branded him with a Flying Thunder God seal, allowing him to teleport to Tobi whenever he wanted. He then used a Contract Seal on Tobi to release the Nine-Tails from his control, forcing him to flee.

No longer being controlled, the Nine-Tails began retreating from the village, though it continued to attack the Konoha ninja that pursued it. As it prepared another Tailed Beast Ball, Minato once again arrived in time to stop it, this time by (Summoning: Food Cart Destroyer Technique) dropping Gamabunta on top of it. He had Gamabunta keep it restrained while he gathered the chakra needed to transport the Nine-Tails to Naruto and Kushina's location, the farthest from the village he could get. Kushina (Adamantine Sealing Chains) restrained it and erected a barrier so that it couldn't escape while they decided what to do. Already dying from the Nine-Tails' removal, Kushina offered to have it sealed back into her so it would die with her. Minato rejected this, believing the Nine-Tails' power would be needed in the future if and when Tobi struck again. Remembering Jiraiya's words about the "Child of the Prophecy", Minato decided to believe that Naruto was that child and that he would someday save the world. To prepare Naruto for this, Minato would make Naruto the Nine-Tails' new jinchūriki so he could make use of its strength.

Because the Nine-Tails' chakra was too immense to seal into an infant, Minato used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to cut its chakra in half, sealing the Yin half in himself. Realising what they were planning, the Nine-Tails tried to kill Naruto, but Minato and Kushina used themselves as shields. With his last ounce of strength, Minato summoned Gerotora, gave him the key to the seal he would use on Naruto, and sent him to Jiraiya. Meanwhile, Kushina told Naruto how much his parents loved him, which Minato seconded. He (Eight Trigrams Sealing Style) sealed the Nine-Tails' Yang half into Naruto, weaving Kushina's chakra into the seal so that she could someday assist Naruto with learning to control the Nine-Tails. He mingled in some of his own chakra, too, programming it to activate if ever the seal was about to break so that he could restore it. Seeing the Third Hokage nearby, Minato communicated to him a final request for the villagers of Konoha: to think of Naruto as a hero and not the container of the monster that caused so much death and destruction. With that, his soul was consumed by the Shinigami, ending Minato's life.

## Personality [ ]

Despite his physical resemblance to Naruto and Boruto, Minato was more perceptive and collected than his young son and grandson as a child; Jiraiya said that Minato was a shrewd person, not one to do something without a reason. He was well aware of the terror his reputation inspired in rival villages and would take advantage of it at times, but even then he would remain respectful to opponents. Minato also wouldn't pry into other people's personal affairs unless he felt it was necessary, and was not the type to hold grudges, only feeling sorry for Tobi (Obito) despite his role in his own and Kushina's deaths. If anything, Minato blames himself for his death for several reasons; he couldn't save Obito from the fate that (Curse of Hatred) corrupted him, Konoha from the difficulties that arose after he was gone, and even his own son Naruto from the painful and difficult life he suffered as a jinchūriki orphan.

Naruto is not without any of his father's personality traits: both have indomitable spirits and fierce ambitions that drive them through all their choices in life. Both are of unwavering loyalty to Konoha and their loved ones – friends and family – and that devotion inspires all those around them. Like Naruto, Minato had the tendency to create questionable techniques, although in Minato's case it was complicated names he came up with rather than the actual technique. This was seen when he named the "Scorch Release: Halo Hurricane Jet Black Arrow Style Zero", though afterwards he admitted it didn't sound very good.

After becoming Hokage, Minato started to take more pride in himself, referring to himself as "ore", which is a prideful way of saying "I" or "me", instead of using "watashi", a more formal way of referring to one's self. Still, this did not make him haughty as he still addressed others with the appropriate honorifics.

## Appearance [ ]

Minato has frequently been compared with Naruto in terms of physical appearance; both have bright, blue eyes and spiky, blond hair. Minato also had jaw-length bangs framing either side of his face. According to Jiraiya, Minato was considered to be very handsome. His normal attire consisted of a standard Konoha uniform with two bands on both of his sleeves, a green flak jacket, blue forehead protector, and blue sandals. After becoming Hokage, he started wearing a short-sleeved long white haori over his normal attire, closed in the front by a thin, orange rope. The haori was decorated by red flame-like motifs on the edges, with the kanji for "Fourth Hokage" (四代目火影, Yondaime Hokage ) written vertically down the back.

During his time in the Academy, he wore a simple white suit of clothing with green trimmings and a hood. After becoming a full-fledged shinobi, he wore a tracksuit with three stripes on the sleeves, mesh under-armor, a pair of black pants, and sandals.

## Abilities [ ]

Minato was one of the most powerful shinobi in history, such that Kakashi, Jiraiya and the Fourth Raikage considered his abilities to be unmatched by anyone else. During the Third Shinobi World War, flee-on-sight orders were given to enemy shinobi should they ever see him. During the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha, it was only through Minato's actions that Tobi and the fox were defeated and the village was saved from complete destruction. When the Konoha Crush loomed years later, Minato was believed to be the only one who could have stopped the threat of Orochimaru, and thus his death was deeply regretted.

### Physical Prowess and Chakra Reserves [ ]

Minato was hailed as the fastest shinobi in history. While this recognition was due in large part to his space–time ninjutsu, Minato's natural speed was immense: with only the Body Flicker Technique he could engage an enemy or retrieve an ally before anyone realised what he was doing; he could cover a considerable distance in a short amount of time and perform a technique before an opponent could finish theirs. In the anime, he could appear before sensors could detect his approach and defeat three shinobi with minimal effort. Minato's reflexes allowed him to react to and avoid techniques, such as Kamui and Lightning Straight.

Minato had large chakra reserves, enough to (Summoning Technique) summon Gamabunta and (Flying Thunder God Technique) teleport a tailed beast. His chakra control was very refined, evidenced by his creation of the Rasengan and his ability to weave hand seals with only one hand. Minato's fighting style revolved around speed to quickly take down enemies, so he often excluded traditional time-consuming methods such as hand seals.

### Ninjutsu [ ]

Minato was taught by Jiraiya how to (Summoning Technique) summon toads, and was one of the few people to earn the respect and full cooperation of Gamabunta. He demonstrated skill with barrier ninjutsu and could use the Shadow Clone Technique. Minato was also an adept sensor, able to detect chakra signatures from great distances. For closer targets, he could detect everyone within an area by placing his finger on the ground. Minato was also proficient in the nature transformations of Fire, Wind, Lightning, along with Yin and Yang Release .

#### Rasengan [ ]

After observing the nature of the Tailed Beast Ball, Minato spent three years developing one of his signature techniques — the Rasengan — the highest level of shape transformation. It gives an edge in combat as it requires no hand seals to create and is self-sustaining. While it requires very precise chakra control to use, Minato's mastery allowed him to form it with either hand instantly and vary its size from standard, to Big Ball Rasengan-sized, and even as large as his Tailed Beast Mode. Minato had intended to combine the Rasengan with his own chakra nature, but the task was too difficult to complete before his death.

#### Space–Time Ninjutsu [ ]

Minato's other signature ability was the Flying Thunder God Technique, which he gained more of mastery over it than its creator, the Second Hokage. His exploits with this technique gained him the moniker "Konoha's Yellow Flash". Using the technique, he could instantly move to the location of anything marked with his special seal, whether a tool, place, or person that was branded. Minato could bring others with him, though he needed to provide the chakra for their transport. He did not need to accompany targets he teleported, giving him a Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder) defensive option to teleport incoming projectiles away.

#### Shurikenjutsu [ ]

Minato had his own special Flying Thunder God Kunai) brand of kunai for combat; triple-prong kunai for better offensive potential. He would throw them at opponents or wield them as melee tools, even in his mouth. Their main use came from the Flying Thunder God seals they were marked with, allowing him to teleport to wherever one of the kunai was thrown. He carried a large number of kunai in the field that he would scatter across a wide area so that he could move around with more options. Although his normal tactics with kunai did not require precision, Minato nevertheless had excellent aim and could coordinate his throws' timing and placement to allow him to perform Flying Thunder God — Second Step) complex maneuverers.

#### Fūinjutsu [ ]

Minato learned several fūinjutsu from Jiraiya and Kushina. The most notable of these was the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style he used to seal the Nine-Tails' Yang-half into Naruto, which would allow small amounts of the Nine-Tails' chakra to leak out and naturally mix with Naruto's own. Knowing the seal would slowly weaken over time, Minato created a key that could accelerate or reverse this process. As an extra precaution, he mixed Kushina's and his own chakra into the seal so that, when certain conditions were met, they could help Naruto with his control of the Nine-Tails' power, as well as allow them to see their son after they were dead. Minato was also able to incorporate his Flying Thunder God seal into both Kushina's and Naruto's own seals which allowed him to be able to instantly teleport to their aid.

Minato could also perform the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, which he had enough familiarity with to know it couldn't be used to seal all of the Nine-Tails' chakra. With the Contract Seal, he could remove an opponent's control over any creatures they summoned. He also knew how to Tailed Beast Transfer Technique) transfer a tailed beast from one jinchūriki to another.

### Jinchūriki Transformations [ ]

Minato became the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails' Yin-half shortly before his death, though it wasn't until his Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation) reincarnation that he could make use of it. Unlike most tailed beasts, the Nine-Tails offered no resistance to cooperating with Minato, granting him immediate access to Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, which impressed all spectators. Minato's form was slightly darker with different markings than Naruto's but otherwise identical in appearance and abilities; he can use (Tailed Beast Chakra Arms) chakra arms, enter Tailed Beast Mode, create Tailed Beast Balls, and perform stronger versions of his usual techniques. Minato would later lose access to its power after having his half of the Nine-Tails stolen by Black Zetsu.

### Senjutsu [ ]

Minato's large chakra reserves enabled him to learn senjutsu of Mount Myōboku, enhancing his techniques and physical parameters by entering Sage Mode. He could perfectly balance the natural energy with his chakra, displaying only the orange pigmentation around his eyes — the true marking of a Sage. He was skilled enough to enter Sage Mode in a matter of moments. However, by his own admission, Minato's skill in senjutsu was limited. Never using it in battle as it deviated from his quick style of combat, he could not maintain it for long.

### Intelligence [ ]

Minato was a very keen-minded individual, having the highest scores on chunnin exams theoretical part. Even at a young age, only he of all the ninja sent to rescue Kushina, noticed the trail she left behind to mark her kidnappers' path. In combat, he could correctly deduce the basic mechanics behind a technique after seeing it only once, and from there plan around its strengths and weaknesses to his or his allies' advantage. With his observational skills he could determine an opponent's plans and motivations based on only limited evidence. After he had finished analysing, Minato would strike quickly and with precision, attacking vulnerabilities at the most opportune moments.

As Hokage, Minato prepared for threats facing Konoha by placing a network of marked locations around the village's outskirts for him to teleport to, including at least two (Minato's Safe Houses) safe houses and likewise passed on his space–time ninjutsu onto the Hokage Guard Platoon.

## Legacy [ ]

After Minato died, the Third Hokage reported to the villagers Minato's last request that Naruto be regarded as a hero. Very few were able to separate their hatred of the Nine-Tails from Naruto, prompting the Third to forbid anyone from speaking of the Nine-Tails, hoping that the younger generation would not blindly hate Naruto as the rest of the villagers did. He also concealed Naruto's relation to Minato in order to keep him safe from his father's enemies, and otherwise did his best to give Naruto a comfortable life. For years Naruto did not know his parents' identities, and neither did most of Konoha.

Even when he was not aware of his relation to Minato, Naruto still greatly admired the Fourth Hokage, considering him a hero who gave his life for the village and becoming overjoyed whenever their similarities were remarked upon. Before Naruto left Konoha to begin his training with Jiraiya, he looked at the Fourth Hokage's face on the Hokage Rock and asked him to look after him. After learning that Minato was his father, Naruto took pride in it and felt it was his responsibility to makes his parents' sacrifices worth it.

With Minato's death, the Third was forced to resume his position as Hokage, a role he filled until his death, never being able to find a replacement of Minato's calibre. Minato himself became regarded as the village's hero, and, indeed, one of the greatest ninja Konoha had ever produced, so much so that villagers would regret his death whenever tragedy struck the village. Because Minato was never able to tell anyone what happened during the Nine-Tails' attack, villagers came to their own conclusions and the Uchiha were suspected of the act, creating ill-will that would culminate in the Uchiha Clan Downfall. Jiraiya recognised that Minato would not have sealed the Nine-Tails into his own son unless he had a good reason and that Minato intended Naruto to gain control of the Nine-Tails, but he could never conclude why.

After the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War, his student, Kakashi Hatake , became the Sixth Hokage , and his son, Naruto, became the Seventh Hokage.

## Trivia [ ]

- The name "Minato" means "harbour" (港), while his family name "Namikaze" (波風) means "waves and wind".
- Minato ranked ninth in the sixth character popularity poll and seventh in the seventh poll.
- Minato's silhouette can be faintly seen in the background of the Naruto Shippūden third opening standing behind Naruto and Sora and under the Nine-Tails, in reference to its attack on Konoha that binds all four characters.
- In Hidden Leaf Village Grand Sports Festival! , Minato suddenly appears in the hallway of the stadium when Naruto is running to the toilets. All of these appearances in this special were only for the comical effect.
- In Naruto Shippūden the Movie: The Lost Tower , Minato's chakra appears to be a light green colour, as opposed to the normal blue.
- Studio Pierrot's Settei sheets of Minato show that he was 147 cm when he saved Kushina from Kumogakure.
- According to the databook(s):
- Minato's hobby was reading; Jiraiya's novels were his favourite.
- Minato wished to fight Jiraiya.
- Minato's favourite food was Kushina's homemade cooking.
- Minato completed 847 official missions in total: 122 D-rank, 147 C-rank, 216 B-rank, 323 A-rank, 39 S-rank.
- Minato's favourite phrase was ("The fire's shadow illuminates the village" (火の影は里を照らす, Hi no kage wa sato o terasu ).
- In the cover of chapter 178, the colour on Minato's cloak were inverted.
- Minato is left-handed, but also ambidextrous. This is shown when he summons using his left hand, meaning he signed the contract with his left hand, but has been shown to use wield his Kunai as well as the Rasengan interchangeably with no signs of preference on which hand to use.
- Prior to his battle with Pain, Jiraiya mentioned Minato sealed Kurama within Naruto partially with the intent of having Naruto master a certain technique. Although it was never elaborated what technique it was, it is possible he was referring to the Tailed Beast Ball as only a jinchūriki has access to that technique, not including the Tailed Beasts themselves, and he did base his Rasengan off the Tailed Beast Ball.

## Quotes [ ]

- (About his dreams) " I want everyone in the village to acknowledge me and become a great Hokage! "
- (To Kushina) "Because I know that you’re strong, in body and in spirit. But this is a fight between two villages. It’s different from other fights, so… I didn’t want to lose you."
- (As quoted by Kakashi) " Those who stray from the path of justice have no courage, but under the wing of a strong leader, cowardice cannot survive. "
- (To Jiraiya) " You're a man with a true skill… an example we should all follow. I can't think of a finer shinobi than you! "
- (To Kushina about sealing the Nine-Tails inside Naruto) "Have a little faith! He is our son after all! "
- (Last words) " Naruto… This is your dad. Listen… To your nagging mother. "
- (To Naruto) " Pain was the one who killed Jiraiya-sensei, but the more I think about it, the more I believe he was killed by that disorder that gave birth to Pain. "
- (About Naruto) " These feelings… It's really nostalgic. Even though the situation is so hard… He looks like he could do anything… Right… It feels exactly as if I were with Kushina… That's what it is… "

## References [ ]