You're always too late when it matters most. The Willow Fire is upheld by every Hokage. It is this care and love for each and every member of the village that makes the Hokage. They have a responsibility to protect the well-being and the future of each and every member of the leaf, combining that with the ability and the bravery to protect their citizens by any means necessary is what made the fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze a true hero. But it's these very sacrifices that made Minato view himself as a failure. The yellow flash grew up in Konoha under the tutelage of one of the legendary Sani, Jiraya. Minato was rather kind and humble, his personality differed quite a bit from Naruto, but his passion came through his actions. The talented Shinobi became the yellow flash for his iconic teleportation Jutsu, but he became one of the leaf's greatest Shinobi and truly feared during the Third Ninja War, where his legendary speed would come together with his wit and his extensive knowledge of San Jutsu and Ninjutsu. Minato had every intention to protect the village and to become Hokage, placing a considerable amount of weight and importance into protecting and preserving lives, where he instructed Kakashi to protect the Jiu-Bito and Rhin that rules and regulations weren't everything, and these words would resonate with a kind and pure-hearted Obedo who would later pass that on to Kakashi. Minato validating the young Uchiha would have a ripple effect as it soon became Kakashi's way of life, that those who abandoned their friends are worse than scum. Shortly after the war, Minato became the Fourth Hokage and married Kushina Uzumaki. The Obedo would attack the leaf on the day of Naruto's birth, and the day the Ninth Hell seal was weakened. The masked man would eventually extract the Ninth Hell out of Kushina and place the rampaging beast onto the village. Minato needed to ensure that his child and wife were okay, that his village was protected, that this man was defeated, and he had to find a way to make sure the Ninth Hell would store him in the possession of Konoha. Kakushina offered to seal Kurama into her and die, Minato rejected this idea. He saw it unfair that he'd be Naruto's sole parent. When she sacrificed everything for him, he found it unfair that she wouldn't be able to watch her son grow. The rest is the series as we know it, Naruto, Jinshiruki of the Leaf. Konoha's yellow flash had an air of greatness surrounding him, with his jutsu, smarts, and his speed being revered. He was the fastest Shinobi ever, even faster than A of the Cloud. He sometimes seemed perfect. But through his own lens, failure plagued Minato's legacy, and when the yellow flash was reanimated, he would truly feel this guilt in the presence of his predecessor, Hirsun, who handpicked him, and later in the presence of his son, the Ninth Hell Jinshiruki, the direct result of his inadequacy, but it would be Obito who shamed his former teacher for not being fast enough, ever, and he would tell Naruto how much of a disgrace his father truly was. All of Minato's students suffered tremendously. Reen with the three tail inside of her had died by Kakashi's hand. Kakashi became severely depressed after this event, and Obito died during the war. I'm sure Minato felt that he could have saved them if he had just been fast enough, but his guilt didn't end there, as Obito would become a mass murderer, being the catalyst in beginning the Fourth Ninja War, and the man who was the cause of Minato and Kushina's death, making Naruto an orphan. Minato would probably never see himself as anything but a failure. A truly gifted Shinobi, again a man who was fast but just not fast enough. He couldn't save his students, couldn't save his wife, failed his teacher's hopes and prophecy about him, and failed to give his son a life free of hardships. If only he deciphered the masked man's identity fast enough, he might have saved the Shinobi world. That's the burden, the guilt that is weighing on Minato's shoulders when he sees what the world has become, but the Ninetail tells Minato not to regret a thing. Because had he not done what he'd done, the Ninetail might have been in the hands of the Akatsuki and the world already in ruin. Without having trust in his village and the few people in it, his son wouldn't have become the child of prophecy, the one to lead a new age in the Shinobi world. Kurama then tells the Fourth Hokage that it wasn't his fault, and I think hearing it from the beast himself and seeing his son as a paragon of everything that is good, eases his pain a little. Because Kurama was right, these were things that were out of his control. As sad as it is, young Shinobi fight in wars and they often die young. It's the troubling reality of the Shinobi world, a sad one. And later as Hokage, they have a duty unlike any other. I think Minato would have made an amazing father, the way he treated Kushinan others with a gentle kindness. But when you are Hokage, your responsibility is to the whole village, not only your child, and so that was the hardest decision that he had to make. Family against duty. Had he sealed the Nineteil back into Kushinan, the Nineteil would have reemerged years later, leaving the village open to another tailed beast attack from Obito, and another opportunity to steal it. And if he did decide to get rid of the Nineteil and kill him, they would be leaving the leaf completely defenseless without their most valuable weapon. Minato had to make a choice and he had to make a choice quickly. Out of so many possible outcomes, he ultimately made the right decision. He did what he had to do to protect his home, and had trust in that very village to raise his son. Minato in his dying moments seemingly gained the ability of foresight. He knew what he was doing with positively impact the future. Minato sensed that Obito would be the cause of catastrophe, but he also knew and had trust in Jiraya, and had so much trust in his son, being so certain that Naruto would one day become the child of prophecy that he couldn't be. It could have been so much worse if a Naruto grew up in that world without a village. Sadly enough without the village ostracizing him, Naruto wouldn't have had that hunger and desire to be noticed and to be seen. But he also would have been without the Third Hokage, without Iruka, Kakashi, Jiraya, and Nade, without friends molding him and guiding him to become what he was destined to become. Minato is a hero and a great Hokage because he sacrificed himself for the village. Ultimately that's the Willow Fire, right? It's the Willow Fire in its purest form, a self-sacrifice for the village, for everyone's hopes, dreams, and for the future of the leaf. Minato has earned his status as hero of the hidden leaf, but I just can't help but think about Minato seeing his son, Agent Cherky in the flesh, and the mixed emotions that came over the yellow flesh. So proud that Naruto has found his way, that he's become the child of prophecy. More than that, Naruto was the spitting image of Minato and had Kushina's charisma and their combined love for the village. But again, so overcome with shame. He was the man who left his son alone in that world. 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