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Minato Namikaze (波風ミナト, Namikaze Minato) was the Fourth Hokage (四代目火影, Literally meaning: Fourth Fire Shadow) of Konohagakure. He was renowned all over the world as Konoha’s Yellow Flash (木ノ葉の黄色い閃光, Konoha no Kiiroi Senkō). He died during the Nine-Tails’ attack, sacrificing his life to seal the Nine-Tails into his newborn son, Naruto Uzumaki.
Background[]
Early Life[]
Konoha’s Yellow Flash[]
Fourth Hokage[]
Personality[]
Appearance[]
Minato as a jōnin.
Minato as the Fourth Hokage.
Abilities[]
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Minato using one-handed seals.
Part I[]
Prologue — Land of Waves[]
Main article: Naruto: A Shinobi Story/Prologue — Land of Waves
Part II[]
Pain’s Assault[]
Main article: Naruto: A Shinobi Story/Pain’s Assault (Arc)
Fourth Shinobi World War (Arc)[]
Main article: Naruto: A Shinobi Story/Fourth Shinobi World War (Arc)
Birth of the Ten-Tails’ Jinchūriki[]
Main article: Naruto: A Shinobi Story/Birth of the Ten-Tails’ Jinchūriki
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.[4] As for his son, he asked Toshirō to adopt Naruto as he saw he did not trust Jiraiya to take care of a child because of his occupation and lifestyle, to which Toshirō agreed before Minato died in his arms.
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 caliber. Minato himself became regarded as the village’s hero[5] alongside Toshirō[6] who are regarded as one of the greatest shinobi Konoha had ever produced,[7] so much so that villagers would regret his death whenever tragedy struck the village.[8] 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’s Downfall, followed by the death of Toshirō and his wife who protected Naruto from an unknown individual which Shindō informed the Third Hokage about, increasing security for Naruto, Shindō, and Sasuke Uchiha, the lone survivor of the Uchiha. Jiraiya recognized 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.[9]
Four and six years after the Fourth Shinobi World War, respectively, Minato had two grandchildren who both inherited his prodigious talent just six and four years later, respectively.[10] Ten years after the war, Minato’s son, Naruto, became the Sixth Hokage.
Trivia[]
- The name “Minato” means “harbor” (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.
- In Naruto Shippūden, Minato’s silhouette can be faintly seen in the background of the 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 color, 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 favorite.
- Minato wished to fight Jiraiya.
- Minato’s favorite 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 favorite 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).
- On the cover of chapter 178, the color on Minato’s cloak were inverted.
- Minato is ambidextrous. He has been shown wielding his kunai as well as the Rasengan proficiently with each hand. This is also shown when he summons using his left hand,[11] indicating that he signed the contract with his left hand.
- 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.
- Prior to sealing Kurama within an infant Naruto, Minato mentioned to himself that he needed to put up a barrier to both contain and restrain the Nine-Tails. It is unknown whether this barrier would have held long enough for Minato to complete the sealing as he was also concerned about his remaining chakra reserves.
- Unlike most people who had a single hair whorl that spiral in a single direction, Minato had two whorls that spiral in different directions.
Quotes[]
References[]
- ↑ Naruto chapter 240, page 11
- ↑ Naruto chapter 503, page 17
- ↑ Naruto chapter 503, page 17
- ↑ Naruto chapter 2, pages 13-14
- ↑ Naruto chapter 1, page 12
- ↑ Naruto: A Shinobi Story chapter 1
- ↑ Naruto chapter 158, page 5
- ↑ Naruto chapter 94, page 8
- ↑ Naruto chapter 370, pages 12-13
- ↑ Naruto: A Shinobi Story Epilogue
- ↑ Naruto chapter 504, page 10