Minato Namikaze

was the of Konohagakure. He was famous in life for his speed, leading to the moniker of. He died during the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha, sacrificing his life to seal a part of the Nine-Tails into his newborn son, Naruto Uzumaki.

Early life
When Minato was in the Academy, his class-mate Kushina Uzumaki thought that he looked "unreliable" and even "girly". He dreamed of being acknowledged by the Konoha villagers by becoming the Hokage, which Kushina considered to be an impossible dream for someone like him.

Years later, however, when Kushina was kidnapped by Kumogakure ninja, Minato was the only one to pick up on the fact that she was leaving behind strands of her red hair to mark their path. After rescuing her, Minato explained that he had always admired her hair. No longer seeing him as "unreliable", she fell in love with him.

According to those who knew him personally, Minato was a very talented ninja prodigy — a rare genius that appeared only once in a generation. He graduated from the Academy at the age of ten, and was added to a genin team under the tutelage of Jiraiya, who took a special interest in Minato, and took him on as an apprentice, amongst other things teaching him the Summoning Technique and senjutsu. He even believed Minato might be the Child of the Prophecy, someone who would someday save the world.

Konoha's Yellow Flash
In time, Minato married Kushina. He also became a jōnin and was put in charge of a genin team of his own, consisting of Rin Nohara, Obito Uchiha, and Kakashi Hatake. For their test to officially become genin, Minato tasked them with taking one of two bells from him in actual combat. Despite the team not having full loyalty towards each other, seeing them work together to snatch even one bell convinced Minato to pass his team. During the Third Shinobi World War, Minato led his team on a mission into Kusagakure to destroy the Kannabi Bridge. Because Kakashi had recently become a jōnin, Minato gave leadership of the mission to Kakashi while he went to help Konoha's forces on the front lines. After meeting up with the surviving and out-numbered Konoha ninja, Minato used his Flying Thunder God Technique to kill the opposing Iwagakure ninja, in the anime stated to be a thousand shinobi. He then returned to his team, just in time to save Kakashi and Rin from another group of Iwa forces, but was too late to save Obito. When Kakashi and Rin recovered from the ordeal, Minato helped them complete the mission.

Fourth Hokage
Some time after the war, Minato, not yet thirty years of age, was chosen to become the Fourth Hokage. At some point between being chosen as the Fourth Hokage and his inauguration, Minato clashed with A on what was seemingly their first meeting, Minato, an unnamed Inuzuka and Akimichi, and a non-distinct fourth member, confronted A and his team. There, Minato and A had a clash of speed with Minato almost severely injuring the future Raikage before B intercepted the attack. Upon receiving the signal that Konoha was retreating for the time being, Minato lingered to praise B's bravery and told A that he had a good family and followers surrounding him, and also offered A the advice of making sure his brother knew who he was before he became neither human nor jinchūriki. Minato then declared that the next time they met, it would be to put the title of "Kage" on the line.

Not one to allow his enemy to escape so easily, A attempted to attack Minato before he left. Believing that Minato would teleport to one of his special kunai, A was shocked to see the Konoha-nin appear behind his brother before realising that Minato had marked him earlier. Impressed by the fact that B had reacted fast enough to pull one of his swords on him, Minato praised B for his skills. Minato then escaped and would continue to clash with A on several occasions.

At some point during his reign, Minato 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, shortly after Minato's official reign began, he sent Kakashi on a mission to retrieve important documents to aid the delicate transition of peace between Konoha and Iwa. Knowing that Kakashi was still traumatised by the death of Rin by the young jōnin's own hand, Minato sent Might Guy and some Anbu as secret backup for Kakashi, which proved to be a wise decision as Kakashi soon collapsed from hyperventilation in battle. Visiting his former student in the hospital, feeling that his student needed a new direction as a ninja, Minato decided to promote Kakashi to the Anbu, working directly under Minato himself.

Later, when Kushina became pregnant, the two expecting parents were overjoyed. Kushina, however, became a nervous of their future child's well-being, to which Minato promised as a father he would definitely protect their child. Midway through the pregnancy, Jiraiya visited with his first book. Minato read it and admired the main character's determination, — whom he believed to be just like Jiraiya — and decided to name their son "Naruto", after said character, in the hopes that he would be just like him and, in turn, Jiraiya. Jiraiya warned them that it would make him Naruto's godfather, but they insisted that this was a good thing.

Because Kushina was the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, special arrangements had to be made for Naruto's birth. Since the seal keeping the Nine-Tails within her would weaken during childbirth, Naruto would be secretly delivered in a remote location outside Konoha. In the anime, as Kakashi continued his duties in Anbu admirably, Minato grew concerned when reports told him that Kakashi was growing colder in all his aspects. Deciding to help Kakashi regain his value of life, he went to Hiruzen for advice, who suggested that he assign Kakashi to protect Kushina during the pregnancy.

On the night Kushina's due date, Minato decided to give Kakashi the day off as gratitude for his good work. Soon after Naruto was born they were found by a masked man who had killed the Anbu stationed outside and infiltrated the cave where Kushina was giving birth. The masked ninja killed Biwako Sarutobi and Taji then took Naruto hostage, threatening to do the same to him. Minato was able to take Naruto back, but this gave his opponent the chance to escape with Kushina to break the seal. By the time Minato found a safe place to put Naruto and teleported back to Kushina, the Nine-Tails had already been released and was poised to kill Kushina, whom he spirited away to safety just before the Fox could finish its strike. Hiding Kushina away with Naruto for their safety, Minato heads to Konoha to defend it from the Nine-Tails.

Minato arrived in the early stages of the Nine-Tails' attack and was able to protect the village from the beast's Tailed Beast Ball by erecting a barrier and sending the attack elsewhere, before trying to reach the Third Hokage in order to inform him of what had happened. This plan was quickly stopped by the masked man, who tried to warp him away. However, Minato flew to another one of his kunai, and was quickly followed by his opponent. Analysing his opponent, Minato came to assume that the man standing before him was Madara Uchiha, which he discarded by saying that Madara was dead. When the two began fighting, Minato realised that the battle would be decided by speed, and by carefully timing his Flying Thunder God Technique, Minato was able to strike the masked man with a Rasengan and apply the Flying Thunder God Technique seal on his back as well. This allowed him to teleport directly to the masked ninja and uses a Contract Seal to sever the ninja's hold on the Nine-Tails before he could escape.

When Minato returned to the ruined village, he summoned Gamabunta to hold down the Nine-Tails long enough to teleport it away from the village to Naruto and Kushina's location. Kushina then restrained it with her chakra chains and erected a barrier so that the beast could not escape. Despite knowing that the trauma of resealing the Nine-Tails in her weakened body would kill her, she volunteered to do it so the Nine-Tails would die with her. Minato however disagreed, and instead decided that he would use the Dead Demon Consuming Seal on the Nine-Tails to seal the beast into Naruto. Kushina objected since this would mean Minato's death and leave Naruto orphaned. Minato insisted it was for the best since allowing the Nine-Tails to resurrect itself, without a jinchūriki to contain it, would inevitably cause harm to Konoha and the Fire Country. Also, Minato was convinced that Naruto was the "Child of the Prophecy" Jiraiya had once told him about and would need the Nine-Tails' power to someday defeat the masked man. Knowing that the Nine-Tails' chakra was too immense to seal inside an infant, Minato used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal weaken the demon by removing the Yin chakra, sealing the half inside Minato himself. The Nine-Tails realised their intentions and tried to kill Naruto, but Minato and Kushina used their bodies to shield him.

While Kushina gave her final words to Naruto, Minato summoned Gerotora, gave him the key to the seal he would use on Naruto, and sent him to Jiraiya. After Kushina told Naruto how much his parents loved him he seconds everything she says and proceeds to seal the remaining Yang chakra of the Nine-Tails into Naruto, ending their lives. When the Third Hokage arrived to help, Minato used his last moments to request that Konoha think of Naruto as a hero, and not the container of the monster that caused so much death and destruction. Before he died, he sealed the rest of his and Kushina's remaining chakra into Naruto so that they could someday see him again too, specifically if ever the seal was about to break so that they could restore it, or help him control Nine-Tails' power. Ultimately, Minato's reign as the Hokage was rather short, as Tsunade noted that he "died too early".

Personality
While physically resembling Naruto, Minato's personality is a strong contrast from Naruto's. Minato was collected and highly perceptive. During difficult events, he would remain composed, assessing the situation and devising appropriate plans of action. Jiraiya said that Minato was a shrewd person, not one to do something without reason. Minato was also a very cautious individual as he set up at least two safe houses as well as scattered his Flying Thunder God Kunai over the outskirts of Konoha, presumably so he can intercept enemies that cross Konoha's borders. Ultimately enabling him to subdue the latter and remove his control over Kurama without causing more chaos in Konoha.

He also seemed well aware of the terror his reputation inspired in his foes. At the same time, he was considered a nice person and very respectful to others; he didn't like freely speaking about others' pasts, and would always talk to them with respect. He deeply cared for and loved his wife and child, becoming very nervous because of Kushina's pain during labour and even shedding tears of joy at his son's birth. Minato also deeply cared for the village and all the shinobi, saying that they all are a big family. He also enjoyed reading, and took a special liking to reading Jiraiya's work in particular.

Minato was known for his indomitable spirit, drive, determination, and fierce ambition which was inherited by his son. His devotion to the village, and his love for his friends inspired all those around him, and, as a result, he became well-liked by the villagers. Minato is also shown to be very forgiving, as even the revelation that the masked man who was responsible for his and Kushina's deaths was none other than Obito Uchiha wasn't enough to make him show the slightest bit of anger toward his former student, and instead showed great sadness over the fact that Obito ended up like that and desired to save him instead. One quirk Minato possess is his tendency to create ridiculous names for techniques. Upon seeing Naruto and Sasuke's combination Rasenshuriken, Minato decided to name it Scorch Release: Halo Gale Jet Black Arrow Style Zero, a grandiose title which he himself thought didn't sound 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 honourifics. Upon his reincarnation by Orochimaru and learning about the Uchiha Clan Massacre, Minato confessed himself disappointed in failing to meet the Third's expectations for him, as his reign as Hokage was shortened by his sacrifice during Kurama's attack on the village, believing that the Uchiha clan's situation could have possibly had a different outcome, if he had survived.

Appearance
Minato was a fairly tall, fair-skinned man who on more than one occasion has 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-nin uniform with two bands each on both of his sleeves, a leaf 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, decorated by orange flames-like motifs on the edges, with the kanji for written vertically down the back, and closed on the front by a thin, orange rope.

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-armour, a pair of black pants and sandals.

Abilities
According to Jiraiya, Minato was one of the most gifted shinobi who ever lived, even noting that there hasn't been another prodigious talent to reach his calibre. His abilities were so advanced that even the Fourth Raikage thought that no one would surpass him. Anko Mitarashi, in discussion with the Third Hokage about Orochimaru's immense strength and threat to the village, stated that she wished the Fourth had been alive to face him. Even, at a young age, he was able to rescue Kushina Uzumaki from three Kumogakure ninja alone, with little difficulty. During the Third Shinobi World War, flee-on-sight orders were given to enemy shinobi should they ever see him appear on the battlefield. In the anime, he alone defeated a thousand Iwa shinobi in one battle, later prompting Ōnoki to immediately consider accepting a peace treaty from Konohagakure. Minato was also capable of counteracting the Nine-Tails' attacks to the point that Tobi chose to stop Minato directly due to the short amount of time he could keep Kurama summoned. Even still, he quickly forced Tobi to retreat after unraveling his technique, making the man commend Minato's skills and worthiness of being Hokage. During the Fourth Shinobi World War after being reincarnated he was able to give Obito Uchiha trouble despite being the Ten-Tails jinchūriki. He even managed to briefly overpower Obito while both himself and Naruto were in their Tailed Beast Mode and Sage Tailed Beast Mode respectively.

Physical Prowess
Hailed as the fastest known shinobi in history, Minato's trademark attributes were his immense speed and near instantaneous reflexes. His renowned speed was often compared to the fastest living shinobi, such as A or Naruto in his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, with the former admitting that, even with his Lightning Release Armour enhancing his already formidable speed and reflexes, he was still outmatched by Minato. He was able to react fast enough to catch an infant Naruto mid-fall to prevent him from being stabbed by Tobi and teleport away before the attached explosive tags went off and later respond to Tobi's Kamui technique quickly enough to escape it. He also had great proficiency in the Body Flicker Technique, able to seamlessly disappear or appear with no sign of direction or presence and easily reach in time an ally to save them. He could likewise well-outstrip Tobirama Senju's, the fastest shinobi of his era, own usage of the technique. He could even appear faster than most sensor type ninja could detect his arrival.

Minato's fighting style often excluded time consuming hand seals that give enemies an opening, instead opting for methods that leave little time for his enemies to react. He also showed to possessed a great deal of strength, able to hold up and nearly sever one of the Eight-Tails' tentacles despite having nearly no leverage. In the anime, as a child Minato was able to defeat three Kumogakure shinobi purely with close-range taijutsu combat and get out unscathed, despite all of them being twice his size.

Rasengan
After observing the nature of the Tailed Beast Ball, Minato spent three years developing one of his signature techniques; the Rasengan. It is the highest level of shape transformation to ultimately form a spiraling sphere that is sustained over the user's palm. It is performed purely with precise chakra control, rather than hand signs, as was Minato's focus. The lack of elaborate preparations needed for the Rasengan gave Minato an advantage over other techniques used in battle. With his famous reflexes, Minato was able to form the Rasengan right after teleporting to his marked kunai, allowing Minato to land a devastating and surprising blow to his enemy. As its creator, Minato had great mastery over the Rasengan, able to form it in either hand and even make it larger than any other user's Rasengan (roughly the size of the Big Ball Rasengan).

He had intended to combine the Rasengan with his own nature transformation, but the task was too difficult to complete before his untimely death.

Space–Time Ninjutsu
Another of his signature techniques was the Flying Thunder God Technique, earning great fame from its usage and later even praise from Tobirama Senju, the creator of this technique, for his superior usage of it. It is a space–time technique applied through the use of special seals, which essentially allowed him to teleport to any location with untraceable movements. With the Flying Thunder God Technique and his reflexes, he could even dodge and counterattack the likes of A's extreme and maximum speed Lightning Straight. By strategically marking a large number of locations throughout the area, Minato could quickly increase the number of locations he could teleport to, giving him the ability to wipe out an entire platoon in the blink of an eye through using several marked kunai. Minato is also capable of simultaneously transporting multiple people to different markings without accompanying them. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Minato was able to teleport the entire Shinobi Alliance out of harms way, a feat which even Tobirama admitted he could not do to such extent, though he admittedly required Naruto's help to link him to their chakra.

For defensive use, Minato was capable of implementing space–time barriers to counter large attacks such as a Tailed Beast Ball, sending the blast to a far away location, even one of much greater size and potency, such as that which was created by the Ten-Tails,. He could teleport massive entities, even those as large as the Nine-Tails itself, albeit at the cost of a large portion of his chakra proportional to their size. By working in conjunction with another Flying Thunder God user, Minato can instantly swap places with said person and anyone they bring along.

Shurikenjutsu
Minato had very advanced proficiency with kunai as both projectiles and melee tools with either hand. His main weapon employed was uniquely shaped kunai, which due to their particular form were more suitable for close-range combat than standard kunai, able to launch powerful strikes with it. Tactics-wise, he would regularly use these kunai in unison with his space-time ninjutsu. Minato would stock up on a large supply and mark them with his seal. Then, in a single sweep he could not only accurately hit multiply targets, but also greatly expand the radius of his teleportation points. Doing this, Minato could activate his technique through said kunai as a medium, allowing him to remotely activate it from any distance. Likewise, Minato could teleport to his kunai even as it traveled through the air, allowing him to both attack and defend simultaneously, and through this method, outmanoeuvre Obito's intangibility.

Fūinjutsu
Minato was highly skilled in fūinjutsu, which is due partially to Kushina teaching him many of the Uzumaki clan's unique sealing techniques. He could perform the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to seal opponents from a distance at the cost of his own soul being sealed as well. However, he was fully aware that he could not completely seal all of the Nine-Tails' chakra within himself or his son. Minato could also perform a seal to remove an opponent's control over the respective creature brought by the Summoning Technique.

One of the greatest examples of his prowess with fūinjutsu is the seal used on Naruto to make him a jinchūriki, placing two Four Symbols Seal to create the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style, which would allow small amounts of the Nine-Tails' chakra to leak out and naturally mix with Naruto's own as well as set parameters so that if the seal weakened, a fully-aware manifestation of himself would appear within Naruto's sub-conscience to reinforce it. Minato also showed the ability to transfer an already sealed tailed beast into another target.

Summoning Technique
In his youth, Jiraiya gave Minato access to the toad summoning contract, before proceeding to teach him how to use the Summoning Technique. He was able to summon Gamabunta, showing considerably proficiency in this technique along with being one of the few people that Gamabunta would willingly cooperate without hesitation. He could use the Summoning: Food Cart Destroyer Technique for a devastating surprise attack that could even pin powerful and large targets like the Nine-Tails down.

Jinchūriki Transformations
Due to sealing the Yin half of Kurama into himself before his death, Minato himself became a jinchūriki. Despite never using this power before entering the Fourth Great Shinobi War, Minato has become one of few shinobi to obtained complete control of his tailed beast, able to access the full powers of Yin-Kurama, mostly due to it being a willing partner. Once he was reincarnated, Minato was able to use a cloak similar to Naruto's Nine-Tails Chakra Mode which overlays his mantle. This takes some skill to achieve as both Naruto and the Yang half of Kurama complimented his might as a jinchūriki. In this mode, he was seen using chakra arms to grab the chakra of the tailed beasts. He also showed the ability to enter a Tailed Beast Mode, creating an avatar of Kurama near-identical in appearance to that of his son, albeit with a darker colouration. In this form, Minato could still use his regular techniques, such as the Rasengan, albeit on a much larger scale. He could also perform other techniques that come with the form such as the Tailed Beast Ball and use it in conjunction with Naruto.

After Yang-Kurama was removed from Naruto, to save his son's life, Minato transferred Yin-Kurama to Naruto (which was intercepted by Black Zetsu).

Senjutsu
During his lifetime, Minato learned to use the senjutsu taught at Mount Myōboku, the art of gathering natural energy to aid in his techniques, and also how to enter Sage Mode by gathering natural energy into his body as well. By his own admission, Minato stated that his skills with senjutsu were limited as he never applied them to actual combat before due to the time needed to gather natural energy, an aspect that deviates from his normal fighting style of quickly striking down his opponent. Nevertheless, he was able to perfectly balance the natural energy with his chakra, only displaying the pigmentation around his eyes — the true marking of a Sage. In this form, his physical parameters and techniques are greatly augmented.

Intelligence
Minato was shown to be very intuitive and clever from a young age. Of the many ninja sent out to save Kushina from her Kumogakure kidnappers, Minato was the only one to notice the trail of hair she was leaving. He was very knowledgeable of the ninja world, concluding that only Madara Uchiha would have the power or the reason to have the Nine-Tails attack Konoha during his battle with the masked man. After seeing a technique once, he could correctly deduce the basic mechanics behind it, such as the strengths and weaknesses of Kakashi's Chidori. Minato was also able to quickly understand part of the workings of the unique Truth-Seeking Balls and come up with an effective countermeasure. During his skirmish against the Tobi, he was able to determine that his opponent didn't want to drag on their fight as he could not keep Kurama summoned for very long, as well as quickly ascertain a method of counter-attacking. Using this information, he was able to take advantage of Tobi's haste to wound him and remove his control over the beast. Minato had sharp instincts in battle, regularly finding the right opportunity to mark his enemies with his Flying Thunder God formula shortly after striking a successful blow on them to hide his action until he jumped to their location.

Other Skills
Minato had very large reserves and strong levels of chakra, being able to enter Sage Mode as well as summon powerful creatures and teleport massive targets like tailed beasts. Likewise, his chakra control was very refined, most often seen from his proficiency of the Rasengan; forming the sphere with only a single hand in a fraction of the time others have displayed. Minato could transfer chakra and adapt it to another person's own chakra, as he placed some of Kushina's and his own chakra and consciousness within Naruto's seal to help aid him in the future, and to deal with Kurama. Minato also displayed the ability to form hand seals using a single hand.

Minato had noticeable sensory type abilities similar to Tobirama's, being able sense Naruto's chakra within the Nine-Tails', despite being a great distance away, and detect the presence of people within an area by simply placing his finger on the ground. He is adept at using barrier ninjutsu, capable of erecting a high-calibre barrier along side other Kage-level shinobi powerful enough to trap the Ten-Tails. He can also use the Shadow Clone Technique.

Invasion of Pain Arc
When Naruto started to give into the temptation of power from the Nine-Tails and was about to release the beast, the imprint of Minato stopped him. Minato voiced his dislike of seeing the Nine-Tails again, but pointed out that its actions had allowed him to see his son once more. Naruto eventually picked up on what Minato was saying, and was overjoyed to finally find out who his father was. Minato tried to talk with Naruto, but the Nine-Tails kept interrupting the conversation, angered at the presence of the Fourth Hokage, so Minato transported them to another space that was quieter. Naruto was outraged at the idea that Minato would seal the Nine-Tails into his own son, which Minato apologised for. Naruto punched him in anger but quickly got over it, claiming that as his son, he could handle it.

Because he had a limited amount of time to talk to Naruto, Minato briefly caught up with him, at the same time indicating that he knew that Pain had killed Jiraiya and was aware of Konoha's destruction as he saw it through Naruto. He expressed his suspicions that Pain was actually being manipulated by someone else due to his childhood psychological traumas, and that it was "The masked man of the Akatsuki" who really wished Konoha's destruction. He went onto suggest that, as long as the current ninja system exists, people like Pain, who were ruined by war will continue to exist. He restored the seal on Naruto's stomach and voiced his confidence in him that he would find a way to stop the vicious cycle of death and destruction before disappearing to the afterlife.

Chikara Arc
In the anime, Minato restored Naruto's seal once more when the latter almost lost control after his clone absorbed his Nine-Tails chakra. Once again, Minato voiced his confidence in his son, and his ability to overcome this adversity.

Ten-Tails Revival Arc
In Sasuke Uchiha's quest for answers, Minato's soul was freed from within the Shinigami and subsequently reincarnated by Orochimaru along with other three past Hokage, using Zetsu's spore clones as sacrifices.

Shocked to find himself in this state, Minato questioned Orochimaru about how he was able to break the Dead Demon Consuming Seal. Greeted with the question of who he was, Minato proudly brandished the emblem on the back of his haori, letting the First and Second know that he was the person who had inherited the title of Fourth Hokage, pleasing Hashirama who took this as a sign of the village's stability, though Minato admitted he could not say anything about that as he had actually died before Hiruzen had. He later sheepishly told Hashirama that his sealing inside of the Shinigami was due to a different incident than Hiruzen coming to be there. Upon Hashirama's reaction on learning that Tsunade had inherited the title of Fifth Hokage, Minato could not help but ask if he was worried, but Hashirama simply laughed his concern off, noting that he had spoiled the Fifth quite a bit when she was a child.

After the exchange between an outraged Tobirama, who was ready to retaliate after hearing Sasuke declare that he may exact his revenge on the village, and Hashirama, who had to forcefully stop his brother, Minato marvelled at the fact that something so simple had almost caused the Naka Shrine to cave-in. Upon hearing that Madara had been reincarnated on the battlefield and about the Fourth Shinobi World War, Minato soon felt Naruto and Kurama's chakra on the battlefield, and was elated that his son had managed to achieve what he had hoped he would when he sealed the beast inside him. After Hashirama completed his story, and Hiruzen lamented that he had been too indulging a Hokage, Minato told the Third that he had done the best he could have given the circumstances. He lamented that he had failed as a Hokage, having died during the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha, which left his reign woefully short and falling short of all the expectations which had been heaped upon him. Nevertheless, when Sasuke had made his decision to protect Itachi's sacrifice, the four Hokage and their new-found allies moved to the outside of the Naka Shrine where, upon Hashirama's behest, took his place upon his bust on the Hokage Monument. Minato expressed excitement in finally being able to meet his son as well as bringing him a present to make up for not being able to be there for him as a father.

Arriving on the battlefield just in time to warp the Ten-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball away, he managed to save Naruto and the remainder of the Shinobi Alliance. There he greeted his son — enquiring whether or not he was too late — to which Naruto happily responded that he was right on time. Introducing himself to Sakura, Minato also noted that they needed to brace themselves for impact. Just then, the ocean behind them rose up, leading Minato to first explain that he had sent the Tailed Beast Ball out to sea and then that though he was reincarnated, he was on their side. Curious, as he thanked Sakura for healing his son, he also asked whether she was his girlfriend. Sakura's subsequent violent response to Naruto's answer reminded Minato of Kushina. With this the other Hokage arrived on the battlefield and launched into action immediately, at Hashirama's behest. Minato then entered his own Nine-Tails Chakra Mode using the Yin chakra he took from Kurama's being, telling the other Hokage that he had already marked the location. With the Hokage moving to their designated location, Minato and the other Hokage used the Four Red Yang Formation technique to trap the beast as they prepare their counter attack. Minato later is impressed by Naruto changing the "nature" of the Rasengan after seeing the Rasenshuriken.

Minato's attention was later called to the once masked man's cries atop the Ten-Tails. Realising that Madara was controlling the newcomer with his chakra so that he could revive himself. As others around him sprung into action to stop this from happening. Minato then created a shadow clone and was able to teleport directly to where the newcomer was, and is shocked to see that it was his former student Obito. With realisation dawned on him, as he realised that Obito had been responsible for the attack on Konoha by the Nine-Tails. Noting that the Flying Thunder God marking never disappears as Sasuke arrived. Obito falls to the ground, and they turned their attention to Madara. However Obito who is still alive used the opportunity to seal the Ten-Tails within himself, finally achieving his goal of becoming the beast's jinchūriki.

As the shell fell away, Obito's new form was revealed. His appearance changed somewhat drastically, causing Minato to comment that this was too odd. As Obito surveyed the battlefield wide-eyed, he created several chakra arms and destroyed the Four Red Yang Formation sending the real Minato and the other Hokage reeling. As Minato called out for him to stop, in response to this, Obito simply sounded out his own name, as if it were unfamiliar to him.

Shocked to see Obito attack the First and Second with such speed, Minato nevertheless heeded Tobirama's command to get away from the area. Flying Gamakichi and the others to a safer distance, Minato noted how quick Tobirama was to act and watched on as the Second used his Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags in an attempt to incapacitate Obito. When this did not work, Minato noted to Sasuke that while the Hokage were in fact fighting to reveal Obito's abilities, their reincarnated bodies would take some time to reconstruct and such needed to buy some time. Teleporting his clone to his side, Minato noted that while it had been some time since he had used it, he would attack with the Spiralling Flash Super Round Dance Howl Participate Formula‎ technique but before he was able to do so, he noticed Obito's upper half was about to attack Naruto. Just before he was about to teleport to his son's aid, Sasuke arrived using Susanoo and diverted the attack, at the same time, Minato, unaware, was sent reeling by Obito's apparently vulnerable lower half. Later when both Naruto and Sasuke were attacked by his former student, Minato anxiously prepared to fly to their location, hoping that he would make it in time.

Unable to teleport to Sasuke and Naruto's aid as it appeared that the seal for the Flying Thunder God Technique had disappeared from Obito's body, Minato was able to teleport the boys to safety thanks to Naruto's quick thinking to use chakra arms to connect himself and Sasuke to Minato. Proud that his son was keeping up with Sasuke, he once again turned his attention to Obito, noting that they needed to defeat him while he was still struggling to control the beast. As Minato prepared to attack Obito, the latter fired off an attack of his own causing Minato to go on the defensive instead. The group is shocked to see the attack stop short of them and expand, then contract again before attacking Obito's body. Back on the offensive, Minato made his way to Obito, remembering how his pupil was as a child, he called out to him noting that he was on his way. Minato is later shocked to see Obito's form change and the now in control Uchiha in turn attacked his former sensei. Though his arm is ripped off, Minato teleported back to what he thought was safe at the moment only to realise that Obito had attached some of the mysterious substance to his body.

Deciding that he would teleport away from Sasuke and Naruto to protect them from the attack, Minato is shocked to see Tobirama grab the orb before he does. As the orb expanded some distance away from them, the real Tobirama appeared noting that it was a clone who had teleported to Obito with the orb. Upon seeing Obito resurface unscathed, the team prepared yet another counter-attack but before he and Tobirama can act, Sasuke and Naruto rushed forward adamant that they would create an opening for the Hokage to attack. As Tobirama called him to action, Minato also marked Tobirama with his Flying Thunder God seal noting that the technique they were about to use would benefit from their immortal bodies. Teleporting himself in front of Naruto and Sasuke's attack and with Tobirama at Obito's location, the two Hokage use the Mutually Instantaneous Revolving Technique to switch places causing Obito to be struck by an attack that had struck Minato earlier. With this, the jinchūriki's body is set ablaze by the flames.

Watching as his former student was set ablaze, Minato was surprised to see the mysterious orbs head towards Obito's location but Tobirama — who teleported to Minato's side — noted that their attack had landed before he was able to protect himself. This too would also prove to be futile as Obito emerged from the flames barely scathed. As they began readjusting their strategy, Tobirama noted that Minato's right arm had not regenerated yet and surmised that Obito was using Yin-Yang Release to nullify the Impure World Reincarnation. Though chided by Tobirama for acting without thinking, Minato later called out to Obito to remember his dream of becoming Hokage but the latter decried not only the position, but Minato for his failings leading Minato to spiral into a bout of self doubt, blaming the course which followed the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha on himself. His son, however, noted that Obito should not look down on someone who had attained the post of Hokage, and as Tobirama teleported his progeny above Obito to deliver a fatal blow, an astounded Minato realised that his son had also attained Sage Mode like his sensei. As Minato looked on amazed, the Yin half of Kurama sealed within him notes that Naruto's speech was enough to move even it.

Listening on in some shock as the beast told Minato to discard Obito's words and not leave his son to correct the past. When Obito erected a giant tree in their midst which began to form four Tailed Beast Balls and later when his former student trapped them within a barrier, Minato told the Second that due to his current state he would only be able to teleport one of the balls at best but noted that there was another way to handle their current situation. Before he could initiate this counter-measure, his son told him that he had a plan of his own, and listening on as he rebutted Obito's attempt to berate his father, Minato thought of his wife and noted that their son had grown so much before bumping fists with his son and responding emphatically.

As they bumped fists, the father-son duo meld the chakra of the halves of Kurama they each had stored inside them. As they discuss the strategy in their inner world, Minato could not help but marvel at his son's growth, and noted with remorse that he must have endured some hardships growing up, though Naruto simply brushed these aside and tells his father that the only hardship was the task at hand. Naruto's plan allowed Minato to connect himself, via Naruto, to all the other members of the Alliance whom had previously been given Kurama's altered chakra, and teleport them outside of the barrier. When praised by the Second, Minato notes that this was only a start to his atonement for his mistakes and noted to his son that he would like to speak to him a bit longer. Dumbfounded when Naruto told him there was no need as both his and Kushina's feelings had all been conveyed to him already, Minato cannot help but tear up at the man his son had become.

Noting how similar fighting alongside Naruto was to fighting next to Kushina, Minato admired Naruto's courage in light of the situation. However, when Naruto entered Tailed Beast Mode and charged off, Minato could not help but wonder if it wasn't for all the wrong reasons after his son had to be reminded by Tobirama that only senjutsu-based attacks would work. Following Yin-Kurama's lead, Minato also donned a Tailed Beast Mode mantle of his own to provide support for his son on the battlefield. He immediately produced a giant Rasengan, having Naruto feed natural energy into it, while Tobirama teleported the two of them to Obito. Obito, however, managed to block the attack, sending both men reeling backwards. As Naruto and Minato then tried to perform a sage-enhanced Tailed Beast Ball, Obito extracts the Ten-Tails to begin his Eye of the Moon Plan.

As the beast begins to transform into an enormous tree, assuming its final form, Naruto and Minato looked on in shock while trying to evade the giant roots. Minato was able to retreat to Tobirama's side and as the Second tried to destroy the rapidly regenerating roots, Minato noted that his chakra levels were too depleted to teleport to Naruto's aid. As his son is saved by Hiruzen and they are all teleported some distance away, Minato looked on as his former student declared that they should all stop struggling as the giant tree began unfolding its flower.

As Minato surveyed the devastation on the battlefield, through Ino Yamanaka's Mind Body Transmission Technique, Minato was able to see his son's memories and experience his feelings of loss as he grew up after Naruto donned his Tailed Beast Mode mantle. Solemnly Minato looked on as an image of him and Kushina flashed through his son's memories. Seeing Naruto regain his resolve, Minato and Naruto connected themselves to one another so that Yin-Kurama could transfer more chakra to the duo, returning the Fourth Hokage to his normal state. As he watches Naruto go off, Minato he silently puts his faith in his son. Though weakened somewhat, he later assisted the Alliance in their attack on the Ten-Tails by allowing Tobirama to use him as a medium to teleport the shinobi out of harm's way on the battlefield, so they could fight without reservation. Later assisting his son in wresting control if the tailed beasts' chakra from Obito, Minato used a chakra arm to grab onto the chakra if the beasts while manifesting nine tendril-like tails which allowed the members of the Alliance to form an anchor of sort as well as aid in the tug-of-war.

As Obito lays defeated and helpless, Kakashi suddenly teleports on top of the fallen Uchiha, determined to strike him down. Minato quickly intervenes. As Kakashi is shocked by the appearance of his late sensei, Minato explains that much like his late wife Kushina, Naruto's persistent scolding finally reached Obito. Deciding to deal with his former students personally, Minato tells Naruto and the others to go aid the First Hokage against Madara.

Turning his attention to where the defeated Obito laid, Minato surmised that with the tailed beasts extracted, Obito would soon die. Yin Kurama, however, informed Minato that Obito's life was in no danger because even as a shell, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path is filled with life energy, meaning Obito will only be temporarily paralysed. Having agreed to keep watch over Obito as Kakashi departed, Minato was shocked when Obito formed a hand seal and noted that was going to use the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique, sacrificing his life to make amends for his transgressions. They are later shocked when Black Zetsu emerged from underground, merged with Obito and forced him to use the technique to revive Madara instead.

Infinite Tsukuyomi Arc
Succeeding in its main goal of existing, Black Zetsu then proceeded to take Obito's Rinnegan eye to return it to Madara. Minato and Kakashi quickly acted to stop it, to which Black Zetsu responded by merging again with Obito, warning them that his unison with the dying Obito was the only thing still keeping him alive. Minato asks what it is, Black Zetsu responds that he is a manifestation of Madara's will, calling Kakashi and his allies fools for underestimating Madara. Suddenly, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path emerges from Obito's body. Kakashi quickly uses Kamui on it. As the structure to disappears, Minato asks Kakashi if he succeeded, to which the student declined, having only affected the target's right arm. Black Zetsu attempts to take the Rinnegen eye from Obito's left socket with the Uchiha's own hand, to which Obito just resisted. While Obito tells Kakashi to destroy the left Rinnegan, Black Zetsu informs the Konoha shinobi that the right Rinnegan has already been retrieved and returned to Madara.

Deciding that they had to take the risk, Minato and Kakashi decided to attack Black Zetsu. Before they could strike, Yin-Kurama and Minato sensed the disappearance of Yang-Kurama's chakra, realising that the Yang half was extracted and sealed. Suddenly, Gaara arrived with Sakura and an incapacitated Naruto. Gaara quickly told Minato that Yang-Kurama said Naruto can be saved by sealing Yin-Kurama inside his son. Minato began the process of transferring the Yin half into Naruto, only to be intercepted by Black Zetsu, who took the tailed beast for himself before retreating. Madara then appeared, now the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki, to retrieve his left eye.

As Black Zetsu attempted to return to Madara with Yin Kurama and Rinnegan, Obito managed to overshadow Black Zetsu and keep it merged with him, determined to talk to Madara. As the two discussed Obito's purpose in life, Minato quickly transformed into Sage Mode and mounted an attack with Kakashi and Gaara. However, Madara easily repelled the attack, sliced off Minato's remaining arm and kicked him into Gaara. Black Zetsu then attempts to return to Madara with the left Rinnegan and Yin-Kurama, only for Obito to overshadow the manifestation, keeping it merged to him. As Obito begins discussing his relationship to Madara, Minato is shocked as the younger Uchiha impales his hand into Madara's chest.

Obito proclaimed that he has returned to how he was before meeting Madara, choosing to side with his childhood allies. After managing to retrieve portions of Shukaku and Gyūki's chakra within Madara, Obito and Kakashi then teamed up. Minato watched in amazement, remembering how his two students always argued as children. Combining their respective Kamui, Kakashi and Obito managed to teleport both Naruto and Obito himself to the other dimension. Unable to move in his current state, Minato silently thanked Obito for choosing to save Naruto. He also thanked Might Guy, having just arrived to help Kakashi.

Regaining the strength to stand, Minato noted that in his current condition, he was incapable of using hand seals again and his skills with senjutsu were not enough to help them in this situation. This prompted Guy to open the seventh gate and attack Madara with his Daytime Tiger, impressing Minato with his taijutsu prowess. Attempting to save Guy after the attack left him incapacitated, Minato had Kakashi throw his kunai towards Guy intent to fly to his location as Madara resisted the attack. Guy was however rescued by the timely arrival of Rock Lee. Accepting the grim situation, Guy resolved to open the life-threatening eighth gate. Watching in amazement as Guy began to overwhelm Madara, Minato informed his team that they would be supporting Guy's attack. He quickly explained to his allies the mechanics behind Madara's Truth-Seeking Balls. Minato had Lee throw one of his Flying Thunder God Kunai at the orbs, allowing Minato to teleport them away, giving Guy the opening to land his completed attack on Madara.

Minato ended up on his Hokage sculpture in Konoha and was horrified to see the effects of the Infinite Tsukuyomi as the God: Nativity of a World of Trees surrounded Konoha. He later found the orbs had vanished and wondered what this meant before deciding he must return to Naruto. Minato finally reached the location the powerful chakra was coming from where he met up with the other Hokage. They realised that the Infinite Tsukuyomi had been cast and it was impossible to release the living from the grasp of the Ten-Tails' tree form. As the Hokage mulled over their next course of action, they were all shocked when the spirit of the legendary Sage of the Six Paths, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, manifested from out of Madara's remaining lower half before them. The Hokage all listened on as the Sage beseeched their help, and later along with the assistance of the other former Kage who the Sage had summoned from the Pure Land, they summon Team 7, the tailed beasts, and Madara from Kaguya's dimension.

Minato then happily welcomed his son home. Having completed all his purpose as a reincarnation, Minato prepared to return to the afterlife, knowing he could not stay in this world like this. Minato then talked to his son, wishing him a happy birthday, who in turn told Minato a brief summary of how he turned out growing up. Finally, with everything said, Hagoromo dispelled the Impure World Reincarnation, allowing the reincarnated Hokage to return to the Pure Land.

Legacy
The Third Hokage did his best to look out for Naruto but very few were able to detach their hatred of the Nine-Tails from that of Naruto despite Minato's final wish that his son be seen as a hero. The Third forbade 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, despite him being an orphan and being ostracised from the rest of the village. For years Naruto did not know his parents' identities, and neither did most of Konoha.

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 when tragedy struck the village years later. 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, which lead to a rise of ill-will amongst the clan and began to plan overthrowing the village, which lead to the Uchiha Clan Massacre. 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 could never conclude why.

Although Naruto had no idea about his relation with Minato most of his life, he greatly admired the Fourth Hokage, considering him a hero who gave his life for the village, showing anger when Tsunade spoke ill of him, and becoming overjoyed whenever Jiraiya or Kakashi mentioned his resemblance to Minato. Before Naruto left Konoha to begin his training with Jiraiya, he looked at the Fourth Hokage's carved head and asked him to look after him. After learning the truth about his relation to Minato and despite the shock that his own father made him a jinchūriki, Naruto was proud to be the Fourth Hokage's son. Years after his death, Killer B was surprised when he learned Minato created a technique similar to the Tailed Beast Ball: the Rasengan.

Naruto Shippūden 4: The Lost Tower
Twenty years in the past, Minato was assigned a secret mission alongside Shibi Aburame and Chōza Akimichi to intervene in the crisis in Rōran, where a Sunagakure missing-nin from the future called Mukade is building a Puppet Army using the power of the Ryūmyaku, an ancient chakra flow deep underground the city, and plans to change the future to his favour, conquering the Five Great Shinobi Countries. Minato asks the Third Hokage's permission to bring his student, Kakashi Hatake, and the Hokage agrees.

When they arrive in Rōran, Minato and his Team save Naruto from Mukade's puppets. Realising that the boy is also from the future, Minato tells Naruto to leave the city until they finish their mission, trying to keep him in the dark so the future won't be changed. However, Naruto ends up saving the Queen of Rōran, Sāra and attacks Minato, thinking they are the ones after her life. As a result, Minato decides to tell Naruto the truth about their mission and that Mukade arrived six years before Naruto, changed his name into Anrokuzan and has become the Minister of Rōran. Naruto recognises Minato's face and tells him he looks just like the Fourth Hokage. While Shibi claims that it is impossible, because their Hokage is still the Third, Minato asks Naruto to stop talking about the future. Sāra doesn't believe in them and runs off to prove Anrokuzan's innocence. Minato tells Naruto to protect Sāra while they look for Mukade and gives Naruto one of his Flying Thunder God Kunai.

When Naruto and Sāra try to fight Anrokuzan on the city's underground, Minato and his Team reappear and help Naruto while Sāra saves the men Mukade kidnapped to build his Puppet Army and takes them and their families to the Garden of Ryūmyaku, where they'll be safe.

Mukade fuses with his puppets, becoming a giant puppet monster using the Ryūmyaku's power. To stop Mukade from regenerating, Sāra must stop the flow of the Ryūmyaku in the Source of the Ryūmyaku while Naruto and Minato fight off Mukade. Naruto attacks Mukade with the Rasengan, shocking Minato, but is unable to defeat Mukade. Out of chakra and exhausted, Naruto is saved by Minato who tells him to attack Mukade's weak point with the Rasengan once Sāra stops the Ryūmyaku's flow. Naruto answers that he's out of chakra but Minato tells him he'll lend him his. Naruto tells him that it is impossible, because the Rasengan is a technique that the Fourth Hokage completed and that only he and Jiraiya can use, to which Minato replies that is why he can do it, having not only realised that he would be the Fourth Hokage but also that Naruto was his child. Since they have similar chakra, their Rasengans resonate and fuse together, creating the Supreme Ultimate Rasengan and defeating Mukade.

After Minato seals off the Ryūmyaku completely, Naruto and Yamato begin to glow because the time flow has come back to normal and they must return to their own time. So the future won't be changed, Minato decides to erase everybody's memories. However, Naruto tells Minato that he has to talk to him, but Minato refuses, telling Naruto that they'll meet again. Naruto persists and tells Minato that if they don't talk now, he'll never have the chance. As Minato prepares to send them back to the future, Naruto begins to ask if he could possibly be his father. Minato interrupts him and tells him that if he ever had a son, he wished he would be brought up a ninja just like Naruto, to which Naruto smiles and sheds tears of joy, before being sent back to the future. Minato used a technique to wipe everyone's memory so it wouldn't affect the future.

Naruto 6: Road to Ninja
In the alternate timeline of this movie, Minato is still alive, as is his wife Kushina. However, he never became the Fourth Hokage; instead Sakura Haruno's father Kizashi earned this title. Also, Minato and Kushina have a son named Menma who becomes the jinchūriki of Kurama. While essentially the same as his real-world counterpart (kind, courageous and dutiful), this Minato, being a family man, values his family's safety above all else, choosing to put their well-being before all others.

Video Games
Though not a playable character, Minato appears in the Ultimate Ninja game series as part of Naruto's ultimate technique called "Mysterious Aid Arrives".

Trivia

 * "Minato" means and "Namikaze" means.
 * 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.
 * Minato and Kushina died on the same day Naruto was born, which was October 10.
 * 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.
 * Minato ranked ninth in the sixth Naruto character popularity poll and seventh in the seventh poll.
 * In Naruto Shippūden 4: The Lost Tower, Minato's chakra appears to be a light green colour, as opposed to the normal blue.
 * 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.

Quotes

 * (About his dreams) "I want everyone in the village to acknowledge me and become a great Hokage!"
 * (To Kushina, when he rescued her) "I noticed your beautiful hair right away."
 * (To his team) "The most important thing for a shinobi is teamwork!"
 * (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 Kosuke Maruboshi) "I won't allow any of my comrades to die for my sake."
 * (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 motor-mouth mother."
 * (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 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."
 * (To Naruto) "You will find the answer… I believe in you."
 * (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…"