Minato Namikaze

, renowned as, was a legendary shinobi who became the of Konohagakure.

Background
When Minato was in the Academy, his class-mate and future wife 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. 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 was put in charge of a genin team of his own, consisting of Rin Nohara, Obito Uchiha, and Kakashi Hatake. 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. 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.

Before becoming Hokage, Minato clashed with A on several occasions. On what was seemingly their first meeting, Minato, Inuzuka, Akimichi, and a 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 as he did, 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.

Fourth Hokage
Sometime after the war, Minato, not yet thirty years of age, was chosen to become the Fourth Hokage. At some point during his reign, Minato taught his signature technique to the Hokage Guard Platoon to better aid them in their duties of serving the Hokage at any given time. While Kushina was pregnant, he read Jiraiya's first book and liked the main character's determination — whom he believed to be just like Jiraiya — decided to name their son "Naruto" in the hopes that he would be just like the main character 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. ANBU would guard the area and Minato would maintain the seal while Kushina went into labour. Soon after Naruto was born they were found by a masked man who had killed the ANBU stationed outside and infiltrated the cave. 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 then teleported to Kushina, he spirited her to safety just as the freed Nine-Tails was about to kill her. With Kushina looking after Naruto, Minato heads to Konoha to defend it from the Nine-Tails.

Minato arrived in the early stages of the Nine-Tails' attack. After protecting the village from the beast's Tailed Beast Ball by erecting a barrier and sending the attack elsewhere, Minato tried to reach the Third Hokage to inform him of what had happened, but was stopped by the masked man, who tried to warp him away. However, Minato flew to another 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 then sealed the Nine-Tails and the rest of their chakra into Naruto so that they would be able to see him again when he was older, ending their lives. Since the Third Hokage had come 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 their 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
Jiraiya and Tsunade pointed out that, while Naruto physically bears great resemblance to Minato, his personality is almost identical to his mother. While Naruto is boisterous and relatively thick, Minato was calm, collected, and highly perceptive. He does have a playful side, once making a highly convoluted name for a technique combination, before quickly disconsidering it. He also seemed well aware of the terror his reputation inspired in his foes. He appeared to be respectful of those around him; he didn't like freely speaking about others' pasts, and was said to be a very nice person. Minato also referred to Orochimaru as "Orochimaru-san", a polite way of addressing someone in Japanese, when questioning how Orochimaru managed to reincarnate him and his predecessors. 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.

Jiraiya said that Minato was a shrewd person, and was not a man who would do something without reason. 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. Minato was known for his indomitable spirit, drive, determination, and fierce ambition which was inherited by his son. In his youth, Minato also had a desire to be acknowledged by everyone in the village by becoming the greatest Hokage the village had seen. 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 and remorse over the fact that Obito ended up the way he did instead of becoming Hokage.

Upon his reincarnation by Orochimaru, and after Sasuke Uchiha's inquiring about the Uchiha Clan Massacre and the meaning of being a shinobi, 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. He also believed 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 flak jacket, blue forehead protector, and 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 and was also believed to be one of the strongest shinobi that ever existed. His abilities were so far advanced that even the Fourth Raikage thought that no one would be able to surpass him. Anko Mitarashi, in discussion with the Third Hokage about Orochimaru's immense strength and his threat to the village, stated that she wished the Fourth had been alive to face him. At a young age, he was able to single-handedly rescue Kushina Uzumaki from three Kumogakure ninja. During the Third Shinobi World War, flee-on-sight orders were given to enemy shinobi should they ever see him appear on the battlefield. Minato was also capable of counteracting the Nine-Tails' attacks to the point that Tobi found it necessary to intervene and stop Minato directly. Tobi was later forced to retreat due to being severely injured by Minato. He even complimented Minato and stated he was worthy of his title of "Fourth Hokage".

Minato's fighting style often excluded time consuming hand seals that give enemies an opening so he often relies on two techniques: the Flying Thunder God Technique and the Rasengan.

Jinchūriki Transformations
Due to sealing the Yin part of Kurama's chakra into himself before his death, once he was reincarnated he was able to use a cloak similar to Naruto's Nine-Tails Chakra Mode which overlays his mantle. It seems to take some skill to activate this, as Naruto was amazed, and even Kurama complimented his sealing skills for using the cloak.

Taijutsu
One of Minato's trademark attributes was his immense speed and acute reflexes, able to react fast enough to catch an infant Naruto mid-fall to prevent him from being stabbed by Tobi. Combined with his great proficiency in the Body Flicker Technique, he could easily react and reach in time an ally to save them from enemy attacks. He could also respond to Tobi's Kamui technique quickly enough to escape it. He is often referred to throughout the series as the fastest shinobi who ever lived, with the speed of the currently fastest living shinobi often being compared to his own, 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 immense speed and reflexes was still outmatched by Minato.

When fighting, he mainly employed the use of his unique kunai, wielding them proficiently and taking advantage of their particular form, which made them even more suitable for close range combat than standard kunai. Using this type of kunai, he was able to nearly sever one of the Eight-Tails' tentacles when B moved to save his brother from Minato's counter-attack despite having nearly no leverage, showing that he possessed a great deal of strength. Minato's skills are such that he received praise from the other Kage, including Tobirama Senju, who is also capable of using the Flying Thunder God Technique, as Minato was not only able to arrive on the battlefield in time to deflect an enemy attack, but he was also able to mark the battlefield, enabling the other Hokage to take immediate action upon their arrival.

Rasengan
Minato spent three years creating the Rasengan by observing the Tailed Beast Ball. It is the highest level of shape transformation and it does not require hand signs to be performed. Instead, using precise control of one's chakra to concentrate and spin it, forming a sphere in the user's palm. It is able to inflict immense damage to its target upon contact. The lack of elaborate preparations needed for the Rasengan gave Minato an advantage over other technique users in battle. During his fight with Tobi, he is able to form a Rasengan right after throwing his marked kunai, allowing Minato to land a devastating blow immediately after performing the Flying Thunder God Technique. As its creator, Minato had great mastery over the Rasengan, able to form it in either hand and even make it larger than the Rasengan of other characters (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
Minato was famous for his use of the Flying Thunder God Technique, a space–time technique applied through the use of special seals, which essentially allowed him to teleport to any location with untraceable movements. By throwing kunai that had the seal attached to them behind enemy lines, Minato could wipe out an entire platoon in the blink of an eye. Minato could teleport to his special kunai even as it travelled through the air, through this method, he was able to outmanoeuvre Tobi's Kamui. He was also capable of applying the seal to solid surfaces with his bare hand, allowing him to tag opponents and give himself an easy way to track and reach them. He also incorporated this seal formula into Kushina's seal so he could always come to her aid, at any time. Minato is also capable of transporting multiple people to different markings simultaneously.

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 distant area away from the village. He was later even able to warp away a Tailed Beast Ball of larger proportions created by the Ten-Tails, and was able to teleport things even as large as the Nine-Tails itself, albeit at the cost of a large portion of his chakra due to the beast's immense size.

Fūinjutsu
Minato was very knowledgeable in fūinjutsu, which is due partially to Kushina teaching him some of the Uzumaki clan's unique sealing techniques. He knew the full capabilities of the Dead Demon Consuming Seal and was aware that he could not completely seal all of the Nine-Tails' chakra within the death god. Minato could also perform a seal to remove an opponent's control over the respective creature brought by the Summoning Technique.

The greatest example of his prowess with fūinjutsu is the seal used on Naruto, 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.

Summoning Technique
In his youth, Jiraiya taught Minato how to use the Summoning Technique to summon toads. He was able to summon Gamabunta, showing considerably large reserves of chakra in doing so, and was 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 large targets like the Nine-Tails down.

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. After seeing a technique once, he could correctly deduce the basic mechanics behind it, such as the strengths and weaknesses of Kakashi's Chidori. During difficult events, he was still capable of maintaining his composure, assessing the situation, and devising appropriate plans of action. During his skirmish against 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 not only wound him, but also remove his control over the beast as well.

Other Skills
Minato could detect the presence of people within an area by simply placing his finger on the ground. Minato was also skilled in transferring chakra and could even adapt it to another person's own chakra, as seen when he placed some of Kushina's and his own chakra within Naruto so that they could see him when he was older, and assist him in dealing with Kurama. He is also adept at using barrier ninjutsu, capable of erecting a Kage-calibre barrier powerful enough to trap the Ten-Tails. He can also use the Shadow Clone Technique.

Part II
For most of the series, Minato was only referred to in passing. Later, in Part II, he began appearing in flashbacks.

Invasion of Pain Arc
It was not until the Invasion of Pain that he made an actual appearance in the story. 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 the three Hokage that preceded him, 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 Hokages 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 Suns Battle Encampment 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 Suns Battle Encampment 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 Multiplicating 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.

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. 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 admire 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.
 * 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."