Minato Namikaze

Minato Namikaze, also known as Konoha's Yellow Flash was the Fourth Hokage, and the father of Naruto Uzumaki.

Early life
According to those who knew him, Minato was a very talented ninja-having graduated from the Academy at the age of ten. He came under the tutelage of Jiraiya, and under his guidance, learned to develop his skills. Impressed with Minato's determination to succeed, Jiraiya took it upon himself to teach the latter the technique of frog summoning. Minato mastered the technique, being the only person to fully control Gamabunta, a feat not even his sensei could outdo. His skills would further grow with the development of his own variation of jutsu-Rasengan and Hiraishin.



After attaining the rank of Jonin, Minato was given direction of his own team, which consisted of Kakashi Hatake, Rin and Obito Uchiha. Along with Kakashi, Minato's reputation greatly increased during the Third Great Ninja War, where his skills earned him the moniker of Kohona's Yellow Flash. As a gift for Kakashi's advancement to Jonin, Minato gave him a unique kunai marked with one of the Hiraishin transportation markers. Shortly afterwards, he informed the team of their mission: destroy a bridge that aided the enemy Rock ninja force. For the mission, Kakashi took Minato's place as commander of the team. However, before the group was able to complete their mission, differences between Obito and Kakashi lead the team to be caught in a trap. Using the transportation technique, he was able to wipe out all 50 rock ninja with little trouble. After this battle, Rin used Kakashi's kunai to bring Minato to her location to protect her and an unconscious Kakashi from Rock ninja. Unfortunately, by the time he arrived Obito was already dead, though he managed to save Kakashi and Rin. They would later go on to fulfill their mission and help repel the Rock invasion.

Fourth Hokage
In the months to come, Minato was chosen by the Third Hokage to lead as the village's new leader. His first choice, Orochimaru, failed to live up to his expectations-though he thought Minato to be a fine replacement.

Legacy
Before it was revealed, many people believed that the Fourth was Naruto's father because they share many similarities. For example, they both have the same spiky blond hair, blue eyes, techniques, blood type (B), and overall similar personalities as noted by Jiraiya. Itachi Uchiha noted Naruto to be the Fourth's "legacy". Also, when Jiraiya was trying to force Naruto to release his demon fox chakra, he pushed Naruto off of a cliff, saying, "Forgive me, Fourth," as he did so. Beyond these, there are several minor comparisons made consistently thought the series. Any hints to his name, history, or family relations have been carefully avoided, making his past one of the biggest mysteries of the series until it was finally revealed in Chapter 367.

Personality
Although unknown, Jiraiya and Tsunade point out that, while Naruto physically bears great resemblance to the Fourth, his personality and style of ninjutsu are almost identical to his mother. This and an earlier statement from Jiraiya on the mission to retrieve Tsunade imply that Naruto and Minato had rather different personalities. Jiraiya notes that, although he was quite a genius, the Fourth's greatest aspect was his desire to succeed, largely attributing his success to hard work.

Jutsu
The Fourth created several distinctive techniques, including the Flying Thunder God Technique, which essentially allowed him to teleport to any location with the use of a special seal. He also created the Rasengan, a technique that does not rely on hand seals, but instead uses a concentration of spinning chakra in the palm that causes immense damage to its victim on contact. Later in the series it is revealed that this signature technique is actually incomplete. The Fourth had planned to add his own nature manipulation training to the Rasengan, making it even more powerful, but couldn't manage to combine the two prior to his premature death.

Trivia

 * He is also known as "The Leaf's Yellow Flash" (木ノ葉の黄色い閃光)
 * According to Jiraiya, the Fourth is the most skilled Leaf shinobi ever to live.