Board Thread:Naruto Discussions/@comment-28869806-20150525191639/@comment-26388300-20150526195751

I could agree a little with the thread-poster's assertion that Minato was a disappointment, but I feel that much of this was in the way of showing how much Naruto had grown... in other words, he was shown to be lesser as a means of a developing story. The Fourth Shinboi World War was a time to establish Naruto's great "becoming"; I think other potentially great characters were minimilized a bit to make room for this. In example: Minato failed to see that the toad of Myoboku's senjutsu attack wasn't nullified by Obito's power. This was merely to show Naruto "getting it". If Minato had been standing alone on the battlefield and it wasn't Naruto's moment to shine, Kishimoto would have written the story differently; the usually astute and gifted Minato would have noticed the senjutsu-event as well. I think Minato was shafted via deus ex machina.

... as for my most disappointing character: Hiruzen Sarutobi. We're told that, in his prime, he was a total and absolute shinobi juggernaut, nearly unstoppable. But we never get to see him in this state; by the time we see him in action, either Edo Tensi during the war or when fighting the weakened Edo Tensi First and Second Hokage during Orochimaru's invasion, he's lost much of his stamina and strength. I'd have loved to see him go all out during the pinnacle of his life.