Namikaze Minato

Namikaze Minato (波風ミナト) was the the Fourth Hokage (四代目火影) of Konohagakure. He was famous in life for his speed, giving him the nickname Konoha's Yellow Flash (木ノ葉の黄色い閃光). He died during the Kyuubi's attack on Konoha, by sacrificing his life to seal Kurama into his infant son, Uzumaki Naruto.

Background
Minato entered Konoha's Ninja Academy with the dream of earning the villagers' respect and recognition by becoming Hokage. When Uzumaki Kushina moved to Konoha, she was placed in the same class as Minato. Minato was immediately drawn to her bright red hair, finding it beautiful. He also liked how Kushina stranded up for herself by fighting bullies that would be picking on her. However he would turn away whenever she would angrily look at him. He even would spy on her from a far away distance, however he would fell bad when others have call her an outsider. Minato was a natural prodigy as a ninja, the likes of which appears only once in a generation. When he was added to a genin team under the leadership of Jiraiya, Jiraiya took a special interest in Minato and took him on as his apprentice, teaching him many of his own signature abilities. In time, Minato's exceptional skills led Jiraiya to believe he might be the Child of the Prophecy, someone who would someday save the world.

Years later, a when he was a pre-teen, Kushina was kidnapped by Kumogakure forces. Konoha mobilized its ninja to retrieve her, but only Minato noticed the strands of red hair Kushina left behind to mark their path. Minato, acting alone, rescued her from her captors. On their way back to Konoha, Minato confessed his admiration for her hair and telling her that she was no outsider but a ninja of Konoha including that he didn't want to,lose her. This confession caused Kushina – who had previously believed Minato to be "unreliable" and "girly" – to have fall in love with him, and started to like her hair more. Minato and Kushina were a couple from the time that he rescued her, and with his love, Kushina was able to keep Kurama sealed within her at bay. They eventually married. From observing a Tailed Beast Ball, Minato began a three year process of creating the Rasengan, the height of shape transformation. He would spend the rest of his life trying to combine it with his own nature.

After proving himself an accomplished and responsible ninja, Minato was placed in charge of his own team, consisting of Nohara Rin, Uchiha Obito, and Hatake Kakashi. In the anime, Sarutobi Hiruzen gave Minato the special task of helping Kakashi overcome the bitterness caused by his father's death and remind him of the human element of being a ninja. Minato gave his team a bell test upon its formation in order to teach them the value of teamwork. Minato often held back less against the prodigious Kakashi than with Rin and Obito so they couldn't obtain the bells without teamwork. Unfortunately, Kakashi realised this, but only used Obito and Rin as a means to an end to obtain the bells. Nonetheless, he passed them because they accomplished the goal of the test by working as a team. Although he did encourage them to improve their teamwork afterwards, a message that Obito and Rin took to heart, but fell on deaf ears with Kakashi.

When Konoha became involved in the Third Shinobi War, Minato's obligations became split between training his students and helping with the war effort. During a mission into Kusagakure to destroy the Kannabi Bridge, Minato transferred leadership of the mission to Kakashi – who had recently become a jonin – while he headed to the front lines. He met up with the surviving and out-numbered Konoha ninja and single-handedly wiped out the opposing Iwagakure forces. In the anime, his victory in this battle against a thousand ninja convinced Onoki to accept a peace treaty. When he rendezvoused with his team afterwards he found Kakashi and Rin surrounded by Iwa-nin, with Obito having already been lost. He rescued them, helped them complete their original mission once they recovered, and returned to Konoha with them. When the Third Shinobi War was finally over, Minato alongside Kakashi and Rin mourned Obito's death attending a funeral for all the victims that were kill. Minato's competing obligations would later repeat the tragedy of Obito's death: while he was away on another mission, Rin was kidnapped by Kirigakure and died after Kakashi had rescued her. Minato encountered A of Kumogakure a number of times during the war. During their first meeting, Minato and A compared their speed, with Minato proving the faster. He received orders to retreat before their competition could resolve, but he lingered to compliment A and his brother, Killer B, a jinchuriki like Kushina; he encouraged A to take care of B and remember he was a person. A pursued Minato, so Minato moved against B, threatening to kill him if A didn't let him and his team go. Minato was confident that he and A would someday meet as Kage.

For his performance during the War, Minato was chosen over Orochimaru to become Fourth Hokage. He 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, he also tried to help Kakashi, now an Anbu, emerge from the darkness he'd fallen into after Obito and Rin's deaths. During the gradual transfer of responsibilities from the Third Hokage to him, the Third advised Minato to restore Kakashi's value of life by tasking him with protecting Kushina during her pregnancy.

As a female jinchuriki, the strain of childbirth would weaken the seal keeping Kurama sealed into Kushina. For that reason special precautions had to be taken: the child would secretly be delivered in a remote location outside of the village, with barriers around the area and several Anbu guards as extra protection. Minato was not greatly worried about the birth, and in fact gave Kakashi the day off in gratitude for his good work. He and Kushina had already decided on a name for their son, "Naruto", after the main character of Jiraiya's first book, hoping that their Naruto would be just as determined as the character (and thus its author). Jiraiya tried to convince them to make a different choice since that would make him Naruto's godfather, but they insisted that this was a good thing.

Minato and Kushina's son, Uzumaki Naruto, was born on the night of October 10. Only moments after the birth Minato began making preparations to restore Kurama's weakened seal, but he was interrupted by the arrival of Obito. While unknown to Minato that Obito had survived the battle at Kannabi Bridge, and began using a mask to hide his identity. No longer caring about their past relationship due to his newly acquired nihilism over Rin's death, Obito was no longer the boy Minato trained. Obito killed the Anbu guards, the midwives and took Naruto hostage, threatening to kill him if Minato didn't back away from Kushina. Minato immediately took Naruto back from him, yet discovered explosive tags had been planted on Naruto. Minato was forced to teleport away to keep Naruto from harm, allowing Obito to escape with Kushina. He found a safe place for Naruto and teleported to Kushina just in time to save her from being killed by Kurama, who was extracted from her body by Obito. He reunited mother and son together before heading out to protect the village.

Minato returned to the village in the early stages of the Kyuubi's attack on Konoha, arriving in time to teleport away a Tailed Beast Ball before it destroyed the Hokage Monument. He attempted to reach the Third Hokage so that he could inform him of what happened, but was interrupted by Obito, who tried to warp him away. Minato reacted in time to escape, but Obito pursued him. Because Obito was controlling Kurama's actions, defeating him was of prime importance in order to save Konoha. Minato initially struggled to successfully strike him but, after several failed attacks, he finally hit him with a Rasengan and branded him with a Flying Thunder God seal, allowing him to teleport to Obito whenever he wanted. He then used a Contract Seal on Obito to release Kurama from his control, forcing him to flee. Ultimately Minato never learned the truth about Obito's identity during the attack within his lifetime.

No longer being controlled, Kurama began retreating from the village, though it continued to attack the Konoha ninja that pursued it. As it prepared another Tailed Beast Ball, Minato once again arrived in time to stop it, this time by dropping Gamabunta on top of it. He had Gamabunta keep it restrained while he gathered the chakra needed to transport Kurama to Naruto and Kushina's location, the farthest from the village he could get. Kushina restrained it and erected a barrier so that it couldn't escape while they decided what to do. Already dying from Kurama's removal, Kushina offered to have it sealed back into her so it would die with her. Minato rejected this, believing Kurama's power would be needed in the future if and when Obito would struck again. Remembering Jiraiya's words about the "Child of the Prophecy", Minato decided that Naruto was that child and that he would someday save the world. To prepare Naruto for this, Minato would make Naruto Kurama's new jinchuriki so he could make use of its strength.

Because Kurama's chakra was too immense to seal into an infant, Minato used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to cut its chakra in half, sealing the Yin half in himself and the Yang half in his son. Realizing what they were planning, Kurama tried to kill Naruto, but Minato and Kushina used themselves as shields. After the impact Minato told his wife that it's his duty as a father to protect their child, but he was surprised that Kushina agreed with him since she is Naruto's mother. Once he heard his wife say that she sees how serious he is with his plan, Minato thanks her as this was the first argument that he won. Afterwards he summoned Gerotora, gave him the key to the seal so he would use on Naruto, and sent him to Jiraiya. Meanwhile, Kushina told Naruto how much his parents loved him, which Minato seconded by telling Naruto to listen to his mother. He sealed Kurama's Yang half into Naruto, weaving Kushina's chakra into the seal so that she could someday assist Naruto with learning to control Kurama. He mingled in some of his own chakra too, programming it to activate if ever the seal was about to break so that he could restore it.

Before he died 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. With that, his soul was consumed by the Shinigami. He died shortly afterwards, and was then given a funeral to honor his sacrifice to the village and the next generation. Ultimately, Minato's reign as the Hokage was rather short, as Tsunade noted that he "died too early".

Personality
Despite his physical resemblance to Naruto, Minato was more perceptive and collected than his son as a child; Jiraiya said that Minato was a shrewd person, not one to do something without a reason. He was well aware of the terror his reputation inspired in rival villages and would take advantage of it at times, but even then he would remain respectful to opponents and wouldn't pry in their personal affairs if he could help it. He also keeps other people's personal lives on a need-to-know basis and would only disclose personal information of others if he kept a situation absolutely required it. An example of this was when he tried his hardest to get Obito and Kakashi to get along but failed time and time again and disclosed the reason behind Kakashi's attitude: the disgraced suicide of his father to try to get Obito to put up with Kakashi's attitude for the better.

He was not the type to hold grudges, only feeling sorry for Obito despite the latter's role in his and Kushina's deaths. If anything, Minato blames himself for his death for several reasons; he couldn't save Obito from the fate that corrupted him, Konoha from the difficulties that arose after he was gone, and even his own son from the painful and difficult life he suffered as a orphaned jinchuriki.

Naruto is not without any of his father's personality traits: both have indomitable spirits and fierce ambitions that drive them through all their choices in life. Both are of unwavering loyalty to Konoha and their loved ones – friends and family – and that devotion inspires all those around them. Like Naruto, Minato had the tendency to create questionable techniques, although in Minato's case it was complicated names he came up with rather than the actual technique. This was seen when he named the "Scorch Release: Halo Gale Jet Black Arrow Style Zero", though afterwards he admitted it didn't sound very 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 honorifics. Though a well-intentioned man, he was not above his judgement being blinded by his idealistic tendencies, truly believing that the villagers would treat Naruto as a hero after becoming Kurama's jinchuriki, despite the Tailed Beast having wrecked havoc on the village, inspired immense terror in its citizens and killed numerous people. Something he regrets after learning about how much being a jinchuriki would make Naruto suffer more than he had hoped.

In Tsunade's Infinite Tsukuyomi dream, Minato still cares about the village and his family. But makes sure that Kushina is in Naruto's life along with him when she try to sacrifice herself. Minato even makes sure Naruto doesn't suffer too much because of the villagers hatred of him being a jinchuriki. However he doesn't want nothing bad to happen to Team Kakashi, mostly with Naruto and Sasuke. Minato also wants to help Naruto with his training, but is spleechless when Naruto says he is too busy being Hokage. When Naruto is a teenager, Minato makes sure Kushina doesn't think that Naruto is becoming a delinquent. Even telling her that Naruto is probably training with his friends. He also doesn't keep secrets from others such as when he told Itachi that Sasuke left the village. Minato also didn't want Kushina to give Yin Kurama to Naruto, because he didn't want her to die. However he agree with her plan in the end. After the ordeal with Pain, Minato told Fugaku that he is still trying to find both brothers. During the battle with Sasori, Minato fights with his son and after the battle he takes a picture with him.

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 "Fourth Hokage" (四代目火影) written vertically down the back, and closed on the front by a thin, orange rope.

During his time in the Ninja 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
Minato was one of the most powerful shinobi who ever lived, noted by Jiraiya to have a calibre that has yet to be met by anyone else. During the Third Shinobi War, flee-on-sight orders were given to enemy shinobi should they ever see him. He could also fight both A and Killer B together on multiple occasions, and was still praised highly by the duo years later. During the Kyuubi's attack on Konoha, it was only through Minato's actions that Obito and Kurama was defeated, the attack ended and the village saved from complete destruction. When the Invasion of Konoha happen years later, Minato was believed to be the only one who could have stopped Orochimaru, and for that his death was deeply regretted.

Chakra
Minato had large chakra reserves, enough to summon Gamabunta and teleport a tailed beast. His chakra control was very refined, evidenced by his creation of the Rasengan and his ability to weave hand seals with only one hand. Minato's fighting style revolved around speed to quickly take down enemies, so he often excluded traditional time-consuming methods such as hand seals.

Taijutsu
Minato was hailed as the fastest shinobi in history. While this recognition was due in large part to his space–time ninjutsu, Minato's natural speed was immense: with only the Body Flicker Technique he could engage an enemy or retrieve an ally before anyone realised what he was doing, often being mistaken for his Flying Thunder God Technique in sheer speed. Without using his Flying Thunder God Technique, Minato could cover the entirety of Konoha and summon Gamabunta before the Nine-Tails could complete a Tailed Beast Ball. In the anime, he could appear before sensors could detect his approach and easily defeat three shinobi with minimal effort. His reflexes allowed him react to and avoid techniques such as Kamui, Lightning Straight, and Evening Elephant.

Ninjutsu
He demonstrated skill and knowledge with barrier ninjutsu, and could use the Kage Bunshin No Technique. Minato also had sensory abilities, able to sense chakra signatures from great distances. For closer targets, he could detect everyone within an area by simply placing his finger on the ground.

Summoning Technique
Minato was taught by Jiraiya how to summon toads, and was one of the few people to earn the respect and cooperation of Gamabunta.

Rasenagan
After observing the nature of the Tailed Beast Ball, Minato spent three years developing one of his signature techniques: the Rasengan, the highest level of shape transformation. It requires no hand seals to create and, once formed, is self-sustaining, giving him an edge in combat. Although it requires very precise chakra control to use, Minato, as the Rasengan's creator, has mastered it; he can form it with either of his hands in almost no time. His regular Rasengan was the same size as Naruto's Big Ball Rasengan to as large as his Tailed Beast Mode.

Minato had intended to combine the Rasengan with his own chakra nature, but the task was too difficult to complete before his untimely death. But in the anime, during Tsunade's Infinite Tsukuyomi dream, Minato is shown using the Giant Rasengan.

Flying Thunder God Technique
Minato's other signature ability was the Flying Thunder God Technique, which he'd gained a mastery of superior to its creator, the Second Hokage. His exploits with this technique gained him the nickname "Konoha's Yellow Flash". Using the technique, he could instantly move to the location of anything marked with his special seal, whether a tool, place, or person that was branded. Minato could bring others with him, though he needed to provide the chakra for their transport. He did not need to accompany his targets he teleported, giving him a defensive option to teleport incoming projectiles away.

Shurikenjutsu
Minato had his own special brand of kunai for combat; triple-prong kunai enhanced for better offensive potential. As standard weapons, Minato would throw them at opponents or wield them as melee tools and could even wield a kunai in his mouth. Their main use came from the Flying Thunder God seals they were marked with, allowing him to teleport to wherever one of the kunai was thrown. He carried a large number of kunai in the field that he would scatter across a wide area so that he could move around quickly and with more options. Although his normal tactics with kunai did not require precision, Minato nevertheless had excellent aim and could coordinate his throws' timing and placement to allow him to perform complex maneuvers.

Fuinjutsu
Minato learned several fuinjutsu from Jiraiya and Kushina. The most notable of these was the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style he used to seal Kurama's Yang-half into Naruto, which would allow small amounts of Kurama's chakra to leak out and naturally mix with Naruto's own. Knowing the seal would slowly weaken over time, Minato created a key that could accelerate or reverse this process. As an extra precaution, he mixed Kushina's and his own chakra into the seal so that, when certain conditions were met, they could help Naruto with his control of the Nine-Tails' power, as well as allow them to see their son after they were dead.

Other fuinjutsu techniques that Minato could perform included the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, which he had enough familiarity with to know it couldn't be used to seal all of the Nine-Tails' chakra. With the Contract Seal, he could remove an opponent's control over any creatures they summoned. He also knew how to transfer a tailed beast from one jinchuriki to another.

Jinchuriki Transformations
Minato became the jinchuriki of Yin Kurama shortly before his death, though he had no chance to make use of it until after he was reincarnated. Unlike most tailed beasts, Yin Kurama offered no resistance to cooperating with Minato, granting him immediate access to Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, which Naruto and his Yang-half were impressed by. Minato's form was slightly darker with different markings than Naruto's but otherwise identical in appearance and abilities; he can use chakra arms, enter Tailed Beast Mode, create Tailed Beast Balls, and perform stronger versions of his usual techniques. Minato later transferred his half of Kurama to Naruto, thus losing access to its power.

Nature Transformation
Minato was also proficient in the nature transformations of Fire, Wind, Lightning, along with Yin and Yang Release.

Senjutsu
Minato's large chakra reserves enabled him to learn senjutsu of Mount Myoboku, enhancing his techniques and physical parameters by entering Sage Mode. He could perfectly balance the natural energy with his chakra, displaying only the orange pigmentation around his eyes — the true marking of a Sage. By his own admission, Minato's skill in senjutsu is limited and he rarely uses it, since it forces him to deviate from his normally fast approach to the time-consuming method of gathering natural energy. He is shown entering Sage Mode without preparation, but cannot maintain it for long.

Intelligence
Minato was very keen-minded, having the highest scores in the history of the Ninja Academy. Even at a young age, only he of all the ninja sent to rescue Kushina, noticed the trail she left behind to mark her kidnappers' path. In combat, he could correctly deduce the basic mechanics behind a technique after seeing it only once, and from there plan around its strengths and weaknesses to his or his allies' advantage. With his observational skills he could determine an opponent's plans and motivations based on only limited evidence. After he had finished analysing, Minato would strike quickly and with precision, attacking vulnerabilities at the most opportune moments.

As Hokage, Minato prepared for threats facing Konoha by placing a network of marked locations around the village's outskirts for him to teleport to, including at least two safe houses. He also passed on his space–time ninjutsu onto the Hokage Guard Platoon.

Invasion of Pain Arc
During his fight with Pain, Naruto is nearly tempted by the Nine-Tails to remove its seal. This activates the safeguard Minato placed on the seal, causing his imprint to appear within Naruto's subconscious and stop him. Minato says that he isn't happy to see the Nine-Tails again, but that at the same time admits that its actions have allowed him to see his son. Naruto picks up on this and, having never known his parents' identities, is overjoyed to meet his father. The Nine-Tails keeps threatening to kill Minato while they talk, so he and Naruto relocate.

Naruto is angry that his own father would seal the Nine-Tails within him and punches Minato out of frustration. He quickly gets over it, noting that, as the son of the Fourth Hokage, he can handle it. Minato's time with Naruto is limited so he does a quick run down of the things he has already observed through Naruto: that Pain has destroyed Konoha and killed Jiraiya. Despite what he's done, Minato suggests that Pain is only a symptom of the shinobi system and that he's being taken advantage of by Tobi. Naruto is overwhelmed, unsure if he can forgive Pain or do anything to stop the the cycle of hatred that produced him, but Minato responds that he has faith in Naruto. He restores the Nine-Tails' seal before disappearing.

Chikara Arc
In the anime, when Naruto nearly loses control after his clone absorbs the Nine-Tails' chakra, Minato appears before him again to restore the seal. Once again, Minato voices his confidence in his son and his ability to overcome any adversity.

Fourth Shinobi War Arc
At the request of Uchiha Sasuke, Orochimaru releases the souls of the first four Hokage from the stomach of the Shinigami so that he can reincarnate them. After taking in their surroundings, the First and Second Hokage are excited to meet Minato, the Fourth, and take him as a sign of the village's prosperity. Minato says he does not know since he died before the Third Hokage did. While Sasuke talks to the First Hokage, Minato detects Naruto's chakra and is glad to sense he has gained full control of the Nine-Tails.

From listening to the four Hokage, Sasuke decides to side against Tobi and Madara Uchiha in the ongoing Fourth Shinobi War. The Hokage are allowed to help as well, and they set out for the site of the Allied Shinobi Forces' battle with the Ten-Tails. Minato, eager to see Naruto, arrives first, just in time to warp away the Ten-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball, saving Naruto and the Allies. He introduces himself to Haruno Sakura and asks if she is Naruto's girlfriend. Sakura becomes angry when Naruto doesn't deny it, reminding Minato a little bit of Kushina. When the other Hokage arrive they jointly erect a barrier to confine the Ten-Tails.

Sometime later, Tobi appears above the Ten-Tails and begins reviving Madara, which the Alliance focuses its efforts on preventing. Minato cannot leave his position or the barrier will fall, so he sends a shadow clone to help. Because Tobi is still branded with the Flying Thunder God seal from their last encounter, the shadow clone is able to teleport to him and strike him down. It is only after he attacks that he realizes Tobi is his old student, Uchiha Obito. The attack ends up coming too late and Obito seals the Ten-Tails into himself, becoming its jinchuriki. After Obito destroys the barrier, the First and Second engage him to determine his new abilities, leaving Minato to get everyone else to a safe distance.

Minato joins the offensive against Obito. He can no longer teleport directly to Obito because the Flying Thunder God seal has disappeared from his body, so he must engage him directly. Just before they clash Obito, having until now struggled to control the Ten-Tails' power, finally masters it and strikes at Minato. He severs Minato's right arm and plants a Truth-Seeking Ball on him, which the Second Hokage removes before it detonates. Minato, the Second, Naruto, and Sasuke coordinate their efforts to attack Obito with Flying Thunder God Mutually Instantaneous Revolving Technique, but Obito emerges without damage. What's more, Minato's arm has not regenerated, indicating that Obito's Truth-Seeking Balls can nullify the advantages of the Impure World Reincarnation.

Obito traps the Alliance in his own barrier and prepares to destroy them all with a barrage of Tailed Beast Balls. With little time to act, Naruto forms a plan: he and Minato link their respective Kurama's chakra – which networks in all of the Allied forces that Naruto has shared its chakra with – and lets Minato teleport all of them out of the barrier. Minato is very impressed by Naruto's quick-thinking and says he wishes he had more of a chance time to talk to him. Naruto explains there's no need as he's already met Kushina and heard everything. Minato is moved to tears with pride.

Having learned that Obito, despite all his new powers, is weak to senjutsu, Minato and Naruto enter Sage Mode to prepare for an assault. They both enter Tailed Beast Mode and attack with a shared Rasengan, breaking Obito's defence and forcing him to manifest the Ten-Tails' tree form. They evade the tree's roots, but Minato's chakra levels are too depleted from all the techniques he has been performing. He is forced to keep his distance and watch as Naruto leads the Allied Shinobi against Obito. When the Alliance starts to strip the tailed beasts from Obito's body, Minato helps Naruto pull out the fragments of Kurama's chakra Obito has taken, and ultimately they succeed.

Obito is unable to move after his defeat and Kakashi moves in to kill him. Minato stops him, having sensed Obito's change of heart while he was removing Kurama's chakra. While Naruto and the Allies leave to confront Madara, Minato and Kakashi stay with Obito. Obito reflects on his actions and decides he has done terrible things, which he wants to make amends for by using the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique to revive those he's killed. While he is forming the hand seals, Black Zetsu emerges from the ground and takes control of his body. Minato and Kakashi are confused, so Obito explains he has been forced to revive Madara instead. Black Zetsu also tries to take Obito's Rinnegan to deliver to Madara. Minato and Kakashi move to stop it, but can't do anything without harming Obito. Before Black Zetsu assumes full control of his body, Obito pleads with Minato and Kakashi to destroy the Rinnegan at any cost.

Right before Minato can attack, Yin-Kurama alerts him to Naruto's loss of Yang-Kurama. He is soon brought to Minato's side, with Sakura performing emergency life support and Gaara explaining that the only chance of saving Naruto's life is if he is given Yin-Kurama. Just as Minato starts the transfer, Black Zetsu intercepts him and takes Yin-Kurama for itself. Madara arrives immediately afterwards, now the Ten-Tails' new jinchuriki and intent on taking Obito's Rinnegan. Minato enters Sage Mode and attacks him alongside Kakashi, but they are easily repelled and Minato loses his other arm. Before Madara can take what he wants, Obito reasserts control of his body and, with some help from Kakashi, escapes with Naruto and Sakura using Kamui.

Maito Gai arrives, ready to give his life to defeat Madara. With his energy and arms gone, Minato can do very little to help directly, but he can at least give Guy an opening. He instructs Rock Lee to throw one of his Flying Thunder God Kunai at Madara's Truth-Seeking Balls, which Minato teleports to in order to catch several and escape with them, allowing Guy to initiate his assault. Minato, meanwhile, teleports to the Hokage Monument where he remains with the inert Truth Seeking Balls. He later witnesses the others' failure when the Infinite Tsukuyomi is cast and Konoha's villagers are entwined by the God: Nativity of a World of Trees. He attempts to cut some people from the tree, but has no success as another branch simply forms and imprisons them again.

Minato returns to the battlefield and reunites with the other Hokage, the only ones unaffected by the Infinite Tsukuyomi. As they try to figure out what they can do to help, the four Hokage are met by the spirit of the Sage of the Six Paths, who recruits their help. Combining efforts with the spirits of the other deceased Kage, they summon Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, Sakura, Madara, and the tailed beasts back from Kaguya's dimension. Minato congratulates Naruto on finally ending the war and wishes him a happy seventeenth birthday. Happy with his son's prospects for the future, Minato and the other Kage are returned to the afterlife by the Sage of the Six Paths.

Naruto Shippuuden movie 4
Twenty years in the past, Minato was assigned a secret mission alongside Shibi Aburame and Choza Akimichi to intervene in the crisis in Roran, 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 saved 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, Sara 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 Ryumyaku, 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 Ryumyaku 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 Superme 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 out everyone's memory so it wouldn't affect the future.

Naruto Shippuuden movie 6
In the alternate timeline, Minato and Kushina have a son named Menma who is the parallel version of Naruto. Sometime after Menma was born, the Black Nine-Tails was removed from Kushina and sealed within her child. Also in this timeline, Kushina is alive alongside Minato, continuing to serve Konohagakure alongside her husband as ninja while also being able to enjoy being parents, by raising their son in a loving and stable lifestyle. However unknown to the couple, Menma later disappears, replaced by Naruto and the Sakura of the normal timeline who arrived in this world. When Kushina and Minato returned to the village after completing a mission, it shocked Naruto by their living presence.

While Naruto decides to continue the act of being Menma to not raise problems, he refuses to get close to the parallel parents, viewing them as nothing but fakes. Kushina however refuses to let her son act so disrespectful, quickly intimidating Naruto into joining dinner. Later, during a mission to retrieve the Red Moon Scroll left by Jiraiya, Minato tries to convince the toads that they are Konoha shinobi, but Gamabunta doesn't listen. However Kushina without hesitation threw herself in the way to protect Naruto from an attack by the guarding Gamabunta. Minato then rescues Kushina from falling, and uses his Flying Thunder God technique to get to the scroll. Once Minato dispels the seal tag, the toads disappear and he gets the scroll.

As Sakura heals Kushina, Naruto still attempts to brush off his parents, by tellig him that he rather be alone. This causes Minato to slap Naruto in the face. He also tells Naruto no matter what he does, they will always try to save him as that's what they naturally tend to do as parents. Minato also tells him that he was thinking of making him a jonin. However once Kushina wakes up, Minato tells her that he already scolded their son. While annoyed at Naruto's reckless actions, she quickly showed how much she truly cared for her son's wellbeing with a tearful hug, finally making Naruto let go of trying to be away from them and let's them be in his life. The following night, Naruto celebrated Kushina's birthday with joy.

Later, a masked man appeared with the desire to obtain the Red Moon Scroll. Showing his tremendous power, the masked man quickly defeated Minato and several other Konoha-nin. When Sakura was kidnapped, Naruto voiced his desire to save her. Minato and Kushina however refused to let Naruto go after Sakura, fearing too much that he would die against the masked man. As Naruto realized the difference between this world and his true parents, that the couple here were more overprotective parents than trusting their child, Naruto made his true identity known before going after Sakura.

Soon after, Kushina and Minato went to help Naruto, still viewing him as an ally. Ultimately, the masked man was defeated and revealed to be the real Menma corrupted by Black Kurama's malice. As Menma was freed and returned to normal, Minato and Kushina quickly rushed to check on their child. While Naruto and Sakura said their goodbyes before they were returned to their own world as the technique that bound them to this world was broken.

Naruto Shippuuden movie 7
There is a genjutsu in a glowing lake of a cave that shuts intruders away in a world of memories. The person's memories will appear on the moon. Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, Sai and Shikamaru fell into the genjutsu when they dive into the lake. When the team wakes up from their dream and continues to move to the other surface of the lake, Minato and Kushina can be seen together in one of the moon.

Boruto movie
Minato appears in two photographs, one at the Hokage office and then in his son's house. He is mentioned by Boruto when he tells his mother that he is jealous because Naruto was an orphan due to Minato's death, which made him not learn a father-son relationship at all. Later on Minato is also mention by Naruto when he looks at Minato's photo, and asks his father what should he do with his stained relationship with Boruto. Minato is lastly seen in a flashback by Naruto when he helps Boruto make the Parent & Child Rassengan during the battle against Momoshiki.

Legacy
After Minato died, the Third Hokage reported to the villagers that Minato's last request was for Naruto be regarded as a hero. However only a few were able to separate their hatred of Kurama from Naruto, but much of the citizens did not therefore the Third to forbid anyone from speaking of Kurama, because he hoped 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 did his best to give Naruto a comfortable life. For years Naruto did not know his parents' identities, and neither did most of Konoha.

Even when he was not aware of his relation to Minato, Naruto still greatly admired him, by considering him a hero who gave his life for the village and becoming overjoyed whenever their similarities were remarked upon. Before Naruto left Konoha to begin his two year training with Jiraiya, he looked at the Fourth Hokage's face on the Hokage Monument and asked him to look after him. After learning that Minato was his father, Naruto took pride in it and felt it was his responsibility to makes his parents' sacrifices worth it.

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 that villagers would regret his death whenever tragedy struck the village. Because Minato was never able to tell anyone what happened during the kyuubi's attack, the villagers came to their own conclusions and the Uchiha were suspected of the act, by creating ill-will that would culminate in the Uchiha Clan Massacre. Jiraiya recognized that Minato would not have sealed Kurama into his own son unless he had a good reason and that Minato intended for Naruto to gain control of Kurama, but he could never conclude why.

Posthumously, he and Kushina became the late grandparents of Naruto and Hinata's children, Boruto and Himawari. His way of understanding the life of a Hokage was passed down to his granddaughter.

Video Games
Namikaze Minato is a playable character in the following 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".
 * Naruto Shinobi Collection
 * Naruto Shinobi Collection Shippu Ranbu
 * Naruto Shippuuden Geekito Ninja Taisen! Special
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ninja Destiny 3
 * Naruto Shipuuden Ultimate Ninja 4
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja 5
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Heroes 3
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Impact
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 2
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 3
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations
 * Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution
 * Naruto Ultimate Ninja 3

Uzumaki Naruto
When he finally saw his son again for the first time in years, Minato showed hatred at Kurama but was happy to see Naruto, which confused him. But once they spoke in a private arena, Naruto punched Minato in the stomach. While crying Naruto was angry at Minato after learning of their relationship, and that it was his own father who sealed Kurama inside of him. He even told Minato that he had a horrible life as a jinchuriki including that he only had Iruka and Hiruzen in his life. However once Minato apologized to him for putting this burden on him, Naruto quickly got over his anger and expressed pride in being the Fourth Hokage's son. Before departing he told Naruto the reason why he made him a jinchuriki and to find the answer for bringing peace. Minato then showed faith in Naruto by telling him that he believes in him, before fading away he fixed the seal one last time and disappear into the afterlife.

On his way to the Fourth Shinobi War, Naruto defended his parents with pride when the Fourth Raikage A insulted Minato on how he failed as the "Child of the Prophecy" upon his death. Naruto also explained to A that despite the fact his parents died shortly after he was born, their love and faith in him made him strong. Naruto would later fight alongside his reincarnated father against the Ten-Tails during the war where Minato not only became proud of how far his son had come as a shinobi, but was also reminded so much of how he was fighting alongside Kushina, moving him to tears of joy. After Kaguya's defeat, Minato and the spirits of the other late Kage summoned back Naruto's team, the tailed beasts, and an unconscious Madara from the princess's dimension. Before departing, Minato had one final conversation with Naruto, congratulating him for finally ending the war and wished him a happy birthday, with Naruto promising to do his best to follow the teachings that Minato and Kushina left him.

Uchiha Obito
Uchiha Obito was Minato's student become Minato became the Fourth Hokage. Obito always respected and admired Minato. Whereas Minato cared a lot for Obito, and admired that they share the same dream goal. Minato was the one who told Obito about Kakashi's father committing suicide, and why Kakashi cares about the rules. He then encourage Obito to get along with Kakashi for his sake. It was during that same mission to destroy the Kanabi Bride that Minato expressed sadness when it seemed that Obito died during the third war. After Rin's death, Obito blamed Minato for not protecting his students from suffering tragic ends and his admiration turned into hate. This is shown when he took the newborn Naruto hostage to force Minato away from Kushina, and then fought his former teacher. During the fourth war, Minato was shocked when he discovered that the masked man responsible for his and Kushina's deaths, as well Kurama's attack on Konoha and starting the war, was actually Obito. When asked why he was doing the things he was doing, Obito told Minato that it was to late for lectures because it was Minato's fault for not saving his own students and family when they needed him the most, and condemned him as a failed Hokage. Minato knows that Obito is speaking the truth but rather than feeling anger at him, Minato understood the reason behind Obito's actions and stopped Kakashi from killing him after being defeated by Naruto and Sasuke. Minato would feel more grateful for Obito's change of heart when he helped save Naruto from dying.

Knownable Relatives

 * Uzumaki Kushina (Wife/dead)
 * Uzumaki Naruto (Son)
 * Hyuga Hinata (True Counterpart & Daughter In law)
 * Uzumaki Boruto (Grandson)
 * Uzumaki Himawari (Granddaughter)
 * Jiraiya (Sensei/dead)
 * Sarutobi Biwako (Friend/dead)
 * Sarutobi Hiruzen (friend & precessor/dead)
 * Tsunade (Succesor)
 * Hatake Kakashi (Student)
 * Nohara Rin (Student/dead)
 * Uchiha Obito (Student/dead)

Trivia
According to the databook(s): There are several differences between his character in the current timeline and in Tsunade's Infinite Tsukuyomi dream: Minato shares many simliarities to Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage. Minato also shares similarities with Bardock from Dragon Balll Z. Minato also shares similarities with Yugi Muto from '''Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters'''. Minato also shares some similarities with Isshin Kurosaki from Bleach. Minato shares a ton of similarities with his daughter in law, Hyuga Hinata.
 * The name "Minato" means "harbor" (港) and his surname "Namikaze" means "waves and wind" (波風).
 * Even before is revealed to be Naruto's father, some fans already predicted this to be true as both Naruto and Minato share the same hair color.
 * The first Hokage to be mentioned dead in the series.
 * In the cover of chapter 178, the colour on Minato's cloak were inverted.
 * Minato's silhouette can be faintly seen in the background of the Naruto Shippuden 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 ranked ninth in the sixth character popularity poll and seventh in the seventh poll.
 * In the Hidden Leaf Village Grand Sports Festival!, Minato suddenly appears in the hallway of the stadium when Naruto is running to the bathroom. All of these appearances in this special were only for the comical effect.
 * In Naruto Shippuuden movie 4, Minato's chakra appears to be a light green cooler, as opposed to the normal blue.
 * In the English version, his nickname is the "Yellow Flash of the Leaf".
 * During the incident when Kushina was kidnapped, Minato was the only rescuer who noticed that she had been leaving a trail of red hair. Kushina stated that her red hair had brought her to Minato, the person of her destiny and it has became her own "red thread of fate".
 * Studio Pierrot's Settei sheets of Minato show that he was 147 cm when he saved Kushina from Kumogakure.
 * Due to the fact that Minato is dead, his grandson Uzumaki Boruto, refers to him as Hokage Ojichan, just like how Naruto did with Hiruzen back then.
 * His birthday was January 25, & his bloodtype was B.
 * Minato's hobby was reading, but Jiraiya's novels were his favorite.
 * Minato wished to fight Jiraiya.
 * Minato's favorite food was Kushina's homemade cooking.
 * Minato completed 847 official missions in total: 122 D-rank, 147 C-rank, 216 B-rank, 323 A-rank, 39 S-rank.
 * Minato's favorite phrase was "The fire's shadow illuminates the village" (火の影は里を照らす).
 * Minato ranked ninth in the sixth Naruto character popularity poll and seventh in the seventh poll.
 * In Naruto Shippuden Movie 4, Minato's chakra appears to be a light green color, as opposed to the normal blue.
 * In the 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.
 * He shares the same blood type as his wife and son.
 * In the current timeline, Minato sealed Yin Kurama into him and Yang Kurama into Naruto. However in Tsunade's Infinite Tsukuyomi dream, he seals Yin Kurama into Kushina and Yang Kurama into Naruto.
 * In the current timeline, Minato's advisor was Hiruzen when he had became Hokage. However Tsunade's Infinite Tsukuyomi dream, Hiruzen lived up to old age to still be Minato's advisor.
 * In the current timeline, Minato's right hand man in the Anbu was Kakashi. However Tsunade's Infinite Tsukuyomi dream, it is Itachi who is Minato's right hand man in the Anbu.
 * In the current timeline, Minato never met Sasuke when he was an infant. However in Tsunade's Infinite Tsukuyomi dream, he meets Sasuke during his and Naruto's Ninja Academy entrance ceremony.
 * In the current timeline, Minato died way before the start of Part I. However Tsunade's Infinite Tsukuyomi dream, Minato never died before the start of Part I. Therefore he got to live with Kushina to happily raise Naruto from his childhood all the way up to the start of Part II.
 * In the current timeline, Iruka saves Naruto from getting kill by a huge shuriken. However in Tsunade's Infinite Tsukuyomi dream, Minato saves Naruto from drowning in a river.
 * In the current timeline, Naruto tells his fears and problems to Iruka. However in Tsunade's Infinite Tsukuyomi dream, it is Minato who Naruto tells his fears and problems to.
 * In the current timeline, it was Jiraiya who taught Naruto the Rasengan and Big Ball Rasengan. However in Tsunade's Infinite Tsukuyomi dream, it is Minato who teaches Naruto the Rasengan and Big Ball Rasengan.
 * In the current timeline, Sasuke and Naruto's first deadly fight was stopped by Kakashi. However in Tsunade's Infinite Tsukuyomi dream, it was Minato who stopped Sasuke and Naruto from killing each other.
 * In the current timeline, Hiruzen had so much paper work that he couldn't help Naruto through out his pre-teen era. However in Tsunade Infinite Tsukuyomi dream, It is Minato who has this problem when Naruto admits it to him when he is about to go on his two year training trip with Jiraiya.
 * In the current timeline, Minato performed the Four Red Yang Formation technique with the previous three Hokage. However in Tsunade Infinite Tsukuyomi dream, Minato performs this technique with Kushina, Hiruzen, and Tsunade.
 * In the current timeline, Minato performed the Parent and Child Tail Beast Mode combo with Naruto. However in Tsunade's Infinite Tsukuyomi dream, Naruto does this combo with Kushina instead.
 * In the current timeline, Minato fights alongside Naruto as a reincarnated shinobi. However in Tsunade's Infinite Tsukuyomi dream, he fights alongside Naruto while being alive.
 * In the current timeline, Tsunade is Minato's successor as Hokage. However in Tsunade's Infinite Tsukuyomi dream, it is Dan who is Minato's successor.
 * They both were the fourth Kage of their village.
 * They both were married to a woman.
 * Their wife's blood type was pass down to their child.
 * Both entrust the safety of the village to their son.
 * Both were the strongest Kage during their lifetime.
 * Both were the strongest in their lifetime.
 * Both have a team that they leaded.
 * Both left the fate of the universe to their sons.
 * Both married somone that is kind to them. (For Minato : he marry Kushina. Whereas for Bardock : he marry Gine)
 * Both die on the day that their son is born. (For Minato : during Kurama's attack on Konoha. Whereas for Bardock : planet Vegets's destruction)
 * Both resemble their sons. (For Minato : Naruto. Whereas for Bardock : Goku)
 * Both fought the most powerful villain. (For Minato : Obito. Whereas for Bardock : Frieza)
 * Both have a technique that their son inherits from them. (For Minato : Rasengan. Whereas for Bardock : Super Saiyan)
 * Both would not use violence if they are involved in a fight.
 * Both have the same personality. (Both : sweet, kind, quiet, caring and honest)
 * Both of their love interest are their childhood best friends. (For Minato : Kushina. Whereas for Yugi : Tea)
 * Both of them have a different personality in them. (For Minato : It used to be Yin Kurama. Whereas for Yugi : Yami Yugi)
 * Both risked their life to protect someone precious to them. (For Minato : Uzumaki Naruto. Whereas for Yugi : Joey Wheeler)
 * Both become best friends to someone that loves fighting. (For Minato : Kushina. Whereas for Yugi : Joey Wheeler)
 * Both of them have a Yin-Yang Personality within them. (For Minato : It use to be Yin Kurama. Whereas for Yugi : Yami Yugi)
 * Both are seen in ghost form by someone that looks like them. (For Minato : Naruto. Whereas for Yugi : Yami Yugi)
 * Both were shy when they met their future love Interest. (For Minato : Kushina. Whereas for Yugi : Tea)
 * Both of them have a nickname that they are known for. (For Minato : The Yellow Flash. Whereas for Yugi : King of Duelist)
 * Both of their other personality is sealed within someone. (For Minato : his son Naruto. Whereas for Yugi : The Millieum Puzzle)
 * Both have a enemy that hates them, and wants to surpass them. (For Minato : A. Whereas for Yugi : Kaiba)
 * Both were the strongest in their life time.
 * Both of their background on how they met their late wife is reveal.
 * Both of them witness their sons being born.
 * Both try to help out their wifes, before their wifes are kill.
 * Both feel guilty for their wifes death.
 * Both see that their sons are trying not to be a burnen to anyone.
 * Both try their hardest in ghost form to see how their sons are doing without their help.
 * Both are seen in ghost form by their son for the first time.
 * Both of them went through the hardships in life to protect their children.
 * Both are the father to the main character. (For Minato : Naruto. Whereas for Isshin : Ichigo)
 * Both lost their wife to a demon. (For Minato : losing Kushina to Kurama. Whereas for Isshin : losing Masaki to Grand Fisher)
 * Both are voiced by Toshiyuki Morikawa. The only difference is Minato is voiced by Tony Oliver in English. Whereas Isshin is voiced by Patrick Seitz.
 * Both them fell in love during their childhood.
 * Both of them are quiet, and shy.
 * Both of them enter the Ninja Academy at a young age.
 * Both would usually spy on their love interest, without them knowing.
 * Both would usually see their love interest being bullied by other kids.
 * Both help their love interest regain their strength, and confidence.
 * Both helped their love interest to see that they are not alone.
 * Both of them found out that their love interest is an orphan.
 * Both of their confessed their love to their love interest, and would marry them once they reach adulthood. (For Minato : Kushina. Whereas for Hinata : Naruto)
 * Both of them use a powerful technique to protect their Love interest, from someone that is evil. (For Minato : using the dead demon seal to protect Kushina from Kurama. Whereas for Hinata : using the Eight Trigrams Twin Lion Combo to protect Naruto from Pain)

Voice Actors

 * Japanese : Toshiyuki Morikawa (2009 – Present), Miyu Irino (Child)
 * English : Tony Oliver (2013 – Present)

All information on Namikaze Minato is from http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Minato_Namikaze