Highlights
- Minato Namikaze was highly skilled and achieved many impressive feats as a shinobi, earning him the title of the "Child of Prophecy."
- Compared to his predecessors, Minato would have been better at balancing the light and dark aspects of being Hokage.
- Minato's dedication and work ethic, along with his mastery of various techniques, made him an ideal Hokage who could have surpassed his predecessors.
Widely regarded as one of the most gifted shinobi of his era in Naruto, Minato Namikaze was revered and feared the world over as Konoha's Yellow Flash after his exploits in the Third Shinobi World War. A student of the Sannin Jiraiya, Minato harbored dreams of leading his village as the Hokage — just like his son would later on in the series. On becoming a jonin commander, Minato led a three-man squad where he mentored Kakashi Hatake, Obito Uchiha, and Rin Nohara.
Once the Third Hokage chose to retire from his post, Minato was an obvious candidate to replace him, and he was appointed the Fourth Hokage after the war in Naruto. Despite how young he was, Minato's intelligence, wisdom, and natural talent as a shinobi, allowed him to rise to the challenges of his new rank. Unfortunately, his reign was cut short by the Nine-Tails' attack on Konohagakure, on the same day as the birth of his son. Considering how brief his reign was, as well as his skills as a ninja and a leader, could Minato have surpassed his predecessors in the role of Hokage if he had been given more time?
Naruto Characters That Are Better In The Anime
While differences between the anime and manga may be subtle, these characters are the ones that shine brighter in the former.
There's No Doubt That Minato Was Incredibly Skilled
Tales of Minato's achievements were aplenty in the lead up to his formal introduction in the Pain's Assault Arc, when he was revealed to be Naruto's father. It was stated that he attained the highest test scores in the history of Konohagaure's Academy, with Itachi Uchiha coming in second-best several years later. Minato's innate aptitude as a shinobi was recognized quite early on by his mentor Jiraiya, who began to consider him as the "Child of Prophecy" that would one day save the shinobi world.
Seen as the sort of genius who only appeared once in a generation, Minato had many impressive feats to his name early on in his career as a shinobi. One such instance came when he single-handedly thwarted a kidnapping plot hatched by a cohort of Kumogakure ninja, who were attempting to capture Kushina Uzumaki, the jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails.
Further down the line, his actions during the Battle of Kannabi Bridge in the Third Shinobi World War, along with his conflicts against A and Killer B of Kumogakure, earned him a fearsome reputation, to the point where most other hidden villages ordered their troops to flee on sight whenever he entered the fray. All these achievements culminated in his appointment as Hokage, fulfilling a childhood dream that he had been working diligently towards.
Minato Would've Been Better At Balancing The Light & Dark
Minato's predecessor Hiruzen Sarutobi held a moderate stance on his role as Hokage, but this also proved to be a major reason behind his many failures in this post. During his reign, many individuals took advantage of Hiruzen's kindness and compassion, with the worst offenders among them being Danzo Shimura and Orochimaru. In essence, Hiruzen struggled with the harsher side of being Hokage and was not quick to take tough decisions on his own. This lenience led to tragedies such as Orochimaru's human experimentation and the Uchiha clan downfall.
By contrast, the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju was a divisive figure to some in the village, with the Uchiha clan having held a particularly high level of animosity towards him. Although Tobirama was quite understanding of the Uchiha's plight, his brutally honest nature, as well as the ruthless streak in his personality led him to come into conflict with some factions of the village, despite the many contributions he made to Konohagakure's infrastructure. This was a stark contrast to his brother Hashirama, the First Hokage, who was idealistic and forgiving to a fault, which often forced Tobirama to step in and help him see reason.
Naruto: 5 Worst Villages To Live In, Ranked
Many hidden villages have endured tragic pasts, but these ones have some of the most hostile environments of them all.
During his life, Minato proved himself to be a capable shinobi whose pure heart, kindness, and sense of honor won over many allies and opponents. That being said, he was also not one to shy away from the harsher aspects of being a ninja, having seen war and conflict from an early age. In spite of this, Minato always stood firm in his morals and tried to do the right thing for the good of the village.
Compared to Hiruzen, Minato may have been more willing to take on some of the less savory aspects of running a hidden village, but his methods might have also been less extreme than Tobirama's. With this in mind, it may not have been hard to imagine Minato as being able to moderate between the darker and lighter aspects of being Hokage, to a better extent than his predecessors.
Minato's Dedication & Work Ethic Made Him An Ideal Hokage
In terms of skill sets, Minato specialized in space-time ninjutsu and sealing techniques. He mastered and improved the Second Hokage's Flying Thunder God Technique and made it the basis of his fighting style. Additionally, Minato was well-versed in some of the Uzumaki clan's most coveted sealing techniques, and he was also the inventor of the Rasengan.
His contributions to the advancement of ninjutsu were immense in this regard, especially when considering how Minato's son, Naruto, went on to use the Rasengan as the foundation of his own arsenal. In addition, Minato was also able to enter Sage Mode and even mastered Nine-Tails Chakra Mode with little training during the Fourth Shinobi World War, which offers further evidence of how quickly he was able to grasp techniques and make them his own.
Constantly dedicated to his own development as a shinobi in every dimension, Minato set standards that were extremely difficult to match for anyone. Since he passed away at the young age of 24, it would not have been much of a stretch to say that he may have reached unparalleled heights if his tenure as Hokage had lasted longer. Hence, there is every indication that Minato would have strived to excel as Konohagakure's leader, just as he did in every other facet of his journey as a shinobi, and he may have even outdone his predecessors with his vast range of talents and keen intellect.
Naruto is available to stream on Crunchyroll.
