Highlights
- Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, is considered to be on par with Hashirama in terms of prodigious talent and battle intellect.
- Minato surpasses Hashirama in the usage of sealing jutsu and is skilled at infusing natural energy for Sage Mode.
- Minato is significantly faster than Hashirama and possesses near-unlimited chakra due to being the Jinchuriki of the Yang-half of Kurama. Both ninjas are highly respected in their own right.
Minato Namikaze was the Fourth Hokage of Konoha and one of the shinobi believed to be generational by quite a lot. In fact, some even held Minato in the highest regard, believing that no shinobi ever could match him while others, including quite a lot of fans, believe that Hashirama was superior to him.
In the recent Minato one shot, Kishimoto, the author of the series made it quite clear that Minato was a shinobi of the same caliber as Hashirama, even when he was just a teen. While Hashirama certainly is better in some ways, there are quite a few things that Minato rivals Hashirama in and some others that he does better than him.
6 A Prodigy
When it comes to prodigal talent that a shinobi is born with, few can rival Minato Namikaze. He was born with immense talent, such that Jiraiya didn't hesitate to call him a genius from the very beginning. This is one of the major reasons why he ended up becoming Hokage at a very young age and he even graduated from the Academy with the highest scores.
Minato's excellence can only be rivaled by a handful of others and certainly Hashirama is one of them, being a Shinobi who grew up on the battlefield fighting wars and learning how to survive the best he could.
5 Similar Battle Intellect
Both Hashirama and Minato possessed similar battle intellect. They are both considered to be incredibly shrewd ninjas, even though their physical appearance might be misleading. Kishimoto himself confirmed that Minato was an incredible ninja even when he was a teen and far from his peak years.
He was able to keep Kurama's seal intact by placing his own on top and this was enough to tell the beast that Minato certainly rivaled Hashirama in terms of battle intellect and prowess. Sadly, fans never got to see how strong Minato could have gotten if he was allowed to live, however, even in the short life he lived, he certainly rivaled Hashirama in this aspect.
4 Better At Sealing Jutsu
When it comes to Sealing Jutsu, Minato is, by far, the better user of this ability of the two. He learned the vast majority of the secrets of the Uzumaki, thanks to Kushina, who had learned all the major seals at a very young age.
Minato was so skilled that even Kurama was surprised by the level of power that he possessed. Furthermore, Minato then went on to learn even more seals and incorporated some with his Flying Raijin as well. When it comes to Sealing Jutsu, Hashirama certainly cannot rival him.
3 Good At The Usage Of Sage Mode
Although Hashirama was certainly better at using Sage mode, Minato certainly did not lack any skill in this regard either. It is quite strange that Minato mentions that he isn't good at using this ability, however, he can easily infuse natural energy with his own, as indicated by the perfect orange pigment he gains around his eyes. Minato can also maintain this power for quite a long time, as seen in the Fourth Great Ninja War.
The only conclusion one can come to is that Minato does not like relying on it because it takes a few seconds to infuse natural energy and, for him, a ninja who relies purely on speed, a few seconds is quite a lot. When it comes to the usage of this power, however, Minato is certainly great, if not just as good as Hashirama.
2 Faster Than Hashirama
In the department of speed, Minato certainly surpasses Hashirama by far. He is the fastest Shinobi of his generation, even among all those who came before him.
Even Tobirama, who created the Flying Raijin, couldn't compete with Minato. His speed is absolutely immense and he used to mark the battlefield before the opponent even knew what happened. Hashirama might be a tank, however, he is very slow in comparison to Minato and this is certainly an area where he paled in comparison to the legendary 4th Hokage.
1 Near-Unlimited Chakra
Hashirama is a member of to Senju clan and certainly a character with an immense chakra pool. On his own, Minato's chakra certainly does not come close to that of Hashirama. However, it must be remembered that Minato ended up becoming the Jinchuriki of the Yang-half of Kurama. This gave him an incredible reserve of chakra, comparable to the First Hokage, Hashirama.
In the war, Minato pulled off some incredible feats, such as teleporting the entirety of the Shinobi Alliance and even saving them with his Teleportation Jutsu on countless occasions. All things considered, Minato is certainly a ninja that can rival Hashirama and it is up to the fans to decide who they think is stronger. At the end of the day, both of these ninjas are amazing in their own right and deserve all the respect that they get.