Minato Namikaze

1. 1
   Academy prodigy

   A once-in-a-generation talent

   Minato enters the Academy chasing the Hokage title, and quickly stands out as a prodigy of a kind the village rarely sees. The Sannin Jiraiya takes a personal interest and trains him directly.

2. 2
   The Yellow Flash

   Too fast to fight

   In the Third Shinobi World War, Minato's Flying Thunder God makes him so deadly that the Hidden Stone reportedly orders its shinobi not to engage him at all. He is credited with turning the war, and the name Yellow Flash spreads across every nation.

3. 3
   Team Minato

   A teacher of his own

   Minato leads a genin team — Kakashi Hatake, Obito Uchiha, and Rin Nohara — passing on what Jiraiya taught him. The lessons he gives Kakashi outlast him by decades.

4. 4
   Fourth Hokage

   The hat, and a family

   Minato is named the Fourth Hokage of Konohagakure, the goal he set as a boy. He and Kushina marry, and they are expecting their first child — a son.

5. 5
   The Nine-Tails attack

   One night, one seal

   On the night Naruto is born, a masked man tears Kurama free of Kushina and turns it on Konoha. Minato uses the Dead Demon Consuming Seal — a technique that costs the user their life — sealing half the beast into himself and half into his newborn son. He and Kushina die shielding the child.

6. 6
   Edo Tensei reunion

   A borrowed moment

   Reanimated by the Edo Tensei during the Fourth Shinobi World War, Minato fights at last beside the son he never got to raise — and sees, for himself, the shinobi Naruto became.

Minato was a once-in-a-generation prodigy. His speed earned him the name Yellow Flash of the Leaf, and the Flying Thunder God technique made him effectively impossible to catch. He created the Rasengan, mastered a difficult space-time ninjutsu, and was skilled enough in sealing to wield the Dead Demon Consuming Seal. He could enter Sage Mode as well, though his fighting style leaned on raw speed.

Play today's Narutodle or browse past answers.

• Who is Minato Namikaze?+

  Minato Namikaze is the Fourth Hokage of Konohagakure and the father of Naruto Uzumaki. A once-in-a-generation prodigy, he was known across the ninja world as the Yellow Flash of the Leaf, and he died sealing the Nine-Tails on the night his son was born.
• Is Minato Naruto's father?+

  Yes. Minato Namikaze is Naruto Uzumaki's father, and Kushina Uzumaki is his mother. Naruto did not learn this for years, because his parents died the night he was born and his parentage was kept secret to protect him.
• How did Minato die?+

  Minato died during the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha, the night Naruto was born. He used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal — a technique that costs the user their life — to seal one half of the Nine-Tails into himself and the other half into the newborn Naruto.
• Why is Minato called the Yellow Flash?+

  Minato earned the name Yellow Flash of the Leaf for his speed, built on the Flying Thunder God Technique. During the Third Shinobi World War he was so dangerous that the Hidden Stone reportedly ordered its shinobi to flee on sight rather than engage him.
• What is Minato's Flying Raijin technique?+

  The Flying Thunder God Technique — also called Flying Raijin — is a space-time ninjutsu. Minato marks a target, a person, or a kunai, then teleports instantly to that mark. He refined the technique originally created by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.
• Has Minato Namikaze been a Narutodle answer?+

  Minato is in the daily answer pool of 210 characters. The Previous Narutodle Appearances list on this page shows every date he was the Classic answer, each linking to a replayable archive puzzle.
• How do you guess Minato in Narutodle?+

  Minato's Attributes column is the giveaway — Hokage, Sage Mode, jinchūriki, and Edo Tensei all at once, one of the rarest readings on the board. His Namikaze clan is effectively his alone, and his Kage rank narrows the field further.