This is why Minato was chosen as the 4th Hokage instead of Jiraiya or Tsunade:
Minato was chosen in part because both Jiraiya and Tsunade were uninterested in taking Hokage's post.
He was also chosen because of Jiraiya's strong support for him.
Most importantly, he was probably the best objective choice to become the Fourth Hokage given his skill and temperament.
So if you want to learn all about why Minato became the 4th Hokage instead of Jiraiya or Tsunade, then this article is for you.
Let's get into that right away!
- Naruto fans: the best ways to piss them off?
- Sasuke gets Amaterasu: Why not Tsukuyomi?
- The Five Kage Summit: From Strongest To Weakest?
- Naruto's fox eyes: why sometimes red, sometimes blue?
- Akatsuki Captures Tailed Beasts: Members and Order?
- No Six Paths Sage Mode Naruto, but Rinnegan Sasuke: Why?
- Naruto's Four-Tails vs. Six-Tails Form: Stronger?
- Minato doesn't use Sage mode: why?
Contents: show
Who is Minato?
This question is a bit bigger than you might have expected.
There are many characters and plot points involved in the explanation.
I'll go through you in minute detail, but to do that I'll have to spoil a few things in the original Naruto series.
I'm going to base this all on the manga.
The anime adaptation is pretty faithful, so the anime answers to this particular question will be largely the same.
But for consistency, I'm sticking specifically with the events and characters as described in the manga.
All of this is to say that I can't answer your question without going through a few spoilers.
This content is years old at this point, but if you're thinking of reading or watching Naruto for the first time, stop now and come back when you've caught up.
Consider this your formal spoiler alert.
With this topic, let's talk about Minato.
As you probably already know, he was theFourth Hokage of Konoha.
Since this is a Japanese story, many Japanese names appear.
I'll translate a few important ones, starting with Konoha.
It roughly translates to "leaf village" and is the home of the protagonist Naruto.
When Naruto's story begins, he is a young teenager and is well acquainted with the story of the Fox Nine Tails.
When Naruto was a baby, the legendary beast attacked Konoha.
Minato, who was the Fourth Hokage at the time, defeated the fox at the cost of his own life.
He saved the village and cemented his name in legends.
There's a lot more to Minato than just that, and I'll go through it in many sections, but that's how the story begins.
The Fourth Hokage is a legend among legends.
A quick explanation of manga and anime
I'd like to pause for a moment and explain something to those of you who aren't swamped by modern Japanese culture.
I mentioned manga and anime in the previous section, and here's a quick breakdown of what that means.
Manga is a term in Japan that refers to comic book series that appear in a number of different publications.
The most famous isShonen Jump Magazine, but there are many other releases.
These stories are typically rendered in black and white and appear on a weekly, monthly, or some similar regular schedule.
The stories are very similar to American comics in that they often follow fantastical stories, but being rooted in Japan, many of the tropes and ideas are unique to the region and its culture.
Anime is a slightly more familiar word, but I'll explain that too.
Anime usually refers to animated films produced and released in Japan.
Many of them are translated for international audiences, but the production itself is Japanese.
Most of the time, anime shows are adapted from manga, so the manga serves as the source material.
Such is the case with Naruto.
The Naruto manga is the source material for bothNarutoAndNaruto Shippuden.
These are two anime series covering the events in the original manga.
Now that you've covered anime and manga, let's get back to the characters.
What is a Hokage?
You're getting through some of the essential information now, but I still haven't explained what a Hokage is.
It is the term for the leader of the Leaf Village (Hokage literally means "fire shadow").
The Hokage is the head of all ninjas in the village.
He is the formal and military leader of the village and decides everything.
He usually has unilateral power.
However, the Hokage is not a dictator.
He is appointed by a council elected by the Fire Nation.
At the risk of getting a little complicated, Konoha is a village within the Fire Nation.
As the country's hidden ninja village, Konoha is the seat of power for the entire country.
So the country can choose the Hokage, but the appointment is usually for life.
Despite the fact that the country has a political say in the selection process, elders in Konoha exert a strong influence on the process.
For the most part, the Fire Nation wants a strong and reliable Hokage, so the country's leaders listen very carefully to the selection advice of the elders in the ninja village.
This means that the main characters in the storyline did not choose Minato to be the Hokage.
State officials did.
Even so, some of the main characters in the story exerted so much influence over the decision that they more or less dictated the course of events.
Who is Jiraiya?
If we want to talk about why Minato was chosen over Jiraiya, then we should take a minutetalk about Jiraiya.
He is a very important character in the storyline.
Jiraiya is one of the legendary Sannin.
This refers to three special ninjas who rose to prominence during the Third Great Ninja War.
It turns out that the other two sannin were childhood friends of Jiraiya, and the three of them essentially grew up together and learned to be ninjas.
The other two sannin were Tsunade and Orochimaru, and I'll discuss them a little later.
Jiraiya (and the other sannin) were trained directly by the Third Hokage.
With this tutelage, he quickly became an accomplished ninja and eventually went off to train with the frog sages.
I can skip most of this part of the story for brevity, but there is one important detail.
When Jiraiya was studying with the Sages, a prophecy was made.
This prophecy said that one day Jiraiya would train a special ninja who would bring peace to the whole world.
So as a sannin, Jiraiya was an extremely accomplished ninja and certainly qualified to become the Hokage.
As a teacher of prophecy, he was more interested in the success of his students.
What about Tsunade?
Tsunade is another characterthat deserves a little discussion.
She was another sannin and was considered the greatest medicine ninja in the world.
In fact, she pioneered many aspects of medical ninjutsu during the course of the Third Great Ninja War.
She was also the daughter of Hashirama.
He was the very first Hokage and one of the founders of Konoha.
In addition, she actually became the Fifth Hokage.
So she was clearly a qualified candidate and served well as the Hokage when her time came.
In the following paragraphs I will explain why she was the fifth Hokage and not the fourth.
Why was Minato chosen as the 4th Hokage? (6 reasons)
With all this background information, things might start to make sense, but there's still work to be done.
There were clearly other qualified Hokage candidates, so why was Minato chosen?
There isn't a single reason.
In fact, it has to do with more than a handful of reasons.
Many different moving parts in the story line up to make Minato the Hokage.
He definitely qualified, but events had to play out right for him to be the clear pick.
So I'll walk you through them all.
We will discuss the third sannin and why it was not chosen.
We'll spend some time exploring the third great ninja war and discussing the other elements and moving parts that conspired to transform Minato into the 4th Hokage.
#1 Orochimaru
I haven't talked about the third sannin yet, and that's because his story fits better here.
Orochimaru was part of the same squadas Tsunade and Jiraiya when they were kids, but he established himself as the genius of the group.
He always learned new things faster than the others, and considering the company he was with, that's saying something.
The Third Hokage saw his potential and decided pretty early on that Orochimaru would be a great Hokage.
He groomed Orochimaru more or less for this purpose, and for years everyone expected Orochimaru to be the Fourth Hokage.
Unfortunately, Orochimaru wasn't interested in benevolent leadership.
Instead, his genius led him down a dark path to explore more of the possibilities of ninjutsu, and he became more or less insane and evil.
Eventually, the Third Hokage was forced to confront his favorite student, and Orochimaru was banished from Konoha.
This all happened towards the end of the Third Great Ninja War when the Third Hokage was hoping to retire.
Thus, at the last moment, the shoe-in candidate for the next Hokage was lost.
Still, it would have been likely that Tsunade or Jiraiya would have taken the place instead, but that's not how it all played out, and that's largely due to the events of the Third Great Ninja War.
#2 Tsunade and the Third Great Ninja War
The Third Great Ninja War lasted many years.
When it first started, the sannin were young and quickly gaining notoriety.
At the end of the war, a whole new, younger generation cut their teeth off in battle.
Needless to say, a lot has happened.
When choosing the Fourth Hokage, we need to focus on three characters: Tsunade, Minato, and Jiraiya.
I'll cover Jiraiya last in a follow-up section.
Let's talk about Tsunade first.
By the end of the war, she was certainly capable of taking on the role of Hokage, but she had absolutely no interest in doing so, and that's because she suffered two terrible tragedies during the war.
First her younger brother was killed in battle.
He was very young for a ninja, and it worried Tsunade that she couldn't be there to save his life.
Had she been present, she most likely could have saved the day.
Despite the tragedy, she found comfort in the arms of a man named Dan.
He encouraged her to keep pursuing and advancing medical ninjutsu, and Tsunade found purpose after the tragedy.
Then Dan was killed in the war too, and Tsunade was hardly too late to save his life.
Afterwards, Tsunade worked to end the war, and when it was over, she left the village, utterly discouraged and with no desire to return.
There was no way she would have agreed to take Hokage's post.
#3 Minato and the Third Great Ninja War
The next character who experienced significant events in the war is Minato.
He was actually trained by Jiraiya so he was quite a young adult when the war started.
When the war ended, he trained his own squad and demonstrated that this war lasted a long time.
Over the course of the war, Minato transformed from a child prodigy (who had the highest score ever in all ninja trials) to an absolute monster in battle.
As he honed his skills, he earned the nickname "The Yellow Flash".
Enemy nations at war issued escape orders regarding Minato.
If he appeared, the ninjas should give up whatever they were doing and just run away.
As Minato really grew into his ninja skills, he basically became a one man army.
His presence on the battlefield was so overwhelming that it was said he ended the war all by himself.
These are no small statements, and it is fair to say that by the end of the war, Minato was the most powerful ninja known to exist in the world.
His exploits and exploits in the war more than qualified him for the post.
The fact that Tsunade was disinterested didn't matter.
Minato might have been a better choice even if she wanted the post.
#4 Jiraiya
We still have to talk about Jiraiya.
As said, there was a prophecy that Jiraiya would train a ninja who would bring peace to the world.
And Jiraiya trained Minato.
Minato ended the Third Great Ninja War.
All of this means that Jiraiya was convinced that Minato was the student of prophecy.
Based on this belief, he lobbied heavily for Minato to become the next Hokage.
With the loss of Orochimaru and the fact that Tsuande and Jiraiya weren't interested in the job, it was an easy sale.
Jiraiya convinced the Third Hokage to recommend Minato, and the Fire Nation complied.
It's worth noting that Minato wasn't actually a child of prophecy.
That ended up being Naruto, whom Jiraiya later trained to become a ninja.
#5 Character
That covers most of the plot points that led to Minato becoming the Fourth Hokage, but it's also worth discussing Minato's character.
The Hokage is said to be the leader of the ninja village, but he is also personally responsible for everyone in the village.
It is often said that the Hokage sees the whole village as an extension of his family, and no one has lived up to that ideal better than Minato.
He was able to get the job done, and he had the perfect temper and attitude for it.
It's possible he was the perfect Hokage while it lasted.
#6 Action
Finally, we can discuss the ultimate reason Minato was chosen to be the Fourth Hokage, which is because it served the plot.
This is a fictional story, after all, and Minato's place as Hokage was chosen for poetic symmetry.
First off, Minato was a student successor to the Third Hokage.
The Third trained Jiraiya, who trained Minato, creating a sense of inheritance for the post.
Second, Minato sacrificed himself that same night to save the village and his family.
It turns out that Minato could have saved the village from the Fox-Nine-Tails without sacrificing his life.
But he would have lost his wife and son in the process.
So he sacrificed his life to seal the fox and was able to save his son.
This created the ultimate symmetry as Naruto was actually Minato's son.
Minato, the perfect Hokage and dying hero, set the stage for Naruto to begin his journey and create the story we now know.
It was always Naruto's dream to become the Hokage and live up to all that the title means, and he came to this dream without knowing that his father had done it before him.
- Naruto fans: the best ways to piss them off?
- Sasuke gets Amaterasu: Why not Tsukuyomi?
- The Five Kage Summit: From Strongest To Weakest?
- Naruto's fox eyes: why sometimes red, sometimes blue?
- Akatsuki Captures Tailed Beasts: Members and Order?
- No Six Paths Sage Mode Naruto, but Rinnegan Sasuke: Why?
- Naruto's Four-Tails vs. Six-Tails Form: Stronger?
- Minato doesn't use Sage mode: why?
FAQs
Why did Minato become Hokage before Tsunade? ›
Minato becomes Hokage. 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.
Was Jiraiya supposed to be the Fourth Hokage? ›Jiraiya has been offered the position of Hokage a couple of times in his life, but never took up the mantle.
What is the connection between Jiraiya and Minato? ›Referred to as the "Toad Sage" and "Pervy Sage", he mentors Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze and later becomes the godfather and mentor of Minato's son, Naruto Uzumaki. Jiraiya appears in two Naruto films, and as a playable character in most of the franchise's video games.
Who all knew Naruto was the Fourth Hokage's son? ›The only persons that knew about the truth were: Jiraiya, Sarutobi, maybe Kakashi (we saw a lot of time that Kakashi imagines he's teacher and mentor in Naruto, maybe he realized the relationship, but he didn't know that from the beginning), and a few ANBU members who were at that place when Naruto was born.
Why Naruto still use Uzumaki instead of namikaze? ›There was a lot of unrest when Minato's son was born and he would do anything to protect him and the village. In order to make sure people didn't realize that it was Minato's son, the protagonist was given the surname of Uzumaki.
Did Jiraiya teach Minato Sage Mode? ›One of the members of the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya was the teacher of many great ninjas, including Naruto, Minato, Nagato, and, Konan. When he reverse-summoned to Mount Myoboku, Fukasaku took Jiraiya under his wing and taught him the Sage Mode.
Who trained Naruto after Jiraiya's death? ›The Toad Sages - Following Jiraiya's death, Naruto trains with the toads at Mt. Myōboku in order to become strong enough to defeat Pain. The miniature husband and wife duo of Fukasaku and Shima take responsibility for guiding Naruto, as they did with Jiraiya, and the process is overseen by the Great Toad elder.
What does Jiraiya's headband say? ›The Meaning Behind Jiraiya's Headband
The Kanji etched on to Jiraiya's headband is read as “Abura”, which means 'oil' in the Japanese language.
Kashin Koji might not have been born a human, however, he is essentially a reincarnation of Jiraiya. It is in his blood to protect his village, his loved ones, and more importantly, use his life as a shinobi to make a difference to the world, just as Jiraiya once did.
Was Minato son of Jiraiya? ›Minato was Kakashi's teacher, while Jiraiya was Minato's teacher who had a close relationship with him and his wife Kushina Uzumaki. It's revealed later that Jiraiya was Naruto's godfather and that Naruto was named after a character in a book he had written.
Who are the 3 students of Jiraiya with Minato? ›
He was taught under Jiraiya (One of the legendary Sannin), Minato's teammates were Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru. They were all highly skilled ninja who were able to help Minato complete his missions.
Who is Minato's sensei? ›Jiraiya was Naruto and Minato's teacher. He trained two generations of Hokage, was one of the Sannin, and was able to use Sage Jutsu.
Why was Minato not the child prophecy? ›first — minato was never considered weak. Also the rikage never considred him the child of prophecy because he had never even heard of that, he did think that minato would never lose though.
Who is the child of prophecy Minato or Naruto? ›The children of prophecy was a term attached to those kids who had the potential to bring about massive changes to the world. This was given to both Sasuke and Naruto since they were the two reincarnations of Indra and Asura, respectively.
Did Kakashi know Naruto is Minato son? ›Kakashi knew all along that Naruto was Minato's son. During the end of Kakashi's ANBU arc (ep. 360–361) we see that, after failing two genin teams in a row at his famous teamwork exam, the Third personally chooses the next team that Kakashi will test .
Is Boruto named after Neji? ›Boruto's first name is a reference to his first cousin once removed Neji Hyuga as an homage to his death in Naruto while protecting both of Boruto's parents. In Boruto: Naruto the Movie, Kishimoto developed Boruto and Naruto's relationship from his relationship with his sons.
Who is BoruShiki? ›BoruShiki refers to Momoshiki using Boruto's body like a puppet. Momoshiki is able to take over Boruto's body thanks to the karma seal that was planted onto him.
What is the strongest forbidden jutsu? ›The strongest Forbidden Jutsu of the Uchiha clan is known as Izanagi. This Jutsu allows the user to turn illusion into reality and in doing so, change the events in real life. Most of the time that Izanagi was used, it allowed the user to survive death by rewriting it.
Can Uchiha use Sage Mode? ›Sage Mode requires a large chakra pool. Most Uchihas can't learn it because of it. According to Fukasaku, only those who already possess "extreme chakra levels" can utilise natural energy to invoke senjutsu.
What is Jiraiya's Sage mode called? ›6 Jiraiya Can Maintain Sage Mode Indefinitely
Also known as the Toad Sage, Jiraiya is one of the most accomplished shinobi in the Naruto series. As a member of the Legendary Sannin, his skills far surpass that of an average ninja.
Who taught Rasengan to Jiraiya? ›
Said to be a master of multiple Jutsu, Jiraiya also possessed the ability to use the Rasengan. The Rasengan was taught to him by his student, Minato Namikaze, who he described as a once-in-a-generation prodigy. Akin to Minato, Jiraiya relied on this Jutsu quite a lot, and with time, it became his go-to technique.
Who is the most skilled ninja in Naruto? ›1) Hashirama Senju
An immensely powerful goofball, Hashirama Senju is arguably the strongest ninja in the entire Naruto universe, with the exception of Naruto and Sasuke.
While speaking with Tsunade, Kakashi, and other high ranking shinobi, Jiraiya lifts his shirt to reveal a massive scar in the middle of his chest. The sunken section of his chest is a result of Naruto losing control when drawing on the chakra of the nine-tailed fox inside of him.
What is Jiraiya's full name? ›Ogata Shuma Hiroyuki – Otherwise known as "Jiraiya", he is the titular protagonist of the story.
What does Jiraiya 106 mean? ›Answer: It's a letter from the Japanese language 'Katakana' that reads as "ta".
What is Jiraiya's element? ›Jiraiya is a Persona of the Magician Arcana. It specializes in the Wind element.
Why Jiraiya was not reanimated? ›When he died, his body sank to the bottom of the water inlet outside Amegakure. Kabuto said that he couldn't reanimate Jiraiya because his body could not be found as it had sunk deep into the water body.
Was Jiraiya alive in Boruto? ›Although Jiraiya ended up dying at the hands of his own student, Nagato Uzumaki, he appears to be back, although as a clone created by Amado using Scientific Ninja Technology.
Will Jiraiya come back to life in Boruto? ›Since Jiraiya was dead, fans never expected for him to return in Boruto, unless via a flashback. However, thanks to the cloning work of Kara's inner named Amado, Jiraiya reappears in Boruto as Koji Kashin who, contrary to early rumors, is not Jiraiya's son.
How did Minato became Hokage? ›3 Minato Namikaze
After leading the village in the Third Great Ninja War, Hiruzen Sarutobi passed on the title of the Hokage to Minato within the next few years, making him an extremely young Kage. Minato's reign was short, and it lasted for just 2-3 years.
Why were there two Hokages at the same time? ›
Tobirama passed on the title to Hiruzen and the two were both Hokage for one day. Hiruzen then stepped down from the position of Hokage and passed it on to Minato. However, because it was voluntary, he was able to step back into the position with approval of the daimyo.
Who was suggested as Hokage with Tsunade was in a coma? ›7 Danzo Shimura Tried To Take Power After Pain's Attack
After Tsunade fell into a coma following Pain's assault on the village, Danzo stepped up to become the Hokage and attended the Five Kage Summit. Although he nearly succeeded, he was soon hunted down by Sasuke Uchiha, who sought revenge for his brother.
Tsunade stepped down as hokage because it wasn't her plan to be a hokage for a long time. She is nicknamed “The Savior” because she helped out Konoha when they needed a leader and she was basically the only good choice since Jiraiya rejected the position.
Who is the longest serving Hokage? ›#Happy Birthday, Hiruzen Sarutobi! He is the longest-serving and the oldest Hokage of Land of Fire in the history of ninja world. He sacrifices himself using Reaper Death Seal when Orochimaru attacks Konoha. He can use all 5 chakra attributes, earning him the name “The Professor”.
Who invented Rasengan? ›Minato Namikaze was Konohagakure's Fourth Hokage. Also renowned as the Yellow Flash, it was Minato who created the Rasengan at some point in his life.
Who Became 8 Hokage? ›8) Kawaki. Since meeting and bonding with Naruto, Kawaki has looked up to him. As Hokage, he would go out of his way to follow Naruto's footsteps and fulfill his wishes.
Who is 12th Hokage? ›The Twelfth Hokage was a character mentioned in a Naruto fan fiction story, but never named. In the official Naruto stories, Naruto Uzamaki himself is the Seventh Hokage, and no successors are known.
Who is Minato Favourite student? ›Minato was the protege of one of Hiruzen's favorite students. Tsunade was Hiruzen's student and the granddaughter of Hashirama and Kakashi was a beloved student of the Fourth Hokage, Minato.
Who is the Shadow Hokage of Kakashi? ›Naruto calls Sasuke the "Shadow Hokage" because of all the things he does outside of the village to keep it safe. Together, they are a formidable team, protecting the village from multiple angles.
Did Tsunade had a son? ›The short answer to whether Tsunade did have any children during her lifetime would be no. There are a lot of theories on why she chose not to have any children. However, as things stand in the current era of Boruto, Tsunade has neither a love interest nor any children to call her own.
Why isn t Danzo Hokage? ›
Danzō was not the Sixth Hokage, but rather a candidate. Though some people still think he is, he is obviously not, as he was not chosen by Tsunade as a successor and was not voted in by the villagers of Konoha.
How long did Kakashi serve as Hokage? ›Kakashi was Hokage for 12 years. He became hokage after the war. Naruto married Hinata 2 years later, making him about 19/20 when Boruto was born.
What does 106 mean in Naruto? ›Kakashi (also naruto's sensei) asked what is 106? Then he replies the chest size is 106.
What is written on Tsunade's back? ›Tsunade often wears a grass-green haori with the kanji for "gamble" (賭, kake) on the back, inside a red circle.
Who is better Hokage Tsunade or Kakashi? ›Kakashi's reign as a Hokage was very successful. He ensured that the village prospered after the events of the Fourth Great Ninja War. Tsunade isn't bad when it comes to dealing with problems, but Kakashi edges her out.