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I can’t help but go with clichés for post titles at times, but at least this one fits Minato and Kushina’s situation. Given the urgency, I think it’s fair to say that Minato’s decision to seal half of the Nine Tail’s chakra into Naruto wasn’t so much an extravagant plan as much as it was taking a chance and betting on his son’s future. “Having faith” would be the phrase to sugarcoat that idea, which an emotionally troubled Fourth Hokage resorted to when faced with the idea that he may have to live on without Kushina. We’ve heard a lot about what actually happened on the night the Nine Tails wrecked havoc on Konoha, but seeing how it actually unfolded left me on the fence about Minato’s decision. As Hokage, he couldn’t ignore the necessity of keeping a tailed beast under Konoha’s control, so that pretty much limited his options to resealing it in some way. However, it came off a lot more as him being unable to bear the idea of living without Kushina and deciding to sacrifice himself too so that he wouldn’t have to. As justification for taking such drastic measures, he would be able to reseal the tailed beast in some form and maintain the balance of power between villages. Tailed beasts are the equivalent of modern day nukes in the Naruto universe after all, but what irked me is how quick he was to disregard his importance to the village as Hokage and to Naruto growing up as his father.
I would never go as far as calling Minato a coward for running away from living, but I still wish he looked for a better way to go about it even if it meant that only Kushina had to be sacrificed. Quite frankly, I’m not very fond of the mentality that Hokages past and present seem to have on sacrificing themselves to save the village. It seems like way too hasty of a decision considering how talented of a ninja they all are, but once they have that title attached to their name, death is always an option. Because of that, I’m torn between Minato’s valiant sacrifice to save Konoha and him not putting enough value on his own life. Ultimately, it’s leaving Naruto behind without parents and the burden of fulfilling some destiny that Jiraiya envisioned for him that bothers me the most, since I know what he had to go through growing up. From a broader perspective, this would imply that I’m unhappy about the very basis of the Naruto storyline, but that’s only true when I’m viewing things in hindsight and wishing they turned out better. I don’t dislike the story we have here. I just wish Minato were still alive. In this case though, I’m well aware I can’t have my cake and eat it too. Oh, there’s another cliché. 😡
That’s the way the cookie crumbles.
LOL…i like that
I CANT WAIT TO READ IT.
Ahhhhhhhhh.
Minato and Kushina sacraficed a lot that night. Hope Naruto will pick his game up and do what he is suppose to do and importantly learn FTG and all those seals as well as chakra chains or a variation of it.
I guess this is all just another spin on the whole “passing the will of fire” to the next generation and having faith in the future. While I too agree that it was a disappointment to see Minato sacrifice his life for his son in such a way, I guess it all plays into that theme.
Damn you for dying in a fairly unnecessary manner Minato!! I’m pretty sure your wtf hax as god Hokage would of better even if you had to try to recapture the fox.
Very nice of Minato indeed if only he cant teach him how to use the teleport it’ll be even more nice. Anyways going off topic I kinda think the masked man is really not Madara and he is actually Shisui. Though people say he died maybe it was a fake death and the person who make his body fake is Zetsu. Look at Kisume as an example he died to only find out it was Zetsu body and not Kisume.
Well you also have to keep in mind that Naruto has that old school samurai honor running through it. Never be afraid of death, only be afraid of dying needlessly.
I choose to look at it like this.
Minato knows he can’t beat Madara. He knew that the second the fight started, all he could do was force a retreat by using Flying Thunder God. That trick won’t work agian, and Madara WILL be back. So what do you do?
Jiraiya told Minato about the destined child. Minato thinks it Naruto. And because of that Naruto would eventually have to fight him. Kushina dying made Minato really see how desperate the situation was. Kushina was fatally wounded and he was unable to do a damn thing about it, regardless of how strong he was. So him using the Death Seal was more of his best option then running away. He had to sacrifice himself to seal half the fox’s chakra in Naruto. That’s faith to the highest level right there.
He sacrificed himself for the chance that his son would be the one to change the world, because no one else can. Personally it makes me respect Minato more.
Yeah, my only qualm with that is it’s playing into luck and believing in faith as if he had nothing left to go on like I mentioned. Given the brevity of his encounter with Madara and how he could have brought that information back to Konoha to devise a countermeasure, he just sacrificed himself and bet the future of the world on his son who wasn’t even a day old yet. Something about that lacks rationale in my eyes, especially for a leader of a village.
Kushina did say that if she sealed it and “die” with the nine-tails, it could only be temporary and the Nine-Tails will be back in full force. So Minato using the Death God Seal and sealing away half of the Nine-Tails charkra will prevent it from ever reaching full potential again and Naruto eventually conquered the other half. That said, Minato totally broke the GAR-meter with this chapter and the previous one.
Hokages are not gods. It is true that they have god-like qualities, such as being ridiculously strong and having the responsibility of taking care of their villages, but the fact of the matter is, hokages are human. They feel pain, suffering, sorrow, and love. Well, it’s not like I’m relating an manga character to a real life human or anything, but if Minato is anything like a human, then he would be torn over the idea that he would have to live on without Kushina. Because he is human. I think that you are completely right about the fact that he is sacrificing himself to run away from the unbearable pain of losing his wife, but to me, I feel that he is justified in doing so. Sure he has responsibilities, both to his son and to the village, but when the opportunity to seal away the fox with own death comes along, I feel like it was enough self-justification for him to take it.
Well even if he brought that info back, what could they have done really? Madara literally walked in, stole the kyubbi, killed his wife, and unleashed hell upon his village. Their encounter was brief but I get the impression that Madara kicked his ass more than anyone ever have. Giant wake up call.
And he wasn’t abandoning his village. Hokage is just the strongest leader, but Konoha has always had other strong kids. Sarutobi, Jiraiya, Tsunade and others all could take up his mantle. Its not like he was the only strong one ya know? I think next chapter we’ll see Minato and Sarutobi have a chat before he dies. Minato will pass his Will of Fire to Sarutobi.
It’s really up to you if you want to buy into the story before you completely or look for other possible outcomes. It’s easy to conclude what you did based on what actually happened, but the story could have gone another direction and you may have felt the same way.
For example, Sarutobi could’ve been the one to perform the seal, since he’s old and already passed on the “Will of Fire” and the title of Hokage. He just arrived onto the scene too. With the way the other ninja managed to drive the Nine-tails out of the village, everyone could have tried to subdue the beast and then attempted to reseal it under more favorable conditions.
Minato’s decision to sacrifice himself didn’t seem like it was out of desperation because he exhausted all other options and was driven up against a wall. He himself proposed it right away, which is the reason why I’m not too fond of it.
Its true that the story could have gone anyway. But this just seems like something that Minato would do because it seems to be like something Naruto would do. Though remember Sarutobi couldn’t do the seal because he learned how to do it from Minato, question is did he know it before this moment or after/during?
And the other ninja’s didn’t push Kyuubi back. Kyubbi hoped back as soon as Madara lost control.
But we’ll continue this next week, as I’m sure Minato will have some wise words to say before he dies.
All this happens in one night? I don’t know, but I think Minato was too hasty with his decision to kill himself. I mean he could have raised his son on his own and teach him his talents then see if they could do anything about the nine-tails once it reappears. *if you haven’t read the chapter you don’t know what I’m talking about.
wtf Minato, I am disappoint.
That said, when he cries (as you used in your picture up there) it just made me think … both he and Kushina are so young …
Wow. Minato handedly defeated Madara. It was not even a close battle. FTG is just a ridiculous jutsu, Madara couldn’t even react to defend himself half the time. Once you have that seal on you it’s gg
If Minato had waited one more moment for the Third to arrive, I’m sure Sarutobi would have sacrificed himself instead all while spouting some Will of Fire rhetoric: “No Minato, you have a wife and a child, it is the duty of the old to blah blah blah.”
wtf Minato is GAy , crying like that
Huh, I sense a harry potter in this chapter…
hmm can’t live without his wife kinda reminded me of Gendou with a lot less being a bastard king
Yeah, I’m also pretty disappointed with Minato’s decision, since it is exactly as you said it – he just wanted to die since he could not live without Kushina. I guess this does make him kind of a coward and ruins his image a little bit. However, this might be a good thing, seeing how he had been represented so far as the perfect shinobi and the perfect person – he had some flaws after all, which makes him human.
So, in the end I guess I am 50/50 about this development as well…
I understand how much Minato loves Kushina and that he doesnt want to live life without her, but he should of thought more about how his decision would affect Naruto. Leaving the fate of Konoha in baby Naruto’s hands is alot of responsibility too just place on his shoulders so quick. Anyways, I still enjoyed the chapter and I just want to say Kishimoto is putting Naruto’s plot together very nicely IMO.
meee it feel too fast maybe if kushina couldn’t do it alone it would had make more sence
BTW!!!!!
what does people here mean that he could not kill madara?
wtf he was already marked it is gg as “so very odd” said
I felt he was copping out too, but on the other hand there were only 2 possible hosts for the 9-tails and one of them was about to die, so the options were let Kushina die and take out the 9-tails for awhile (it would come back eventually, even Kushina implied this), or seal it in Naruto. Minato’s dialogue and the fact that they had to import Uzumaki clan folk into the Leaf to hold the 9-tails implies that Minato knew he would not be able to host the 9-tails, and that with Kushina dying Naruto was the only possible choice to take the 9-tails.
I think he did it the way he did so that Kushina would be able to see Naruto one more time (even if it was only as a chakra form) because the other option involves losing the Nine Tails completely, and having Kushina never see Naruto.
But it’s just a guess.
this series just doesn’t seen to stop surprising me in terms of unnecessary deaths.
first… Naruto and Sauske, sauske says either one of us dies (ok… logical but kinda sad), naruto says WE ARE BOTH GONNA DIE (ok… wtf?)
now it is his parents. ZOMG SAME THING!!!!
I think we’re missing one other thing – fine, Minato may now be able to defeat Madara at that time but what about the other theme of Naruto? He could have trained while raising his son! Hell, if he was worried about the balance of power he could have perhaps spread a rumour about his death to buy time to train without upsetting the other villages.
Surely such a talented ninja who had combatted his foe could have worked with his village to form counter measures and think up new strategies, moves and techniques that would have given him an advantage? I think he gave away his life too easily too. I agree with Tikal’s point about samurai honour but samurai didn’t go around believing in prophecy. They wouldn’t leave the fate of the world up to chance – that’s a needless risk. They took educated risks. A well trained and adjusted son, thanks to his father, who is phophecised to save the world and a prepared village is surely a better starting point than one with issues thanks to a sealed demon within them…
We learnt one important thing in this chapter: Naruto is the one who will defeat Madara and not Sasuke.
is there any other way minato could stop d nine tails and still save his family? that’s what’s on my mind when I read the chapter.
on another note, i thnk both naruto and sasuke will team up in d end to defeat madara, and after that, then that’s the tym they’ll settle their final battle. maybe naruto dies or he lives and sasuke loses his eyes. i dont believe naruto has d guts 2 kill his beloved– I mean, his best friend.
I liked the first double page.
What their life as a family would have been.
http://mangastream.com/read/naruto/33928369/2
I 2nd to that, seems fun to see naruto daily life with his parents
I think political destabilzation and the reformation of the kyuubi sometime in the future (how distant, how near is unknown) is a good enough reason for him to sacrifice his life especially when we’ve seen the devastation the fox and a war with another country could cause. Itachi did a similar thing and it seems to be more a general shinobi way of life. The thing that sealed the deal was Kushina’s regret. I don’t think Minato could’ve afforded to think about it any longer than he did, and it would be inconsistent with his character that’s been developed in this flashback to do so. The kyuubi burdened Naruto, but he’s actually gotten over it.
Anyway. Minato didn’t do it because he thought his son was the destined child. He did it because he wanted Naruto to be capable of being such a person if Naruto wanted to. Minato clearly took Jiraiya’s words to heart and probably wanted to fight for the shinobi world when it faced such disaster. Consistent with the theme of ‘will’ in the manga, he was just passing on his will to his son by giving him power that would enable him to accomplish whatever he wanted, and having faith that Naruto.
I guess you could interpret the scene as ‘Minato suddenly thought his child was THE destined child’, but uhh. that doesn’t make much sense.
I liked it though^^ Loved this chapter the way it is.. and I feel really sorry for both Minato and Kushina (they were so great)
I don’t think Minato didn’t value his own life enough at all. It just showed how much he cared for Kushina, the village and how much he believed in Naruto.
I think the cover art of this chapter got to you Divine. :p
I also wish Minato and even Kushina were alive. Just imagine what Naruto’s life could’ve been like if it weren’t for Madara’s plans. It’s really messed up, but that’s how the cookie crumbles I suppose.
In regards to Minato’s skills, I’m wondering how that Keiyaku Fuuin works and why did it strip Madara of his ability to control the Kyuubi. Naruto could really use a jutsu such as that if Madara is going to be controlling the Bijuu with his Sharingan during the war and I have faith that Kishi won’t leave such a technique unexplained. Aside from that, I really want Naruto to learn Hiraishin after seeing Minato use it so effectively the past two chapters. I didn’t really care about it much before but now I want to keep seeing that jutsu lol. It also seems like the only way to touch Madara, although I suppose Naruto could pull off some miracle work with his bunshins.
Oh, I’m also wondering exactly why Jinchuuriki apparently can’t use Shiki Fuujin. Considering that the Shinigami seals the user’s soul, I’m guessing it has something to do with the Jinchuuriki’s soul being intertwined with the Bijuu’s or something.
how naruto learn new moves
I believe you got it all wrong… when I red the chapter was very clear to me that Minato took that decision not because he couldn’t live without Kushina, but to give her a chance to meet his son in the future.
She needed to use her last remaining chakra to seal again the kiubi, but Minato decided to put that chakra in Naruto so she could meet him some day… Why I believe this? because of what Kushina says about regreting not being able to see Naruto grow up and because of what Minato says about Kushina making him a husband, a hokade and a father… when he crys I don’t think it is for not being able to live happy ever after with her, but because of the things Kushina wish and won’t be able to have, the unfairness of all. For me was like after recibing so many things from Kushina, Minato sacrify his life to grant this one last thing for her, so…. not selfish at all.
And about Naruto being used to seal the other half… not a bad decision either, because madara was still alive with intention of returning someday… so the kiubi must remain under the control of konoha (it must not die with kushina), naruto is the son of kushina, minato put the chakra of his mother in him and only the half of the kiubi chakra…so it was not so nuts for minato to believe that his son would be able to use the kiubi someday to protect the village against madara… so I think that with his decision he did the best he could do to everyone involve considering the desperate circunstances… like a hokage must do. But that is just my opinion : )
I got that just fine, but it didn’t sway my view on his decision.
Generally speaking, I can’t help but feel a lot of people have turned into wishful thinkers by buying into heroes and destiny a bit too much reading shounen manga. Sure it all looks good in a story, but that doesn’t mean it’s always agreeable when that same mentality usually won’t work in the real world. Maybe I’m just jaded since I’m not an innocent elementary schooler nor a high school kid with lots of aspirations for the future. :\
Thanks for that reality check. I think I just heard the sound of every kids naruto bubble being poped.LOL
Yea Divine but thats the appeal of Naruto for many. Personally I was in it for the ninja’s but I can see others getting sucked into the heroes aspect like people do with the friendship aspect of One Piece.
But again you have to take a manga that deals with ninjas, demon’s and monsters with a grain of salt. Nothing realistic about it ya know? In someways isn’t it a bad nicer to think that people could be as selfless as some characters are in manga/animes? In real life our president would never be out on the frontlines gun in hand with his troops. But I’ll tell you what, I’d sure as hell vote for a man with the balls to do it.
Who says I am an elementary school boy?? I am provably older than you… : ) Let me tell that your reply was very bitter with no need, but is ok. I wrote that that was just my conclusion, just learn to give your grown up opinion without disqualing others opinions, like the ones of “an innocent elementary schooler nor a high school kid with lots of aspirations for the future” or and adult not so bitter as yourself : )
Tikal:
I was referring to realistic within the confines of our suspension of disbelief of course. i.e. Given the ninja premise and the assumption that the characters think rationally like we do, does the reader feel convinced that was the only way to go about it? Personally, I don’t think so, but I don’t expect everyone to feel the same way I do.
Kodochanga:
I think you need to re-read the “Generally speaking…” part and not misinterpret what I said. You seem to be twisting my words a bit and drawing your own conclusions. I never discounted anyone’s opinion, so I don’t know where you’re getting that from.
Sigh, naruto gets more and more and more boring and stupid.
Once a great manga, its now all about DESTINY and other crap, digimon-like worldview included-.-
if manga is read from “right to left” does that mean that his eye just slurped up a tear??
That’s just how hax the 4th is.
I westernized it. Those panels were originally on top of one another.
Brooklyn & GP – LOL! That was hilarious.
I completely agree with Divine’s post. Something didn’t sit right with me in this chapter, but I couldn’t place my finger on it until I read this post.
It wasn’t so much the conclusion (which we already knew) but how it was presented that bothered me so much at the end of the chapter. Minato was shown to be extremely powerful, calculating, and capable. For him to suddenly decide, “Oh well, my son will take care of everything.” seemed almost out of place. For me, he was almost too quick to resort to using his life to seal half of the nine-tails. Even if he had deeply analyzed the situation and determined in that instant that using his life to seal the nine-tails would give the best possible outcome, to me it wasn’t the most obvious or best option.
In hindsight, maybe. But as the events occured? Definitely not to me.
I didn’t like how rather than looking for ways to save Kushina, Minato immediately decided to die with her. He couldn’t stand watching her sacrifice herself, and offered his life in order to immortalize hers within Naruto.
It bothered me how quickly Minato threw away his responsibilities as a father and as hokage to fortune and that Minato ultimately did have the option chose Naruto over the village and survive to raise Naruto, rather than abandoning his infant child. Not to mention, Kushina wasn’t exactly happy with Minato sacrificing himself and making Naruto a jinchuuriki(her look on page 18 says “R U SRS?!”). Also, Jiriya was wrong twice about the child of prophecy, so Minato could have also easily been wrong too.
It was lucky that the Third showed up in time, otherwise it seems no one would have known exactly what had happened to Fourth and his family. 🙁
I hope the next chapter shows the Fourth telling the Third to take care of Naruto, or something along those lines. I also hope things don’t just end like that because Kushina had basically no say in the matter.
I guess in the end it boils down to, Darn it, Minato you didn’t have to offer to die so quickly. >(
Also I just have never liked the idea of lovers dying together which is exactly what is happening.
If things do just end like this, I think Minato deserved that punch in the stomach from Naruto. He basically gave him a terrible destiny and burden from his first day alive, simply because he believed Naruto could beat the bad guy one day.
Great chapter and great arc, just a little frusterating. >_< Sorry for the tl;dr.
Actually in hindsight, it may have been the differing translations thats making me misunderstand. @_@ On page 13, is Minato the one at his limits or Kushina? It makes a whole lot more sense if Minato is the one with the line “My chakras almost gone…”
I can’t but think that people are too overly critic. The talk about him not caring about the village is bs. Dude’s loved one is dying and in pain about not being able to live for long, anyone in that situation will do what he thinks is best.
It’s like you guys think he’s so superhuman to not have any emotions.
Can you believe that after such sacrifice from the parents the assholes from Konoha will discriminate Naruto?
well, narutos birth was kept a secret to everyone if i recall correctly so no one actually knew he was the son of those 2, but in the other hand ppl knew he had the 9 tails in him…
Duty is heavier than a mountain, death lighter than a feather