Naruto is considered one of the most popular anime and manga series in the world. We all have a special memory attached to the series. Released in the year 2002, the anime series continued till 2017 and became the most popular in the world.
The series is versatile, to say the least, with its variety of characters, clans of shinobi, plots twists, backstories, tragedies, and so on. The series introduced us to many legendary shinobi and showed what they were capable of.
Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, was one of those Shinobi. Without any Kekkei Genkai or Sharingan, he was powerful enough to rise to the ranks of the Hokage, who is considered the strongest Shinobi of Konoha.
Several years before the original timeline of the series, Minato tragically died in a battle against the nine-tailed beast. He sealed half of its chakra inside his newborn son's body and the other half with the help of the Death Reaper Seal. However, the use of that Jutsu claims the user's life.
After Minato's demise, the village fell into chaos. As Konoha was wounded with the devastating attack of the legendary beast, they put the blame on the child who had no clue of a beast living inside of him. Several years after, the most powerful surviving clan of the Uchihas was massacred overnight.
But, what if Minato had still been alive? Would the situation of Konoha had been better if he was the one in charge instead of the Third Hokage? Here, we will discuss what could've happened if Minato was still alive in the series.
1. Naruto Wouldn't have been Osctracized
The reason why Naruto was ostracized by the village was that they directed their hatred towards the beast into the child that became its host. And those from the younger generation who didn't know about this followed the footpath of their guardian and did the same.
No one knew that he was the son of the hero who died to protect the village. The Third Hokage hid Naruto's identity with good intentions, but it ended up making the child's life miserable. Hiruzen believed that Naruto would be safe if no one knew that he was Minato's son.
This was also the reason why Naruto was surnamed Uzumaki (after his mother) instead of Namikaze. Had Minato been alive, Nauto wouldn't have had to suffer such extreme cruelty since the time of his birth. The sadness and loneliness of being ostracized and criticized remained with him for the rest of his life.
2. The Massacre of the Uchiha Clan
There's no denying that the massacre of the Uchiha clan was a direct result of the mismanagement and poor judgment skills of the Third Hokage. Unlike other Hokages, Hiruzen relied too much on the village elders to make the decisions for him. This is how the village ended up being controlled by them.
One of the village elders was Danzo Shimura whose cruelty knew no bounds. As long as he could create a path for himself to become a Hokage and protect the village, he would make even the most devastating choice without batting an eye.
This is why, if someone like Minato who could put a leash on village elders was alive, the tragedy of the Uchiha clan would've never happened. Sasuke wouldn't have had to live with the nightmare of losing his family at the hands of his beloved brother. And Itachi wouldn't have had to kill his loved ones and sacrifice everything to save his little brother's life.
Tulisha Srivastava
3. Kakashi's Tragic Life in Anbu Could've Been Avoided
After Minato died, Kakashi literally had no one left he could care about. Losing every member of his team was a blow that he couldn't deal with. By the time Minato died, Kakashi had already become a member of the Anbu Black Ops. When Kushina was pregnant, Kakashi hid in the shadows and watched over Minato and his family to keep them safe.
After the tragedy, Kakashi put on a strong front but he was shattered inside. He was simply living his life as a killing machine for Konoha, taking one dangerous mission after another. With a little nudge from the Third Hokage and the formation of Team 7, Kakashi broke out of his shell.
However, if Minato had never died, Kakashi wouldn't have had to live the hellish nightmare during his time in Anbu. He also wouldn't have had to carry on the weight of not being able to protect even a single person he cared about.
Tulisha Srivastava
4. Root Would Have been Disbanded
Root was a secret organization that Danzo created to carry out immoral deeds for the benefit of the village. Due to the overindulgence of the Third Hokage, Danzo did things without any cause or justice. As the Third Hokage said, he allowed Danzo to do as he please because the former was too afraid to get his hands dirty.
This way, Danzo ended up having too many powers on his hands. On the other hand, Minato's time as a Hokage was rather short. As such, he couldn't fundamentally change the village in such a short time.
However, if he had been alive and continued to lead the village as a Hokage, he could've put an end to the immoral deeds that Danzo did from the shadows. Instead, he would've found new ways to protect the village instead of ruining the lives of innocent people.
Tulisha Srivastava
