To commemorate the 20th anniversary of theNarutoanime, the series recently announced that it would dothe first global popularity poll. With countless characters to choose from, this poll ran for about a month, from July 04, 2025, to Jul 10, 2025, and its results were recently announced.
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As expected,Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage of Konoha, ended up winning theNarutopopularity poll. As announced by the author previously, the winner of the poll would get a spin-off manga drawn about them. Since Minato won the competition, fans are now geared up for a Minato Namikaze spin-off manga, which should come out later this year.
Minato Namikaze Spin-off Manga
Minato Namikaze won theNarutoglobal popularity poll by a landslide. He managed to secure over 700,000 votes and the second place,which went to Itachi Uchiha, had almost 300,000 votes less than him. This just goes to show that Minato was extremely popular and the favorite to win the poll, to begin with. During the interim results, Minato was already leading the poll and his position remained unchanged throughout. Much of his popularity comes from the fact that he was deemed to be a legendary ninja from the very beginning of the story. Minato was the ninjawho saved Konohafrom the assault of the Nine-Tails and sealed it in Naruto.
Later on, it was revealed to the fans that Minato was actually Naruto’s father and this revelation shot his popularity up even further. He is an exceptionally popular character and the fact that much of his life remains shrouded in history makes him an excellent candidate for a spin-off Manga. Fans know barely anything about his life as a ninja, other than the short flashback that was given in theNarutoseries. The vast majority of his genius as a ninja remains unexplored and it is time for Kishimoto to now deliver on that end.
The Secret Of Minato’s Jutsu
Minato was deemed to be a generational Shinobi – the likes of which could only be seen once every few decades or so. According to both the Third Hokage and Jiraiya, Minato was almost invincible and the latter emphasized that he had never seen a genius such as him in his entire life. Minato topped the Academy as a child and, later on, he went on to become a Jonin at a very young age as well. Minato then went on to become one of the youngest Kage that the village had ever seen, possibly the second youngest after Hiruzen himself. After the Third Great Ninja War, Minato was made the Fourth Hokage of Konoha as he single-handedly helped Konoha achieve peace in this conflict.
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It is quite easy to see that a Shinobi of this caliber was a genius and Minato certainly lives up to that reputation. Over the years, he was able to master several powerful Jutsu and even develop his own techniques. The author, Masashi Kishimoto specifically went on to say that he will focus on Minato’s jutsu in the spin-off manga. Minato is known for several jutsu so this could mean that the spin-off manga will focus on any one of them. However, the most likely candidate for this due to is the Rasengan, which Minato developed after observing a Tailed Beast Ball. He was then able to create this mass of spiraling sphere of chakra in his hand and this ultimately became one of his signature techniques. This helped Minato end combat within a matter of seconds and its magnitude was such that it eventually went on to be passed down from generation to generation.
Originally, Minato intended for this jutsu to be perfected, however, he met his demise before that happened. This jutsu then ended up being passed down to Naruto Uzumaki through Minato’s mentor, Jiraiya. Naruto did what Minato couldn’t do and completed the Rasengan, creating the Radenshuriken in the process. From Naruto, this jutsu was then passed down to Konohamaru, who then passed it on to none other than Boruto Uzumaki, the son of Naruto. The legacy of the Fourth is always going to live through the Rasenganas this Jutsu is his very own.
There are other techniques that Kishimoto could be referring to as well, such as the Flying Thunder God. However, it must be remembered that the Flying Thunder God was actually developed by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. Minato only made it better by perfecting it but it was not his jutsu, to begin with. Yet, Kishimoto may focus on more than one of Minato’s techniques. If the story goes on to track his progress as a ninja, then fans will surely get to see not just Minato’s Rasengan but also other techniques, such as the Flying Thunder God.
It could also go on to explore him learning about the secret Uzumaki Sealing Jutsu that he claims to have studied extensively, thanks to his wife, Kushina Uzumaki, who is known to have been a proficient user of all the Uzumaki Jutsu. Whichever direction Kishimoto goes with this statement, it is surely going to be incredible for the fans to witness. For now, there is no release date for the Minato spin-off, however, Kishimoto is already working on it and it should be published later this year.
