Naruto’s dad, the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze, is likely to get a spin-off manga. As the NARUTOP99 global popularity poll approaches its conclusion, Minato is currently the leader, and if this result is confirmed in the end he will be the protagonist of a short manga drawn by series creator Masashi Kishimoto himself.
The Naruto / Boruto panel at Jump Festa 2023 announced an exciting initiative for fans of the franchise throughout the world. A popularity poll, open to fans in every country, called NARUTOP99 launched on December 17, 2022, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the anime’s first airing in Japan. Fans can vote once every day for their favorite from an astounding roster of 488 characters, to decide the 99 most popular. After the voting ends, on January 31st, 2023 (with the results announced in April), the top 20 characters will be drawn by Masashi Kishimoto, with number one getting a special, spin-off short manga. After more than one million votes came in, it seems that this honor will be reserved for the Fourth Hokage.
The official Naruto and Boruto Twitter account shared the provisional results of the poll on December 23, highlighting the top ten spots. Minato Namikaze is in the first place, followed by two members of the Uchiha clan, Itachi and Shisui. The series’ protagonist Naruto is only number four, with the Sasuke and Sakura couple following at number eight and nine. While it’s not surprising to see the always-popular Itachi in the top three, Minato being the leader is not as predictable. Perhaps fans are really eager to see more about this powerful and legendary shinobi who died before Naruto started, and thus had only limited appearances in the manga.
Naruto Fans Deserve To Know More About The Fourth Hokage
The Fourth Hokage, known as the “Yellow Flash”, was one of the most powerful shinobi born in Konoha. He was recognized as a true prodigy, contrary to his son, who often struggled to prove his worth. Minato, along with his wife Kushina Uzumaki, died during the Nine-Tails attack on Konoha, engineered by Obito and Uchiha Madara, sacrificing his life to seal a part of the Tailed Beast into his newborn son, Naruto Uzumaki. These events were mostly kept a secret for the majority of the series (even if fans quickly caught up to who Naruto’s dad was), which added even more mystique to Minato’s figure. When he temporarily came back from the dead during the Fourth Shinobi World War, Minato’s emotional reunion with Naruto immediately became one of the highlights of the entire story.
It’s completely understandable, then, that fans want to see more of the Yellow Flash. However, Naruto has no shortage of great characters (as this popularity poll is showing), so Minato’s victory is not decided yet. Itachi in particular is another plausible candidate for winning this contest. Itachi’s tragic story has always struck a chord with fans, who would be happy to learn more about his relationship with Shisui, who is the most surprising entry in the list at number three. It will be interesting to see if the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, will be able to keep his lead, but whoever wins this popularity poll, fans of Naruto will be eager to read the resulting spin-off manga by Masashi Kishimoto.
Source: @NARUTO_kousiki on Twitter.