Why did Minato die?

[CupofDice]

We know that he was hailed as the strongest Konoha shinobi, so why did he die in his fight against the Kyuubi. At first I thought it was because his techniques were more suited towards fighting humans and a suicidal technique was all he could come up with, but now that I think about it he could have been looking for death because of the possible death of Kushina. I mean all of the Akatsuki think they can take on Naruto even though they know he has the Kyuubi's chakra, and we know that Minato is probably stronger than Kakuza/Hidan. What do you think? Could Minato have found a way to defeat the Kyuubi without dying or did he want to die?

[IchigoSoul]

Naruto is only using kyubii chakra partially. I doubt naruto can stomp konoha and kill most of its ninjas. A full-powered kyubii is much much stronger than naruto is and it is raw power.

For all we know, minato might not even have a chioce to use the Shikii Funin. Even a four-tails transformation trash the three gates, imagine what 9-tails can do.

I think the only one who knows whether minato is alive or dead is gamabunta because he was there when minato performed the technique

[radical3113]

minatos death is shrouded in mystery. why?because the 3rd died using the technique the 4th was supposedly using as he died, and they buried the 3rd and asuma used to go to his grave and talk.but wheres the 4ths grave aint never seen that. if he used the same technique and he was fighting in konoha or thereabouts how come no one retrieved and buried his body? the thread should be called is minato really dead? coz the guy's clearly pulling strings for after his "death" example:jiraiyas key for the seal.

[Decorus]

I don't think there was an effective means of containing Kyuubi without Minato sacrificing himself. If there was another way he wouldn't have used the techniques the way he did. Its been indicated that only sealing Kyuubi would have prevented it from returning eventually.

[Franckie]

In an old interview, Kishi said that Kyuubi was immortal, and the only way it could be stopped was by sealing it. Yondaime knew that something was going down, however, and chose to seal the Kyuubi into Naruto. Whenever a jinchuuriki is created, a life is sacrificed as compensation for power. Yondaime gave his life just how Gaara's mother was sacrificed to bind the Ichibi to Gaara.

[radical3113]

gaaras mom was sacrificed ? wow i must have missed that. chiyo said she put the ichibi in gaara. :huh

[lexx]

Way back when Gaara was first introduced, he explained that shukaku was put in him against his mother's wishes, and that as soon as it possessed him in utero the sand protected him, killing her. She died cursing the village.

[gfire2]

i still believe the 4th is somewhere watchin the grave of his wife or something, the third pretty much died after finishing the seals yet the fouth can split the kyuubi's chakra, seal it in his son and prepare something like the key must be godlike or something
note: i believe his wife sacrificed herself instead

[Neuroff]

This is getting ridiculous. The fact that Pain isn't Yondaime should have put this crap to rest already.

[AngryChubbs]

minato cant still be alive. he is a legend in the narutoverse...a god if you will.....and in order to remain a legend, you have to remain dead lol

besides, if minato comes back somehow, just how is kishi going to explain that.

[mestizo311]

Why is he dead? Because he used the Death God seal. I don't really think you need to see someone's grave to assure that someone has died. Where are the First and Second Hokage's graves at? While were at it where's the White Fang of Konoha grave at? I think Kishi knows that he doesn't have to show us these things just so we can sleep better at night. He only showed the Thirds grave because he was being buried at that moment. Just imagine how depressing the anime would be if they had to do a cemetary tour. I think I had my fill of it with Chiyo already.

[Konkun]

The grave of a hokage would be a in a secret place. I doubt the grave site of the 3rd contains his actual body but a reprentation of it. Only a few people would know the actual burial sites. That is why you do know where the 4th's grave is....

[AngryChubbs]

mestizo makes a good point...at konoha they just have a giant tombstone with names on it....what makes me curious is how does no one know the 4th name? i mean minato uzumaki....naruto uzumaki...1 + 1 = 2.....lol

[darknitemarch]

...his last name was Namikaze, not Uzumaki.

But Minato is dead. He died when using the Shiki Fuuin. For Kishimoto to go back on that would be terrible writing.

[Inkovic]

The grave of a hokage would be a in a secret place. I doubt the grave site of the 3rd contains his actual body but a reprentation of it. Only a few people would know the actual burial sites. That is why you do know where the 4th's grave is....

Obito has a grave but his body was never recovered from the Rock country. The graves just represent the person and who they were rather than a physical resting place for them.

[Decorus]

How do you know Obito was not properly buried in Konoha?
Since the battle was over its highly unlikely that the Konoha forces who won did not take the time to gather up thier dead for proper burial.

[kyuubifrique]

Since a life had to be sacrificed to create a jinchuriki, Gaara's mom was sacrified by the Kazakage. Minato was too much of a hero to let someone else die for his beloved Konoha and so he chose to sacrifice himself. Not only that, in order to seal something, you have to have enough strength/chakra to do so and Minato may have been the only one available with that amount of chakra. even the 3rd didnt have enuf to kill orochimaru so he sealed his arms. minato sealed one portion of the fox in naruto and sealed the other half elsewhere for naruto to decide what to do with that power.

[Decorus]

Gaara's sealing method and Naruto's method are completely different. If I were to wager I'd say Gaara merely replaced his mother as the Jinchuriki of Shukaku.

[Inkovic]

How do you know Obito was not properly buried in Konoha?
Since the battle was over its highly unlikely that the Konoha forces who won did not take the time to gather up thier dead for proper burial.

Obito was buried in an avalanche of rocks. I doubt they would search through rubble in enemy territory to recover a body.

[Neuroff]

Obito was buried in an avalanche of rocks. I doubt they would search through rubble in enemy territory to recover a body.
Enemy territory is not so intimidating when the enemy is dead. And they've emphasized multiple times that it's important to keep your village's secrets. Zabuza, Hyuuga Hizashi, etc. They don't just leave kekkei genkai and village secrets lying around waiting to be found.

[Inkovic]

Enemy territory is not so intimidating when the enemy is dead. And they've emphasized multiple times that it's important to keep your village's secrets. Zabuza, Hyuuga Hizashi, etc. They don't just leave kekkei genkai and village secrets lying around waiting to be found.

Great, now there's a possibility that Obito's dead body was found by the enemy and Sharingan's secrets revealed leading to Tobi and somehow having Madara's soul.

:darn

It's not like the war was over at that point. That was just a single mission and from my understanding after completing that mission Minato went to the front line and helped win the war (details sketchy though)

I don't think they would've recovered Obitio's body at that point as it wasn't safe to do so. When Kakashi came to Minato had saved his students but they were elsewhere, not by the battlefield.

[Neuroff]

It's not like the war was over at that point. That was just a single mission and from my understanding after completing that mission Minato went to the front line and helped win the war (details sketchy though)

I don't think they would've recovered Obitio's body at that point as it wasn't safe to do so. When Kakashi came to Minato had saved his students but they were elsewhere, not by the battlefield.
Yondaime was sitting around waiting for Kakashi to wake up. I have no doubt that all the enemy were killed or ran away after seeing Minato's power. And does anyone really think Yondaime would actually just accept Obito's death and leave him under the rocks? Yondaime had plenty of time if he could just wait for Kakashi to wake up. If ANBU didn't dig up Obito, then Yondaime did.

[Inkovic]

had plenty of time if he could just wait for Kakashi to wake up. If ANBU didn't dig up Obito, then Yondaime did.

What you are saying is completely speculatory. Obito's own grave is simply the stone with dead Konoha shinobi on it. Obito's location is buried beneath the Earth. The current location for their mission is filled with Rock ninja that only Minato could take but the War isn't over. They wouldn't of recovered his body. He ended up like Hidan.

There's simply not enough evidence to state whether they recovered his body or not but from all evidence found so far suggests it highly improbable.

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/6222/obitodeadpk2.jpg

[lordHokage]

We know that he was hailed as the strongest Konoha shinobi, so why did he die in his fight against the Kyuubi. At first I thought it was because his techniques were more suited towards fighting humans and a suicidal technique was all he could come up with, but now that I think about it he could have been looking for death because of the possible death of Kushina. I mean all of the Akatsuki think they can take on Naruto even though they know he has the Kyuubi's chakra, and we know that Minato is probably stronger than Kakuza/Hidan. What do you think? Could Minato have found a way to defeat the Kyuubi without dying or did he want to die?

If Minato knew the details of Madara’s plans months or years in advance, I’m sure he would have found another way to defeat Kyuubi without dying in the process but time was never on his side. :blink

[drakend]

I wrote a post in the "Where is Kushina?" thread but I got totally ignored. I hope here it will have more luck:


Most likely she's dead... perhaps due to childbirth complications.
Or perhaps she was fatally injuried right before Naruto's childbirth. By whom? Uhm perhaps Madara, before summoning the Kyuubi and making it attack Konoha, assaulted Yondaime in order to weak Konoha's defences. In that assault Kushina was fatally wounded but managed to give birth to Naruto and Yondaime was heavily wounded as well. At that point, after tasting Madara's (and possibily Pain's too) strength he decided to seal the Kyuubi inside Naruto to give him a way to deal with those enemies a day in the future. It's very strange that, back during Kyuubi's attack, Yondaime directly came with the baby Naruto and didn't even try to fight back Kyuubi: this clearly shows he already planned to seal Kyuubi and dying doing so. The Death God Jutsu is an extreme measure and a skilled shinobi like Minato would have tried to fight back Kyuubi before concluding there wasn't any other way to stop Kyuubi than sacrificing his own life. Even because he would have left her wife and her newborn child alone. Perhaps he was too wounded to fight back and he knew he was already going to die anyway so he decided to seal Kyuubi inside Naruto. If this is true:
1) Madara (and possibly Pain) are even more godly than what we think.
2) Kyuubi belonged to Madara originally, or it was at his orders to some degree at least.
3) Madara and Pain would become even more "mortal enemies" to Naruto than what they already are.

What do you think?

[Neuroff]

What you are saying is completely speculatory. Obito's own grave is simply the stone with dead Konoha shinobi on it. Obito's location is buried beneath the Earth. The current location for their mission is filled with Rock ninja that only Minato could take but the War isn't over. They wouldn't of recovered his body. He ended up like Hidan.

There's simply not enough evidence to state whether they recovered his body or not but from all evidence found so far suggests it highly improbable.
ANY hero who dies in battle gets put on that stone. It's not evidence against there being another grave.

You act like Yondaime was actually busy, when in reality he wasn't doing anything. You are completely ignoring how Yondaime is just sitting on a rock until nighttime, waiting for Kakashi to wake up. He ended up like Hidan? That's ridiculous. Allowing an enemy to die is completely different than just abandoning your student. What is improbable is that Obito WASN'T recovered.

[bigtymer32]

i dont think minato could of beat him without using that jutsu.nine tails is the strongest of the demons.so as a hokage you proctect the village by any means necessary .there is mystery around where the body is and why theres no grave. as the naruto world goes someone will knwo where the body is .theres probably a secret place for the bodies of the hokages.

[Decorus]

Also Shikamaru is fully planning on having his Clan make damn sure that Hidan never ever comes out of that pit.

[Inkovic]

ANY hero who dies in battle gets put on that stone. It's not evidence against there being another grave.
.

He just finished off 50 highly skilled Rock ninjas. There's no evidence suggesting Obtio's body was recovered or not so let's drop it.

[Neuroff]

And that matters how? Do you think he was tired or something? Yondaime finished off all the enemy forces without even trying. Yondaime and Kakashi are ninjas who emphasize protecting their friends, they wouldn't just assume someone died when there's a chance that they are alive.

[MegaX]

And that matters how? Do you think he was tired or something? Yondaime finished off all the enemy forces without even trying. Yondaime and Kakashi are ninjas who emphasize protecting their friends, they wouldn't just assume someone died when there's a chance that they are alive.

Half of his body was crushed. By rocks.

Seriously, how could he be alive?

[Decorus]

That's just a flesh wound.....

Yondaime is the type of person who would have dug out Obito's body and taken it back for burial. If he didn't I can bet that Anbu would have properly disposed of his body.

[structuralAnalysis]

...his last name was Namikaze, not Uzumaki.

But Minato is dead. He died when using the Shiki Fuuin. For Kishimoto to go back on that would be terrible writing.

I agree. There is no real benefit of doing that.

[Neuroff]

Half of his body was crushed. By rocks.

Seriously, how could he be alive?
It's not that he would actually be alive, but Kakashi and Yondaime wouldn't just accept his death when he was still breathing the last time they saw him.

[IchigoSoul]

Minato not recusing his students seem wierd but i think minato thinks that obito has a proper burial since he was under rocks and it is not "polite" to move corspe. A deeper reason would be minato's team thinks obito die the a hero's death and it would be disrespect to move his body.

[Neuroff]

So it's "polite" to leave your friend in enemy territory where he will probably get dug up and his corpse will be analyzed until nothing remains?

[quick_al]

He just finished off 50 highly skilled Rock ninjas. There's no evidence suggesting Obtio's body was recovered or not so let's drop it.

there is no evidence either way if you want to look at it that way


And that matters how? Do you think he was tired or something? Yondaime finished off all the enemy forces without even trying. Yondaime and Kakashi are ninjas who emphasize protecting their friends, they wouldn't just assume someone died when there's a chance that they are alive.

I agree with Neuroff, look a part one of naruto they had anbu squads who sole purpose was to destroy bodies, and look at the chinnun exam when it was revealed that hinata was kidnapped by a ninja for her bloodline, they would not have let that go away. It does not make sense even in todays world if an aircraft goes down in enemy terrority they destroy it. to make sure nobody gets the secrets.

to add the hokage's body would be protected for the very same reason, look what happed to yamatto becaue of oro

it would not be in a public place that is for sure

[AngryChubbs]

So it's "polite" to leave your friend in enemy territory where he will probably get dug up and his corpse will be analyzed until nothing remains?

dead ninjas get disposed of by anbu....(remember the zabuza thing) obito should be gone....and should def not be tobi

[Neuroff]

dead ninjas get disposed of by anbu....(remember the zabuza thing) obito should be gone....and should def not be tobi
That's exactly what I've been trying to say.

[MegaX]

there is no evidence either way if you want to look at it that way



I agree with Neuroff, look a part one of naruto they had anbu squads who sole purpose was to destroy bodies, and look at the chinnun exam when it was revealed that hinata was kidnapped by a ninja for her bloodline, they would not have let that go away. It does not make sense even in todays world if an aircraft goes down in enemy terrority they destroy it. to make sure nobody gets the secrets.

to add the hokage's body would be protected for the very same reason, look what happed to yamatto becaue of oro

it would not be in a public place that is for sure

But the only secrets that Obito had (the Sharingan) had just been awakened so no one really knew about them. Additionally, the other Sharingan that hadn't been given to Kakashi was crushed, and so probably wasn't very useful as a specimen.

Besides, if Obito had his own body and grave in Konoha, why does Kakashi go to the monument instead of to Obito's grave?

[quick_al]

But the only secrets that Obito had (the Sharingan) had just been awakened so no one really knew about them. Additionally, the other Sharingan that hadn't been given to Kakashi was crushed, and so probably wasn't very useful as a specimen.

Besides, if Obito had his own body and grave in Konoha, why does Kakashi go to the monument instead of to Obito's grave?

Well one of the possiblieties was that his body was destroyed on site. It was a war.

[radical3113]

tobi being obito is as good a possibility as him being madara, this is a world where ninjas fly through trees, transform into monsters, hold electricity in their hand, whats a crushed body or two, maybe half of tobi's body is not his, maybe some one as crazy as kaubto did a couple of jutsus on him or something like that. kishi can make up any crap explanation like that , and you'll still buy it.

[Decorus]

Everyone goes to the monument to remember fallen comrades. And yes they had to dig up Obito's corpse otherwise Obito's goggles would not be lying next to the memorial. Barring Magical goggle teleportation they were buried under the rubble just like Obito was.

[MegaX]

Everyone goes to the monument to remember fallen comrades. And yes they had to dig up Obito's corpse otherwise Obito's goggles would not be lying next to the memorial. Barring Magical goggle teleportation they were buried under the rubble just like Obito was.

Except that it's stated Kakashi goes there specifically for Obito. If I was honoring multiple comrades, sure the monument would be good but not for one specific individual I wouldn't think.

[Rahan]

Well, Kyuubi is incomparably stronger than Naruto. Kakuzu or Deidara can think they can take on Naruto without being able to do anything to Kyuubi. The sannins limits seem to be at only 4-tails. Pein could maybe fight 5-tails but not a full powered Kyuubi.
Sealing some of Kyuubi's chakra with the Death God jutsu is already a formidable feat. Remember old man Sandaime wasn't able to pull out entirely Oro's soul. Yondaime did it and even took the time to filter it. I know Sandaime was past it, but Yondaime went face to face with Kyuubi and survived for long enough to do his things (while Jiraiya and Oro struggle against 4-tailed Naruto)


Actually, we don't know if Minato really had to die. He could have casted Kyuubi away. Kyuubi is a monster who reappeared continuously in history (it was said somewhere at the beginning of the manga I think) so he had to be defeated on a few occasions (and not only by Shodai's anti bijuu powers) and I believe Minato could be able to to do it.
I say he planned for Naruto to become a Jinchuuriki and thus to die in the process. Naruto is merging with Kyuubi (as stated by both Orochimaru and Yamato on different occasions) which means that Kyuubi can't survive without him, so when Naruto dies, Kyuubi will die with him (unless he is extracted the same way the Sand stores Shukaku in a kettle). Minato intended to get rid of Kyuubi once and for all because he trusted his son could handle it. (which he can't, he's going berserk all the time).

Besides, Jiraiya suspects Minato knew about Akatsuki and possibly Madara. Maybe Minato knew Madara (master of the infamous Uchiha art of run) would stay in hiding as long as he lived, so he prepared his son to take care of things. He didn't have Jiraiya and Sandaime training him specifically for the task because an all-powerful Kyuubi powered Yondaime son would just make Madara wait some more decades.

Or maybe because Kyuubi is defeatable, but not killable and as long as Kyuubi isn't sealed into someone, Madara in hiding could summon him at will, so Minato had to seal him at the price of his life.

[Decorus]

In order to seal a Bijou you have to at the moment of sealing be equal to its power. Minato is a good ninja, but he's hardly a god this is why the splitting of chakra and the Death God sealing method was the only recourse he had.

[MegaX]

In order to seal a Bijou you have to at the moment of sealing be equal to its power. Minato is a good ninja, but he's hardly a god this is why the splitting of chakra and the Death God sealing method was the only recourse he had.

Can I get a source on that one?

[Decorus]

"It requires a Fuuin Jutsu capable of producing an effect that matches the power of the bijuu if only momentarily that and a great deal of time."

Chapter 261 pg 7.

So yeah unless you summon the death god, harness every single other Bijuu or something else that grants you godlike power for a few seconds its highly unlikely you can successfully seal Kyuubi. Minato could have say killed Kyuubi, but that would only be a short term solution and as we have noticed Minato's seal isn't exactly holding very well for the long term.

[MegaX]

"With a jutsu that produces a resonance effect matching the Bijuu's power if only for an instant. It takes a good deal of time."

And it's also out of context. She's not talking about sealing. She's talking about the Akatsuki extracting.

[Decorus]

Essentially the same concept. Also your translation is incorrect its sealing jutsu. Or do you think they extracted the 3 tails from its nonexistent host?

[MegaX]

Essentially the same concept. Also your translation is incorrect its sealing jutsu. Or do you think they extracted the 3 tails from its nonexistent host?

Chiyo is talking about the extraction specifically because of it's effect on Gaara. You can't seal something that's sealed unless you unseal it first. Or do you think they meant to seal Gaara in the statue as well?

[Decorus]

They didn't remove the seal from Gaara. And how do you think Shukaku went from its last host to Gaara? Remember Shukaku had been implanted and transferred to a new host 3 times before Gaara.

You may also want to look at how the God of death sealing method works it extracts the soul from the person's body and neatly severs it. Then of course the death god eats it, but still you get my drift.

All of the sealing methods used to create Jinchuuriki have to extract the chakra from the Bijou and implant it into the host. If you will notice The method used to create Gaara required the sacrifice of his mother. The method the Akatsuki use requires a large number of Ninjas and most of thier chakra. The method that Yondaime used required him to die.

See a common theme yet?

[MegaX]

They didn't remove the seal from Gaara. And how do you think Shukaku went from its last host to Gaara? Remember Shukaku had been implanted and transferred to a new host 3 times before Gaara.

You may also want to look at how the God of death sealing method works it extracts the soul from the person's body and neatly severs it. Then of course the death god eats it, but still you get my drift.

All of the sealing methods used to create Jinchuuriki have to extract the chakra from the Bijou and implant it into the host. If you will notice The method used to create Gaara required the sacrifice of his mother. The method the Akatsuki use requires a large number of Ninjas and most of thier chakra. The method that Yondaime used required him to die.

See a common theme yet?

Fine. I'll concede that Akatsuki's jutsu may have been a sealing one. So what? What does that prove?

[Decorus]

It means that in order for Minato to seal Kyuubi he needed to have access to power equal to Kyuubi's which meant there was only one way to do it, sacrificing himself.

[MegaX]

Ah, I thought that this line of argument came from the idea that Minato couldn't have sealed the Kyuubi in it's entirety. But from this perspective I will concede quite readily.

[Decorus]

No the splitting of the power was to keep it sealed for as long as possible and to keep Naruto from dying horribly via Kyuubi chakra.

[MegaX]

Fair enough, I find nothing in that argument to be a point of contention.

[frozen18ice]

i dont know if any body noticed when the sandime used the 4th hokage skill there is a shadow of minato under the death god, mybe the reason why they could never find the 4th body is because it is sealed away with the death god in that skill.

[lazyboyrod]

Because he sacrificed himself.

[kkck]

i dont know if any body noticed when the sandime used the 4th hokage skill there is a shadow of minato under the death god, mybe the reason why they could never find the 4th body is because it is sealed away with the death god in that skill.

Where was it said that the fourths body was never found?:blink

[lazyboyrod]

Where was it said that the fourths body was never found?:blink

I was wondering that too.....

[Iwashi]

The fourths body obviously was found. If you remember back to the beggining of Orochimaru's fight with Hiruzen (Sandaime), he was about to summon a 3rd coffin: http://read.mangashare.com/Naruto/chapter-117/page019.html but Sandaime stopped him just in time. Infact Sandaime was most worried about the 3rd coffin. I think its safe to say that had a 3rd body been summoned, It would have been Minato's.

[kkck]

Ok, good to see the body detail was solved(unless dear old oro stole it from the beggining lol). Anyways, I dont think sandaime was specially concerned about the third coffin, rather he wanted to stop the summoning of the only coffin he had the chance to stop(since he didnt react appropiately for the first 2).

[SharinganItachi]

Minato died when he used the sealing technique, right?

[Raizen]

Minato died when he used the sealing technique, right?
Yeah. In order to use shiki fuujin, u have to give up ur life

[XxVascoxX]

Yeah. In order to use shiki fuujin, u have to give up ur life

yeah true ,but still where is the grave for minato in kohona's graveyard.
With that naruto could one day know about his father.

Perhaps with the destruction of kohona part 2 there surely will be many deaths , naruto on his return to the graveyard and spot the yondaime grave and someone (under intense emotion) will tell him it was your father .probably kakashi or tsunade

[Raizen]

yeah true ,but still where is the grave for minato in kohona's graveyard.
With that naruto could one day know about his father.

Perhaps with the destruction of kohona part 2 there surely will be many deaths , naruto on his return to the graveyard and spot the yondaime grave and someone (under intense emotion) will tell him it was your father .probably kakashi or tsunade
Hmmm. IDK. Do hokages get bigger graves, like the 3rd hokage? If that is true then I don't know why we have not seen the 4th, but on the other hand we have not seen the 1st and 2nd also

[Dr.Robotnick]

Minato Namikaze die becuase Shiki Fuuin no jutsu its a suicidal tecnique...persons seys that he is alive, no, he is a legend yes... but he is a legend DEAD!

[Evil_Eyes]

Because the coolest characters always die young. It's the bishonen thing.

[Shreds]

Do I need to mention he fought Madara too? :o
He said he's no challange for Madara so he just ran to suicide on the Kyuubi XD

[niblack89]

looking at how complex Naruto seal is it seems to well thought out for a last ditch effort. He sealed some of his chakra in case the seal would fail, He sealed a back up seal with in a toad. I think he went into battle prepared to fall. The purpose of giving the kyuubi to Naruto was a gift of power sort of an apology to him.

[Raizen]

looking at how complex Naruto seal is it seems to well thought out for a last ditch effort. He sealed some of his chakra in case the seal would fail, He sealed a back up seal with in a toad. I think he went into battle prepared to fall. The purpose of giving the kyuubi to Naruto was a gift of power sort of an apology to him.
It is just that Minato is that much of a genius. he thought of something that complex in a short time span

[Richo]

Minato Namikaze die becuase Shiki Fuuin no jutsu its a suicidal tecnique...persons seys that he is alive, no, he is a legend yes... but he is a legend DEAD!

technicaly he isn't dead. It is explained when the 3th summoned Shinigami the reaper that a person who uses this jutsu and seals another person soul they will have to remain together in the belly of shinigami the reaper forever. This is what the jutsu made the most terrible jutsu even after dying.

it is quite obvious the seal on naruto belly is identical as the seal the 3th recieved after sealing oro his arms. so minato is dead end of story~~