Minato Namikaze is the most popular character in Naruto

 The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, has been voted the world's favorite Naruto character after a month and a half of voting and roughly 4.6 million votes. The results of the "NARUTOP99" global character poll, which revealed the top character in fans' hearts worldwide and Masashi Kishimoto's illustrations of the top twenty-two characters, were made public today.

 In a response he made to congratulate the poll's winners, Masashi Kishimoto, the author of Naruto, said that he was "surprised to see Minato" in the top slot and that he was "looking forward to Kurama" getting the top spot. Kishimoto included Guy, who came in at number 21, and Kurama, who came in at number 22 (out of the top 20 to be represented in the illustration).

 Itachi Uchiha was ranked second in both the preliminary and final findings of the survey, while Minato Namikaze took first place in both. Minato Namikaze was the study's overall winner across all areas and age categories. Sakura Haruno, who replaced Shisui Uchiha in the top three, saw a "last-minute meteoric rise" in the rankings, according to the press release, while Kakashi Hatake passed Naruto to take fifth position.

 The character will finally receive an official one-shot by Kishimoto to commemorate Minato's victory. Kishimoto was "excited" by the "immense passion" of the fans for the character and had to expand the number of pages.