From the archives of Konoha: Excerpt from "A History of the Leaf"- chapter 10: The Famed and Feared
….. Since the founding of our village, Konohagakure, many fine shinobi and kunoichi have gone to represent our land, either for their great feats or their heinous deeds. Even from the start, our home was known for its two founding clans: the Senju and the Uchiha. Among these two clans, three would rise to levels of fame that surpassed the renown of their fellow kinsmen at the time. These three are Senju Hashirama, Senju Tobirama, and Uchiha Madara.
Senju Hashirama was known for having created the forests that surround Konoha, becoming the first Hokage, fighting Madara at the now-named Valley of the End, and for wielding the great mokuton that allowed him to subdue and tame the biju. Senju Tobirama, brother of Hashirama and second Hokage, was famed for his great affinity to water such that he was able to summon great torrents from the air. Uchiha Madara, known as one of the greatest wielders of the Sharingan, left Konoha and fought Hashirama, only to be defeated. He was feared for his ability to control the kyubi with his eyes.
After such individual, there were many others that would come to be feared by all other nations like Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage and a man whose extensive knowledge of jutsu made him feared and lead Konoha through three wars, Hatake Sakumo the "White Fang of Konoha", as well as the Sannin: Jiraiya the toad sage, Orochimaru the snake summoner, and Tsunade the world's greatest medic. Many great individuals have come from Konoha and even in its darkest hours new ones emerge to show their might.
The Third Shinobi war was no exception to this rule as Konoha was attacked by an allied force of three of the five great villages: Iwa in the Northwest, Kumo in the Northeast, and Kiri in the East. Even when the situation was grim and it seemed to be Konoha's last hour, two heroes stepped forward and carved their names into their enemies' hearts and cemented their places as two of the greatest shinobi to ever exist. These two individuals turned turened the tides of war into Konoha's favour and became the greatest threats on their respective front, one in the North-Northwest and the other East-Northeast. These two were Namikaze Minato, the Kiiroi Senko, and Kazuma Arashi, the Inazuma (lightning flash). Both were considered the greatest talents of their generation and trained under the toad sage, Jiraiya, and become the greatest in their respective fields.
Namikaze Minato, who single handedly turned the tide against Iwa and helped hold back Kumo and Kazuma Arashi, the man who forced Kiri to back out and helped defeat Kumo. These two became feared and were hailed as the greatest shinobi of the age but it was unresolved who was the strongest. Minato who used his Hiraishin and Rasengan to decimate Iwa and hold back the future Raikage and his brother or Arashi who defeated all members of the seven swordsman of the mist with his swordsmanship in a single battle, which lead to many calling him "the greatest swordsman in all the Elemental Nations", and many other Kirin nin with his Ten no Yoroi. Both acknowledged the other and it was never clear who would was better. It was something many argued about: Who would win in an all-out battle: Namikaze Minato or Kazuma Arashi?
Minato with his knowledge of seals, time-space ninjutsu, Hiraishin, and rasengan or Arashi with his swordsmanship, Ten no Yoroi, and his legendary "Seven Swords", it was something many debated but in the end no one will ever find out. Namikaze Minato died when he sacrificed his life to seal the kyubi and left the village with the permission of the Hokage…
(Twelve years after Kyubi's attack)
It was a quiet and peaceful night in Konoha; the moon was out and shined brightly and people were about in the streets. Up on top of the Hokage faces was a young boy with a head protector with the leaf symbol on it. He was one of many to pass the exam this morning and become a genin of the village. He looked up from the village and gazed at the moon while reminiscing on the past or more specifically about a man who changed his life for the better; who secretly trained him to be what he is today, who promised to return soon to see his improvement but never heard from again.
He knew that he said it may be a long time before they can meet again but he thought that after he became a genin he would come back. But alas it was not to be as the man still did not show up and he wondered where he could be or what he could be doing. The promise was that he would come back in a couple years, maybe one or two. At this, Naruto thought to himself, "Its been four years now sensei."