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I know that the villagers of Konoha were afraid of the Kyuubi because of its rampage on the village, and that the Fourth Hokage saved the village by sealing it inside Naruto. Based on this answer, the Third Hokage hid his identity to protect him.

Did the Third Hokage hide only Naruto's relation with the Fourth, or also him being the Kyuubi jinchuriki? If so, did the villagers find out because Naruto went out of control with the Kyuubi's chakra?

Edit: To make clear what I am exactly curious about.

Why didn't they also hide Naruto's identity as a jinchuriki so the villagers will not hate him?

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    I think that both the 3rd and 4th Hokages were naive, foolish and too blinded by their love for the village and its people, as well as their own idealism. They are both hokage they should have realised that realisticly naruto was never going to be seen as a hero by the villagers. Think about it after suffering a massive attack it was obvious that the villagers would be clouded by their anger and grief over the losd of their loved ones to the 9 tails. Anyone who feels these emotions would take these feelings out on others, the hokages made naruto the scapegoat for their abuse.
    – Kenorama Senju
    Oct 7, 2016 at 11:50
  • Don't take me wrong i personally like the both of them, they are kind and comoassionate, but that is their flaws their determination to see goodness in people was their undoing and were both taken advantage of. They wanted to believe that the village is good, but that is not the case in this instance. They both should have known this would happen as hokage its their job to know what the village is thinking and what their response will be to their decisions.
    – Kenorama Senju
    Oct 7, 2016 at 11:50
  • A mere sorry by the Minato to Naruto should not just be able to make up for his poor decision that he and the 3rd made that cost naruto happiness. If he really loved naruto then he shouldn't have told the village the truth about the 9 tails thus sparing naruto the scorn he received during his life growing up. After all naruto's mother and lady Mito status as jinchuriki were secret for that very reason.
    – Kenorama Senju
    Oct 7, 2016 at 11:50

5 Answers 5

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The villagers know that Naruto is the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki because Sarutobi Hiruzen told them!

Here's why: In one of the earliest chapters, Hiruzen tells Iruka that the Fourth Hokage had died hoping the villagers would see Naruto as a hero, who sealed the Kyuubi. The only way Hiruzen could make it happen is by telling the villagers that Naruto was the kid that the Fourth Hokage sealed the Kyuubi into.

However, he decided not to reveal Naruto's relation to the Fourth Hokage. Note also that Kushina's pregnancy was a highly classified information, known only to Hiruzen, Biwako, Minato, a few ANBU members and some others. Hiruzen could have made up a story that Naruto was a random kid that Minato picked to seal the Kyuubi (or something like that), and few would have suspected or questioned him.

PS: A little plot hole there is that on growing up, Naruto's close resemblance to Minato, along with the Kyuubi story, should have raised a few eyebrows, but Kishimoto probably decided it was not important enough for the "plot" to require an explanation.

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  • The knowledge of Naruto being the Kyubii's host was limited to the older generation, not all from naruto's generation knew about it. Sakura came to know about it only during the earlier episodes of shippuden. How and why the older generation knows may be assumed from the fact that they were present on the day the kyubii was sealed. So they might have got an explanation on how the danger was averted, but for the safety of Naruto and so that he could intermingle with his generation, any discussion on the topic was banned by the third hokage.
    – debal
    Nov 6, 2013 at 6:11
  • Well, yeah. I was referring to the villagers who were grown up enough at the time of Minato's death. I am more inclined to the theory that the "rule" was imposed later when Hiruzen realised that the elders were not taking Minato's wish in the correct spirit. He had hoped that the villagers would treat Naruto as a hero, but since that didn't happen, he decided that at least the topic should not be discussed further to create more hatred.
    – Masked Man
    Nov 6, 2013 at 6:44
  • If the villagers had literally seen the Kyuubi's sealing, they would also know that he is the Fourth Hokage's son, and at least a few of them would have treated him with love and respect. Only a few ANBU guards were present when the sealing happened, and so far, unnamed characters have never done anything significantly contributing to the plot, so I think it must have been Hiruzen's doing.
    – Masked Man
    Nov 6, 2013 at 6:51
  • I agree with you on the "rule" being imposed later so as to prevent more damage to Naruto's future. I did not mean to imply that the villagers literally saw the kyuubi's sealing, but they knew that the kyuubi was sealed, inside of whom? A child by the name of Naruto. I would also think had they known that Naruto was the son of the 4th Hokage, they would have shown more respect towards him, ignorance on this matter may have been another reason why Naruto was so ill treated by the older generation, always trying to keep their kids off that "monster"
    – debal
    Nov 6, 2013 at 7:00
  • And as the pregnancy of Kushina was confidential, Hiruzen could have said any story about who Naruto was and where he came from, except from a select few, as we see Kakashi was among the few that knew about Naruto's parentage and the kyuubi.
    – debal
    Nov 6, 2013 at 7:04
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They know Naruto is the Jinchuuriki. What the Third Hokage hid from the rest of the villagers is his relation to Minato and the fact that the village was attacked by Tobi. Many people did not know the kyuubi disaster was because Tobi had attacked and caused it. Instead, they thought the kyuubi had just gone loose.

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  • Only few have known that 4th sealed the Kyuubi inside Naruto, did they intend to let the villagers know he is the jinchuriki and let Naruto suffer their hatred? Why is that so?
    – nix
    Nov 6, 2013 at 3:43
  • The manga never stated why they let everyone know Naruto is a jinchuuriki, but we can assume it was intended to let everyone know because in all other current and past instances, everyone within their village knows who the jinchuuriki is (ie Kushina, Gaara, Bee). Realistically, it makes sense to let the village know of one of your strongest assets. It builds the trust between the Hokage and the people. Hiding it would may cause huge problems, especially if people found out later.
    – krikara
    Nov 6, 2013 at 4:01
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This might not really satisfy you.
But when naruto was trying to get control of kurama's charka kushina popped out.
That time kushina told naruto what had happened during the sealing.
Minato had made a barrier like structure which blocked others from entering it.
They showed that sarutobi and some other shinobi from the leaf were there, watching minato die :(

Sarutobi and other ninjas

Now as you can see that there had been many other people who witnessed the scene of sealing the kyuubi.
There can be a possibility that someone else could have leaked the information that the kyuubi was sealed in naruto.
It could also have been that sarutobi himself told them to do so, to protect naruto in some way.

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The reason to y narutos parentage was hidden was so that the fourth hokages ememies wouldn't target him, as he is his child. They didn't hide the part where he was a jinchuriki was so that, Naruto would be more protected while he was sent on missions and given more importance. Every hidden village in the five great nations has a tailed beast which holds a lot of power. Since every tailed beast is an important part in their villages military they have to be protected and given more importance at times. When Naruto goes on missions, he has to be given more importance , if a situation where someone has to be left behind to let the others escape. Now they can't let an important part of their villages military strength sacrificed or let it get captured by the other villages shinobi. A jinchuriki might face a lot of ill treatment but is given more protection and importance in matters of military purposes

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    Can you cite any canonical material to support this?
    – кяαzєя ♦
    Oct 14, 2015 at 17:25
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From what I've seen from a video discussing the Itachi novels, there was a retcon where Naruto actually had a normal life at first, but his Jinchuriki status was leaked by Danzo. The reason why Naruto can't recall this, is because he was too young to the remember that there was a time that he wasn't hated.

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  • Please include relevant sources/references.
    – W. Are
    May 19, 2019 at 7:12

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