#we are calling this hindsight bias because under no other circumstances would i be defending this

[comikadraws]

I wonder why minato sealed kyuubi in Naruto when there could've and should've been other measures/solutions, esp because that caused Naruto to suffer for most of his life. poor kid was also in danger most of the time because certain people saw him a s a weapon.

Sorry for the very, very late reply.

In all honesty, I get both sides of this argument. Yes, the decision to make Naruto a human weapon (essentially) ruined his life. But it's not exactly like the alternatives were too promising...

The Situation Overview

Minato is dealing with two disasters at once.

The present disaster: Konoha is in shambles. The casualties are high, the Kyubi is without a host and keeps shooting Tailed Beast Bombs. It is safe to assume that Minato is one of the few (if not only) people who have the ability to seal the beast. And if he doesn't, the odds are that the entire village might be destroyed.

Village =/= government but village = ninja and civilian population and supply of necessities.

The future disaster: Obito. He escaped and Minato and the latter is fully aware that the masked man will turn into a problem in the future. From Minato's point of view, even if Konoha is saved today, the village (or the world even) will need a countermeasure against the masked man in the future.

The first problem necessitates that the Kyubi is sealed. The second one determines the vessel.

The Sealing Problem

The Kyubi needs to be sealed for obvious reasons. The question is: Who is going to be the Jinchuriki?

In the case of Kushina, she is dying. It is, of course, possible to save a Jinchuriki by re-sealing the Biju, but we can guess from context (as well as the fact that Minato had to be told of the possibility by Kyubi/Gaara) that this was unknown to Minato and Kushina at the time.

The problem with a dying Jinchuriki is that after they die, the Biju disappears temporarily until reborn a couple of years later. It's a temporary fix, only solving one of two problems (and also Bijuu balance bullshit).

That's why it cannot be Kushina.

To seal away the entirety of the Kyubi, an exceptionally strong chakra is required that is usually only found within Uzumakis (and rare even among them). But aside from Naruto and Kushina, there were no known Uzumakis present - Especially none with the right chakra to suppress the Kyubi.

This is why Minato is required to split the chakra of the Kyubi in order to seal it. This now creates the need for two Jinchuriki.

Why Naruto?

Now here's the big question. Why choose your own baby as the Jinchuriki?

Minato's reasoning is mostly built on two things. One is the before-mentioned masked man aka. Obito who plans to take over the world. The other is Gamamaru's prophecy. According to him and Jiraiya, there's a great catastrophe lurking just around the corner that will be stopped by one of Jiraiya's students.

Personal feelings aside, Minato makes the correct conclusion that there's a good chance said student will be Naruto. By making Naruto a Jinchuriki, Minato is essentially providing him with a power-up against whatever threat he will be forced to deal with as the child of prophecy.

Why Did Minato Use The Reaper Death Seal?

Another question fans might ask is why Minato decided to use the Reaper Death Seal (instead of any other seal that doesn't kill the user). After all, Minato didn't have to die and Naruto could have had a father in his life at the very least. Here's what I found:

The Reaper Death Seal is the only way to bypass the "dead Jinchuriki" problem I mentioned earlier. It allows the user to take a Biju down with them permanently. Minato wants to avoid at all costs that Obito can acquire both halves.

The Reaper Death Seal is the only sealing jutsu that is ever shown to have the ability to split (not just the chakra of but) a being into two. But take this last one with a barrel of salt as it is only a theory.

Kushina also couldn't use the Reaper Death Seal. The exact reasons are unclear, but Minato states that as a non-Jinchuriki, the seal he can use is the Reaper Death Seal. This sentence has multiple interpretations:

No Jinchuriki (or former Jinchuriki) can use the Reaper Death Seal.

Kushina, having been in the role of Jinchuriki, is in no physical condition to use the seal.

Non-Jinchuriki can only use the Reaper Death Seal.

Minato believes that the seal won't turn him into a Jinchuriki (even though it does).

All three of these reasonings seem weird but in this context, number 1 and 2 make the most sense. Otherwise, Kushina would be offering to use the jutsu instead.

Reaper Death Seal is known only to a select few, to the point that Orochimaru has never heard of it. That leaves only Minato and Hiruzen as potential candidates to perform the jutsu. Though it is unclear whether Hiruzen knew the Reaper Death Seal at this current point in time or would have been quick enough to follow Minato into his teleportation jutsu before Kyubi's Bijuu Dama hit.

Conclusion

In case you haven't noticed yet, Kishimoto, when writing that chapter, was desperately trying to somehow justify Minato's decision to make Naruto a Jinchuriki and die in the process. Hence there are multiple ass-pulls, retcons, and forgotten lore here and there.

Ignoring the obvious lore struggles that Kishimoto had, most of Minato's decisions were very reasonable except his decision to make Naruto a Jinchuriki. This weird overconfidence in children and infants, unfortunately, is normal in Narutoland and condoned by their society, though, in case the 6-year-olds at the military training academy are anything to go by.

Was sealing Kyubi into Naruto the right decision in the end? Yes. But was it a reasonable conclusion to come to? No.

The only reason it worked out at all (or why Minato got the idea in the first place), in the end, was plot armor.