|
I think they are two separate people based on Yondaime's final words to Sandaime that he wanted Naruto to be viewed as a hero. I take it this means that Naruto was born before Yondaime died or Sandaime wouldn't know what he was talking about. However, there are two other possible explanations.
1) Yondaime somehow knew sealing the bijuu into himself would revert him into an infant with no prior memories of his past life and explained this to Sandaime before he performed the jutsu, leaving specific instructions that neither Konoha village nor his incarnation were to know the truth.
2) Sandaime found Naruto after the battle and came to the conclusion that he was the incarnation of Yondaime. However, feeling it was best that the village not know his identity, Sandaime created the story of the 4th's last words.
In any case, this means that Sandaime was aware of the truth behind Naruto's past. However, the fact that Sandaime seems to clearly think of Yondaime and Naruto as two different people and refers to Yondaime as if he's dead makes me believe that Naruto is not an incarnation. If Naruto was Yondaime's reincarnation, it seems like Sandaime would comment more on their similarities or his thoughts of Yondaime would trigger thoughts of Naruto and vice-versa. Of course, one could say the same thing if they shared a father-son relationship too. Either way, it seems the old man is the only person that for sure knew about the truth behind the Yondaime-Naruto relationship and now he's dead too. But there's still a decent chance Jiraiya knows.
|