Naruto‘s Kage make (and break) its world. Granted, Naruto‘s world is far from perfect to begin with. But as you’ll see on this list, a good Kage can make all the difference. We’ve run lists on the best Hokage before, but this one’s going to widen its scope to account for all the Kage in Narutothen pick the cream of the crop.
What makes a good Kage exactly? The answer to that is as diverse as Naruto‘s world itself. Generally, though, a good Kage would be one who doesn’t just embrace the status quo—because as we said at first, the status quo in Naruto isn’t all that great; even peacetime is pretty darn dangerous. Good Kage, as far as our ranking goes, are the ones who do the most to lift up or improve their village and the shinobi world at large.
10) Hiruzen Sarutobi (Third Hokkaido)
We’ll start with Sarutobi.
Well, Sarutobi is just terrible. Unfortunately, he makes the list by virtue of the fact that most other Kage are either worse (looking at you, Shikamaru!) or so poorly attested in Naruto‘s lore that they’re impossible to place. As a shinobi and a teacher, Sarutobi is fantastic. But when it comes to his actual actions as Hokage, he’s miserably complacent. One of the first problems that pretty much every Naruto fan has concerns Sarutobi’s apathy for Naruto and his mistreatment. The longer you watch, the worse the problem gets.
It turns out that Sarutobi’s apathy and passivity are, at times, malicious: for instance, signing off on Danzō’s plan for Itachi to massacre the Uchiha without ever attempting to negotiate or improve their conditions. His decision to let Orochimaru go is troubling, and he set himself up for trouble by letting Danzō gain so much power in the first place. His “pacifism” is often called “wisdom”, but it’s actually “complacent laziness” and “procrastination”. His passivity toward the world outside Konoha left villages in ruins, drip-fed death grudges against the Hidden Leaf, and even (indirectly, through his loose leash on Danzō) allowed Akatsuki to radicalize from advocates for peace to harbingers of death.
9) Tobirama Senju (Second Hokage)
Tobirama was a leader driven by paranoia. While it’s common to draw a distinction between Hashirama and Tobirama, where Tobirama is the heavy-handed pragmatist and Hashirama is the dreamy idealist, they really aren’t so separate: they enable one another. Hashirama’s trust in Tobirama’s judgment and his unwillingness to shut Tobirama down—especially since he was the go-between for Tobirama and Madara (and by extension the Uchiha)—let Tobirama’s paranoia run free. The consequences were disastrous.
It’s true that Tobirama did establish many of the village’s institutions like the Chunin Exams, but that’s not automatically a point in his favor. After all, what that means by extension is that, as Hokage, he normalized and enabled a world that trained teenagers to kill and be killed in the name of village politics. His actions with the Uchiha are the nail in the coffin, putting in place a set of circumstances that encouraged the blossoming of all Naruto‘s greatest tragedies.
8) Minato Namikaze (Fourth Hokage)
Naruto’s parents were one of the biggest reveals in the whole series, and viewers definitely weren’t disappointed to learn that Naruto’s father was the fabled Fourth Hokage. We see very little of Minato’s time as Hokage, just knowing that—like the Hokage who preceded him—he didn’t have a peacetime rule by any means. His time in the office was also extremely short: only 12 to 18 months. To be frank, it’s not enough time to accomplish much of anything.
Minato gets points above all for the difficult, honorable decision to seal the Nine Tails within his own child, sacrificing himself and his wife in the process. Despite his legacy as one of Konoha’s greatest strategists of all time, he loses points for lacking a contingency plan to make sure his infant son had a decent childhood (that’s just a matter of good planning, like life insurance), and not doing much in terms of Konoha’s social and political spheres.
7) A (Fourth Raikage)
The Fourth Raikage isn’t here by virtue of his governance, but solely because he’s one of Naruto‘s best-written and most enjoyable Kage outside of the Hidden Leaf. As a leader, it can’t really be said that he does anything all too different from the other Kage of his time: he’s willing to do a lot of unsavory things in the name of his village’s security. But there are three main things that have led the Fourth Raikage to be beloved by Naruto fans.
The first is his sheer power: the Fourth Raikage is incredibly strong with captivating lightning-based jutsu, and he can clear almost anybody in the series with it. The second is his enamoring, protective relationship with Killer B, his adoptive brother and a jinchuriki: their relationship is a high point of Naruto‘s latter half, somehow bringing the best out of their already lovable personalities. The third is his leadership: he’s a fantastic, headstrong leader whose combat prowess inspires enough respect that he served as Supreme Leader of the Allied Shinobi Forces.
6) Naruto Uzumaki (Seventh Hokkaido)
Naruto is another controversial placement, here. But the standard he’s being held to as Hokage also, inevitably, bears in mind the promises he would make over the course of Naruto itself. Naruto was positioned as someone who would be a revolutionary Hokage (figuratively speaking), ushering in a new era of peace and prosperity for everyone—including those outside the village.
It’s true that Naruto played a colossal role in the Fourth Great Ninja War, and it’s also true that he led the charge against world-level threats like Isshiki. That’s commendable, but it’s worth remembering that when we’re talking about “what Hokage have done”, we have to also think about “what Hokage could do.” Unlike many Hokage before him, Naruto became Hokage during peacetime, with much of the hard work of reconstruction and diplomacy had been done for him. He doesn’t make anything worse, but it’s hard to say that he couldn’t do more.
5) Kakashi Hatake (Sixth Hokage)
Kakashi was a silent savior for Konoha, taking over as interim Hokage until Naruto was mature enough to take up the role. He did far more than anybody expected of him in the meantime, though. Kakashi certified peace and cooperation with other villages, rebuilt Konoha’s institutions, and oversaw a massive jump in technological progress during his time at the post.
So much, in fact, that by the time Naruto took over, Kakashi was evidently pretty burnt out. It’s unfortunate that Kakashi’s tenure was during Naruto‘s “blank period”, since it leaves fans with just one option for seeing him in action: the story Kakashi Retsuden—The Sixth Hokage and the Failure Boy. But Boruto gives us a clear picture of his immense impact in the fallout of the Fourth Great Ninja War, and it’s very considerable.
4) Hashirama Senju (First Hokkaido)
You can’t blame a guy for trying. Hashirama is a shinobi legend, and Kishimoto fully buys into that legend: this man’s cells can do practically anything in the world. He’s extremely powerful, and his idealism was a blessing to a world full of warring clans. As the person who spearheaded the dream for clans to unite in the Hidden Village system, you might expect he would be higher.
Unfortunately, things didn’t exactly play out as he had hoped, and he’s at least a little culpable for this since the cracks had already begun to show in his lifetime. His passive trust of his paranoid brother, alongside his emphasis on order within the village at any cost, are stains on his image. His image isn’t suffering too much from it, though, since his legacy far outweighs anything that came to pass under his watch for the citizens of Konoha and for Naruto fans everywhere.
3) Mei Terumi (Fifth Mizukage)
Mei Terumi is massively underrated as a Kage. A recurring theme you’ll see pop up on this list, especially as we dip into its latter half, is the opportunity to change things but the failure to actually do so. Mei Terumi can’t be accused of that at all. In fact, when it comes to actually fundamentally changing the brutal structure of shinobi traditions, she’s one of the only ones to actually follow through on her promises.
Kirigakure—the Hidden Mist Village—became known as the “Village of the Bloody Mist” for a practice where students were required to fight to the death. Such practices mixed with widespread corruption, coup attempts, and endless defection would utterly tarnish the village’s reputation. Mei Terumi would pull out all the stops to reinvent Kirigakure altogether, making it a better place to live and improving its image internationally. She’s one of the most pivotal living Kage and truly strives for peace and progress, even if Naruto itself rarely takes her seriously by making her the butt of incessant jokes.
2) Gara (Fifth Kazekage)
Gaara is a fan-favorite of countless Naruto fans, and for good reason. The first part of Naruto establishes such a chilling characterization for him that it was almost impossible to imagine he could ever be something like a compassionate Kage. But the character arc explored there groomed him for the position and gave him the maturity and steadiness so that he could fulfill his new aspirations to be accepted as Kazekage.
Throughout Naruto Shippudenthat steadiness and compassion are on display. Not only does he bring stability to the Hidden Sand, but he also acts to improve diplomatic ties with the rest of the shinobi world, ensuring peace at home and abroad with a minimum of bloodshed. He was a steadfast leader during the height of the Akatsuki’s threat, and his famous speech fostered cooperation and unity among the Shinobi villages, culminating in the creation of the Allied Shinobi Forces—where he would serve as commander, no less.
1) Tsunade (Fifth Hokage)
Tsunade was there when nobody else was—literally. When Sarutobi died and the new threats facing Konoha became clear, it was evident that only an extremely capable shinobi would be capable of filling the role. Indeed, although the end of Naruto shows the immense effort involved in convincing Tsunade to take up the role, her bravery and selflessness is easily skimmed over.
Her unique skillset and experiences as an incredibly skilled shinobi with an uncanny penchant for medical ninjutsu came fully into play as Akatsuki came into the picture. Tsunade would see Konoha through the biggest threats it ever faced, forging a new style of leadership as she adapts the role of the Hokage to her present needs. She’s an understated hero who is all too often forgotten because she’s not as flashy or legendary as the other Hokage—but she was a better (and more compassionate) leader than any of them.
We’ll accept that there might be some controversial placements here, and we’ll take it on the nose. If you have something to add, then feel free to drop a comment below!
Finally, if you’re interested in reading about the darker side of the shinobi world that the best of these Kage worked against, then click through to the link below!
