Greatest Hokage, Naruto to Boruto

There has always been a debate on who is the Strongest Hokage. This article will cover who is the Greatest Hokage—this will be done by ranking each Hokage based on the feats they achieved as well as how much they influenced the shinobi world and how they helped to grow the Leaf Village as Hokage.

Number 7, Tsunade (5th Hokage)

The Slug Princess Tsunade is ranked lowest on this list as the growth of the village did not change much during her time in charge. During her reign as Hokage she fought in the ninja world war as part of the allied shinobi forces. A massive feat in the shinobi world, however due to her being unconscious when the alliance was formed, and having Danzo as her stand-in, she misses out on being credited for forming the alliance.

She was shown to put a lot of effort into saving others during Pain's assault of the village during her tenure; however, when meeting the leader of the Akatsuki, she did not have enough energy to defeat him. He also left the village in ruins with most of it having to be rebuilt.

Her greatest feat as Hokage would be when she fought Madara alongside the other Kage and she healed multiple people in the fight and war.

Although an incredible woman, Tsunade's five or so years in charge made less impact in the shinobi world in comparison to the remaining Hokage on this list.

Number 6, Minato Namikaze (4th Hokage)

Minato was known around the world as one of the fastest ninjas to have ever lived. His speed is comparable and sometimes said to exceed that of the 2nd Hokage Tobirama. His war effort in the 3rd great shinobi war was a deciding factor for him being elected as the 4th Hokage.

During his time as the leader of the Leaf Village he was unable to change the village much. Everything largely stayed the way that his predecessors left it. In fact, him becoming the 4th Hokage made Orochimaru become somewhat more sadistic and also planted the seeds for the Uchiha revolt that ended with the near genocide of the Uchiha Clan.

Despite all the negative responses to his appointment as Hokage, he actually was the shortest serving leader, only being in charge for no more than a year.

What puts him above Tsunade on this list is that during his year or so in charge he successfully defeated the 9-tailed beast and that saw the village take much less casualties than if he was not around.

He died during this encounter but in doing so, he protected the Leaf and its future.

Number 5, Naruto Uzamaki (7th Hokage)

Being arguably the strongest Hokage, Naruto has proven that he can defend his village. Even before becoming the Leader of the Leaf he was regarded as the Hero of the Leaf by defeating many enemies that threatened his home and people.

Being powerful, however, does not make him smart. Although he possesses the ability to lead he often leans on his assistant Shikamaru for help with policies and management of the village.

During his time as Hokage, he has defeated two very powerful enemies so far and helped protect others once again.

Naruto may one day rank higher on this list but as of now he has not been in power long enough to warrant a position higher than this.

Number 4 Hiruzen Sarutobi (3rd Hokage)

The 3rd Hokage Hiruzen is considered one of the Gods of shinobi. He was reportedly incredibly powerful in his prime. When the 2nd Hokage was about to sacrifice himself, he informed his team that he would like Hiruzen to succeed him. The rest, they saym is history and a long history indeed. Hiruzen was Hokage for about 60 years, give or take.

During his time as the leader of the most advanced village in the shinobi world he maintained the vision that both his predecessors had and although he led the village with confidence he did not try to expand it or alter it, instead opting to keep it as similar to how the 2nd left it as possible.

He was known as being a bit too soft and so had to recruit Danzo to be his second in command. Danzo would be in charge of making the harder decisions when it came to protecting the village as the leader of Root, a top secret shinobi organisation that specialises in covert ops.

Although his leadership was strong he had a few powerful critics that thought he was slow to act on some matters. This is most notable when he let the Uchiha clan fall into darkness and plan a coup d'é·tat that lead to the previously mentioned near genocide of the Uchiha Clan.

Number 3, Kakashi Hatake (6th Hokage)

The copy ninja Kakashi is to date possibly the second longest reigning Hokage. He was in power for about 10-12 years and during this he managed to grow the village to new heights. Skyscrapers were built to house more civilians and businesses expanded. The village started to form a stronger economy by seemingly allowing more tourists in.

His contribution to keeping the nations at peace is notable with him even destroying a rogue Leaf ship to avert a potential war.

His leadership is trusted by other nation's leaders as shown when Gaara, the leader of the Sand Village, personally asked for Kakashi to be considered as the next Hokage.

Despite leading the village in a time of peace it is recognised that he put a lot of effort in keeping the peace. He made the Chūnin exams less dangerous while also making sure to test the limits of the competitors skills.

His ability to keep a cool head in difficult situations would have also helped when being confronted by potential conflict.

The position of the number 1 spot was a hard one. This decision is down to my research, and in my opinion, one was a slightly greater Hokage than the other.

Number 2, Hashirama Senju (1st Hokage)

Hashirama, a God of shinobi, was the person who alongside Madara Uchiha conceived the idea of creating the Village Hidden by the Leaves. The village was proposed so that war in the nation can stop and unite all the individual clans to create a working community.

The infrastructure was mostly made with Hashirama's unique wood style jutsu. He wanted Madara to be Hokage. However, Tobirama, Hashirama's younger brother, suggested that the position of Hokage should be democratically elected by the civilians. This led to the election of the wood using Senju.

The idea of a shinobi village was considered a stroke of genius and many other nations adopted this idea.

After Madara left the village, the 1st struggled to keep the peace in his village and nation partly because Madara attacked the village several times. In the hopes of keeping peace Hashirama managed to captured all 9 tailed beasts, an incredible feat, and handed them to other villages to try and deter war.

Under the leadership of Hashirama, the village started to prosper just before his death.

Number 1, Tobirama Senju (2nd Hokage)

The younger and brighter brother of the 1st Hokage, Tobirama was the advisor to the 1st and strongly suggested that the Leaf be a democracy as well as demanding that the tailed beasts be sold instead of given away so it could boost the Leaf's economy.

After becoming the leader of the Leaf Village, Tobirama helped the shinobi transition from valuing their clan above all else to valuing the village and everyone in it. He created institutions such as the Academy, the Anbu, and the Chūnin Exams. These were then adopted by other villages, proving just how influential he was.

He spent most his time as the 2nd trying to keep the peace like his older brother did before him. He created the Military Police Force to try and keep the Uchiha happy and occupied. Although it worked for a time, it eventually went sour many years later as mentioned earlier.

He also created many jutsu, including some that he deemed too dangerous to be taught, so he banned them. These jutsus include the Shadow Clone Jutsu and the Impure World Resurrection Jutsu.

His last act as Hokage was to make Hiruzen Sarutobi the 3rd Hokage just before sacrificing himself by acting as a decoy allowing his comrades, including the new Hokage, to escape.

This concludes my list. I know everyone will have opinions of their own. Please feel free to contact me or start a discussion with your thoughts on this matter.