Hokage

Hokage is a title that features in Naruto.

History

The Hokage (Japanese: 火影, lit. "Fire Shadow") was the title of the Kage of Konohagakure with this being appointed to the leader of the villager. It was created by Hashirama Senju of the Senju Clan following the establishment of the village and he was elected to the position. In time, the system of the Kage was an innovative system of governance and came to be adopted by the other four hidden villages in the Ninja World.

In the attack on Konogakure, the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi sacrificed his life in order to critically injure Orochimaru and strip him of the use of his hands. With the Hokage's death, the elders of the village decided to make Jiraiya the new leader of the hidden leaf. However, he refused and instead believed that Lady Tsunade was a more suitable replacement and even stated that he would find her as well as bring her back to Konohagakure. At first, she refused but seeing the resolve of the young Naruto Uzumaki to become Hokage came to convince her to accept the position. Thus, Jiraiya and Naruto helped escort her back to the village in order to assume her new position.

Later on, the Akatsuki staged an onslaught against the hidden leaf with this being spearheaded by Nagato who single-handily devastated Konohagakure. It was only the efforts of Lady Tsunade were many people were saved whilst the returned Naruto was able to defeat Pain. The strain though of keeping so many people alive left Tsunade in a coma leading a committee forming to decide upon the next Hokage. Danzō Shimura came to manoeuvre himself into the position of attaining his longstanding ambition of becoming Hokage. As the Hokage Candidate, he attended the Kage summit between the ninja villages to decide on a response to the Akatsuki. During this time, Madara came to declare the start of the Fourth Great Shinobi War whilst Shimura fled to return to the village but was ultimately killed by Sasuke Uchiha who wanted to avenge the murder of his clan. This led to Danzō never rising officially to the position of Hokage and it was decided that Kakashi Hatake was to be the next Hokage but Tsunade made a full recovery before he could assume the responsibility. As a result, she resumed the title of leader of the village which now prepared for the coming ninja war.

Overview

In appearance, the Hokage was an individual assigned as leader of Konohagakure and regarded as among the greatest shinobi.

They were responsible for most of the village's day-to-day affairs, such as assigning the village's ninja to missions or securing funding for the village's projects and personnel. Traditionally, a Konoha shinobi's first mission was received directly from the Hokage.

The Hokage spent most of their time in the village, only travelling abroad for events of vital importance to Konoha. Each Hokage typically lives according to the Will of Fire, a philosophy that holds that Konoha is a family and that the Hokage is chiefly responsible for protecting that family. The workload of Hokage can be quite formidable, and as such retired Hokage may continue to oversee certain sections of the village or, if not that, will advise the current Hokage on request.

A Hokage was said to inform the elders of the village of matters of importance. In addition, they were given counsel former Hokage in times of need.

Typically, it was the Hokage who was responsible for selecting their successor to replace them. However, if they died or were incapacitated, the next Hokage was instead chosen by the daimyō of the Land of Fire with the advice of their committee, the Konoha Council, the Jōnin Commander and a representative of the Anbu. Any candidate that was chosen had to be approved by Konoha's jōnin. If the previous Hokage was still alive and active then they could resume their former position.

Members

• Hashirama Senju (千手柱間, Senju Hashirama) : a male shinobi of the Senju clan who came to be the First Hokage. He himself was hailed as the God of Shinobi for his unmatched ninja prowess. Hashirama sought peace for the shinobi world, and to that end founded Konohagakure with his clan, his childhood friend and rival: Madara Uchiha and the Uchiha clan.
• Tobirama Senju (千手扉間, Senju Tobirama) : a member of the renowned Senju clan, who, together with his elder brother and the Uchiha clan, founded the first shinobi village: Konohagakure. Throughout his lifetime, Tobirama would work tirelessly to achieve political stability and implement the institutions that made the village system work, thus ensuring Konoha's continuity and prosperity. After his brother's death, he would earn the title of Second Hokage (二代目火影, Nidaime Hokage, literally meaning: Second Fire Shadow).
• Hiruzen Sarutobi (猿飛ヒルゼン, Sarutobi Hiruzen) : a disciple of the village's two previous Hokage, Hiruzen was a powerful ninja, hailed as a God of Shinobi. Though he was only ever directly the teacher of the Sannin, generations of Konoha shinobi benefited from his wisdom during his lifetime.
• Minato Namikaze (波風ミナト, Namikaze Minato) : a renowned all over the world as Konoha's Yellow Flash (木ノ葉の黄色い閃光, Konoha no Kiiroi Senkō, English TV: Yellow Flash of the Leaf). He died during the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's Attack, sacrificing his life to seal a part of the Nine-Tails into his newborn son, Naruto Uzumaki.
• Tsunade (綱手, Tsunade) : a female ninja who was the granddaughter of Hashirama Senju and was one of the three legendary Sannin. She later came to be the Fifth Hokage after the death of Hiruzen Sarutobi. She was famed as the world's strongest kunoichi and its greatest medical-nin. The repeated loss of her loved ones caused Tsunade to later abandon the life of a shinobi for many years. She is eventually persuaded to return to Konoha and take on the mantle of Fifth Hokage (五代目火影, Godaime Hokage, literally meaning: Fifth Fire Shadow), where her skills prove invaluable to the village.
• Danzō Shimura :
• Kakashi Hatake (はたけカカシ, Hatake Kakashi) : famed as Kakashi of the Sharingan (写輪眼のカカシ, Sharingan no Kakashi), he was one of Konoha's most talented ninja, regularly looked to for advice and leadership despite his personal dislike of responsibility. To his students on Team 7, Kakashi emphasises the importance of teamwork; he himself received this lesson, along with the Sharingan, from his childhood friend, Obito Uchiha. After the Fourth Shinobi World War, Kakashi becomes Konoha's Sixth Hokage (六代目火影, Rokudaime Hokage, literally meaning: Sixth Fire Shadow).
• Naruto Uzumaki (うずまきナルト, Uzumaki Naruto) :

Notes

• The Hokage was created by Masashi Kishimoto where it featured in the setting of the Naruto universe.

In other media

Television

• In Naruto, the Hokages appeared in the setting of the anime television series adaptation.

Appearances

• Naruto:
• Boruto: Naruto Next Generations:

External Links

• Naruto Wiki Entry

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