Policy, charisma, and personal influence all matter for the Hokage in the Naruto anime, but what fans care about most is combat power. True their rank, all Hokage are Kage-level ninjas who stand as the most powerful fighters of their time, and that means they are packing some serious ninjutsu to keep the Hidden Leaf Village sage.
The various Hokage are sometimes seen using commonplace jutsu or weapons such as shuriken and the summoning jutsu, while their most powerful and unique jutsu are what make them truly stand out. Notably, some Hokage invented their own top-ranked jutsu or were the only known users of their particular fighting styles during their heyday. That makes it easy to pick out what each Hokage's ultimate jutsu is and sort them by sheer power and tactical application.
Minato Namikaze: Flying Thunder God Technique
S-Rank Jutsu
Like his predecessor Tobirama, Minato Namikaze is a Hokage who is best known in the fandom for innovating one jutsu while having another jutsu as their top technique. In Minato's case, he is famous for inventing the Rasengan technique that his son and Jiraiya both used, but his single best jutsu is actually the Flying Thunder God Technique. Minato could make good use of the Rasengan, but he wasn't able to innovate on it like Naruto later did.
The Flying Thunder God Technique is the core of Minato's speed-based fighting style, contributing to his legendary status as the Yellow Flash. With it, Minato could instantly teleport to the desired location through space-time manipulation. That allowed him to catch any foe by surprised when combined with his peerless combat technique to actually deal damage. Curiously, the young Fourth Hokage was not the only Hokage to use the Flying Thunder God Technique, since Tobirama created it first. This jutsu may rank last among the ultimate jutsu of the various Hokage, but it's still an awesome threat on any battlefield.
Tsunade: Creation Rebirth
S-Rank Jutsu
The Fifth Hokage, lady Tsunade of the Sannin, could deliver some serious hurt with her chakra-infused punches and kicks to show off her overwhelming taijutsu. She could also summon Katsuyu the giant slug to aid her in battle, while Tsunade's best move was Creation Rebirth. This is the ultimate expression of Tsunade's focus on healing and strength, though it's not something even she will use casually.
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By forcing extra chakra into her body, Tsunade can augment cell division to instantly heal wounds and thus keep the user in the fight longer. In a way, this makes Tsunade immortal as her body rapidly creates new cells to replace injured tissue, but this isn't without cost. The extra cells and tissue don't just appear out of nowhere, because they count against the body's natural limit for cell division. Tsunade shortens her lifespan with the use of Creation Rebirth, so she smartly saves it for dire circumstances.
Hiruzen Sarutobi: Reaper Death Seal
S-Rank Jutsu
A number of jutsu are not just powerful, but costly or even inhumane to use, so they don't show up on the battlefield that often. Even Hokage like Hiruzen Sarutobi would much rather use "honest" jutsu such as the summoning jutsu to battle the enemy, only using the likes of the Reaper Death Seal if pushed. The user must pay with his life to use this jutsu, so it's for emergencies only.
Find all 10 pairs
Find all 10 pairs
As Naruto fans saw with mingled awe and horror in the original anime, this nightmarish jutsu can directly attack the opponent's soul with a scary spirit. It can kill an enemy when the soul is extracted, and if necessary, the user can settle for removing the soul from the enemy's body parts. That was how Hiruzen robbed Orochimaru of his arms and thus his jutsu, though Orochimaru later escaped that problem, something Hiruzen would have been saddened to learn.
Kakashi Hatake: Kamui Lightning Blade
S-Rank Jutsu
The official Sixth Hokage, Kakashi Hatake, wielded an astonishing variety of powerful jutsu throughout the Naruto anime. Fans hardly know where to start, between his Mangekyo Sharingan and full-body Susanoo to his Kamui ability or the Lightning Blade. In the end, Kakashi's top technique is a blend of his best moves, that being the Kamui Lightning Blade.
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This is almost exactly what it sounds like, with the dimension-warping power of Kamui blending with the melee jutsu Lightning Blade. While using this awesome technique, Kakashi can attack anyone at high speed to send them to the Kamui dimension, a nifty way to neutralize just about any threat.
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Tobirama Senju: Edo Tensei
S-Rank Jutsu
The stern Second Hokage made history when he innovated the Shadow Clone Jutsu, which went on to become a personal staple of Naruto Uzumaki's a few generations later. That alone made Tobirama Senju a figure of legend, but he did even more than that. He also created Edo Tensei, the grim jutsu that cheats death at a price.
In a twist of fate, Orochimaru of the Sannin used that very same jutsu to revive Tobirama during Operation Konoha Crush, while his brother was revived right alongside him. Living humans must be sacrificed in exchange for the revived ninja, which is why hardly anyone has the nerve to use a devastating jutsu like this one. It's little wonder the villains in Naruto tend to use Edo Tensei rather than the heroes, since no current Hokage or other authority figure would want it to be used.
Hashirama Senju: Sage Art Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands
S-Rank Jutsu
As the legendary co-founder of the Hidden Leaf Village alongside Madara Uchiha, Hashirama Senju wielded some of the most powerful jutsu of his time -- or of any time. Hashirama could do many things in battle, with his Wood Release being his most noteworthy and effective fighting style of all.
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Hashirama's Wood Release prompted a number of later ninjas to emulate his abilities through science, but none could match what the First Hokage himself was capable of. Chief among his wood-based jutsu was True Several Thousand Hands, which dominated the battlefield as a titanic Buddha-like statue with countless arms. The statue will move and do anything the wielder wishes, and doubles as an ultra-tough layer of defense. Even the tailed beasts are like little housepets when the True Several Thousand Hands jutsu is handling them.
Naruto Uzumaki: Six Paths: Ultra Big-Ball Rasenshuriken
No Known Rank
Like his former mentor and predecessor in the office of Hokage, the Seventh Hokage Naruto Uzumaki boasted a remarkable arsenal of jutsu for just about any situation. His power scaling was even more aggressive than Kakashi's own, with Naruto combining "normal" jutsu with Kurama's chakra and Sage Mode. Naruto kept transforming and inventing new jutsu at a breathtaking rate, meaning his #1 jutsu kept shifting from one move to another.
In the end, Naruto fans feel confident saying the Six Paths: Ultra Big-Ball Rasenshuriken is the most devastating move that Naruto has ever brought onto the field of battle. This move blends all of Naruto's finest forms and techniques to become the ultimate expression of Naruto's fighting style and power levels. It's the natural endgame Naruto's progression, and it was the kind of jutsu he would need to fight someone like Kaguya Otsutsuki. That's how the Six Paths: Ultra Big-Ball Rasenshuriken became the most powerful jutsu ever wielded by a Hokage.
