Few titles or ranks are as important and glamorous as that of Hokage in the Naruto anime universe. Being the leader and #1 defender of the world's most powerful ninja village, the Hokage will have serious influence over their homeland and indeed, the entire world. Only the wisest shinobi should ever be allowed to claim this mantle, and arguably, the wisest and most impressive Hokage of all is Lady Tsunade.
Being a member of the famed Sannin trio, Tsunade always had the potential to become Hokage, and she succeeded in this role even more so than her peer Jiraiya would have. Though Jiraiya was once shortlisted to become Hokage after Hiruzen Sarutobi's death, it was Tsunade who became the Fifth Hokage, and it was for the best. Tsunade may not have been the strongest Hokage of all time, but her personality, experiences, and unique abilities made her the right leader to see the Hidden Leaf Village through some of its most challenging times and emerge more prosperous than ever.
Tsunade Revolutionized Ninja Warfare With Medical Jutsu
This is More Than Just Another Weapon
It's typical for Kage-level ninjas to innovate, refine, or at least use uniquely powerful and iconic jutsu to be more than a jonin with extra authority. Ninjas of this caliber are expected to do something truly special on the field of battle, and notably, most of these innovated jutsu are weapons to cause yet more harm and destruction in the world. Violence has been the law of the shinobi world for generations, creating a world where strength and domination are celebrated. Even the most benevolent Hokage may do this, such as Minato Namikaze creating the Rasengan or Tobirama Senju innovating the Shadow Clone Jutsu. All that is impressive, but in terms of fighting and violence, it's just more of the same.
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By contrast, Tsunade is a Kage who went in the opposite direction: to heal and save lives. This is meaningful on several levels, including the simple, practical fact that medical jutsu wasn't a mainstream part of shinobi warfare until Tsunade made it so. Medical jutsu had existed for centuries before Tsunade's tenure as Hokage, yet it remained somewhat obscure -- or at least, it wasn't fully appreciated. Healing is equally important as offensive power in combat systems like Naruto's, allowing wounded or poisoned shinobi to survive to fight another day. Medical jutsu's offshoots, such as Creation Rebirth, can power up a shinobi in ways other jutsu cannot.
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Thus, Tsunade did far more than just play the same game as other Kage by creating new weapons of war. She did the inverse, a gentle counterpart to the field of offensive jutsu, and it meant a lot. This saved plenty of lives while also proving Tsunade's visionary ways, with her being the first leader to advocate a proper medical jutsu system for all shinobi. In so doing, Tsunade had a Hokage-level impact on the combat system and Leaf Village's military by doing what no one else could think of, making her time as Hokage historic. On a more personal level, this speaks volumes about Tsunade's nurturing side to balance her brash side while also tying into her theme of healing -- such as recovering from her own life-shattering grief about Dan and her kid brother Nawaki.
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Tsunade Was the First Hokage to Seriously Support Naruto Uzumaki
Tsunade Was Like Naruto's Godmother
Above all, Hokage are administrators and defenders of the Hidden Leaf Village, though some go above and beyond that -- or at least try to. Hashirama Senju was a peacemaker and visionary on top of being a powerful leader, and Minato Namikaze was a highly effective team leader for Kakashi, Rin, and Obito. As for parental roles, the Hokage don't always step up, since the office of Hokage doesn't call for that, and some Hokage dropped the ball in this regard anyway. Minato Namikaze died before he had a chance to raise his son with Kushina, and Hiruzen infamously gave Naruto an apartment while doing precious little else to support the boy. Minato wasn't there, and Hiruzen only made a token effort, so it fell to Tsunade to be Naruto's parental figure as Hokage.
Find all 10 pairs
Find all 10 pairs
Being a heartfelt shonen anime that's all about personal battles as well as ninja fights, the Naruto anime needed to do more with Tsunade than make her just another powerhouse Hokage. Critically, she was a parental figure to Naruto alongside Jiraiya, or at the very least, Tsunade warmly cared about Naruto as a person and made that clear more than once. Other Kage tend to view jinchuriki like Naruto and Gaara as tools or monsters to be controlled, such as Rasa's attitude toward his son Gaara or Danzo viewing Naruto as a living weapon during his brief time as the appointed Sixth Hokage.
Tsunade was entirely different, caring for Naruto not as a Hokage with a duty, but as a good friend and even godmother figure. It takes more than flashy jutsu or cool dialogue to make someone a legend in the eyes of Naruto fans, since personal matters are important, too. It's about how these characters make fans feel as human beings, and Tsunade delivered 100% as a Sannin turned Hokage who was always there for Naruto. She saw him purely as a human being to support, to the point she even gifted him her precious necklace from Hashirama Senju. She was also the one who put absolute faith in Naruto to save the Leaf Village when the Six Paths of Pain attacked.
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Tsunade Saw Her Village Through Its Roughest Trials
Tsunade Did More Than Fight to Support Her Village
Another mark of a good leader is their ability to see their group through one or more crises, and the world of Naruto has plenty of crises to offer. Previous Hokage bravely faced extreme danger and made tough decisions when things went wrong, such as Hashirama facing Madara Uchiha at the Valley of the End and Minato giving his very life to defeat Kurama on the night Obito Uchiha attacked the Leaf Village. Those are just battles, though, while Tsunade did even more.
Physically, Tsunade equaled her Hokage predecessors by taking part in battle, such as uniting with her four Kage peers to face Madara and similar threats during the Fourth Great Shinobi War in Naruto Shippuden. Tsunade shared the same battlefield with the likes of Pain and Madara, which is saying a lot, and she survived each time. But it's not just about fighting and surviving, since it's also about conviction, cooperation, and the strength of hope. Tsunade didn't merely endure Pain's physical threat because she also endured the soul-crushing despair and agony of what Pain did to Tsunade's village and its people.
Tsunade was no doubt devastated, but her spirit never broke, and she told Pain with a defiant smile that Naruto would challenge him to avenge the village, which Naruto did. Meanwhile, Tsunade surpassed all other Hokage in terms of teamwork and trust, joining the five-man Kage team that faced Madara together as a symbol of the fractured shinobi world's unity against a threat like Madara. Granted, previous Hokage simply never had a chance to attempt such a thing, yet all the same, Tsunade did it, and she made it look good. It made Tsunade a symbol of hope for the world's future cooperation and healing, which is the mark of a truly great leader.
