Naruto: How Long Was Kakashi Hokage? (& Why So Short?)

Hatake Kakashi is one of the most popular Naruto characters. His skills and amazing abilities made him a great shinobi, but his cool persona and stature truly made fans love him. The Copy-nin, The Son of White Fang, and Kakashi of Sharingan eventually became Hokage in the Naruto series. The leader of Team 7 and Konohagakure spent quite some time as the protector of the Hidden Leaf Village. In this article, we will discuss how long Kakashi was a Hokage in the Naruto series.

Kakashi’s journey as a shinobi

We all know who Hatake Kakashi is – one of the strongest shinobi Konohagakure ever had, former ANBU, Root, Team Minato, and Team Seven sensei. He is quite a versatile shinobi and an invaluable servant to Hidden Leaf Village, which its leaders sometimes used too much. He was a talented child; anyone could see his potential as a shinobi from the beginning. Kakashi graduated from the Academy at five and became Chuunin at six, an incredible feat that only very few do. 

At six years of age, Kakashi got his genin team, which Minato Namikaze led and included his teammates Uchiha Obito and Nohara Rin. He then became Chuunin after defeating Might Guy in the finals, adding to his incredible popularity in Konohagakure. Team Minato went on many missions outside the Village, and Minato realized that his team was incredibly strong, but their teamwork was struggling, especially from Kakashi, who strictly followed the Shinobi Rules. Kakashi liked to do everything alone, which made their missions really difficult. Obito was especially jealous of Kakashi for his talent and skill, and the duo constantly fought.

At the age of twelve, Kakashi became a Jonin, and Team Minato were among many, more senior shinobi on the field during the Third Shinobi World War. That period was one of the hardest for Kakashi because Team Minato lost Obito, who gave Kakashi his Sharingan in his last moments. Rin’s death followed shortly after, at the hands of Kakashi himself. Rin’s death was her own wish after Kirigakure forcefully sealed the Three-Tails beast in her body, which she would inevitably release and destroy Konoha. 

Kakashi was traumatized and depressed, and Minato, the new Hokage, decided to enroll him in ANBU. Of course, his tenure there was successful, but the Nine-Tailed Beast attack on Konoha took away more of his close ones, and Kakashi was the last living member of Team Minato.

Uchiha Massacre was the tipping point of the Third Hokage to release Kakashi from ANBU since the team is not for “kind-hearted people.” Kakashi returned to normal service as a shinobi, and his reputation grew. He even had a few Academy graduates under his tutorage, but he failed every single team because they didn’t have good teamwork. 

He thought he was too harsh in his teachings, but the trio of Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke reaffirmed his belief in genin teams and their teamwork. Kakashi became the leader of Team 7. 

Kakashi’s journey in the Naruto series is incredibly interesting, and it leads us to the point when he is first considered as the candidate for the Hokage position. Let’s find out.

How long was Kakashi a Hokage?

Before becoming a full-pledged Hokage, Kakashi almost became Hokage after the Pain’s Assault, who destroyed the Hidden Leaf Village. Tsunade exhausted all of her chakras to heal and protect everyone and, eventually, fell into a coma. Kakashi was supposed to be elected as an interim Hokage, but Tsunade woke up just before the Fourth Shinobi War started.

After the Fourth Shinobi War, Kakashi was elected as the Sixth Hokage and took over from Tsunade, who immediately retired after the War. Kakashi realized he could protect the village with him in the role but wholeheartedly disliked the paperwork that came with being a village leader.

In the Naruto Timeline, the establishment of the village system, the Fourth Shinobi War ended in the Year 81, and Kakashi became Hokage a year after the War ended. According to the official data books, Kakashi was 32 years of age when he became a Hokage.

Knowing that there is a time skip between the main series and ‘The Last: Naruto the Movie,’ approximately two years, Kakashi has been a Hokage for over a year.

After the movie and various light novels (The Blank Period), Naruto gets married to Hinata, and Boruto and Himawari are born. During that period, he becomes the Hokage, which marks the end of Kakashi’s reign in Hidden Leaf Village. When Naruto became Hokage, Boruto was ten years of age, while Himawari was around seven or eight years of age.

Naruto was 17 years of age when Kakashi became a Hokage; three years later, Boruto was born, which means when Naruto became Hokage, he was 30 years of age; thus, Kakashi was 13 years old in the Hokage role.

Comparing Kakashi’s tenure with other Hokage

After we established that Kakashi had been a Hokage for 13 years, we can compare him to other rulers of Konohagakure. Some fans still consider Kakashi to be a Hokage for a short period, which is absolutely the opposite – some Hokage barely hit the five-year mark. However, Kakashi wasn’t the longest ruler.

Hashirama Senju – First Hokage

Let’s start with Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage and the God of Shinobi. According to the Naruto series, fans, and others, Hashirama was a Hokage for a short period – for about 3-5 years. We know that Hashirama established Konoha and was reinstated as the first leader of Konohagakure; however, he died before the First Shinobi War, when Tobirama was already Hokage. The Naruto series never specified the cause of Hashirama’s death.

Tobirama Senju – The Second Hokage

The second Hokage was Tobirama Senju, and he took over the Hokage role from his brother Hashirama. Tobirama tried his best to ensure the political balance of Konohagakure and other Shinobi Countries. He established Anbu, Konoha Military Police, removed the autonomy of clans, and focused all energy on protecting the village. Moreover, he invented Edo Tensei Jutsu and Shadow Clone Jutsu, which the Second Hokage himself outlawed.

According to the timeline and flashbacks in the Naruto series, Tobirama was a Hokage for around 15-16 years until he died in the First Shinobi Great War. He passed the role to Hiruzen Sarutobi, his student.

Hiruzen Sarutobi – The Third Hokage

Hiruzen Sarutobi was the longest reign Hokage, and it is speculated he was the leader of Konohagakure for 43 years. From 24 years of age when he started the role of Hokage to his death at 69 years of age when he sacrificed himself for Konohagakure, Hiruzen was the longest-standing Hokage in the Naruto series.

His reign is split into two halves – he was a Hokage until Minato Namikaze but took over the role once again when the Fourth Hokage died.

Minato Namikaze – The Fourth Hokage

Minato Namikaze was elected as the Fourth Hokage after Hiruzen Sarutobi retired after 40 years in charge. Minato was elected a bit after he married Kushina Uzumaki and before Naruto was born. Minato was only a Hokage for two years, dying in the Nine-Tails attack on Konoha, together with his wife – that makes him the Hokage with the shortest reign.

Tsunade Senju – The Fifth Hokage

Tsunade Senju became Hokage when Naruto was 13 years of age, after the death of Hiruzen Sarutobi and the Konoha Crush arc. She was a Hokage until the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War, which ended when Naruto was 17 years old, making her reign as long as The First Hokage, her grandfather.

Kakashi Hatake – The Sixth Hokage

After Tsunade, Kakashi waited almost a year to be inaugurated for the position of Hokage and eventually became the Sixth Hokage. His reign was one of the longest compared to other Konoha leaders, with 13 years as the head of the Village Hidden By Leaves.

Naruto Uzumaki – The Seventh Hokage

After Kakashi, Naruto was elected as the Seventh Hokage; he had been in his position for about 6 years before he was “killed” by Kawaki.

Shikamaru Nara – The Eight Hokage

As an adult, Shikamaru served as Naruto’s chief aide and later became the Eighth Hokage after Naruto went missing and was thought to be dead.

In comparison to other Hokages, Kakashi is the third-longest acting Hokage in the Naruto series, behind The Second and Third Hokages.

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