How Tsunade Senju quietly became the best Hokage

Few titles or ranks are as important and glamorous as Hokage Naruto anime universe. As the leader and number 1 defender of the most powerful ninja village in the world, the Hokage will have a serious impact on their homeland and indeed the entire world. Only the wisest shinobi should ever be allowed to claim this cloak, and arguably the wisest and most impressive Hokage of all is Lady Tsunade.

As a member of the famous Sannin trio, Tsunade always had the potential to become Hokage, and she succeeded in that role even more than her peer Jiraiya could. Although Jiraiya was once shortlisted to become Hokage after Hiruzen Sarutobi's death, it was Tsunade who became the Fifth Hokage and that was the best. Tsunade may not have been the strongest Hokage ever, but her personality, experience, and unique abilities made her the right leader to take the Hidden Leaf Village through some of its most trying times and become more prosperous than ever.

Tsunade revolutionized ninja warfare with medical jutsu

This is more than just another weapon

It's typical for Kage-level ninja to innovate, improve, or at least use uniquely powerful and iconic jutsu to be more than jonin with extra authority. Ninjas of this caliber are expected to do something truly special on the battlefield, and most of these innovative jutsu in particular are weapons that will cause even more damage and destruction in the world. Violence has been the law of the shinobi world for generations, creating a world where strength and dominance are celebrated. Even the most benevolent Hokage can do it, like Minato Namikaze creating the Rasengan or Tobirama Senju innovating the Shadow Clone Jutsu. All of that is impressive, but when it comes to combat and violence, it's just more of the same.

Tsunade, on the other hand, is a Kage who went in the opposite direction: healing and saving lives. This makes sense on several levels, including the simple practical fact that medical jutsu was not a mainstream part of shinobi warfare until Tsunade did it. Medical jutsu had existed for centuries before Tsunade's ascension as Hokage, yet remained somewhat obscure – or at least not fully appreciated. Healing is just as important in combat systems as attack power Naruto's, allowing injured or poisoned shinobi to survive and fight another day. Offshoots of medical jutsu such as Creation Rebirth can energize shinobi in ways that other jutsu cannot.

So Tsunade was able to do much more than play the same game as the other Kage by creating new weapons of war. She made an inverse, subtle counterpart in the field of offensive jutsu, and it meant a lot. This saved a lot of lives while also proving Tsunade's visionary ways as she was the first female leader to advocate a proper medical jutsu system for all shinobi. In doing so, Tsunade made an impact on the Leaf Village's Hokage-level combat system and military by doing what no one else could imagine, making her time as Hokage historic. On a more personal level, it speaks to Tsunade's nurturing side to balance out her sassy side while also connecting to her theme of healing – such as recovering from her own life-shattering grief over Dan and her brother Nawaki.

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Tsunade was the first Hokage to seriously support Naruto Uzumaki

Tsunade was like Naruto's godmother

Tsunade is sitting in the Hokage's office.

The Hokage are primarily the caretakers and defenders of the Hidden Leaf Village, though some go above and beyond – or at least try to. Besides being a powerful leader, peacemaker, and visionary, Hashirama Senju was a highly effective team leader for Kakashi, Rin, and Obito. As far as parental roles go, the Hokage doesn't always step up because the Hokage office doesn't call for it and some Hokage has given up on that anyway. Minato Namikaze died before he had a chance to raise his son with Kushina, and Hiruzen infamously gifted Naruto an apartment while doing little else to support the boy. Minato wasn't there and Hiruzen only made a token effort, so Tsunade came across as Naruto's parental figure as Hokage.

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Being a heartfelt shonen anime that is all about personal battles and ninja fights, Naruto the anime needed to do more with Tsunade than just make her another powerful Hokage. Importantly, she was a parental figure to Naruto alongside Jiraiya, or at least Tsunade cared deeply for Naruto as a person and showed it more than once. The other Kage tend to view jinchuriki like Naruto and Gaara as tools or monsters to be controlled, such as Raso's attitude towards his son Gaara or Danzo viewing Naruto as a living weapon during his short time as the appointed Sixth Hokage.

Tsunade was completely different, she cared for Naruto not as a Hokage with duties, but as a good friend and even a godmother. It takes more than flashy jutsu or great dialogue to make someone a legend in their eyes Naruto fans because personal matters are also important. 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 that she could support and even gave him her precious necklace from Hashirama Senju. She was also the one who put absolute trust in Naruto to save the Leaf Village when the Six Paths of Pain attacked.

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Tsunade had seen her village put through its harshest trials

Tsunade did more than fight to support her village

Another mark of a good leader is his ability to see his group through one or more crises and the world Naruto offers plenty of crises. The previous Hokage bravely faced extreme danger and made tough decisions when things went wrong, like when Hashirama stood up to Madara Uchiha in the Valley of the End and Minato gave his life to defeat Kurama the night Obito Uchiha attacked the Leaf Village. But those are just battles, while Tsunade has done even more.

Physically, Tsunade matched her Hokage predecessors by participating in battle, such as teaming up with her four Kage peers to face Madara and similar threats during the Fourth Great Shinobi War in Naruto Shippuden. Tsunade has shared the same battlefield with the likes of Pain and Madara which says a lot and she has survived every time. But it's not just about fighting and surviving, because it's also about belief, cooperation and the power of hope. Tsunade not only endured Pain's physical threat as she endured the soul crushing despair and agony of what Pain had done to Tsunade's village and its people.

Tsunade was no doubt devastated but her spirit never broke and with a defiant smile she told Pain that Naruto would challenge him to avenge the village which Naruto did. Meanwhile, Tsunade surpassed all the other Hokage in terms of teamwork and trust and joined the five Kage team that faced Madara together as a symbol of the broken unity of the shinobi world against a threat like Madara. Granted, the previous Hokage just never had the chance to attempt something like this, but Tsunade did it anyway and it looked good. This made Tsunade a symbol of hope for future cooperation and world healing, the mark of a truly great leader.