Since his childhood, Naruto has always wanted to become the Hokage and serve his village. He wanted to be the strongest shinobi in Konohagakure, which would earn him that title. The young boy was always inclined towards fighting and learning new techniques that would make him stronger.
The previous Hokages and their strength were one of the many sources of his inspiration. The village had six Hokages before Naruto. However, not all of them were equally strong. Let’s take a look at some of the previous Hokages and where they stand on the ranking list.
Note: The list was decided based on the overall combat abilities and solely reflects the author’s opinions.
Ranking the Hokages based on strength and combat abilities in Naruto
7) Kakashi
Kakashi is undoubtedly a strong shinobi in the series, capable of tackling tough opponents. However, given the power levels of other Hokages, Kakashi is one of the weakest, if not the weakest, Hokage Konohagakure has had. The issue is that Kakashi is a character who happens to serve as a metric to gauge the overall abilities of a jonin. Therefore, he isn’t really one of the strongest Hokages, especially without his Sharingan.
6) Tsunade
Tsunade Senju’s raw power is unmatched. We have seen this character break through a Susanoo ribcage and break some of the biggest boulders with her bare fists. Additionally, she has access to 100 Healing jutsu, which literally gives her temporary invincibility. The fact that Kabuto and Orochimaru feared her speaks volumes about her strength when she was the Hokage.
5) Hiruzen
Hiruzen could be ranked higher on this list since he’s called the God of Shinobi. However, his powers weren’t revealed in the Naruto series, and fans only witnessed him fight when he was old. Even at that age, he was able to take on the Edo Hashirama and Tobirama.
That being said, the reanimated Kages were nowhere near the level of their original forms. Hiruzen has mastered all five nature releases along with Genjutsu and Taijutsu. He was one of the strongest Hokages, but he takes the fifth spot purely based on what was shown in the Naruto series.
4) Tobirama
Tobirama is a character that has contributed a lot in the field of Ninjutsus. He invented techniques like Flying Raijin, Edo Tensei, and Shadow Clone. Tobirama had massive chakra reserves and was ridiculously strong in his time. Despite not being in his prime, he was able to kill Izuna Uchiha, who was supposed to be just as strong as Mangekyo Sharingan Madara in his teens.
3) Minato
Minato ranks higher than Tobirama because he seems to be well-rounded in every aspect of being a shinobi. Tobirama was indeed the one who invented Flying Raijin, but Minato really showed the true potential of it by mastering this technique. Minato, in his Kyubu chakra mode, is ridiculously strong and also has access to Sage Mode. This makes him one of the strongest characters in the series.
2) Hashirama
Hashirama Senju is arguably one of the strongest characters in the Naruto series. His Wood Style release is extremely powerful. Yamato was considered an asset to Konohagakure simply because he had Hashirama’s cells. The fact that he was able to take on Madara despite all the powerups that the Uchiha received says a lot about Hashirama’s powers.
1) Naruto
Naruto is the strongest Hokage, without a doubt. He received his Sage of Six Paths power from Hagoromo, which put him on another level. He has access to Sage Mode and the combination of Sage Mode and Kyuubi Chakra Mode. This makes him ridiculously powerful, and he could take on anyone on this list.