How Tsunade Senju quietly became the best Hokage

Few titles or ranks are as important and glamorous as Hokages Naruto anime universe. As the leader and #1 defender of the world's most powerful ninja village, the Hokage will have serious influence over his 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.

As a member of the famous Sannin Trio, Tsunade always had the potential to become Hokage, and she succeeded in this role even more than her peer Jiraiya would have. Although Jiraiya was once nominated to become Hokage after the death of Hiruzen Sarutobi, 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 is typical for Kage-level ninja to innovate, refine, or at least use uniquely powerful and iconic jutsu to be more than a jonin with added authority. Ninjas of this caliber are expected to do something very special on the battlefield, and above all, most of these newly created jutsu are weapons to 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 this, like Minato Namikaze creating the Rasengan or Tobirama Senju renewing the Shadow Clone Jutsu. All of that is impressive, but when it comes to fighting and violence, it's just more of the same.

Tsunade, on the other hand, is a Kage who went in the opposite direction: to heal and save 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 made it so. Medical jutsu had existed for centuries before Tsunade's tenure as Hokage, but it remained somewhat obscure – or at least not fully appreciated. Healing is as important as offensive power in combat systems such as Narutos, allowing injured or poisoned shinobi to survive to fight another day. Offshoots of medical jutsu, such as Creation Rebirth, can boost a shinobi in ways that other jutsu cannot.

Thus, Tsunade did much more than just play the same game as other Kage by creating new weapons of war. She did the reverse, a mild equivalent to the realm of offensive jutsu, and it meant a lot. This saved many lives while proving Tsunade's visionary ways, being the first leader to advocate a proper medical jutsu system for all shinobi. Thus, Tsunade had a Hokage-level impact on the battle 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 for Tsunade's nurturing side to balance out her sassy side while also tying into her theme of healing – like recovering from her own life-destroying grief over Dan and her little 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.

Above all, the Hokage are the administrators and defenders of the Hidden Leaf Village, although some go above and beyond – or at least try. Hashirama Senju was a peacemaker and visionary in addition to being a powerful leader, and Minato Namikaze was a very effective team leader for Kakashi, Rin, and Obito. When it comes to parental roles, the Hokage doesn't always step up, as the Hokage's office doesn't require it, 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 gave Naruto an apartment while doing many other things to support the boy. Minato wasn't there, and Hiruzen was only making a token effort, so it fell to Tsunade to be Naruto's parental figure as Hokage.

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Being a sincere shonen anime that deals with personal struggles as well as ninja battles, Naruto the anime needed to do more with Tsunade than make her another powerhouse Hokage. Critically, she was a parental figure to Naruto along with Jiraiya, or at least Tsunade cared deeply for Naruto as a person and made it clear more than once. Other Kage tend to see jinchuriki like Naruto and Gaara as tools or monsters to be controlled, such as Rasa's attitude towards his son Gaara or Danzo seeing Naruto as a living weapon during his short time as the appointed Sixth Hokage.

Tsunade was completely different and took care of Naruto not as a Hokage with 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, because personal matters are also important. It's about how these characters make fans feeling as humans, and Tsunade delivered 100% as a Sannin turned Hokage who was always there for Naruto. She saw him solely as a human to support, to the point where she even gave him her precious Hashirama Senju necklace. She was also the one who put absolute faith in Naruto to save Leaf Village when the Six Paths of Pain attacked.

Image of Orochimaru looking forward and smiling in Naruto.

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Tsunade saw her village through its toughest trials

Tsunade did more than fight to support her village

Another characteristic of a good leader is their ability to see their group through one or more crises, and the world off Naruto has plenty of crises to offer. The former Hokage bravely faced extreme danger and made tough decisions when things went wrong, such as Hashirama facing Madara Uchiha in the Valley of the End and Minato giving his life to defeat Kurama the night Obito Uchiha attacked Leaf Village. That's just fighting though, while Tsunade did even more.

Physically, Tsunade resembled her Hokage predecessors by participating in battle, such as uniting with her four Kage comrades 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 every time. But it's not just about fighting and surviving, because it's also about conviction, cooperation and the strength of hope. Tsunade not only endured Pain's physical threats as 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 the other Hokage in terms of teamwork and trust, joining the five-man Kage team that faced Madara together as a symbol of the unity of the divided shinobi world against a threat like Madara. Granted, the previous Hokage simply never had a chance to attempt such a thing, but still 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.