Kakashi’s time serving as Konoha’s esteemed leader is often overlooked, but the Boruto: Naruto Next Generations anime pays tribute to this oft-forgotten Hokage. Just as “Hokage” remains a prestigious title among Naruto‘s ninja clans, each Hokage is afforded special treatment by Masashi Kishimoto’s narrative. Hashirama and Tobirama (the First and Second Hokages) appear almost god-like in flashbacks and as reanimations, while Sarutobi (Third) goes down valiantly fighting Orochimaru. Minato (the Fourth Hokage) is revealed to be Naruto’s father and meets his son via Kurama, and Tsunade holds Konoha’s top spot throughout most of the Naruto story. By the time the Boruto sequel series begins, Naruto Uzumaki has achieved his dream and ascended to Hokage himself.

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Easy to overlook, however, is that Kakashi Hatake reigned as Sixth Hokage between Tsunade and Naruto. Though Kakashi stars as a main character throughout Naruto, his leadership stint occurs almost entirely off-screen, lodged during the time skip separating Naruto and Boruto. This means Kakashi is the only Hokage Naruto never presents as a Hokage. Aside from (very) rare flashback scenes, Boruto shows nothing of Kakashi as a leader, nor explores the many threats he surely protected Konoha from. Only a small role in The Last: Naruto The Movie documents Kakashi’s Sixth Hokage period in anime form, and viewers would be forgiven for forgetting the famous Copycat ninja was Hokage at all.

While Boruto‘s manga continues to ignore Kakashi’s occupation of the Hokage’s office, the anime finds a novel way of honoring the Sixth’s legacy. Boruto introduces a young ninja student by the name Hōki Taketori. Glimpsed in the series premiere looking suspiciously familiar, later episodes reveal Hōki’s fashion style is inspired directly by Kakashi. Hōki calls the Sixth Hokage a “perfect” ninja, modelling his philosophy and style after his idol. Of course, Kakashi would’ve been Hokage when Hōki was born, so even though the youngster has undoubtedly heard stories of Lord Sixth’s exploits during Naruto, he’ll be more familiar with Kakashi as Konoha’s leader than as the top jōnin viewers remember.

Boruto‘s more recent Chūnin Re-Examination arc pushes Hōki’s Kakashi tribute act even further. Before the one vs. one tournament begins, Hōki’s Team 25 are revealed to be training as Anbu ninja. The matches then begin, and Hōki emerges victorious against Inojin. In this sense, Hōki’s career is beginning to mimic Kakashi’s, as not only did the latter join Anbu at an impressively young age, but Naruto‘s silver-haired hero was also the first member of his team promoted to Chūnin. Hopefully, Hōki’s two comrades don’t die horribly like Kakashi’s did…

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Boruto‘s ever-growing common ground between Hōki and Kakashi has fueled speculation that the pair are actually father and son. While the theory is impossible to rule out completely (especially given Kakashi’s interesting choice of reading material), a parental connection is unlikely, suggesting Hōki is nothing more than the Sixth Hokage’s biggest fan. Hōki also allows Boruto to highlight Kakashi’s influence as an ex-leader of Konoha. Every other Hokage is remembered for great, heroic deeds they performed while Hokage, whether it be Sarutobi’s sacrifice, Minato defeating the Nine Tails, or Tsunade’s wartime exploits. Even Naruto has enjoyed major victories during his short reign. Kakashi’s Hokage years may remain untold, but at least Hōki Taketori proves the Sixth Hokage left a lasting impression – and wasn’t just a stop-gap ruler before Naruto became old enough to take over…

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About The Author


Craig Elvy
(3630 Articles Published)

Craig first began contributing to Screen Rant in 2016, several years after graduating college, and has been ranting ever since, mostly to himself in a darkened room. Having previously written for various sports and music outlets, Craig’s interest soon turned to TV and film, where a steady upbringing of science fiction and comic books finally came into its own.
Craig has previously been published on sites such as Den of Geek, and after many coffee-drenched hours hunched over a laptop, part-time evening work eventually turned into a full-time career covering everything from the zombie apocalypse to the Starship Enterprise via the TARDIS.

Since joining the Screen Rant fold, Craig has been involved in breaking news stories and mildly controversial ranking lists, but now works predominantly as a features writer.
Jim Carrey is Craig’s top acting pick and favorite topics include superheroes, anime and the unrecognized genius of the High School Musical trilogy.

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