How Kishimoto Ruined Naruto’s Hokage Dream, Explained

Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto series is quite easily one of the most successful stories in recent years. Having started its serialization almost two decades ago, the story lasted for about 15 years, and since then, almost a decade after its conclusion, it has been held in great regard and is still beloved by fans. Naruto has stood the test of time and, with each passing year, has only gained more appreciation from the fans.

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Naruto was a beloved story where the protagonist, Naruto Uzumaki, had the dream of becoming the protagonist. Right from the beginning, fans are told that Naruto wanted to become the Hokage and prove everyone who did not believe in him wrong. At the same time, Naruto wanted the acknowledgment of the people around him, which links these two dreams together. While Naruto certainly ended up fulfilling his dream, the way Kishimoto handled it left a lot to be desired.

Naruto’s Dream Of Becoming Hokage

• Naruto Uzumaki Set Lofty Ambitions For Himself
• Naruto Fulfilled His Dream In The End

Naruto’s dream is quite a complex one. On paper, Naruto’s dream looks to be quite simple. After all, he just wanted to become the Hokage of Konoha and, in doing so, become one of the greatest ninjas to ever live. Naruto aimed to prove the doubters wrong and show everyone that while he was deemed to be a failure, with hard work and an undying determination, he could surprise everyone and reach the very top. However, this was only the surface-level dream that Naruto held. In reality, Naruto’s dream goes much deeper than just that. The essence of Naruto’s dream is to earn acknowledgment from people around him, and this is deeply linked to the fact that Naruto was ostracized as a kid. Having been an outcast for the vast majority of his life and not having anyone around him to support him, Naruto, naturally, craved company.

At the beginning of the series, Naruto did all sorts of antics to get the attention of people. This was quite clear for the fans to see and it was actually one of the things that made fans like him quite a bit. With time, Naruto’s thinking evolved as well, and, given that he was enamored by the ninjas, specifically the position of Hokage, Naruto realized that by becoming the Hokage, he would have everyone acknowledge his skill, power, and might, and at the same time, gained the love and support of everyone. In essence, Naruto’s dream wasn’t just to become Hokage for no reason. Naruto wanted the acknowledgment of people around him, and because he wanted to fill the void in his heart, he had this massive dream set in his sights.

It is quite easy to see that this was an admirable dream and one that would ensure that the fans stay seated for a long ride. Naruto Uzumaki took one step after another towards accomplishing the dream, when he beat Pain, and it is safe to say that he did it quite well in that regard. Naruto’s dream was also accomplished at the end of the series, but, once again, the way Kishimoto went about it at the end was certainly not what fans expected, and in many ways, it left a lot to be desired.

The Day Naruto Became The Hokage Was A Mess

Naruto Couldn’t Even Attend His Own Hokage Inauguration

Before one speaks of how Naruto ended up becoming the Hokage and accomplishing his dream, there needs to be an understanding of one part of Naruto’s dream that was essentially fulfilled long before the series was even finished. Naruto wanted the acknowledgment of people around him, and his wanting to become the Hokage was essentially linked to it. However, this dream of Naruto was accomplished long before the conclusion of the series. Largely speaking, when Naruto defeated Pain and saved Konoha, he had the acknowledgment of all the people around him, and every single individual, from the commoner all the way to the higher-ups of the village, acknowledged that Naruto was a hero of the Hidden Leaf Village. To Kakashi, Naruto was someone who had gone on to surpass even the 4th Hokage. In many ways, he fully believed that Naruto had gone on to surpass the legends. In essence, the vast majority of Naruto’s dream was already fulfilled.

Yet, being Hokage isn’t simply earning the acknowledgment of people around them. It is a massive responsibility because everyone then becomes their family and seeks protection from them. From this point onwards, in order to realize the burden that he had on his shoulders, Naruto worked incredibly hard, throughout the Fourth Great Ninja War. Once again, Naruto ended up saving the world in this war, and he did incredibly well here. However, at the end of it all, Naruto did not even get to become the Hokage. It was Kakashi who was chosen as the Sixth Hokage of the village, while Naruto was tasked with gaining more experience and learning more about the ninja world, in general.

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In essence, by the end of the Naruto series, he had already accomplished his dream. He was the strongest in the world and had the acknowledgment of everyone. The world hailed Naruto as a hero and protector, and all that was missing was Naruto donning the cape of the Hokage and taking the position officially. Fans wanted this to happen at the end of the series, but, unfortunately, that didn’t happen in the way they wanted it to. In chapter 700 of Naruto, fans saw a major time skip, where Naruto Uzumaki had officially taken the position. Unfortunately, readers didn’t even get to see how he became Hokage in the manga. He was seen in a Five Kage Summit, already as Hokage, while Boruto Uzumaki took the spotlight, essentially setting up the future of the franchise, that is, the Boruto series. Fans did get to see Naruto as the Hokage, but, it was for such a short amount of time that it didn’t really settle well among the readers. In the anime, things were even worse because Naruto did not even get to become the Hokage, and instead, at the end of the series, he simply got married to Hinata, which is absolutely ridiculous, to begin with.

That said, fans did get an OVA, where Naruto ended up becoming the Hokage. Much like the ending of the series, this part of the story was rather bizarre as well. Instead of being at his own inauguration, where he would have taken the mantle of Hokage from Kakashi, Naruto was knocked out by his daughter. Instead, Konohamaru used a transformation jutsu to take Naruto’s appearance and stand in his stead.

How Fans Barely Got To See Naruto As Hokage

Naruto’s Portrayal As The Hokage Is Lacking

The biggest issue that fans have with Naruto’s dream is that while he certainly did get the acknowledgment of all the people, he was never made the Hokage when he deserved to. Naruto was made the 7th Hokage in the last few pages of the series, and fans didn’t even get to see him affect anything in the Naruto world as the Hokage. Of course, Boruto certainly gave fans a glimpse of Naruto as Hokage, but another issue arises here, and that is Naruto being shafted aside for the main characters. On the one hand, Kishimoto made him a hero in the most beautiful of manners, but, on the flip side, his dream of becoming the Hokage was certainly not handled properly and it could have been much better.

Naruto is available to read on the MangaPlus and the Shonen Jump app. Fans can read the official release and support the author by doing so.

Boruto is an action anime series that continues years after the events of Naruto, now in the shoes of the next generation – many of which are the children of the protagonists from the original series. Boruto follows the titular character, the son of Naruto, who seeks to impress his father. Together with the other ninjas-in-training, Boruto will battle to overcome trials and threats even more significant than his father ever faced.