Who deserves to be Hokage?

[DB_Hunter]

In the current anime story arc Shikamaru is kicking serious ass. His fighting abilities are right up there with powerful Akatsuki ninja. I think Asuma was right, Shikamaru definitely has the potential to be Hokage. In fact, I would rather him be Hokage than anyone else out of the current generation.

In a fight he is strong. It doesn't matter if he is relatively weak physically, as fighting ability is determined by the sum of your talents. What he lacks in spectacular jutsu's he makes up in phenomenal intelligence. He is emotionally in control, which means he is not fool like Naruto who gets his knickers in a twist all the time or like Sasuke who lets his emo anger control him. Plus you could say he is gaining experience in leadership, diplomacy and foreign relations as he has already led platoons and dealt with the Sand on behalf of Konoha.

So lets take a vote on who should be Hokage from the current generation. I think though there may be others who are physically stronger than Shikamaru but for me he represents the overall best package.

[Kraco]

Shikamaru surely has the wits but he might be lacking in the spirit and charisma departments. A hokage can have aides to help in making wise decisions but if he's not motivating people personally or doesn't want to do his job, it's a problem. We already see Tsunade has some problems with the fact being a hokage basically means working 24/7, and as it is, Tsunade wouldn't have ever taken the job if she hadn't been under such circumstances as she was.

Shikamaru so far only has wanted to do what is absolutely necessary for the people of Konoha and otherwise just laze around doing little. And if you have a hokage like that, soon you will have a village full of lazy buggers concentrating on lounging rather than developing and running the place.

[Death BOO Z]

Asuma!

what, too soon?

Neji seems like an adequate choice. smart, tough, isn't a complete moron.
but really, I wouldn't give the job to any of them. Maybe Yamato (can clones run to office?)

[ASSpirine]

I don't know, the jutsu's he has shown us were all pretty badass. Everytime he has a new Shadow jutsu to show us. And they all look spectacular.

[capoi]

I really can't vote who deserves to be Hokage. Shikamaru have a good brain but he's lazy. I think he's probably refuse to be hokage like Jiraiya did. He also refuse to join 12 Guardian Ninja (I'm not so sure if this exist in manga).

Naruto as the main character and with current ability..not impress me much. However, Naruto is fully motivated, inspired and protecter.

However, there's still lot of time for them to keep growing, mature, gain an experince and expand their ability. If we assume they still same as they are...Konoha must force Shikamaru to accept that Hokage position. He absolutely say `How troublesome, but i have to do it'.

[Azonalanthious]

Man... I almost hate to say it, but Naruto. Shikamaru would be my second choice, but as others have pointed out, I think he lacks the proper drive to do the position justice. Naruto has two things going for him right now - he is driven and however stupid he may be, he is usually smart enough to ask questions when he doesn't understand. As others have said, wise advisors can count for a lot.

I also think, looking at their future potential, he has awesome abilites as a leader IF he can learn to harness them. Its already been shown many times in the series that for some strange reason and despite the lonely childhood, these days he is charsimatic and skilled at converting indifferent or neutral people into friends, which can be a huge asset to a ruler. He's demonstrated a huge capacity for hard work, another important trait. And the multi-tasking potential of his massive mastery of shadow clones, both for the purposes of getting things done and for learning new information, is mind-blowing if he can actually harness it. (*has a brief mental picture of a Konoha where a Hokage Naruto clone accompanies every team on every mission...*)

[DarthEnderX]

Pretty loaded question to be asking at this time when Shikamaru is kicking so much ass.

But yeah, on paper, Shikamaru would make a much better Hokage than Naruto. But I don't think its going to be an issue any time soon. Someone in Kakashi's generation is likely to be hokage before anyone in Naruto's generation. Naruto has plenty of time to learn to be less retarded.

[Rikudo]

I vote for Lee. He has the charisma, he works hard, and he has a killer brow.

Also, imagined the whole village of Konoha wearing a suit like Lee. He he, maybe not

[TwisT]

Let's break it down.

Naruto- Too stupid, stubborn, hotheaded and reckless. Need much growing up to be ready for that position.

Sasuke - Emo and a traitor. Even if he was to be forgiven by Konoha he should never be given a position of power.

Shikamaru- Smartest by far and has all the quality's of a leader. Only lacks the drive and motivation. Doesn't need much maturing until he is ready for that position. First pick.

Neji - He has proven himself smart and calculating. And he definitely has the skills and potential for it proven by his fast rise to Jonin. Second pick.

Lee - He is a hard worker i give you that, but he's just to dumb. Think he's more suited for the role of an elite ninja, with a title that is known through out the ninja world that identify's him as one of the strongest, like Sanin that he or his group earns though some event.

Sakura - Even though we haven't seen to much of her, we know she is a student of a Sanin and now Hokage. She has excellent chakara control. She's pretty smart too. And she have developed good skills as Tsunades apprentice. She still has a way to go when it comes to skills and smarts but definitely third pick.

Shino - To much of a loner. To me he seems to be more appropriate as a elite assassin that strikes for the shadows without being seen (you know like a real ninja should be). Maybe a top ANBU.

Sai - He hasn't shown much. He is in ROOTS so i guess he should have the ninja skills, but we haven't seen anything except his drawing jutsu's. But mentally i think he is least qualified of all. His diplomatic skills would be the worst and he would probably end up insulting all other leaders he came in contact with and everyone would end up in war with Konoha.

So my list would be Shikamaru, Neji and Sakura.

Also as for potential, i think Naruto has the most potential when it comes to skills and that part will come naturally with time. What he needs is to mature mentally and there he has a long way to go. Shikamaru is the other way around. He's not far when it comes mentally but when it comes to the skills he need to get way stronger. Neji is probably the one that possesses both those aspect and with time he will get both of those naturally just be continuing what he has done so far.

But as someone said, someone from Kakashi's generation will probably take the position of Hokage first. Unless Tsunade sits on that position until Naruto & Co has aged to somewhere between 20-30. Then they might just have matured enough to be able to pass Kakashi & Co.

[Kraco]

Shikamaru- Smartest by far and has all the quality's of a leader. Only lacks the drive and motivation. Doesn't need much maturing until he is ready for that position. First pick.

You are contradicting even yourself here. If he has all the qualities, he shouldn't be lacking anything... But since Konoha isn't ruled by bureaucrats, the leader should have lots of drive and motivation, which would grant him the charisma needed to make others follow his ideas, ideology and leadership. I have no doubt ninja are willing to follow Shikamaru during individual missions but throughout years of simply running the village during good and bad times... Dunno.

Tsunade sits on that position until Naruto & Co has aged to somewhere between 20-30. Then they might just have matured enough to be able to pass Kakashi & Co.

I really think the hokage should be a bit older than 20-30 years... 20-30 years old ninja should still be roaming the lands learning their stuff, life in general, get used to foreign cultures and people, create personal contacts, etc. 20-30 should be the prime time for a ninja and better used elsewhere than behind a pile of papers in an office. When Naruto's generation is be 20-30, Kakashi's generation would be getting to the proper age to lead the village.

[DarthEnderX]

You are contradicting even yourself here. If he has all the qualities, he shouldn't be lacking anything... But since Konoha isn't ruled by bureaucrats, the leader should have lots of drive and motivation, which would grant him the charisma needed to make others follow his ideas, ideology and leadership. I have no doubt ninja are willing to follow Shikamaru during individual missions but throughout years of simply running the village during good and bad times... Dunno.

Well, one of the things Tsunade mentioned this episode was that Shikamaru actually possesses plenty of drive and motivation, he simply doesn't SHOW any of it. He likes to play it coool.

I really think the hokage should be a bit older than 20-30 years... 20-30 years old ninja should still be roaming the lands learning their stuff, life in general, get used to foreign cultures and people, create personal contacts, etc. 20-30 should be the prime time for a ninja and better used elsewhere than behind a pile of papers in an office. When Naruto's generation is be 20-30, Kakashi's generation would be getting to the proper age to lead the village.

Well, everything we've seen of the 4th Hokage has shown him to be pretty young. And everything about Naruto seems to point to advancement being almost purely based on ability with the way that Itachi rocketed up the ranks by the time he was barely a teenager.

[TwisT]

Well Shikamaru is a leader right now. He's the team leader right now. What i meant was that he doesn't have the drive to be a 24/7 leader like the Hokage is. And it was his leadership skills that made him the only one to become a chunin back at the chunin exam.

And just like DarthEnder pointed out, it was the 4th i thought of when i said that whole part about 20-30 years old. Because he was apparently a great hokage that was loved by everyone. And i don't think people look up to someone if they did a pisspoor job as a hokage just because he sacrificed himself in the fight against nine-tails. So if you got what it takes age doesn't matter that much. And with Shikamaru's talants i think he will have caught up to present day Kakashi in his early 20s. And so will probably Naruto and many others. The only thing left then is which of them have matured mentally.

[Pandadice]

mmm. lol, I can't imagine Naruto having to do all the paper work and junk that the hokage has to do. I think he'd really hate the job if he got it.

why is there only 1 girl on the list? <.<.. it's not just lack of girls, that how list seems strange. sasuke? lee? .. shino? those seem like such random characters who'd never even be considered :\. why not just name all of the youth?

[Buffalobiian]

I've been avoiding this thread because I thought it was in the manga section

Best Shounen Charisma: Naruto
Best realistic leader: Neji - he's already revered as a genius, powerful jounin, good leading ability, 360 anti-assasin vision....he'd be my first pick.

Since the focus is on Shikamaru, I'd give him the role of Head Strategist. Konoha gets a great mind, and Shika gets a holiday.

[Buffalobiian]

-double posted

[Abdula]

Huh, who deserves to be Hokage seems like a no brainer to me but all you guys who put Shikamaru as your first choice really surprised me. I wouldn't have thought you guys were that impressionable.

First I'll start by berating Hidan. Lets face it Hidan was an idiot. He is easily the dumbest character I've seen in this series and the guy was pretty useless. How often is Shikamaru going to come across an opponent who knows one technique, if he had known atleast some ninjutsu he could have easily defeated Shikamaru. The only thing Hidan had going for him was his immortality, if not for his immortality not only would he have not been much of an adversary but his one technique hinges on the fact that he is immortal. Without his immortality I doubt Hidan would even be Chuunin level. Secondly Hidan was dumb, damn was he ever dumb. Can you think of any other opponent who after seeing Shikamaru's shadow mimic in action would still get caught with it again and again and again. I can't think of anyone. So don't make too much out of the fact that Shikamaru defeated Hidan because Hidan was pathetic.

Lets move on to why I don't think Shikamaru is a worthy candidate for Hokage. Sure he has great analytic ability and he could probably be a good leader but in battle Shikamaru is anything but strong. We've seen Shikamaru in what five battles. He beat that Sound genin, then there was Temari and despite the fact that he was promoted to Chuunin he lost his match against Temari and don't think I'm saying that he lost just because he quit. As he himself said, when he finally caught her he was at his limit and could do nothing else, so if it was a real battle she would have just waited until his shadow mimic ran out and then killed him. Then he lost to Tayuya but he was saved by Temari, then there is the battle where Asuma died and finally this one here.

Here is some things you guys don't seem to know about Shikamaru. His strongest technique thus far is his shadow neck bind, which as we saw in his battle with Tayuya can be overpowered if the opponent has enough chakra or is simply physically strong enough to break out and that is his best technique. Here is another thing, Hidan already mentioned Shikamaru's five minute time limit with his shadow mimic but that is not the only weakness Shika's techniques have. We all know Shikamaru can stretch and manipulate his shadow but as he said in his match against Temari he cannot extend a shadow beyond its natural surface area. So not only does he have a time limit but a distance limit as well and that distance depends on the time of day. Naturally, since shadows are longest at dusk Shikamaru is strongest at dusk but as he told Naruto when they were chasing after Sasuke he can't use his techniques at night because there isn't enough light.

So there we have four things against Shikamaru. He has a five minute time limit, there is a limit to how far he can stretch his shadow, he can't use his technique if there isn't enough light and his techniques can be easily over powered. So he has to try and end his battle quickly but he doesn't have strong enough techniques to be able to do that, anyone who has mid to long range attacks has an almost insurmountable advantage over him and he is completely useless in the dark. That doesn't sound like a Hokage to me. Just think of how Shikamaru would have fared if say, he was the one fighting Orochimaru instead of the Third, or if he was in that three way Sanin battle instead of Tsunade. I know you may be thinking that those comparing him to them is unfair but we are talking about Hokages, so it isn't. Hell, how well do you think Shikamaru would do if he had to go one on one with Naruto?

Not only does Shikamaru lack strong techniques but he is not strong physically and really he is not meant for one on one battles. His techniques are meant to compliment Ino's and Chouji's. Shikamaru just wouldn't do well against a high level opponent by himself. This case was an exception because Hidan was exceptionally dumb and even so Shikamaru wasn't able to do much against him the first time around. He only looked impressive here because he had some high caliber back up in Kakashi and he had already acquired information on Hidan's abilities and was able to set a trap for him before hand. I would argue that anyone could come up with a plan to defeat even the strongest of opponents if they know all their abilities and you certainly can't expect Shikamaru to have a trap prepared beforehand, for every single opponent he faces. Anyway bottom line, Shikamaru is not kage material in my opinion. Kages have to be strong and they have to be able to hold their own in any situation against any opponent. Shikamaru would be a great elder/adviser though.

Now that thats out of the way my here are my picks for Hokage. First up Naruto. That should be self explanatory, he already has incredibly powerful techniques and he has more potential than anyone else in the village. All he lacks is knowledge and experience and he'll get that in time.

The only other person I think has Hokage potential is Sakura. Tsunade is hokage and Sakura is basically a carbon copy of Tsunade. Just like Naruto anything Sakura lacks she'll acquire in a few years.

[Azonalanthious]

I don't really disagree with anything you just said about Shikamaru, though I do think their is more to being the village leader then just strength in battle.

However, I can't really go with Sakura because she really has the same flaws as Shikamaru (Tsunade may or may not have the same issues - we haven't seen enough of her in combat to know for sure.) But bearing in mind why you just disqualified Skikamaru... Sakura's only real skills are medical and strength. Medical has little combat application - its not going to help her win unless her foe is using posion or she develops a Kabuto system scaple technique. And her super strength has the same fundemental limitation as most of Naruto's attacks - is a point blank attack. If doesn't matter if you hit with the force of a mac truck if you can't connect. Where Naruto passes her is his shadow clones, which give him a chance to land his strikes. She has no method for getting close enough to get a blow in - no super speed, no sharingen to read her foes, no distracting shadow clones. Against any sort of skilled foe, she is not going to be able to hold her own by herself. Her techniques are every bit as limited when it comes to combat applications as Shikamaru's and she lacks his intelligence to help make up for those shortcoming.

[Abdula]

Okay let me clarify. First off I dislike Tsunade, very very much, I'll just refrain from saying I hate her. I think she is a terrible Hokage and I don't think she is qualified for the position I've said as much before. The only reason Sakura is on my list is because Tsunade is hokage and like I said Sakura is pretty much a carbon copy of Tsunade, and if Tsunade could become Hokage I don't see anything stopping Sakura. Btw Sakura doesn't lack intelligence, granted she is not as intelligent as Shikamaru but she is supposed to be one of the most intelligent people in the village Tsunade said as much.

[Buffalobiian]

In Sakura's defence, she's also extensively trained at dodging, and self preservation in general, which is where she passes Naruto. She'll get in close as long as she dodges all attacks as she advances, which we've seen, she's quite capable of doing.

So in that regard, I'd think Naruto and her even out.

[Dansetsu]

20-30 should be the prime time for a ninja and better used elsewhere than behind a pile of papers in an office. When Naruto's generation is be 20-30, Kakashi's generation would be getting to the proper age to lead the village.

I 100% agree with you there. It's too early to talk about the next generation being hokage. I agree with Shikamaru being the best choice over all.