As the head of their village, each of the Five Kage have a huge responsibility to the people they lead, as well as the larger shinobi world in Naruto. The title was itself born when Hashirama Senju became the leader of Konohagakure, ascending to the title of Hokage, with the other hidden villages from the Five Great Shinobi Countries following suit and appointing their own Kage soon after. More often than not, the honor of becoming a Kage is bestowed on the strongest ninja from each village.

Hence, each Kage is meant to exemplify the absolute peak of a village's power. Many shinobi who attained the rank of Kage are now regarded as some of the strongest in history within the world of Naruto. At the time of the Fourth Shinobi World War, the Five Kage had quite few esteemed shinobi among them who played noteworthy roles in the effort to stop Madara and Obito Uchiha's Eye of the Moon Plan. But who among them was truly the strongest?

RELATED: Naruto: The Fall Of The Akatsuki

Pillars Of Their Villages

Climbing through the tiers of the shinobi ranking system to reach the level of Kage is a process that may take a lifetime for some shinobi, but there are exceptions to this. For instance, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Minato Namikaze, and Yagura Karatachi all became Kage at relatively young ages primarily due to their immense strength, which far exceeded what most high ranking shinobi in their villages were capable of at the time.

Furthermore, the process of becoming a Kage varies between villages, with some such as Konohagakure adhering to a democratic system while others such as Kumogakure follow a policy of bloodline succession. Despite this, there is not too much of a gap in strength between Kage from various villages, with only exceptional shinobi such as Hashirama, Hiruzen, Lord Mu, Onoki, the Third Raikage A, and a few others rising above the rest due to their unmatched mastery of various types of ninjutsu techniques and kekkei genkai.

In times of war, a Kage is a village's greatest resource — both due to their immense strength as well as the experience and strategic acumen they possess while fulfilling such a high leadership post. Although many Kage have participated in battles directly, a village's foremost objective is to safeguard their Kage since they are the highest level of defense against any threat of invasion. Thus, a Kage is an individual that the entire village rallies around in times of difficulty, and each of the Five Kage during the Fourth Shinobi World War embodied this in different respects.

What Each Brought To The Table

All the Five Kage at the time of the War Arc were very esteemed shinobi in their villages for various reasons. Gaara, the Fifth Kazekage, was the son of the Fourth Kazekage Rasa and a former jinchuriki, who had renounced his violent ways to become a capable leader for his people after being redeemed by Naruto during the Chunin Exams Arc. Mei Terumi, the Fifth Mizukage, lived through the days when Kirigakure was known as the "Village of the Bloody Mist," and worked hard to undo the poor image of the village following the horrific reign of her predecessor, Yagura Karatachi.

The Fourth Raikage A, was the son of the Third Raikage — revered as the greatest Raikage in Kumogakure's history — and the partner of Killer B, the village's jinchuriki. Known the world over for the superhuman speed and strength he attains while using his Lightning Release Chakra Mode, A was also chosen as the Supreme Leader of the Allied Shinobi Forces. The Third Tsuchikage Onoki was a student of Lord Mu and one of the two shinobi known to be capable of using a kekkei tota in the form of Dust Release.

RELATED: Naruto: Barrier Ninjutsu, Explained

Finally, Tsunade, as the Fifth Hokage, was the granddaughter of Hashirama Senju, the greatest medical-nin of her time and the strongest kunoichi in the world during the Fourth Shinobi World War. Having mastered the Byakugou Seal, which allowed her to recover from virtually any injury she sustains in battle, Tsunade could abandon the supporting role of a medical-nin and go on the offensive with her chakra infused punches that alter the terrain with a single strike.

In this manner, each of the Five Kage at the time had been recognized as the strongest shinobi in their villages, with little dispute over their individual strength. The issue with this comparison, lies in how their abilities diverge drastically from one another, to a point where it would be extremely difficult to determine who among them would prevail over the other in a one on one face off. Moreover, Kage such as Onoki were way past their prime and nearing advanced ages, which severely impacted his endurance, to his detriment. As such, equating them on the basis of their respective techniques may not be a fair comparison on its own.

The Strongest Of Their Time

In terms of raw physical strength, Tsuande is undoubtedly clear of her peers by some margin, having beaten even the Fourth Raikage A whose strength was one of his greatest assets. That being said, A is undoubtedly the fastest of the Five Kage with his Lightning Release Chakra Mode, which allows him to move faster than even the Sharingan can keep track of. Gaara has incredible endurance with his "Absolute Defence," consisting of his Armor of Sand along with his Shield of Sand, and he is also the most effective long range fighter in a drawn out confrontation due to his sand manipulation.

Onoki and Mei are fairly superior to the rest of the Kage in terms of the variety of ninjutsu techniques they can perform. Where Mei possesses two kekkei genkai in the form of Lava Release and Boil Release, Onoki can use Dust Release, one of the most powerful ninjutsu technique in existence, capable of obliterating anything it comes into contact with. He is also very proficient in Earth Release nature transformations, and used them extensively during the Fourth Shinobi World War against the shinobi revived by Kabuto Yakushi's Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation, especially when fighting Madara Uchiha himself.

With all this information, it might be safe to say that either A or Onoki might be the main contenders for the title. Although the Raikage's overwhelming speed, strength, and durability far outmatch Onoki's raw physical abilities, they pale in the face of the latter's extensive knowledge and proficiency with ninjutsu. Even Madara Uchiha viewed Onoki as the biggest threat to him among the Allied Shinobi Forces, due to his experience, tactical awareness, and his Dust Release, which could reduce entire forests to nothing in an instant. Hence, Onoki might well have been the strongest Kage during the Fourth Shinobi World War, but only by a small margin due to his declining health. The Fourth Raikage, might rank a close second, with Mei, Gaara, and Tsunade on a relatively equal footing due to the major differences in their fighting styles which make comparisons very difficult.

Naruto is available to stream on Crunchyroll.

MORE: Naruto: Summoning Jutsu, Explained