The Hokage (火影, literally meaning: Fire Shadow) is the Kage of Konohagakure, a title bestowed on the village’s leader. The Hokage is generally regarded as the strongest shinobi in the village. There have been seven Hokage in the village’s history.

The Hokage position was created shortly after the creation of Konoha by Hashirama Senju, one of the village’s founders. He intended the title to be given to his co-founder, Madara Uchiha, but the village’s population instead selected Hashirama as the First Hokage. Madara feared that Hashirama’s selection was the first step in making the Hokage office an extension of the Senju clan’s authority, a fear Hashirama denied. Despite this, all of the village’s Hokage have traced back to Hashirama in some way: the Second was his brother; the Third was a student of both his brother and himself; the Fourth was a student of one of the Third’s students; the Fifth is his granddaughter and another student of the Third; the Sixth was a student of the Fourth; the Seventh is a student of the Sixth and the son of the Fourth.