If Itachi was the Godaime Hokage....

[Shinomori Aoshi]

I was wondering... Wouldn't it be less life-costing and clan-wiping out to have Itachi appointed as the fifth Hokage? The third had already stepped down once before in favor of Minato. Itachi was certainly very loyal to the village and a move like that would have halted any attempts of coup d'etat from the Uchiha, since one of their own was the head of the village. Aside from obvious plot reasons -which actually are the most probable cause- there could have been two other reasons (that I can think of):

1) Itachi wasn't considered strong enough. And so Minato was indeed that awesome (no irony intended).
2) The rest of the village were indeed shunning the Uchiha and they were not going to give the Hokage title to any Uchiha, ever.

What are your thoughts? Can you think of any other reasons?

[Zehahaha]

I've always found it strange that no Uchiha was ever a Hokage. In terms of strenght, I don't think they lack it... But I think the reason is because of the policy that Konoha followed after Uchiha Madara's so called defeat. It would've been a good move to make Itachi or any Uchiha before a Hokage, they're one of the foundators of Konoha after all.

[THM Nindo]

Yeah, that would have been a great move from Hiruzen to do that.
Hiruzen was already old, and was ready to retire (he already retired before that).

And Itachi was certainly strong enough to be Kage material at that time.

No a plothole, but certainly something that would require an explanation...
I wonder if Kishi even thought about it...

[Xiraiya]

To be honest I think it was a massive oversight on Kishi's behalf, Itachi was Loyal enough to Konoha to destroy his own clan for the sake of the village, he was extremely powerful and a very calm and collected person, I agree that Sarutobi really should have prepared Itachi to take over as Hokage.

It would have solved everything except Madara

Also, Konoha in general would have been a much stronger village because of it.

[DementedKirby]

Sometimes the best answers are the simplest ones. However, if Itachi would've been Hokage, I think that Danzou would've had a fit and found the way to betray Itachi and cause the civil war in the first place.

---------- Post added at 09:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:33 PM ----------

Lol, with Itachi as Hokage, Orochimaru would've failed miserably in his invasion of Konoha. Also, when Madara cam around with Akatsuki, they would've lost as well. But I think that Itachi was way too young to be Hokage. I mean, I believe he was younger than 20 years old when he murdered his clan.

[DaHeroic1]

Itachi was definently strong,intelligent, and wise enough to become Hokage but their's plenty of reason why he probally never got the chance. The guy killed his clan at the age of thirteen i believe so he was to young. Also remember if he doesn't kill his clan he never has the whole falling out with Shisui so he doesn't gain MS. MS makes Itachi one of the higher s class ninja in the manga but without it he's basically around high jonin level but if he did have ms having a Hokage who will go blind in a few years is definently not a good idea lol. Also at this point in time Jiraiya and Tsunade were still around so Hiruzen most likely looked towards them as his replacement once he died. An Uchiha would never become hokage no matter how strong they were bc Madara basically screwed up everything for them lol. From his revolt,to kyubbi incident,akatsuki,etc.

[Whiskey]

Lol, with Itachi as Hokage, Orochimaru would've failed miserably in his invasion of Konoha. Also, when Madara cam around with Akatsuki, they would've lost as well. But I think that Itachi was way too young to be Hokage. I mean, I believe he was younger than 20 years old when he murdered his clan.

According to Naruto-Wikia Itachi was seventeen/eighteen at his debut. I’m unsure if Sasuke had been given an exact age at the time of his clans death, but following the timeline logically, he’d be between the ages of eight to ten years old (I could be totally wrong, and for that I apologize). So, with a bit of math, Itachi would be around thirteen to fifteen (give or take (and yikes! he already had a lover)) when the concept of mass murder began to be a good idea.

Also, even if Itachi had been made Hokage, there would be no guarantee that the rest of the Uchiha would have been entirely appeased. Perhaps they would have wanted more reputation/political power/holdings if their golden boy was on the throne. Obviously the Uchiha were no strangers to forceful action if their desires were not met. Either way, I believe Itachi would of still had certain challenges with his family (while, perhaps not to such a degree); additionally his popularity wouldn’t have been so stellar at the time.

Danzō would have done everything in his power to oppose Itachi anyway. The other elders, I’m unsure, but it’s evident they did not fancy the Uchiha name.

[DementedKirby]

It's their own fault for not being around the night Madara attacked Konoha. How convenient. Besides, any way you slice it, an Uchiha attacked Konoha with the Kyuubi.

Oh, and Itachi was skilled enough to defeat Shisui to awaken the Mangekyou to begin with. Shisui. He iced Shisui. Before he had the Mangekyou. The Uchiha Shisui. Before obtaining the Mangekyou. 'Nough said.

[M3J]

The problem is, Itachi would have been too young to be a hokage. not even Gaara was that young when he became kazekage, and only because a kage was needed, and he was the best choice. Kakashi was old enough to be a hokage, and they still had Jiraiya as well as others. Apart from Madara, we haven't really known, seen, or heard about any extraordinary Uchiha until Itachi popped up.

[mattiaildivino]

itachi was dying then he couldn't have been hokage for long. anyway he was stronger than tsunade then he could

[jorped]

Though Itachi was very young, no one can say that he wasn't already Kage material, so why not nominate him as the next Hokage, instead of putting in charge Hiruzen, the previous hokage ?

This is a really good question, and for now we can't really do nothing more than speculate. I don't think that we know the all story behind the Uchiha's clan destruction, and the last chapter proved it. We all thought that Madara had helped Itachi killing his friends and family, but that wasn't really the case as we can see at the bottom panel.

So is very expectable that Kishi is going to say something more about this and the part that i am most interested to get to know is the reasons why Itachi had to do that "mission". We know that Uchihas are possibly conspiring but that for me is still to vague.

And though some people like Hiruzen might agree to nominate Uchiha as the 5th Hokage, the same i can't say about Hanzo and possibly the other elders. We all know that Hanzo was pretty interested on the sharingan, so if Itachi was the 5th Hokage, there wouldn't be possibly any Uchiha massacre, and this way he wouldn't get them.

And we all know why Itachi died. His health wasn't that good, but did Itachi already suffered from it during that time ? If so, that's a good reason for not nominate him as the 5th Hokage.

It is also possible that Kishi might have not even thought about this, but even if that's the case it isn't a plot hole. Either way, we can only be sure, when we get more info about the Uchiha massacre. And we might get to know it even on the next chapter based on the way the story is going

[shafagh]

... and all of you have any guarantee that Itachi wouldn't massacre leaf's people for peace !? ( for sake of peace
_________________________________________
I think Itachi was so young for becoming hokage but Uchiha had another strong ninja for becoming hokage after 4th death , Uchiha Shisui ...
( and shisui was the first man who get killed )

[Shinomori Aoshi]

I don't think it was Itachi's decision to slay his clan; he just abided by the orders from above. He was probably against the decision (I mean if there was another way, like what Hiruzen believed), but couldn't help but execute it, much like Yashamaru and Gaara.

Shisui's case is complicated already, and you're making it even more complicated! I believe there are three possible scenarios about Shisui's death:
1) Itachi killed him to obtain Mangekyou Sharingan so that he can obtain enough power to dispose of his clan -or had his own reasons.
2) It was an order from the elders.
3) Somebody else killed him/he committed suicide and Itachi was there to witness it, thus obtaining the Mangekyou.

But I suppose Shisui could have been another candidate, though we're not sure if he was loyal to the village or to his clan only.

[Rarhyx]

danzou and the elders....
i bet it would have cost more lifes if itachi would be hokage

[zerocooldx]

It's their own fault for not being around the night Madara attacked Konoha. How convenient. Besides, any way you slice it, an Uchiha attacked Konoha with the Kyuubi.

Oh, and Itachi was skilled enough to defeat Shisui to awaken the Mangekyou to begin with. Shisui. He iced Shisui. Before he had the Mangekyou. The Uchiha Shisui. Before obtaining the Mangekyou. 'Nough said.

Itachi was like 13 or 14 years old when he left Konoha. I mean yeah thats young, but Gaara was also pretty young when he became Kazekage. And Yagura looks to have been a young teen when "he" was Mizukage as well. This is one of those burning "what if.." questions. Regardless of how strong Itachi was and whatnot, he showcased one of if not the best example of leadership in the entire manga. He was faced with an impossibly difficult decision and he quite literally decided to sacrifice his family for the sake and well being of the entire village. All of the Uchiha and Senju and Konoha elders stuff aside, Itachi would have been a great Hokage, yet i doubt that he would have accepted such a position.