If Itachi was the Godaime Hokage....

[Delbi]

Look at the way Gaara was treated by Oonoki, though. Itachi could be treated like that as well, little to no respect at all. The kage may acknowledge him as powerful, but they won't show him as much respect considering how young Itachi would have been. Even Gaara wasn't that young when he became a kazekage, assuming he's the same age as Naruto. Plus, at the time, he was a jinchuuriki, which would have made him one of the most powerful.

Though to be fair, Gaara did gain more respect when he showed how wise he is.

IMO same would happen with Itachi. But realistically how often do the Kage's see one another? Up until Bee's introduction we had only even seen the Kages of two villages. At the Chunnin exams only two of the five great countries were present.

I honestly think too much stock is being put into what other villages think. A Kage is a Kage for a reason. First and foremost they need their villages respect, then they can worry about other kages. And again, like Gaara, once they meet him they would understand how he is. Itachi's mere presence commands respect, he literally strikes fear into all those around him.

[Rikudou King]

Well, we have little to go on regarding how well known gaara or mei were before being made kage. Gaara strikes me as the sort that could make a name for himself quickly though. Son of a kage himself, a jinchuiriki and the ability to throw a desert at whoever he is fighting. Ultimately he was made the kage because he was the strongest in his village. No clue on what mei's heritage is but at least 2 KG are likely to make her well known and we have to assume that at least she was the strongest at the mist village.

Itachi might have been well known but even if he did have that going for him we do know for a fact that at least 2 other people were better candidates than him. How would sarutobi ever justify making itachi the kage if the other 2 sannin who had far more experience, better resumes and were insanely famous were still around? Its not like itachi was even a man, he was not even the age at which gaara was made kage. Itachi was 13, just that. Even with all his gifts there is no way to guarantee he would have gotten a shred of support from the jonnin if they could have easily concluded jiraiya and tsunade were infinitely better candidates. Its not like either of them were secret ninjas, jiraiya was feared throughout the land and his rants about the chosen one were even known by the current raikage.

There is also the consideration that by the time that such a consideration would have been made itachi did not yet have MS and even if we select a time at which he did there is no guarantee that he had mastered it due to the short time he would have had it for. Basically this would be a younger itachi without a huge chunk of experience and without his most powerful techniques. Itachi was strong however there is no actual logical (and not even illogical) good reasons to justify appointing itachi at the time as kage nor for the jonnin to vote for him.

Even making itachi the kage wouldn't necessarily have fix things. The whole point of the uchiha making a coup was to take power for themselves. It was not about grabbing their fare share of political power, it was about an actual takeover of a military organization. Itachi being made the hokage would entail that the uchiha would not have all the power for one thing. More so, the kage himself does not have absolutely authority, the advisors and danzo have proven to have their own share of actual authority which the kage has to respect. So how is making itachi the kage a solution? These guys were willing to start an all out civil war in the village and we are to assume they will settle with a fraction of the power rather than all of it? If they were to accept the kage thing, why have the 13 year old brat taking the kage position rather than the actual head of the clan which they were already following? What happens when itachi turns out to be doing the job the way he is supposed to be doing it when the uchiha expectation was that he would be turning more and more power towards them (we already know they were willing to start a war and die to get leadership in the village). Itachi might have had an impressive record for his age however it is not quite unheard of for ninja to become chunnin young nor perform difficult missions at such a young age. All the uchiha were elite ninja, for all we know plenty of people had his records (specially fugaku considering that he was too an elite ninja and was significantly older than itachi).

If I remember right, Gaara was only chosen as Kazekage because the Suna council could use him as a puppet ruler. And I really doubt Jiraiya and Tsunade would have been considered better candidates when they were both gone from the village for years. Anyway, I would think being made Anbu captain would have been a major feat and showcased his strength, even before he had presumably gained the hax of MS. Becoming an Anbu captain, a position nearly at the top of the chain, would have implied both experience and strength to the rest of the jounins needed to give a vote.

The whole coup started seemingly over the Uchiha's feeling they got a raw deal. Having one of their best being made Hokage would have changed that, not to mention dealt with the discrimination thrown towards them, returning them back to the loyal ninjas they were previously.

[M3J]

IMO same would happen with Itachi. But realistically how often do the Kage's see one another? Up until Bee's introduction we had only even seen the Kages of two villages. At the Chunnin exams only two of the five great countries were present.

I honestly think too much stock is being put into what other villages think. A Kage is a Kage for a reason. First and foremost they need their villages respect, then they can worry about other kages. And again, like Gaara, once they meet him they would understand how he is. Itachi's mere presence commands respect, he literally strikes fear into all those around him.

I agree, but Gaara and the other kage had a reason to meet, t hus he could prove himself. From the looks of it, the kage rarely ever meet.

Kage wouldn't be kage if they didn't have their village's respect though. The respect they get from other villages or acknowledgment anyway makes a big difference. Even if they're seen as powerful, the other kage would think they're more powerful and proceed to attack the village anyway.

Itachi's presence was scary, if I recall, mostly because of the cold eyes and the way he acted. He was acting for the sake of his brother and Konoha. No telling how he'd act when he'd be with Konoha. Like with Gaara, Itachi has to earn that fear.

Other kage are less likely to attack Konoha under MInato's leadership because they know how powerful he is. He was one of the few who singlehandedly helped Konoha win the war. His reputation precedes him by quite a bit. Itachi, who may not have been in a war or done anything as great, would not gain that kind of respect nor discourage other kage from attacking Konoha, as they wouldn't think Konoha is that strong.

[Uchiha_Blood]

I just thought about it, but after Tsunade went comatose, they didn't even considered Naruto as Hokage material despite having only Danzou and Kakashi as alternatives.
You know Naruto? The one that beat the supposed leader of Akatsuki and magically saved all the villagers by letting them get back to life ? The one that saved the village from Gaara, that retrieved Tsunade thus giving Konoha an Hokage?
That one.
It would be a little nonsensical to chose Itachi when there was a younger Sarutobi, Kakashi and the Sannins

[Delbi]

I just thought about it, but after Tsunade went comatose, they didn't even considered Naruto as Hokage material despite having only Danzou and Kakashi as alternatives.
You know Naruto? The one that beat the supposed leader of Akatsuki and magically saved all the villagers by letting them get back to life ? The one that saved the village from Gaara, that retrieved Tsunade thus giving Konoha an Hokage?
That one.
It would be a little nonsensical to chose Itachi when there was a younger Sarutobi, Kakashi and the Sannins

Naruto at age 50 is probably not as wise or mature as Itachi at age 13...so there's that.

Not to mention he was an unstable wreck who at the time would have sacrificed half the village to save Sasuke. Itachi was willing to slaughter his entire clan to save the village.

As for choosing the Sannin's, Kakashi, and Sarturobi over Itachi, keep a few things in mind.

1) Kakashi wasn't that strong, as he shit his pants when being confronted by Orochimaru years after Itachi had already left the village.

2) Jiraiya and Tsuande were not in the village at the time, and neither wanted to be Hokage.

3) IMO, Sarturobi didn't deserve to be Hokage after all the of the shit he allowed to happen under his watch, including the Uchiha Massacre, the Orochimaru debacle, and the treatment of his youth like Naruto and Sasuke.

[Uchiha_Blood]

Naruto at age 50 is probably not as wise or mature as Itachi at age 13...so there's that.

Not to mention he was an unstable wreck who at the time would have sacrificed half the village to save Sasuke. Itachi was willing to slaughter his entire clan to save the village.

Debatable, since Itachi was influenced by Naruto's words which aided his post-mortem "acceptation of himself".
While the guy tortured a 7 years old, making him one of the baddest villain of the manga. So both made mistakes, but both are definitely Kage material.

As for choosing the Sannin's, Kakashi, and Sarturobi over Itachi, keep a few things in mind.

1) Kakashi wasn't that strong, as he shit his pants when being confronted by Orochimaru years after Itachi had already left the village.

2) Jiraiya and Tsuande were not in the village at the time, and neither wanted to be Hokage.

3) IMO, Sarturobi didn't deserve to be Hokage after all the of the shit he allowed to happen under his watch, including the Uchiha Massacre, the Orochimaru debacle, and the treatment of his youth like Naruto and Sasuke.

1)Not only Itachi's ownage of Oro was done after he murdered his clan, but Kakashi was way more notorious since:
-he was the son of the White Fang
-he basically came on top of the ninja hierarchy even faster than Itachi ( if I remember right, Kakashi became a genin at, like, 5, a chunin at 6 and a Jounin at 13 )
-he, like Itachi, had the sharingan, and fought in a War
-he was the disciple of Yondaime

We know that Itachi always was stronger, but we are the readers lol

2)Jiraiya can be called back, same for Tsunade. I believe Danzou would've made Tsunade came back by, say, threatening her to kill Shizune, or extinguishing her debts.
The return of Tsunade isn't that big of an issue

3) On that I wholeheartly agree with you, poor Hiruzen was and still is used as the Garbagekage by Kishi

[Delbi]

Debatable, since Itachi was influenced by Naruto's words which aided his post-mortem "acceptation of himself".
While the guy tortured a 7 years old, making him one of the baddest villain of the manga. So both made mistakes, but both are definitely Kage material.



1)Not only Itachi's ownage of Oro was done after he murdered his clan, but Kakashi was way more notorious since:
-he was the son of the White Fang
-he basically came on top of the ninja hierarchy even faster than Itachi ( if I remember right, Kakashi became a genin at, like, 5, a chunin at 6 and a Jounin at 13 )
-he, like Itachi, had the sharingan, and fought in a War
-he was the disciple of Yondaime

We know that Itachi always was stronger, but we are the readers lol

2)Jiraiya can be called back, same for Tsunade. I believe Danzou would've made Tsunade came back by, say, threatening her to kill Shizune, or extinguishing her debts.
The return of Tsunade isn't that big of an issue

3) On that I wholeheartly agree with you, poor Hiruzen was and still is used as the Garbagekage by Kishi

Itachi was the one who was achunnin at 5 ANBU Captain at 13. Kakashi was Chunnin at 7 Jounin at 13 if I remember correctly.

And it's not like Itachi doesn't have notoriety. He was the prodigal son of the Uchiha's Clan Leader. Kakashi and Itachi both fought in the same war, different was Kakashi was 13 and Itachi was 5...sounds awful.

Jiraiya could have been called back but he would have declined to be Hokage like he did when he actually was. And without a 13 year old Naruto, there is no way a drunk Tsuande was going to become Hokage. So essentially, your best candidates would be Danzou and Itachi.

[Rikudou King]

Debatable, since Itachi was influenced by Naruto's words which aided his post-mortem "acceptation of himself".
While the guy tortured a 7 years old, making him one of the baddest villain of the manga. So both made mistakes, but both are definitely Kage material.

Naruto probably wasn't added as a candidate because he has no leadership experience. Let's be honest, while strength is necessary, so would be the ability to command and lead others. Naruto's lone wolf attitude isn't exactly the sort of attitude you want in the guy who's suppose to sit back and give orders from afar.

[Uchiha_Blood]

Itachi was the one who was achunnin at 5 ANBU Captain at 13. Kakashi was Chunnin at 7 Jounin at 13 if I remember correctly.

And it's not like Itachi doesn't have notoriety. He was the prodigal son of the Uchiha's Clan Leader. Kakashi and Itachi both fought in the same war, different was Kakashi was 13 and Itachi was 5...sounds awful.

Jiraiya could have been called back but he would have declined to be Hokage like he did when he actually was. And without a 13 year old Naruto, there is no way a drunk Tsuande was going to become Hokage. So essentially, your best candidates would be Danzou and Itachi.

ANBU are chunin level ninja, while Jounins are, well, Jounins.

Still Itachi was part of a clan, it is like considering Neji as a candidate to Kage, both were the best prodigies the clan had ever seen, both were exceptional ninja in their own right ( ok Itachi was better than Neji will ever be at 13, yet the village didn't knew that ).
Also Kakashi had way more experience. So it would be pretty dumb to consider Itachi over Kakashi, we know and can because we are the readers

Naruto probably wasn't added as a candidate because he has no leadership experience. Let's be honest, while strength is necessary, so would be the ability to command and lead others. Naruto's lone wolf attitude isn't exactly the sort of attitude you want in the guy who's suppose to sit back and give orders from afar.

Exactly, I see both unfit to lead at the time, both used to be lone wolves, and, ironically, a talk between them led them in the path of accepting others:
Naruto was arrogant and wanted to shelter his friends, exactly like Itachi, with the difference that he wanted to shelter Sasuke.
Both are among the strongest, both needed a wake up call, Naruto is luckier since he didn't need to die.
There is a reason if Itachi changed his view after talking extensively with Naruto, imho.

[hyper_megaman]

ANBU are chunin level ninja, while Jounins are, well, Jounins.

Still Itachi was part of a clan, it is like considering Neji as a candidate to Kage, both were the best prodigies the clan had ever seen, both were exceptional ninja in their own right ( ok Itachi was better than Neji will ever be at 13, yet the village didn't knew that ).
Also Kakashi had way more experience. So it would be pretty dumb to consider Itachi over Kakashi, we know and can because we are the readers



Exactly, I see both unfit to lead at the time, both used to be lone wolves, and, ironically, a talk between them led them in the path of accepting others:
Naruto was arrogant and wanted to shelter his friends, exactly like Itachi, with the difference that he wanted to shelter Sasuke.
Both are among the strongest, both needed a wake up call, Naruto is luckier since he didn't need to die.
There is a reason if Itachi changed his view after talking extensively with Naruto, imho.

anbu are special force elites who i presume are even stronger than jounin

they are frequently called to track down and kill missing nin

anbu are not chuunin.. chuunins will be slayed if they were sent after jounin

[Delbi]

ANBU are chunin level ninja, while Jounins are, well, Jounins.

Still Itachi was part of a clan, it is like considering Neji as a candidate to Kage, both were the best prodigies the clan had ever seen, both were exceptional ninja in their own right ( ok Itachi was better than Neji will ever be at 13, yet the village didn't knew that ).
Also Kakashi had way more experience. So it would be pretty dumb to consider Itachi over Kakashi, we know and can because we are the readers

ANBU level ninja are not all chunnin. Considering Kakashi wasn't made a ANBU Captain until AFTER he was a Jounin speaks volumes about Itachi being made one before he was a Jounin. As an ANBU Captain Itachi would have been in charge of people he outranked outside of ANBU.

And I think it was fairly well known within the village how powerful Itachi was. And in comparison to Neji, who was just a genius, Itachi was a prodigy. The only ninja we are aware of that has received the praise that Itachi has has been Minato.

And as for Kakashi having way more experience, it's not like Itachi doesn't. He was actively fighting in a war at the age of 5 and then was one dozens of missions after that.

[Rikudou King]

ANBU are chunin level ninja, while Jounins are, well, Jounins.

Anbu are made up of both chuunin and jounin, but only the best of the regular forces are taken into it.

Exactly, I see both unfit to lead at the time, both used to be lone wolves, and, ironically, a talk between them led them in the path of accepting others:
Naruto was arrogant and wanted to shelter his friends, exactly like Itachi, with the difference that he wanted to shelter Sasuke.
Both are among the strongest, both needed a wake up call, Naruto is luckier since he didn't need to die.
There is a reason if Itachi changed his view after talking extensively with Naruto, imho.

But Itachi had leadership experience. He was a captain in Anbu, meaning he would have lead a team. Not to mention his father being head of the Uchiha clan would have allow him to see leadership in action. And Itachi didn't begin to shelter Sasuke until after the events of the massacre, which isn't an issue here because we're speaking about before the massacre.

[kkck]

Tsunade was a drunken depressed gambler doctor with fear of blood and even then she was deemed an acceptable replacement for jiraiya even though jiraiya had been the one searching for orochimaru and took part in the war between suna and konoha. To boot, kakashi was 30 years old when he was considered for kage and even then his age thing was brought up. Heck, kakashi's only competition was the old crippled(no eye or functional arm as far as everyone knew) guy sarutobi's age (and lets remember sarutobi held his kage position for so long because he did not quite think there was anyone suitable to replace him) There is no scenario where a 13 year old ninja would be considered for kage regardless of him being an uchiha. Konoha would have had to be ridden of every drunkard, every gambler, every pervert, every crippled, every old guy and pretty much everyone other conceivable option first before having to take a pick among the kids in the village. Even then, there is no guarantee the jonnin would have approved of itachi had he been selected, the jonnin did have their perverts, drunkards and crippled old guys perfectly available at the time.

Even if becoming an anbu captain was such a huge deal among the skilled konoha ninja, why would they pick itachi to be kage from among them? Granted, he was deemed skilled enough to be a captain from a young age but for all we know there were plenty other anbu captains with sufficient age back then. Being 13 is not a qualification either, if anything just the opposite. For that matter, why being an anbu captain be such an qualification over jonnin?

In most nations when someone commits treason you do not hand over power to them. In most scenarios you do exactly what konoha did, take no prisoners. Thats the cruel reality. Even if the uchiha were being discriminated against by the higher ups it does not justify the coup, at least IMO. This are the things we know were done against the uchiha:

They were moved to a position were they could be easily spied. No indication was ever given that the uchiha at large had poor living standards. If anything, at least sasuke's place seemed reasonably comfortable.

They were pushed away from political power. Granted this is bad however this did not guarantee they would have had an overwhelming amount of power either.

The uchiha at large were not hated by the village as a whole. They were not given any less opportunities than anyone else in the village either outside of the political part. If anything, as far as we could tell most of the citizens in the village trusted and respected the uchiha. The village at large did not have a clue of what was going on with the uchiha at the time, they were not aware that the uchiha were being suspected of the kyubi attack nor that they were being pushed away from political power. The people at the village were at large innocent basically and even then they were going for a coup which would have started a civil war and risked a world war. Even if the uchiha were not given ideal treatment by 3 or 4 people in the village it does not entitle them to power.

Its not like power in the village is held exclusively by senju either. Granted 3 kages have been senju however we do know for a fact that senju are born objectively better than non senju, they are born with chakras and bodies others do not have which results in them being stronger ninja than normal clans (even those with KG). Even then sarutobi, minato and danzo were not senju as far as we know and jiraiya and kakashi, the other kage candidates, were not actually senju. Of course, the uchiha are also generally born to be objectively better than other ninjas (we even have manga statements which point out all uchiha were elite ninjas) however that does not guarantee any of them would have been made a kage instead of the guys that did became kage. Or do we assume sarutobi had a perfect uchiha to choose from instead of minato at the time(unless we argue that 7 year old itachi was also good to go)?

Note that I am not saying that what was done to the uchiha is not outright horrible, I am merely pointed out that they did not live in a guetto and starved and none of what was done to them entitled them to power. Its not like the village would have had approved of the uchiha being treated worse than others as far as we know nor like such a thing could have actually been approved.

Even then, I can't stress enough that having the elders and council select itachi as kage would have necessarily solved anything. It would not actually guarantee he would even be the kage for one thing, he necessarily needs the jonnin to vote for him. Would they have voted for him when danzo, jiraiya and tsunade were still around? We are literally talking about the village voting for a 13 year old over at least 3 perfectly seasoned respected ninjas at least. Having itachi as kage would not have necessarily made the uchiha happy either. Why would it? The leader of the clan and the man responsible behind the coup was the clan head fugaku. Why would the uchiha be happy that the kid was a better candidate than the adult leader they already had? By the end the uchiha did not even trust itachi all that much either. Of course, its not like the jonnin would have certainly voted for fugaku either. More so, the uchiha were going for all the power, would they settle for itachi being the kage and sharing power with the elders? I mean, it is not like itachi would have cared the uchiha were his family in that regard, he would have given everyone in the village the same treatment. Another important matter is how exactly the people in charge would have known itachi was good to go as a kage candidate. I mean, what would have suggested in this context that itachi was actually good to go was the fact that he betrayed his family. How would they have known itachi was good to go before that? Is there guarantee that the uchiha would have approved of itachi by the time this started happening? Not to mention that under this scenario everything would have happened under a very reduced time frame as far as we know. Itachi would have become a double spy (thus proving he was a good kage candidate) not so long before the massacre and not too long after that he was already not trusted by his own clan. There is a very good chance that the time by which everyone would have realized itachi was good to go as a kage would have overlapped with the time itachi stopped being trusted by his clan which would negate the possibility of bringing peace by making him a kage.

[Rikudou King]

The problem with presuming Tsunade and Jiraiya would be viable candidates is the fact that they would have both been gone when the choice would have been made. The only reason Jiraiya was chosen was because he was in the village at that point in time, which we know wasn't a common event. The sheer fact that they weren't readily available would have made them unlikely candidates. And ages means little. Sarutobi would have been only a couple years older then Itachi when he was chosen to be Hokage, so the argument that Itachi was too young is pointless. The fact that despite his age, he was already fully trusted by the Hokage and Elders means quite bit.

Making Itachi the Hokage wouldn't be "handing over power to treasoners". Itachi wasn't the one committing treason, but the one revealing it. And given his known loyal nature, there clearly wouldn't have been any worry about him putting clan affairs above those of the village, especially if they trusted him enough to take out his own clan. There's also no reason to believe that the jounins wouldn't have supported him. If common opinion is anything, then Itachi was already well respected by the time Sasuke began at the academy. Pus he obvious would have had the backing of both the Elders, who would have supported him because he listened to them and his own clan, who would have supported him because what they wanted was an Uchiha in power. There really wouldn't have been ay downside to choosing Itachi, especially since it would have meant that they wouldn't have had to sacrifice a portion of their military power just to maintain peace. And odds are Itachi would have been seen as a creditable threat, seeing how despite being willing to attack Konoha and having what he believed to be three Hokages at his command, still considered taking Itachi to be impossible.

[Uchiha_Blood]

The problem with presuming Tsunade and Jiraiya would be viable candidates is the fact that they would have both been gone when the choice would have been made. The only reason Jiraiya was chosen was because he was in the village at that point in time, which we know wasn't a common event. The sheer fact that they weren't readily available would have made them unlikely candidates. And ages means little. Sarutobi would have been only a couple years older then Itachi when he was chosen to be Hokage, so the argument that Itachi was too young is pointless. The fact that despite his age, he was already fully trusted by the Hokage and Elders means quite bit.

Making Itachi the Hokage wouldn't be "handing over power to treasoners". Itachi wasn't the one committing treason, but the one revealing it. And given his known loyal nature, there clearly wouldn't have been any worry about him putting clan affairs above those of the village, especially if they trusted him enough to take out his own clan. There's also no reason to believe that the jounins wouldn't have supported him. If common opinion is anything, then Itachi was already well respected by the time Sasuke began at the academy. Pus he obvious would have had the backing of both the Elders, who would have supported him because he listened to them and his own clan, who would have supported him because what they wanted was an Uchiha in power. There really wouldn't have been ay downside to choosing Itachi, especially since it would have meant that they wouldn't have had to sacrifice a portion of their military power just to maintain peace. And odds are Itachi would have been seen as a creditable threat, seeing how despite being willing to attack Konoha and having what he believed to be three Hokages at his command, still considered taking Itachi to be impossible.

Hiruzen was at least 18 when he was chosen.

What could they do is taking Itachi as a candidate, grooming him to be Hokage so when he would've been ready he would become Hokage.
Yondaime was considered overly young to be a Kage, hell Kakashi despite being almost 30 was considered young to be Hokage. Also someone doesn't become Hokage overnight, Itachi could had the loyalty, but would a 13 years old have the charisma to lead people?
Would people lose their lives for a 13 years old?