20 Wild Things Kakashi Did Between Naruto And Boruto

Few other anime and manga series are even close to the critical and commercial success of the Naruto franchise. Since its print premiere in 1999 and the launch of the anime in 2002, the series drew in millions of viewers with its intriguing character designs, relatable themes, and stunning battles. Now, nearly two decades after the launch of the series, it still remains a juggernaut in the anime and manga world. Even with the original series completing its run, the sequel series, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, continues to take viewers through terrific journeys through a fantastical ninja world.

Of course, many of the fan-favorite characters from the original series are still present and it’s a genuine treat to see how these characters get on in their new roles in life. It’s also pretty great to hear about what these characters did during the gap between the two series, and no character accomplished quite as much as Kakashi Hatake. These particular accomplishments are both some of the most impressive things he did during those gap years and some of his most interesting achievements in the entire series.

Updated on November 30th, 2021 by Amanda Bruce: Kakashi Hatake has long been a fan favorite for the Naruto audience. Though Kakashi continues to make an impression in Boruto, for fans who only watch the anime, there’s a lot more to know about him. Novels flesh out the events between the two anime to reveal even more of the characters’ stories, and there’s quite a bit of Kakashi’s story that doesn’t always make it to the screen.

Became Hokage

After the Fourth Shinobi War wrapped up and a more peaceful period began, Kakashi became the Sixth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village. While this promotion surprised many, both characters and viewers alike as Naruto was already an incredibly powerful and celebrated ninja at the time, it makes a lot of sense.

His role in defeating Obito, the true leader of the Akatsuki, and his lifetime of service to the Hidden Leaf Village make him an extremely qualified candidate for the role. The older and wise Kakashi is an accomplished ninja in his own right, and his expertise in all facets of the ninja world played a critical role in creating longstanding peace between nations. Kakashi remained Hokage for several years as Naruto didn’t officially take on the mantle until right before the events of the Boruto series begin.

Stopped A Plane Hijacking

In the light novel Kakashi Hiden: Lightning in the Icy Sky, which takes place between Naruto and Boruto, Kakashi stops the hijacking of the Tobishachimaru, a newly invented flying cargo ship. When it’s targeted by the Ryūha Armament Alliance, which is an organization of mostly missing ninjas who are frustrated with the state of the world after the Fourth Great Shinobi War.

While some do pass aboard the ship, Kakashi is able to eventually diffuse the situation and convince key members of the alliance that there are better ways to change the world. Kakashi is at his best during this encounter and uses his calm head and cool thinking to keep casualties to a minimum create a solution with long-term benefits for all involved.

Survived Getting Thrown Out Of A Plane

Of course, there are a few impressive battles during Kakashi’s attempts to resolve the hijacking of the Tobishachimaru. Over the course of Kakashi and Might Guy’s time on the ship, Kakashi is thrown out of the plane when an enemy ninja creates a hole in its exterior. This sends Kakashi plummeting to the ground below and he would have died if not for his comrade Sai’s intervention.

Using his painting-based ninjutsu to create a flying beast for them to ride on, Sai saves the senior ninja, rescues several other passengers from the vessel, and returns Kakashi to the plane. Considering motorized air travel is a new invention in Naruto, this likely makes Kakashi the first ninja in the series to survive falling out of an airplane.

Protected The Former Members Of Root

The Root organization is functionally the secret police for The Village Hidden in the Leaves and its operatives carried out loads of morally questionable missions on behalf of their leader Danzo. While these missions did benefit the village in some way, the organization as a whole contributed greatly to the ongoing cycle of hatred that served as the backbone of Naruto’s plot after the halfway point of the series.

Once Danzo perished, the organization disbanded and the names of the agents nearly became public knowledge. Kakashi stepped in and prevented this leak, though, because he felt that the guilt these ninjas had to live with was punishment enough already and that making their names public would only create fear and paranoia.

Contributed To The Shinobi Union

The Shinobi Union rose to prominence following the Fourth Great Shinobi War and acts as a kind of United Nations for the ninja world. Comprised of each of the five great nations, the samurai nation of the Land of Iron, and a few others; the organization carries out missions for those who approach it and contributes to peacekeeping efforts.

This organization is vital to sustaining the peace that emerged after the war and Kakashi played a role in its success by keeping the Fire Nation involved, sending representatives to meetings. In continuing to participate in this organization and furthering its success, Kakashi is largely responsible for the reigning peace present at the beginning of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations.

Defeated The Land of Silence

The Land of Silence was a relatively rural and unknown nation that rose to power and challenged the Allied Shinobi after the evil Gengo took down the nation’s former leader. As the nation began wreaking havoc on unsuspecting villages, Kakashi dispatched a special team of ninja to assassinate Gengo and return things to the peaceful status quo.

Even though the mission gets a bit dicey for a while, with both Sai and Shikamaru going missing, everything eventually works out and Kakashi gives his assistant Shikamaru a week off for his commendable efforts. Kakashi’s swift and measured action in this matter resulted in not only the protection of the Hidden Leaf Village but also the enduring safety of other communities in the Allied Shinobi nations.

Met Up With The Other Kage

As the Hokage, it was one of Kakashi’s responsibilities to meet with the other Kage and discuss the relationship between ninja communities. Sadly, viewers don’t get to see too many of these exchanges, which is a real shame because they are sure to be incredibly entertaining. While commanding strength is a prerequisite to becoming a Kage, these ninja leaders also tend to have big personalities.

Seeing the rather odd and soft-spoken Kakashi interacting with the many loud and animated Kage from other villages could have been a hilariously fun time. Even though there are still plenty of opportunities for Kakashi to get into some entertaining situations in Boruto, it’s a shame his time as Hokage was not a greater focus in the series.

Almost Blew Up The Moon

In The Last: Naruto the Movie, Kakashi nearly has to destroy the moon when the evil Toneri Otsutsuki tries to use it to destroy humanity. After preparing a giant cannon for the task, Kakashi would have taken out the celestial body if not for Naruto carving the phrase ‘mission accomplished’ into the surface moments before the deadline.

It’s tough to say if destroying the moon in Naruto would have the same extremely detrimental effects as destroying the real moon, but it definitely wouldn’t be good for the ninja world and is treated as a dire decision. Kakashi made the choice to nearly destroy the moon after much consideration and is exactly the kind of lofty choices he has to make as the Hokage.

Protected Sasuke

In the light novel Sakura Hiden: Thoughts of Love, “Riding Upon a Spring Breeze”, Sasuke Uchiha is accused of once again plotting the destruction of the Hidden Leaf Village. Kakashi, being Sasuke’s former teacher, doesn’t believe these accusations for a moment and dispenses a task force to look into this villain who’s seemingly masquerading as Sasuke.

Kakashi’s unwavering faith in the formally troubled young ninja is both sweet and inspiring. Perhaps still feeling a bit of guilt over not helping Sasuke more in his younger years, the lengths Kakashi goes to so that he can still aid and protect Sasuke are genuinely sweet. The veteran ninja is a de facto parent to both Naruto and Sasuke in many regards, and it’s nice when that element of the character rises to the surface.

Formed the Ino-Saku-Sai Team

Ninja teams in Naruto are usually only formed after careful consideration. A Kage needs to weigh the available manpower against the facets of a mission to determine which combination of ninja has the greatest likelihood of success and minimizes the potential loss of life.

That’s why it’s such a big deal when Kakashi forms the Ino-Saku-Sai team to investigate the ninja organization attempting to frame Sasuke for their crimes. Having Ino Yamanaka, Sakura Haruno, and the former Root ninja Sai work together for this task implies that their unique abilities are the most suited for dealing with this threat. This combination of characters is also fun, as they don’t share much screen time together over the course of the original Naruto series.

Attended Naruto and Hinata’s Wedding

It makes sense that as the current Hokage, former teacher to Naruto, and one of the closest things the titular character has to a father figure, Kakashi would attend the wedding between Naruto and Hinata. However, even under the special occasion, his duties as Hokage don’t fully cease and he ends up greeting and speaking with several notable ninjas from other countries, such as Killer B and Gaara.

Kakashi’s appearance at Naruto and Hinata’s wedding is a welcome one, as the older ninja plays a meaningful role in both of their lives. It’s a shame that he wasn’t willing to ditch his mask for the extremely formal occasion, however, and wears the unnecessary garment for the entirety of the event.

Made Everyone Bring Naruto and Hinata A Wedding Gift

Acutely aware of the work-life balance needed to be a successful ninja, Kakashi essentially gives everyone close to Naruto and Hinata the day off so they all can attend their wedding. While he can’t literally give every one of the strongest ninjas under his command the day off, he instead assigns each of them the mission of bringing a meaningful gift to the wedding.

Even if this does lead to some hijinks, it’s also demonstrative of how much Kakashi cares about the young ninja he commands. He could have easily justified sending them away on missions or filling some other kind of vital duty around the ninja community, but instead, he gave them all a break and permission to attend a deeply significant celebration.

Stopped A Hidden Leaf Village Invasion

In the light novel Sasuke Shinden: Book of Sunrise, Kakashi stops a group of missing ninja from invading the Village Hidden in the Leaves. After reasoning that an enemy force is using genjutsu to control a variety of ninja from different nations, he dispatches many of his former students to stop and apprehend the brainwashed ninja attacking the village.

Even if large-scale attacks on the Hidden Leaf Village are rather common, Kakashi still handles this threat with an extremely high level of competence and prevents the level of damage seen during the Chunin Exam invasion and Pain’s attack. Such an assault is literally a Hokage’s worst fear and Kakashi handled it much better than any of his predecessors.

Put An End To The Dark Thunder Group

Following Kakashi’s efforts to protect the Hidden Leaf Village from the manipulated ninja, he orders Sasuke to apprehend the ninja responsible for the incident; Chino and Nowaki of the Dark Thunder group. In the novel depiction of the events, after Sasuke apprehends the two, Kakashi meets with them and offers them the chance to make up for their crimes by spending their lives preventing the injustices that led them down their path of crime.

Kakashi’s ability to sense the good in these ninjas who just tried to harm his village is commendable and his willingness to give them a chance at redemption denotes his own experience with the many cycles of hatred present within Naruto.

Faked A Hokage Initiation

On the day of Naruto’s Hokage initiation ceremony, the titular ninja was unable to attend the event due to his daughter Himawari awakening her Byakugan ability and incapacitating him. Unable to find Naruto, and without having any clue as to why he might be missing, Kakashi has Konohamaru Sarutobi use a transformation technique to appear as Naruto and take his place during the ceremony and even address the people of the village.

While it might seem a bit mean-spirited to take these measures and prevent Naruto from experiencing this incredible moment himself, Kakashi set up this deception to ensure that Naruto’s start as Hokage began on a high note and inspired faith among those under his protection.

Retired From The Position Of Hokage

Kakashi’s time Hokage was remarkably short, with the ninja filling the role for less than a decade. Even though Tsunade’s time as the Fifth Hokage was also only a few years long, some of the previous Hokage spent decades in the role and it’s surprising that he’d leave it after such a short amount of time.

Granted, he knew that he was leaving the village in safe hands with Naruto replacing him, but it’s still a bit odd that he didn’t spend a greater amount of time in the role. His expertise and wisdom aren’t totally lost to the Hidden Leaf Village, though, as Kakashi regularly acts as an advisor to Naruto and aids the younger Hokage whenever the need arises.

Started Vacationing With Might Guy

As the two powerful ninjas enter their forties and stave off mid-life crises, Kakashi and Might Guy start traveling and vacationing together. What started as the two old friends accidentally attending the Tobishachimaru’s maiden voyage together, turned into a regular habit of the pair going on trips together.

In fact, this traveling becomes so commonplace for the pair that they are even seen visiting hot springs together during one of the first major arcs in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. Considering how the two were called rivals during the series, despite sharing little screen time together, this is a nice way for the franchise to rekindle their friendship and place them both in fun and interesting situations.

Gained More Self Confidence

Even though Kakashi was appointed to the position of Hokage shortly after the end of the Fourth Great Shinobi War, he would not actively fill the role for some time and left the Fifth Hokage Tsunade in charge of such matters. This is mostly because it took a while for the famed Copy Ninja to accept his role and feel as though he was worthy of the powerful and demanding title.

However, after some soul searching and confronting his insecurities during the Tobishachimaru’s hijacking, he finally decides to fill the role of Hokage at its full capacity. This bit of self-doubt was a growing part of Kakashi’s character in the later sections of Naruto, and him finally confronting these issues as he becomes Hokage is a great way to wrap up his character arc.

Assigned The Blood Prison a New Warden

Instead of imprisoning one of the chief offenders in the plane hijacking that he stopped, Kakashi actually appoints Kahyō to the position of warden in the infamous Blood Prison. Sensing that Kahyō was a good soul only lashing out because of the misfortunes that befell her family during the most recent war, Kakashi places her in this role as a form of penance.

She feels guilty for her actions and needs to repay society for her deeds, and Kakashi knows that she will excel in the position of prison warden due to her incredibly powerful and versatile ice chain ninjutsu. This appointment is Kakashi’s first formal act as Hokage and appropriately it is an extremely kind one.

Started Doing Odd Jobs Around The Village

Following his departure from the position of Hokage and in between traveling with Might Guy, Kakashi fills various odd jobs around the Hidden Leaf Village. He acts as an advisor to Naruto when his expertise is needed and he still fills a teaching role by aiding in the Chunin Exams.

Even after filling the highest position in his community and giving the majority of his early and adult life to it, he still aids the Hidden Leaf Village in whatever capacity he can. This level of self-sacrifice is extremely commendable and it’s fair to say that no other ninja has donated quite as much of themselves and in as many different ways as Kakashi has to his community.

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