The Kage are known to be some of the strongest characters in the world of Naruto. Being the leaders of their respective villages, the Kage have tremendous responsibilities on their shoulders and along with great decision-making abilities, they also possess great strength to protect their villages.
While all the Kage are special in the Naruto series, they're not equally powerful. Some Kage are way too weak compared to the rest, however, that's not to say they're bad ninjas. Rather, out of all the Kage, they're the least impressive ones in the story.
Updated May 31, 2022, by Rei Penber: The world of Naruto has seen the rise and fall of quite a few powerful Kage, who have, over the years, made themselves known as legends. With each generation, however, there have been weak Kage as well. While this list includes seven of the weakest of their ranks, there are quite a few more who have proven themselves to be extremely average ninjas and have failed to live up to the mighty expectations set for them. With that in mind, this list of Naruto's weakest Kage has been expanded to include a few additional entries.
11 Danzo
Although not officially a Kage, Danzo was appointed to the Sixth Hokage of Konohagakure shortly after the Pain arc. He had already established himself as a worthy candidate, being a companion of Hiruzen and a respected elder of the village.
Danzo had decent power and excelled at the usage of Wind Release ninjutsu. At the same time, he had stolen quite a few Sharingan and could use Izanagi for ten minutes. Despite this, however, Danzo was quite a weak Kage, and losing to Sasuke proved that.
10 Chojuro
Chojuro is the Sixth Mizukage of Kirigakure and took over the position after the Fourth Great Ninja War. Being one of the Seven Ninja Swordmen, Chojuro is quite powerful.
Chojuro wields Hiramekarei in combat, which is considered to be a very powerful anime sword. While Chojuro is powerful in his own right, his skill pales in comparison to the likes of the Second Mizukage or the Fourth Mizukage. Nonetheless, he still has time to grow as a Kage and could end up getting stronger in the coming years.
9 Kurotsuchi
Kurotsuchi is the Fourth Tsuchikage of Iwagkure and the first kunoichi from her village to become a Kage. As the granddaughter of Onoki, she has inherited the Will of Stone and is quite a determined fighter.
Kurotsuchi is exceptionally talented and also has access to the Lava Release Kekkei Genkai. Despite that, however, she pales in comparison to both the Third Tsuchikage Onoki and the Second Tsuchikage Mu. Unfortunately, she doesn't have the Dust Release Kekkei Tota, which further weakens her compared to those two.
8 Kakashi Hatake
The Sixth Hokage of Konohagakure, Kakashi Hatake is quite a powerful shinobi, who, in his prime, was known as the Copy Ninja. In the Fourth Great Ninja War, Kakashi reached his prime as a shinobi.
However, towards the end of it, he lost his Sharingan and, thus, was weakened quite a bit. While the novels state Kakashi to have grown even stronger after the Fourth Great Ninja War, fans have never seen him in combat as a Kage. As such, Kakashi remains one of the weaker Kage in the Naruto series.
7 Yagura
Out of all the Kage who didn't have a good showing, Yagura is the most impressive one. He was the Fourth Mizukage of Kirigakure and an incredibly powerful shinobi with the power of Isobu, the Three-Tails. Yagura was a perfect Jinchuriki and someone quite strong.
Yagura took down Juzo Biwa, an S-ranked ninja all by himself, and nearly defeated the same Itachi who took down Orochimaru without even trying. Yagura certainly isn't among the strongest Kage but out of the weaker ones, he was the most powerful.
6 Tsunade Senju
The Fifth Hokage of Konohagakure, Tsunade Senju was one of the legendary Sannin. Tsunade is quite a powerful ninja, however, she isn't nearly as strong as the other Kage that Konohagakure has had over the years. Her age often holds her back and what's more, in the Fourth Great Ninja War, she didn't really do much, other than help while fighting Madara in a losing battle.
Tsunade is also not very versatile, however, her skill as a medical ninja is incredible. In her prime, she was likely much stronger and could rank among the best but when she became a Kage, she was already quite old.
5 Gaara
The Fifth Kazekage of Sunagakure, Gaara became a Kage at a very young age and then went on to achieve great things. Although he wasn't the strongest during the beginning of his reign, he certainly got better, especially during the Fourth Great Ninja War.
Gaara surpassed his father, and even the Third Kazekage as he showed feats such as fighting the revived Madara Uchiha, who was also powered up by Sage Mode. He is quite impressive but still far from the strongest Kage in the story.
4 Mei Terumi
The Fifth Mizukage of Konoha, Mei Terumi is quite a skilled fighter who showed her capabilities during the Fourth Great Ninja War of the story. As a Kage, she is strong enough to take on nearly anyone in battle but when compared to the better Kage, she isn't all that special. Mei has access to two Kekkei Genkai in Boil Release and Lava Release.
Mei makes great use of both and is also a very skilled user of Water Release. Other than that, there isn't much that she's been shown to do, which is why she is inferior to Tsunade and Yagura. Nonetheless, Mei is skilled, and it would take a Kage-level ninja to challenge her seriously in battle.
3 3rd Kazekage
The Third Kazekage was known to be the strongest of all the Kazekage in the history of Sunagakure, however, he has very little to show for himself. He is known to have been a user of Magnet Release, with which he controlled the Iron Sand, but his skills weren't enough to protect himself from Sasori.
To put that in perspective, Sasori wasn't even as strong as Orochimaru, who lost within seconds to Itachi. The very same Itachi was cornered by Yagura within a matter of seconds. The Third Kazekage had a great reputation but sadly, he did very little to back it. Even his various Iron Sand weapons weren't all that special as Sakura, and even an old Chiyo, were able to deal with them with little problems.
2 Rasa
The Fourth Kazekage of Sunagakure and also the father of Gaara, Rasa is easily among the weakest Kage in the story. He was killed by Orochimaru pretty easily and, by the looks of it, wasn't all that smart either. As a fighter, Rasa controlled Gold Dust, which was quite a weapon to use in combat. In the past, he did fight Shukaku on several occasions and managed to control its power, which is quite an impressive feat but despite that, he wasn't called the strongest Kage of his village.
Rasa also made an appearance in the Fourth Great Ninja War and fought against Gaara but, once again, failed to make an impression. Other than his ability to restrain Shukaku, he doesn't have anything to back his strength, which is why he's the second-weakest Kage on the list.
1 Second Raikage
The Second Raikage was active during the First Great Ninja War. Although very little is known about him, it is believed that he held talks with Tobirama Senju on one occasion. He was able to fight Kinkaku and Ginkaku after they ambushed their meeting and somehow survived. In the very same fight, Tobirama Senju was left at death's door.
The exact strength of the Second Raikage is hard to gauge but based on reputation alone, he isn't all that special. He was succeeded by two of the most powerful Kage in the series – the Third and the Fourth Raikage. Not much else is known about him and he will go down in history as a rather forgotten ninja.