Here’s Why Naruto Stopped Being the Hokage!
From the very beginning of the series, Naruto Uzumaki had been declaring his wish to be the Hokage, and at one point, at the end of the original series, author Masashi Kishimoto actually granted him that wish, and Naruto became the 7th Hokage. But, with everything that’s happened in Boruto, Naruto Uzumaki is currently not the Hokage anymore, and in this article, we are going to explain what happened and why Naruto is not the Hokage anymore.
At the end of the first part of Boruto, Kawaki used the Daikokuten technique to seal Naruto and Hinata in a separate dimension, where they still are, as Chapter 81 of BORUTO -TWO BLUE VORTEX- revealed. Due to the influence of Omnipotence, everyone in Konoha currently thinks that both Naruto and Hinata are dead, and that Boruto killed them, as Boruto’s and Kawaki’s pasts have been switched around due to that technique. This is why a new Hokage was chosen, despite the fact that Naruto is actually alive. Still, due to being trapped in a state of slumber in another dimension, he certainly is not able to fulfill his duties as Hokage.
The rest of this article will actually reveal what happened to Naruto Uzumaki at the end of the first part of the Boruto manga, i.e., before the three-year time skip that led us into the story of BORUTO -TWO BLUE VORTEX-. We are going to explain what Kawaki did, how it all played out, and why, as well as how all of that hindered Naruto from performing his duties as Hokage. Now, if you’re not fully up-to-date with the plot of the Boruto manga, we have to warn you that the article is going to be spoiler-heavy, so be careful how you actually approach it.
Naruto is not the Hokage anymore because he is physically not able to perform his duties due to being in another dimension
As you might assume, what follows is a recap of the events that happened right before the Boruto time skip that will actually explain why Naruto is not the Hokage anymore but will also shed light on his future.
At one point in the story, Kawaki, who was Naruto’s adopted son and Boruto’s adopted brother, decided that his hatred for the Otsutsuki was just too big and tried to kill Boruto, as he had Momoshiki’s powers inside of him (Kawaki deduced that the only way to kill the Otsutsuki was to completely rid the world of their power), but he failed, as Momoshiki actually saved Boruto’s life. This made Kawaki angry, but he realized that he couldn’t use the same approach again, so he came up with another plan.
He then decided to tell Naruto what he was planning. Kawaki entered Uzumaki’s home and surprised both Naruto and Hinata after telling the guards to let him enter since he wanted to talk to Naruto. The Seventh Hokage agrees to speak with him when he informs Naruto that they need to have a serious conversation.
Although everything began relatively regularly with Kawaki declaring to Naruto that he loves, respects, and will do whatever in his ability to protect him, what happened next was a genuinely stunning turn of events and was actually an explanation for Kawaki’s actions.
Kawaki’s mental state worried Naruto, who wondered where those remarks were coming from. Kawaki responded that he had decided to defend his real father figure and would stop at nothing to accomplish this task. The youngster continued by saying that he would have to perish first since Naruto was too good for their planet. He is also a shinobi who follows a code, will probably give his life to save others, and won’t be able to survive against the Otsutsuki, which doesn’t help his plan.
Kawaki’s comments obviously overwhelm Naruto, but the child continues to speak and shares his genuine strategy: he will track down every single Otsutsuki member and murder them using their own special abilities. The phrase “every,” which suggests that Kawaki also intends to murder their son Boruto in order to stop Momoshiki from assuming control of his body, is something that immediately strikes Hinata and Naruto. Hinata smacks Kawaki, but Kawaki replies that he will carry out his plan and save Naruto even if it means his family will despise him forever.
Not long after, as Naruto declares that he must kill him first if he wants to get to Boruto, Kawaki activates the Daikokuten and sends Naruto and Hinata to another dimension. Kawaki confessed, to everyone’s surprise, that he just wanted to keep them safe without harming them physically.
The irony of this scene was that Kawaki actually employed an Otsutsuki technique, one he learned from Isshiki, but this is something that Kishimoto will have to resolve in the future, as Chapter 81 revealed that Naruto and Hinata were currently in a state of slumber in a strange dimension and that Kawaki seemingly has access to them; this confirmed that the two of them are, at least, alive.
So, what happened next? Naturally, Boruto and Kawaki had a clash-in over Naruto, but as it happened, Ada’s Omnipotence played a major role there, and suddenly, Kawaki’s and Boruto’s lives were switched up. Boruto was now the adopted son of Naruto and Hinata, while Kawaki was Kawaki Uzumaki, Naruto’s and Hinata’s son.
Of course, as everyone in Konoha believed that Kawaki killed Naruto and Hinata, now everyone believed that Boruto had done it, and the young shinobi was forced to flee his hometown and go into hiding. Interestingly enough, Sarada was not influenced by Omnipotence, and she knew what actually happened, so she convinced her father, Sasuke, that Boruto was a good guy, and Sasuke fled with Boruto, as he decided to believe his daughter and help Boruto. This is where the time skip kicks in.
So, what does all of this say about Naruto and his role as the Hokage? Well, the first thing you have to understand is that Konoha thinks that Naruto is dead. They actually do not know that Kawaki did not kill him, i.e., they do not know that he is simply in another dimension.
Well, Kawaki… now they think it was Boruto, but you get the gist. So, when everything we’ve told you above happened, Konoha believed that Naruto Uzumaki was dead. This means that the position of Hokage became vacant, and that is when Shikamaru was chosen as Naruto’s successor, i.e., as the 8th Hokage. This was confirmed in Chapter 81, but the details have not yet been revealed.
But, even if the people of Konoha based their actions on the faulty premise that Naruto Uzumaki was actually dead, he still wasn’t able to fulfill his duties and had to be replaced, regardless of the fact that he was actually alive. Why? Well, since he was trapped in a different dimension, he was physically incapable of fulfilling his duties, and that is the simple reason why he had to be replaced, as Konoha needed a new Hokage.
