Kakashi Hatake is a beloved character within Mashashi Kishimoto’s fictional world of Naruto. Kakashi appears in both Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, the original Naruto manga, and the recent sequel Boruto: Next Generations.
The age of the characters in Naruto, and in Japanese anime generally, can be quite confusing. This is usually due to character design as many characters seem younger than they are, and older characters are often depicted as extremely old.
Most characters’ ages in Naruto vary quite a lot, while Naruto is only 17 by the time Naruto: Shippuden ends, he is dealing with other shinobi who can be twice his age. So it can be easy to misjudge a character’s age in Naruto.
Moreover, characters’ ages aren’t really mentioned that clearly in the anime or the manga, so oftentimes ages are speculated by fans depending on the ages that are mentioned.
We know Naruto is 12 at the beginning of Naruto and 16 at the beginning of Naruto: Shippuden, so many characters base ages from this fact.
In Kakashi’s case, as he is an important character throughout the series, his age does change a lot by nature.
Moreover, Kakashi appears in different ways throughout the series, including an episode arc that flashbacks to Kakashi’s childhood, so his age may confuse some viewers. In this article, we’ve provided a guide as to how Kakashi’s age changes across the anime series.
Kakashi Hatake was the Sixth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village, Anbu captain, and all round one of the most powerful shinobi within the Hidden Leaf Village.
He fought in both the Third and Fourth Shinobi World Wars and is one of the main protagonists in the show. He was put in charge of Team 7 and was Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura’s sensei throughout their life as shinobi.
Kakashi and Naruto have a special relationship as Kakashi protected him even in the womb and watched over him until he became the Seventh Hokage.
Anbu Arc: The Shinobi That Lives In Darkness
This is an episode arc in Naruto: Shippuden, spanning episodes 349 to 361, which solely focuses on the beginning of Kakashi’s Anbu career and covers the background of other syndicated characters such as Orochimaru and Itachi Uchiha.
This is the youngest depiction of Kakashi Hatake. We see a young Kakashi deal with trauma and begins his career in the Anbu aged 13.
This happens at the same time Naruto is born, Kakashi was actually tasked with protecting the Fourth Hokage’s wife Kushina while she was pregnant with Naruto. So, we can ascertain that Kakashi is 13 years older than Naruto.
While Kkashi joined the Anbu at 13, this wasn’t an isolated case as many young shinobi were part of the Anbu, including Itachi Uchiha who became the youngest Anbu captain at 13 as well.
Kakashi’s, perhaps premature, enrollment into the Anbu. while clearly due to his skill as a shinobi, was also embroiled within the Uchiha Clan scandal as both Danzo and Minato use Kakashi for their own espionage.
Prologue: Land Of Waves
This section of Naruto spans the first few episodes of the series. In this section we see Kakashi appointed as the leader of Team 7 which comprises the main characters of the anime: Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sakura Haruno.
Kakashi is placed in charge of Team 7 so he can keep an eye on Naruto and his Nine Tails Jinchuriki as well as Sasuke and his brooding desire to kill his brother, Kakashi being aware of the truth behind both of these events.
In this section we see Team 7 complete the infamous bell test as Kakashi pits them against each other, observing if they follow his ninja code of working as a team.
In this section it can be important to understand Kakashi’s age as the anime starts, and what point of life he is in. It can be assumed that Kakashi is around the age of 25-26 from the fact that Naruto is 12 at the same time.
Kazekage Rescue Mission
This arc spans the first group of episodes in Naruto: Shippuden. This begins two and half years after Naruto begins his training with Sannin Jiraiya.
Naruto is now 16 when he returns to Konoha and Kakashi is the first to meet him as Naruto gives him a copy of Jiraiya’s novel Icha Icha Tactics which has its own narrative value within the second act of Naruto.
In this arc we see the reunited Team 7 and Sensei Kakashi take on the mounting issue of the Akatsuki who have stolen Gaara, the Kazekage. We soon see Kakashi enter a fight with Itachi, who is the same age as him now.
We can approximate that Kakashi is likely around 30 years of age when Naruto returns, using the same logic that he is 13 years older than Naruto.
Fourth Shinobi World War: Climax
By the time that the Fourth Shinobi War begins, Kakashi is likely around 2 years older than he was at the point where Naruto Shippuden begins. This is important as by the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War Kakashi is granted the title of the Sixth Hokage.
Kakashi never really wanted the title of Hokage, as he operates on a more individual basis within the shinobi ranks and doesn’t enjoy the responsibility that comes with the title, having seen many Hokage fall before.
He takes the title as a sort of place holder so that when Naruto, who played a large part in the end of the war, is ready he can take the title of Hokage as he was always destined.
Using the same logic as before, Kakashi will be around 32 by the time the Fourth Shinobi War, and Naruto: Shippuden, ends. Kakashi became the Hokage within a year of the war’s conclusion.
Naruto, The Seventh Hokage
In between Kakashi becoming the Hokage after the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War and Naruto succeeding him in this position, both a lot and nothing happens.
What is meant by this is that Naruto Shippuden ends with Kakashi becoming the Hokage and Sasuke leaving Konoha after his concession to Naruto.Boruto, in both the anime and the manga, picks up after Naruto has already become Hokage and Boruto has already been born for a year.
So, there is a period of time which isn’t covered within the story, in manga or anime, where Naruto gets married to Hinata, raises both Boruto and Himawari, and accepts the position of the Seventh Hokage.
This makes it hard to ascertain his age when he became Hokage, as well as how old Kakashi will have been.
Due to the ages of Naruto’s children as well as other events, some fans have calculated that Naruto was at least 25 by the time he became Hokage which is around 8 – 10 Years after the Fourth Shinobi World war.
This means that Kakashi was at least 40 when he gave up his position to Naruto. As Naruto is knocked out the day before, Kakashi actually has to pretend to be Naruto during his inauguration as Hokage using a clone jutsu so the festivities can continue.
Boruto: Next Generations
The spiritual sequel to Naruto, Boruto: Next Generations, follows the adventures of Naruto and Hinata’s son Boruto and his father as the Seventh Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village.
Kakashi has minor roles in Boruto, and certainly appears in specific episodes, but he isn’t such a main focus as the writers seek to introduce the new wave of chinobi in this new generation.
Kakashi remains a character, though, remaining the wise sensei in his older age. Again, there is no mention of his age, so some calculations have to be figured out. Boruto begins at the same time when Naruto begins, when they are both aged 12.
Naruto is currently 33 when Boruto starts, having been the Seventh Hokage for some time, so this means that Kakashi is at least 46 if not a little older during the events of Boruto.
Final Thoughts
So, there you have it. Kakashi was a shinobi from a very early age, just like Naruto, so the events of the anime and manga span across his life from the age of 12 to at least 48-50 in the most recent episodes of Boruto.
Kakashi is 13 years older than Naruto and Naruto is 21 years older than Boruto, so if you know one of these characters’ ages you can work out the other two with a little maths.
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