Parents?

[Gaara Kazekage]

Ehm, I didn't open a thread about the same thing dude, I searched the word parents(among other things related to my thread) to see if there where any other threads about the same, cause then I wouldn't have started the thread, so take that b*tch attitude somewhere else.

[Zero]

All of the hokages are tied to the Senju clan, as Tobi mentioned that Konoha to this day is still under Senju's control. It could be that they are a very distant relatives, that separated themselves from the Senju at or before the times of the clan wars.

Don't forget that at the times of clans, Senju and Uchiha counted much more than 12 members.

Hashirama had black hair but his brother, Tobirama, had white, so you can more or less count all the white/gray haired people to the ones that life energy is closer (still far away) to the so6p, at least more than normal shinobi. Those that have white/gray hair, and lives in Konoha (or on area close to Senju), can be said that are related to Senju and so those are:
- Tobirama (of course he is a Senju),
- Kakashi (as he was a candidate for hokage, whose lineage was more important, than his fame),
- Jiraya (the same as above, plus his mentor was the previous hokage),
- White Fang (father of Kakashi, was mentioned at the time of considering his descendant a hokage),
- Dan.

Other who are tied to senju, but do not have white hair:
- Tsunade (of course she is a Senju),
- Oro (great stamina, was considered a hokage material, his master was a previous hokage),
- Minato (his mentor, was a pupil of a previous hokage, his wife was an Uzumaki with a bijuu inside),
- Hiruzen (his mentors were the previous Hokages),
- Konohomaru (related to previous hokage),
- Danzou (hard to say, he could be, but he might have not been, as he was mainly chosen because of a different ideology and way of leading a village).

I have listed important factors in brackets, that might as well have been the only reasons (doubt it) for them being chosen as a hokage candidates, excluding power, skill, inteligence, experience and usefull abilities.

[paulbee]

Paul this is a thread from 2008 I just replied to it after seeing it while I was a doing some research to start a new thread, and so people saw my comment and we started talking.

A Quick question, I feel pretty certain that I didn't post in Gaara's Thread.

Were there two threads that were Merged?

(And Yes I agree the OP predated the Questions thread, and I stand corrected.

[Gaara Kazekage]

No no, my thread is something else. Just the key word was parents, and that is how I ended up giving life to this thread again. It have nothing to do with mine thread.

Anyways. Zero. A kage in general gets chosen for whatever the reasons the higher ups wants. Gaara is picked for 3 reasons, some want to keep and eye on him and thinks it's easier to do that when he's the Kazekage, because he is the strongest sand shinobi atm, and because most people started respecting Gaara and started to think of him as a great shinobi and not just a monster.

It is possible that the higher ups chose Hokage's based on their family as well as achievements and leader material. Tho, there is nothing that indicates that they have not been the strongest shinobi in their village at the time they got chosen for Hokage. Most likely Neji is not totally wrong when he says that everything is as it is, and will change, meaning if your born a certain way you will always live the same way. I mean, leaders of the Senju clan gets picked as first and second Hokage, then their student is third, and his student the fourth, then the first's granddaughter is fifth. And the next Hokage will be the son of the forth and if Konahamaru is alive or young enough when Naruto retire he is the grandson of the third, and will be the sixth Hokage.

[Rlinfamous]

ANOTHER SENJU HISTORY/LINEAGE POST:

The Senju don't all have powerful Rikudou physical energies anymore, because apparently they've married into/joined with other clans over the years. They used alliances to gain access to more and more techniques, which is why they were called the clan of A Thousand Hands (which is what Senju means, I believe). That's also why the Senju (see: Non-Uchiha/Hyuga residents of Konoha) don't all share common physical traits.

The Uchiha, on the other hand, seem to have married within their own clan over the years, preserving their Sharingan. They seem to be much more prideful of their clan and their heritage than the Senju (they stuck together and always put the clan before others, while we've never really heard of the Senju even referring to themselves as such; they use Family names, not Clan names).

Even so, most of the Uchiha don't exhibit truly significant spiritual energies, any more than most Senju show strong physical energies. Despite preserving their clan's lineage and the strength of their Doujutsu to the best of their ability, the vast majority only reach the base Sharingan level. The rarity and power of the Mangekyou Sharingan, the highest level of Spiritual Energies, should be considered on par with the rarity and power of Hashirama/Naruto's level of physical energies.

In short, we shouldn't expect every Senju, or even very many of them, to be stamina powerhouses who can manhandle Bijuu and make plants grow with their life force. That's something unique to people like Hashirama, Naruto, and (to a lesser extent) Jiraiya. It's just like how Sasuke and Itachi were known to be exceptional brothers since birth; everyone's always known that Sasuke's eyes would rival Itachi's, because he clearly exhibited the full power potential of the Uchiha clan. In the same way, everyone's always been astounded by Naruto's stamina, and those especially in-the-know (such as Yamato/Jiraiya) are amazed he can handle the Kyuubi's energy.

For what it's worth, the Uzumaki preserved their physical strength about to the extent that the Uchiha preserved their spiritual strength (and to a far greater degree, throughout their clan, than the Senju). This is emphasized by the fact that they DO share a common clan name, and also all have similar traits (straight, red hair). It shouldn't be surprising that an Uzumaki, not a Senju, awakened the Rinnegan, or that the Senju needed to request Uzumaki citizens to become the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki. The waning of the Senju clan's physical energies can probably be traced from the time they split from the Uzumaki clan.

Personally, I like the contrast between the Senju and Uchiha. The Senju embraced different clans, and found alliances to be the best way to gain strength. They lent their strength to others, and were strengthened in return, until they were undoubtedly the strongest clan. The Uchiha, on the other hand, felt their own power was the key to strength, and strove to raise their clan above the others. They could gain all the techniques they wanted through their own eye techniques, and didn't feel they needed anyone else. And in the end, it was Hashirama who decided that the best way to end the fighting between his most bitter rivals was to offer peace, and forge an alliance with the Uchiha. And, aside from Madara, the Uchiha eventually embraced his method.

It's just an extension of the Elder Brother's prideful faith in his own strength, and the Younger Brother's faith in friendship.

[Nano]

ANOTHER SENJU HISTORY/LINEAGE POST:

The Senju don't all have powerful Rikudou physical energies anymore, because apparently they've married into/joined with other clans over the years. They used alliances to gain access to more and more techniques, which is why they were called the clan of A Thousand Hands (which is what Senju means, I believe). That's also why the Senju (see: Non-Uchiha/Hyuga residents of Konoha) don't all share common physical traits.

The Uchiha, on the other hand, seem to have married within their own clan over the years, preserving their Sharingan. They seem to be much more prideful of their clan and their heritage than the Senju (they stuck together and always put the clan before others, while we've never really heard of the Senju even referring to themselves as such; they use Family names, not Clan names).

Even so, most of the Uchiha don't exhibit truly significant spiritual energies, any more than most Senju show strong physical energies. Despite preserving their clan's lineage and the strength of their Doujutsu to the best of their ability, the vast majority only reach the base Sharingan level. The rarity and power of the Mangekyou Sharingan, the highest level of Spiritual Energies, should be considered on par with the rarity and power of Hashirama/Naruto's level of physical energies.

In short, we shouldn't expect every Senju, or even very many of them, to be stamina powerhouses who can manhandle Bijuu and make plants grow with their life force. That's something unique to people like Hashirama, Naruto, and (to a lesser extent) Jiraiya. It's just like how Sasuke and Itachi were known to be exceptional brothers since birth; everyone's always known that Sasuke's eyes would rival Itachi's, because he clearly exhibited the full power potential of the Uchiha clan. In the same way, everyone's always been astounded by Naruto's stamina, and those especially in-the-know (such as Yamato/Jiraiya) are amazed he can handle the Kyuubi's energy.

For what it's worth, the Uzumaki preserved their physical strength about to the extent that the Uchiha preserved their spiritual strength (and to a far greater degree, throughout their clan, than the Senju). This is emphasized by the fact that they DO share a common clan name, and also all have similar traits (straight, red hair). It shouldn't be surprising that an Uzumaki, not a Senju, awakened the Rinnegan, or that the Senju needed to request Uzumaki citizens to become the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki. The waning of the Senju clan's physical energies can probably be traced from the time they split from the Uzumaki clan.

Personally, I like the contrast between the Senju and Uchiha. The Senju embraced different clans, and found alliances to be the best way to gain strength. They lent their strength to others, and were strengthened in return, until they were undoubtedly the strongest clan. The Uchiha, on the other hand, felt their own power was the key to strength, and strove to raise their clan above the others. They could gain all the techniques they wanted through their own eye techniques, and didn't feel they needed anyone else. And in the end, it was Hashirama who decided that the best way to end the fighting between his most bitter rivals was to offer peace, and forge an alliance with the Uchiha. And, aside from Madara, the Uchiha eventually embraced his method.

It's just an extension of the Elder Brother's prideful faith in his own strength, and the Younger Brother's faith in friendship.

Nice post Rlin.

[Gaara Kazekage]

It's true that the rest of the Uchiha clan joined Hashirama's ways, but eventually they tried to take over Konoha and got wiped out by their own.