Kazekage

The is the Kage of Sunagakure, a title bestowed on the village's leader. The Kazekage is generally regarded as the strongest shinobi in the village. There have been five Kazekage in the village's history.

Overview
The Kazekage position was created after the formation of Suna by Reto, the village's founder, that in the anime was the last of the five Kage to emerge. Although it is not expressly stated how a candidate for office is selected, in Gaara Hiden suggests that the Kazekage position is hereditary, or at least that relatives of the Fourth Kazekage are most suitable for the position; this lineage is referred to as the "Kazekage Clan". If the occupant of the post die or reported missing after a long period of time, the next Kazekage is chosen by the Suna Council. Once the duties of the position are assumed, they usually move to the Kazekage's Office.

Throughout history, the Kazekage have earned a reputation for being feared and respected around the world, due be responsible for keeping Suna on an even footing with the other villages despite its small size. However, the Kazekage title is sometimes considered cursed, as all the Kazekage, including the current, have met untimely deaths at the hands of assassins; the village's affairs are decided by the Suna Council in the interim between Kazekage. Full-bodied statues of all the former Kazekage are kept in council's meeting chambers.

Fourth Kazekage Impersonator
After killing the Fourth Kazekage, Orochimaru took on his guise and acted as the Fourth Kazekage for several weeks in order to have Sunagakure assist him in the Konoha Crush. He dropped the guise at the start of the battle with his former master Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Trivia

 * The colour of the Kazekage's garbs was originally depicted as blue in the anime, but was changed to the manga's green colour in Naruto: Shippūden episode 199.
 * However, the garbs are sporadically miscoloured blue in certain subsequent episodes.
 * The Kazekage hat was originally presented as green during Kakashi's description of the Kage in Naruto episode 6.
 * In the third databook, the First and Second Kazekage are mistakenly switched.
 * In Gaara Hiden, before Shikadai Nara was born, the Suna's counsellors state that if his uncles die without heirs, Shikadai, as a descendant of Rasa's bloodline, would become the next Kazekage; Suna considered it a crisis for a Konohagakure-born shinobi to become Kazekage, and this reasoning was used to force Gaara into taking a wife.
 * Three of the five Kazekage were killed by three different Akatsuki members. The three also wielded the same kekkei genkai and had their techniques based on sand or powdered minerals.