Hiruzen Sarutobi

was the of Konohagakure. A disciple of the village's previous Hokage, Hiruzen was a powerful ninja, hailed as a "God of Shinobi". Though he was only ever directly the teacher of the Sannin, generations of Konoha ninja benefited from his wisdom during his lifetime.

Background
Hiruzen was born the son of Sasuke Sarutobi. The Sarutobi clan was one of the first clans to settle in the newly-created Konohagakure, where Hiruzen struck up a friendship with the Shimura clan's Danzō Shimura. Hiruzen was part of the first generation of ninja produced by Konoha and he, Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane were placed under the tutelage of Tobirama Senju. Hiruzen early on displayed prodigious talent in the ninja arts, earning him additional training from Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage; at the same time, Danzō became jealous of Hiruzen's skills and started a one-sided rivalry in an effort to surpass him.

During the First Shinobi World War, Tobirama, by that time the Second Hokage, led a team consisting of Hiruzen, Homura, Koharu, Danzō, Kagami Uchiha, and Torifu Akimichi. During a mission they started to be pursued by Kumogakure's Kinkaku Force, an enemy that somebody would need to distract and inevitably die at the hands of in order for the rest of the team to escape. Hiruzen volunteered to be the decoy, boasting that, as the strongest of their group, he stood the best chance of surviving the encounter; nevertheless, he asked Danzō to look after the others. Tobirama volunteered himself instead, and before going to his death he appointed Hiruzen as Third Hokage.

At some point, Hiruzen married Biwako and they had a son, Asuma, and at least one other child who, later in his life, gave Hiruzen a grandson, Konohamaru. Hiruzen also started leading his own team of new Academy graduates consisting of Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade. Although he was close with all of his students, Hiruzen had the highest hopes for Orochimaru, a genius like himself who, after the deaths of his parents, was only further motivated to have a deep impact on the world. Hiruzen led Konoha's forces through the Second and Third Shinobi World Wars; in the anime, his choosing to end the Third Shinobi World War by signing a peace treaty with Iwagakure despite the losses Konoha suffered incensed Danzō, prompting Hiruzen to step down as Hokage against the village's protests.

Hiruzen had long hoped that Orochimaru would succeed him as Hokage but, despite his best efforts, he could never convince him of the Will of Fire: that Konoha was a family that the Hokage had to risk everything to keep safe. Unable to choose Orochimaru, Hiruzen considered Jiraiya as his successor, but Jiraiya did not believe he was responsible enough. Hiruzen ultimately settled on Jiraiya's former student, Minato Namikaze, who had proven himself time and again during the Third Shinobi World War. Hiruzen assisted Minato with the transition of power by advising him on how to handle individuals and other village matters. He even retained some of his own Anbu, several of which he assigned as security while Kushina Uzumaki, the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails, gave birth.

Despite their precautions, the Nine-Tails escaped and attacked the village. Hiruzen led the village's defence until Minato arrived to remove the Nine-Tails to a safe distance. Hiruzen followed and, cut off by the Adamantine Sealing Chains, could only watch as Minato and Kushina gave their lives to seal the Nine-Tails into their newborn son, Naruto. Minato did not have time to tell Hiruzen how the Nine-Tails had escaped, instead using the final moments of his life to ask Konoha, via Hiruzen, to think of Naruto as a hero who saved the village and not the container of the monster that killed so many. Hiruzen did so, but the villagers proved unable to follow Minato's wishes, prompting Hiruzen, now the village's Hokage once more, to outlaw any mention of the Nine-Tails an effort to protect Naruto from their misguided hate. He also gave Naruto his mother's surname in order to hide his relation to Minato from Minato's enemies.

Hiruzen eventually started investigating a number of disappearances throughout Konoha. In the anime, he followed a lead provided by Kakashi Hatake, which ultimately led him to discover that Orochimaru was behind it all. Hiruzen was dismayed not only by Orochimaru's role or that he was experimenting on those he kidnapped, but also his reasons: to create an Eternal Youth and Immortality Technique. He attempted to apprehend Orochimaru, but could not bring himself to strike down his favourite student and allowed him to escape. From examining what Orochimaru left behind, a young boy imbued with Hashirama Senju's wood release was discovered, and over the years the boy became one of Hiruzen's top Anbu operatives. (In the anime, the boy was previously discovered by Danzō, and Hiruzen negotiated the boy's release into Hiruzen's care.)

Because Minato never had the opportunity to explain the cause of the Nine-Tails' attack, Konoha's leadership came to suspect a member of the Uchiha clan was responsible due to the Sharingan's ability to control the Nine-Tails. The Uchiha resented this suspicion and began planning a coup d'état, something reported to Hiruzen and the Konoha Council by Itachi Uchiha. Hiruzen attempted to peacefully resolve the conflict but negotiations consistently stalled. Danzō eventually stepped in without Hiruzen's knowledge and ordered Itachi to slaughter the Uchiha. Hiruzen only learned of the mission afterwards when Itachi reported its successful completion. Before needing to publicly leave the village as a criminal in order to hide Konoha's involvement in the Uchiha's destruction, Itachi asked Hiruzen to look after his younger brother, Sasuke, the only Uchiha he could not bring himself to kill. Hiruzen agreed. In the anime, Hiruzen also promised not to change the village barrier's formula, enabling Itachi to sneak in from time to time to watch Sasuke from afar.

In the anime, Hiruzen permitted Danzō to create Root - a more ruthless subdivision of the Anbu under Danzō's exclusive control - shortly after he became Hokage in order to balance the shortcomings of his empathetic rule. For years he had ignored Root's questionable foreign ops, its abduction of children, and the actions it took against Konoha personnel, Hiruzen included. But Danzō's role in the Uchiha's assassination was not something Hiruzen could abide, and as such he ordered Root be disbanded.

Personality
Hiruzen is a firm believer in the Will of Fire, which holds that all the people of Konoha are a family and that the Hokage is chiefly responsible for that family's well-being. Throughout his tenure, Hiruzen lives up to the Will of Fire by being available for Konoha's villagers and shinobi during their time of need, making decisions to the betterment of as many people as possible, and providing his wisdom and guidance whenever he can. His delicate, thoughtful approach to not only issues within the village but also his interactions with foreign powers has given Hiruzen the reputation of being soft, something the Konoha Council spends much of its time trying to rectify. Nevertheless, Hiruzen's kind and pacifist ways are widely valued by Konoha's residents and even his rival Kage, and for those reasons his eventual death is regretted by many. However, Hiruzen was not entirely for his softness as he allowed Danzō to form an Anbu faction of his own, to handle the dark side of Konoha's actions.

Although he loved all of Konoha, Hiruzen held his students especially dear, believing they were the village's future and, as such, must be cultivated and protected. He favoured Orochimaru, seeing in him a prodigy similar to himself whose contributions to the village could someday be greater than his own. Even when Orochimaru increasingly went astray and then finally defected from Konoha, Hiruzen could never abandon his attachments to Orochimaru, instead blaming himself for not being a better teacher. When he is reincarnated, he reflects on his life and finds it similarly flawed: he feels responsible for Danzō Shimura's taking on of the village's darkness, believing Danzō would not have turned out so badly had he been more willing to make the difficult decisions; he believes that some of the village's - and even the world's - problems could have been avoided had he led with a firmer hand. Hiruzen's own son, Asuma, was defiant towards Hiruzen's philosophies during his youth, but eventually sees the merits in valuing future generations after Hiruzen's death.

Despite his reputation and responsibilities, Hiruzen is somewhat lecherous: he and Jiraiya bonded over their shared desire to spy on naked women; he falls victim to Naruto Uzumaki's Sexy Technique on more than one occasion and suspects he would be defeated by the Harem Technique as well; the first Naruto databook lists talking to young girls as his favorite "hobby".

Appearance
The only consistent physical feature Hiruzen has displayed has been his below-average stature, all his other attributes having changed over the years: During his youth he was tan-skinned and had dark brown, spiked hair, adding a small goatee to his look after becoming Hokage; Towards the end of his life his skin is lighter, his hair is grey, his face is gaunter, and he has the wrinkles and liver spots of old age. He initially had a single line running vertically under the outer corners of each eye, which stretched down into his face as he aged until they reached his cheeks.

During the First Shinobi World War, he wore grey shinobi battle armour common to the time period, with heavy protection all over his body. His starts wearing much lighter combat attire at some point, consisting of a black jumpsuit, mesh segments over the lower portions of his limbs, and a green gauntlet that covered much of his right arm. He also wore an armoured hood with a bandanna-like forehead protector over this, tied with two long straps. Across the back is written "Third Hokage" which is replaced with the kanji for during his brief retirement. When not in combat, he usually wears the official uniform — the customary hat and haori with a red, full-length kimono that is tied using a white sash. He often smokes during his spare time.

Abilities
Hiruzen was a natural prodigy as a ninja, hailed as a "God of Shinobi". His talents were apparent at a young age, earning the special attention of the First Hokage and the envy of Danzō Shimura. He was regarded as the strongest Hokage in Konoha's history, and the most powerful of the Five Kage during his life. His prowess deteriorated noticeably in his old age, with Orochimaru noting Hiruzen could have killed him if only he were ten years younger. Despite this, he retained enough skill to, with effort, defeat the reincarnated First and Second Hokage.

Hiruzen's long life gave him a great deal of experience that he can use on the battlefield, such as identifying a technique simply by seeing the hand seals. Even when he encountered something new, as in the case of Truth-Seeking Balls, he could discern their attributes and limitations from only brief observation.

Chakra and Physical Prowess
In the anime, Hiruzen was said to have immense chakra reserves in his youth, and even in his old age, his chakra was strong enough to crack stone. His reserves diminished in later years, to the point that splitting up his chakra with shadow clones was a great risk for him. In the anime, his reduced chakra levels were offset with precise chakra control, needing only the minimum amount of chakra to use techniques to their full potency.

Like his chakra, Hiruzen's speed and physical strength were weakened by his ageing body, but his reaction time and sensory perception were still good enough to defend himself, even when robbed of his sight. At times, Hiruzen could lay explosive tags without his opponents' noticing.

Ninjutsu
Hiruzen was renowned as due to his mastery of all forms of shinobi combat, reputed for having advanced knowledge if not skill of all the techniques to ever exist within Konoha, including the many Hiden techniques that reside within it. Of Hiruzen's many techniques, he could use the Shadow Clone Technique to create copies of himself or the Telescope Technique to observe things from afar. He was shown sensing and tracking individuals by their chakra and demonstrated skill with barrier ninjutsu.

Hiruzen's knowledge extends to fūinjutsu, such as the Dead Demon Consuming Seal. By combining it with shadow clones he could seal the souls of multiple targets, thus delaying the sealing of his own soul. He was also said to be able to remove the Five Elements Seal.

Nature Transformation
Hiruzen was one of the few individuals who learned how to perform all five basic nature transformations. He could also use Yin and Yang Release. He could quickly determine the nature of an opponent's attack and produce the respective counterbalancing nature. In the manga, his elemental displays are brief, as he only exhaled a stream of fire and created a protective wall of mud. The anime expands on his use of these two natures, where he made a river of mud to unbalance an opponent and even expelled flaming projectiles from an earthen, dragon-like head. He could then expell a flame breath to augment it. He could also exhale smaller blasts.

Bukijutsu
Hiruzen frequently used shuriken in combat, both the standard size and the larger fūma shuriken. By using the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique he could create copies of these shuriken, allowing him to bombard a target with thousands of projectiles without needing to physically carry that many on his person. In the anime, Hiruzen was similarly shown utilising his surroundings like shuriken, such as launching roof tiles at opponents.

Hiruzen's personal summon, Enma, could transform into an extendable staff that was as sharp as diamond. The staff was Hiruzen's weapon of choice and he wielded it with great proficiency, though its weight became a greater burden to him in his later years. Enma can manifest parts of his body from the staff transformation, attacking with claws or fangs to take opponents by surprise.

Prologue — Land of Waves
When Naruto Uzumaki fails the Academy's graduation exam yet again, Hiruzen takes Naruto's instructor, Iruka Umino, aside and advises him to be compassionate towards Naruto because of his lack of parents, something Iruka has had similar experiences with. When Naruto shortly afterwards breaks into the Hokage Residence and steals the Scroll of Seals (and also defeats Hiruzen with the Sexy Technique), Hiruzen has no choice but to mobilise a search party to apprehend Naruto. From observing events, Hiruzen learns of Naruto's manipulation by Mizuki and watches as Iruka finally shows kindness towards Naruto by protecting him from Mizuki. He calls off the search party when it becomes clear Naruto will return, but Hiruzen worries that Naruto's learning of the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique from the Scroll will risk the Nine-Tails' escape from his body.

From his concern over the Nine-Tails as well as his disappointment that one of Naruto's first accomplishments as a genin is to invent the Harem Technique, Hiruzen assigns Kakashi Hatake as Naruto's team leader so that Kakashi can guide him appropriately, as well as look over one of Naruto's teammates, Sasuke Uchiha. Despite Kakashi's efforts, Naruto remains obstinate, complaining to Hiruzen about how easy their first D-rank mission was. When Naruto is unwilling to listen to explanations of how missions are assigned according to rank and skill level - both of which Naruto has little of at the moment - Hiruzen agrees to give the team a C-rank mission: escorting Tazuna to the Land of Waves.

Chūnin Exams
Hiruzen calls together the village's jōnin team leaders and informs them that Konoha will be hosting the next Chūnin Exams, an opportunity for their genin-charges to be promoted to chūnin. He asks that those jōnin assembled who believe their students are ready for the challenge of the exam submit their students' names. He begins with the team leaders of the Academy's most recent graduates and is surprised that all of the Rookie Nine are deemed suitable by their instructors; he agrees to allow them to enter despite Iruka's protests.

Hiruzen is called to the Forest of Death during the Exams' second stage by its proctor, Anko Mitarashi. She reports Orochimaru's infiltration of the Exams and his warnings to not call off the Exams due to his appearance. Suspecting that Orochimaru is after Sasuke Uchiha, Hiruzen has no choice but to allow things to proceed as planned. He watches the preliminary matches, noting the growth of not only Naruto and Sasuke but all of Konoha's genin. Once the preliminaries conclude, he presides over the assignment of first round match-ups in the finals before they adjourn.

In the month prior to the finals, Hiruzen grows increasingly worried. Not only is he unsure of what Orochimaru and his underlings are planning, but it's also apparent that one of the rival hidden villages is conspiring against Konoha as well, possibly in tandem with Orochimaru. What's more, Hiruzen does not believe that he, nor anyone else in Konoha for that matter, has the skills necessary to meet Orochimaru in battle. To clear his head, he visits his grandson's, Konohamaru's, class and is reminded of how important protecting the village and its citizens is to him.

When the finals begin, Hiruzen sits and watches with the Fourth Kazekage, the only other Kage whose village has representatives competing. Hiruzen, as host, remains pleasant towards the Kazekage and tries to assure him that there are no issues when the schedule for the finals increasingly does not go as planned.

Konoha Crush
The last match of the first round of the finals is interrupted by an invasion of Konoha. Hiruzen is taken hostage and separated from his bodyguards by the Kazekage. Hiruzen tries to negotiate with the Kazekage until he realises it is actually Orochimaru in disguise. Orochimaru wants to fight and kill Hiruzen, his former teacher, and has his followers erect a barrier so that the Anbu cannot come to Hiruzen's defence. Hiruzen is glad that nobody will interrupt them and removes his robes, revealing his combat attire underneath. Orochimaru decides he wants Hiruzen to share in the experience of fighting one's former teacher's and as such reincarnates the First and Second Hokage.

The Hokage greet Hiruzen in the brief moments before Orochimaru suppresses their personalities. Hiruzen attacks, but he has difficulty overcoming their defences and he must summon Enma to help block the First's Wood Release. He and Enma try to strike Orochimaru directly, but the Hokage block him. Despite failing to reach Orochimaru, Hiruzen is able to plant exploding tags on the Hokage's leg, but their reincarnated bodies cause them to quickly regenerate. Realising he has few options left, Hiruzen prepares to use the Dead Demon Consuming Seal. Orochimaru takes him by surprise before he can do anything by removing his own face, revealing a new body, the completion of his research and the same fate he has planned for Sasuke.

Hiruzen is disgusted by the levels Orochimaru has sunk to and his own responsibility in allowing Orochimaru to escape years earlier. In order to rectify the mistakes he's made at long last, Hiruzen makes two shadow clones that first catch the two Hokage and then use the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to remove their souls. The Hokage's personalities return to them briefly and they apologise for the hassle they've caused, just as Hiruzen apologises to them for the prison he's sentenced them to: their souls are consumed by the Shinigami. Orochimaru is amused by their defeat, unaware of what's happening, and bids Hiruzen to try the same on him. Hiruzen and Enma disarm him of his Kusanagi and Hiuruzen starts performing the seal on him. When Orochimaru senses his soul's removal, he summons the Kusanagi back to him, causing it to lodge in Hiruzen despite Enma's attempts to intercept it.

Although stabbing Hiruzen has stopped the removal of his soul, Orochimaru cannot move in order to finish Hiruzen off. Orochimaru encourages him to die, but Hiruzen, doomed to die anyway for invoking the Shinigami, ignores him, instead trying to muster up the strength to finish sealing Orochimaru. After an hour passes with no progress, Hiruzen accepts the fact that he won't be able to complete the seal. He decides to do what little he can to put an end to Orochimaru's plans and protect the village: he has the Shinigami seal Orochimaru's arms, preventing their use. As Orochimaru curses him, Hiruzen dies smiling, hoping that he will see Orochimaru again in the next life.

Fourth Shinobi World War: Climax
Orochimaru releases the souls of the first four Hokage from the stomach of the Shinigami, an act that also restores his arms. At Sasuke Uchiha's request he then reincarnates the Hokage. Hiruzen worries that Orochimaru now plans to use him to destroy Konoha, but is instead questioned by Sasuke about the Uchiha Clan Downfall. Hiruzen confirms the truth of what Itachi Uchiha did and explains that he only did so on the condition that Hiruzen would keep Sasuke safe in the aftermath. From hearing about what has transpired since his death - Sasuke killing Danzō Shimura and Madara Uchiha emerging to start the Fourth Shinobi World War - Hiruzen feels guilty that maybe things could have been avoided had he taken different actions while he was alive.

Hearing from the Hokage and reflecting on his own experiences, Sasuke decides he doesn't want Konoha to be destroyed, as is Madara's current intention. Orochimaru releases the Hokage from his control so that they can help in this goal, and they set out for the site of the Allied Shinobi Forces' battle with the Ten-Tails. When they arrive, the Hokage erect a barrier around the Ten-Tails to confine it. Hiruzen must remain with the barrier to maintain it, so he can only watch as Obito Uchiha seals the Ten-Tails into his body, becoming its jinchūriki.

Birth of the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki
With his new power, Obito rips down the barrier, finally allowing Hiruzen to participate in the fight. From Obito's display it is obvious to Hiruzen that he is stronger than even the First Hokage. He therefore personally engages Obito so that nobody needs to put their lives at risk, taking advantage of the fact that he's already dead to analyse Obito's abilities. By observing Obito's Truth-Seeking Balls he theorises that they are similar to the Third Tsuchikage's kekkei tōta in that they are a combination of multiple nature transformations. He also postulates that the Truth-Seeking Balls have limits to the duration of their malleability, but his upper body is destroyed immediately after that.

It takes Hiruzen a great deal of time for his body to regenerate. When he finally does, he summons Enma, has him transform, and then quickly saves Naruto Uzumaki from the Ten-Tails' tree form's chakra-absorbing roots. When Orochimaru later arrives on the battlefield, they join together to help the Allies in the counter-offensive against Obito, first by blocking and cutting back more and more of the tree's roots and branches, then by assisting in pulling the tailed beasts from Obito's body. Their combined efforts succeed and Obito is defeated.

The Allied Shinobi Forces are shortly afterwards attacked by Tobi. With everyone too tired from the prolonged fighting to defend themselves, Hiruzen and four of his shadow clones arrive to help, counterbalancing Tobi's elemental attacks with their own. Tobi withdraws once the Infinite Tsukuyomi is about to best cast, having completed its job of distracting the Allies.

Kaguya Ōtsutsuki Strikes
As the world is wrapped up by God: Nativity of a World of Trees, Hiruzen, unaffected because he is dead, tries to free Tsunade but fails. He and the other Hokage converge at the location of a powerful chakra signature, but find only Madara Uchiha's lower half, from which emerges the Sage of the Six Paths. Combining efforts with the spirits of the other dead Kage, they summon Team 7, Madara, and the tailed beasts back from Kaguya's dimension. With the world saved, the Sage returns all the Kage to the Pure Land. As his soul ascends, Hiruzen entrusts the future to Team 7.

Legacy
Hiruzen is only one of many Konoha ninja to die in the village's defence during the Konoha Crush. However, a special ceremony to mourn Hiruzen is held, which many of Konoha's ninja attend; Jiraiya does not, opting to reminisce about Hiruzen privately. Hiruzen is quickly replaced as Hokage by Tsunade, who, during her early days in office, notes how many fine shinobi the village produced under Hiruzen's guidance and makes a point to continue his practices during her own term. Because Hiruzen always treated him well, Naruto Uzumaki remains ever-fond of Hiruzen, becoming incensed when others speak poorly of him. When Naruto becomes Hokage years later, he lives by the Will of Fire just as Hiruzen did.

Trivia

 * Hiruzen's clan name "Sarutobi", inspired by Sarutobi Sasuke, means, further supported by his Summoning Technique which summons Enma. Tobirama also nicknamed him.
 * Many aspects of his character were borrowed from the Chinese literature classic Journey to the West. Hiruzen's summon, Enma, bears a very strong resemblance to, the protagonist of the novel, and Hiruzen's chosen weapon was identical to the Monkey King's magical staff.
 * In the Live Spectacle Naruto, the role of Hiruzen was played by Kazuhiro Imagawa.
 * Hiruzen's ghost is briefly seen in Naruto: Shippūden episode 129.
 * During his battle with Orochimaru, Hiruzen's likeness on the Hokage Monument cracks across the face. While the crack is fairly prominent due to its size, it doesn't always show up in the anime, due either to a bad angle or a mistake by the animators.
 * Masashi Kishimoto originally planned for Hiruzen to be a dog, but dumped the idea for being "too weird".
 * Studio Pierrot's Settei sheets of Hiruzen show that he was 140cm when Konoha was founded, 145cm around the time the Valley of the End was created, and 166cm when Tobirama died.
 * According to the databook(s):
 * His favourite foods were hijiki (which he shared with rival, Danzō Shimura), and sardine fish balls, while his least favourite food was narazuke.
 * His desired opponent was a grown-up Konohamaru.
 * His favourite phrase was.
 * His hobby was chatting with young girls.

Quotes

 * (About Naruto) "He has combined shadow clones with his own invention, the Sexy Technique. What a foolish ninja technique… and he could probably get me with it, too."
 * (To the Academy students) "You only get one life. There's no need to choose an impossible path. It's fine to live as long as you like and die. However… protecting a precious person… you must not forget this no matter what path you choose."
 * (To Orochimaru) "To me, Konoha isn't just an organisation. Every year there are a lot of ninja born and raised in Konoha… They live, fight to protect this village and what is precious they would go to their death. Even if we are not related by blood, those of the village like these are, to me, my most precious, most important… family!"
 * (Last words) "When the tree leaves dance, one shall find flames. The fire's shadow will illuminate the village, and once again, tree leaves shall bud anew."