Hiruzen Sarutobi

was the. His name, inspired by Sarutobi Sasuke, means "jumping like a monkey", further supported by his Summoning Technique which summons an ape. His mentor, Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, also nicknamed him. Masashi Kishimoto originally planned for Hiruzen to be a dog, but eventually dumped the idea for being "too weird".

Many aspects of his character are borrowed from the Chinese literature classic Journey to the West. The monkey he summons bears a very strong resemblance to Sun Wu Kong (Monkey King), the protagonist of Journey to the West, and Sarutobi's chosen weapon is identical to Monkey's magical staff.

Background
As a child, Hiruzen and his former teammates, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, were students of Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, and Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage. Later in his life, he became the teacher of Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade, who would go on to become known as the. In time, he became the father of Asuma Sarutobi and later the grandfather of Konohamaru.

While Orochimaru was his student, Hiruzen came to appreciate Orochimaru's natural talent and often told Jiraiya to be more like him. He also came to recognize an inner malice and a lust for power within Orochimaru, and tried to steer his student away from these personality traits. Later, Hiruzen competed with Danzo to become Hokage. Then, after taking the position of Hokage and occupying it for many years, Hiruzen started looking for a successor to the title. While he hoped to be able to give the position to Orochimaru, it became apparent that Orochimaru was only interested in the role of Hokage as a way to get power. As such, Hiruzen passed on the role of Hokage to one of Jiraiya's former students, Minato Namikaze.

Soon after, Minato sacrificed his life to seal the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox within his newborn son, Naruto Uzumaki, forcing Hiruzen to reassume the role of Hokage. After reacquiring his title, Hiruzen began investigating a number of disappearances within Konoha. Upon reaching the source of the abductions, he found Orochimaru to be the one responsible. Having used those that he kidnapped as test subjects in his quest to gain immortality, Orochimaru allowed his former master a chance to kill him. Ultimately, Hiruzen was unable to bring himself to harm his favorite student, allowing Orochimaru to escape.

Hiruzen was one of four Hidden Leaf villagers who knew the truth about Uchiha Itachi, a shinobi of the same village and later an Akatsuki member, along with his, Hiruzen's, former teammates and Danzo.

Personality
Due to the long life he has lived, Hiruzen serves as a source of wisdom for much of the series, passing on the things he has learned to the next generation. As Hokage he has also acquired a habit of attempting to end things peacefully, and does what he can to avoid bloodshed amongst his allies and his enemies. At the series' start, Hiruzen is one of the few people who sees Naruto as more than the container of the demon fox, and as such becomes someone that Naruto truly admires.

Despite his standing as Hokage, seems to have had some sense of lecherousness in him as he spends much of his free time talking to young girls. When Jiraiya was still his student, he offered to help Jiraiya test the jutsu that would allow the user to spy on naked women unnoticed. Even Jiraiya, in this instance, noted his sensei's perverted qualities. He also fell victim to Naruto's Sexy Technique on more than one occasion.

Invasion of Konoha arc
When the invasion of Konoha begins, Hiruzen is forced to do battle with Orochimaru, who infiltrated the village and planned Konoha's destruction just so that he could kill Hiruzen and kidnap Sasuke Uchiha. Soon after the battle begins, Orochimaru resurrects Hashirama and Tobirama, the first two Hokages, so that Hiruzen can feel the enjoyment of fighting his former masters. In his old age, Hiruzen is unable to be much of a match for the two Hokages, and is further inhibited by his desire to not hurt either. Orochimaru's presence also impedes Hiruzen's fight, as seeing just how monstrous his treasured student has become breaks his heart. Although he uses his summon, Enma, to help him in battle, Hiruzen is unable to make a dent in the two Hokage, as any damage that is done is simply regenerated.

Having no other choice, Hiruzen uses a combination of shadow clones and the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to seal away the souls of his former masters. As he bids a heartfelt goodbye to his teachers, he turns his attention to Orochimaru. Charging at Orochimaru and throwing aside his former pupil's Kusanagi, attempts to seal Orochimaru's soul as well. Sensing what Hiruzen is trying to do, Orochimaru calls his Kusanagi to him, stabbing Hiruzen in the back.

Despite the fatal injury, Hiruzen continues to try to remove Orochimaru's soul, unconcerned with the sword in his back due to death being guaranteed as a result of using the Dead Demon Consuming Seal. After a hour passes, Hiruzen comes to terms with the fact that he is too old and weak to completely remove Orochimaru's soul. Doing what little he can and hoping to rectify his mistake of allowing Orochimaru to escape years earlier, Hiruzen seals Orochimaru's arms to ensure that he will never again be able to use jutsu, a punishment for Orochimaru's obsession with power. As Orochimaru begins to curse his former master for what he has done, Hiruzen bids Orochimaru farewell and hopes that they will meet again. Knowing that the village is saved and seeing Orochimaru as the boy he once was, Hiruzen dies with a smile on his face.

During his battle with Orochimaru, Hiruzen's likeness on the Hokage Monument cracked 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. Later filler arcs try to address this discrepancy by filling up the crack, but the filling is revealed to be numerous exploding tags, and as such is removed.

Abilities
Hiruzen was called "The God of all Shinobi" and due to his vast knowledge of jutsu, purportedly knowing all the jutsu within Konoha. Hiruzen may well be "The Most Intelligent Shinobi in Ninja History". The first jutsu he is seen using is the Telescope Technique which allows him to observe others through his crystal ball over long distances. With Roof Tile Shuriken, he can launch nearby tiles at an opponent with varying intensities, and by throwing a single shuriken at an opponent he can replicate it to surround the opponent through Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique. This shows that Hiruzen is adapted to every battleground in Konoha and is able to use his surroundings to his advantage.

The more battle-oriented jutsu he is seen using primarily consist of elemental attacks, specifically attacks dealing with fire and earth. Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Missile allows him to exhale a stream of fire from his mouth. Earth Release: Earth Flow River creates a river of mud beneath the opponent to throw them off balance, and he can use the mud with Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet, which creates a dragon's head that launches mud balls at an opponent. These projectiles are ignited with Fire Release: Fire Dragon Missile. Earth Release: Earth Style Wall allows Hiruzen to spit a stream of mud that solidifies into a protective shield.

Hiruzen also has a personal summon: Enma, the Monkey King. Enma can turn into a diamond-hard staff which can alter its length and width at will. This staff is Hiruzen's weapon of choice, and he shows great proficiency in wielding it.

Hiruzen is unarguably one of most powerful shinobi in Shinobi History. Iruka even stated that Hiruzen is said to be the most powerful Hokage. Enma commented on his battle with Orochimaru that it was "miserable" compared to Hiruzen's prime even though Hiruzen had clearly been able to withstand Orochimaru, Hashirama and Tobirama, even to the extent of repelling and withstanding Hashirama's Wood Release and Tobirama's Water Release techniques and able to blow up both Hashirama and Tobirama's arms and legs respectively. Hiruzen was also elected to be Hokage at a very very young age by the previous still living two Hokage's. This showcases the trust that Hashirama and Tobirama had upon the Hiruzen's abilities to protect Konohagakure.

Quotes

 * "Twelve years ago, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox suddenly appeared. It's tails lashed out, smashing mountains and sending tidal waves crashing to the shores. The ninja rose up to defend their villages."
 * "He's combined Shadow Cloning with his own invention, the Sexy Jutsu. What a foolish ninja technique...and he could probably get me with it, too."
 * "When the tree leaves dance, one shall find flames. The fire's shadow (possibly a refenrence to Hokage) will illuminate the village, and once again, tree leaves shall bud anew." (his last words before his death)