Hashirama Senju

was the of Konohagakure. He was famous in life as the for his unmatched ninja prowess. Despite that, Hashirama only wanted peace, and to that end founded Konoha with his childhood friend and rival, Madara Uchiha. Although he was not able to achieve peace during his lifetime, his legacy would live on, continuing to shape the village for decades after his death.

Background
Hashirama was born during the Warring States Period, the eldest of Butsuma Senju's four sons. Hashirama and his brothers grew up on the battlefield waging constant war with the Senju's rivals: the Uchiha. During his infrequent downtime, Hashirama met a boy his own age named Madara. The two quickly developed a friendly rivalry, be it skipping stones or urinating in rivers, with Hashirama typically winning their contests. Though a gifted shinobi, Hashirama did not approve of this practice of sending children to fight and die, believing it would only increase the bitterness between the Senju and Uchiha, thus causing more deaths.

After the deaths of their brothers, Kawarama and later Itama, Hashirama and his remaining brother, Tobirama, decided a new shinobi system would need to be implemented to end the cycle of child deaths, a system that would require an alliance between the Senju and Uchiha. Like Hashirama, Madara was also a shinobi who had lost brothers on the battlefield. Together they imagined a world where children like themselves wouldn't need to fight and where their brothers would be safe from harm. As a precaution, Hashirama and Madara did not divulge their family names, but nevertheless discovered each other's identities: Hashirama was a Senju, Madara was an Uchiha; it was their duty to kill each other. Hashirama set this duty aside, unwilling to take his friend's life. Madara, however, decided their dreams of a peaceful world were impossible, and therefore ended their friendship so that they could kill each other without reservation.

Over the following years Hashirama and Madara continued to meet in combat. Hashirama could never bring himself to kill someone he still considered a friend, and Madara could never defeat Hashirama's superior abilities. In time, both Madara and Hashirama became leaders of their respective clans, a position Hashirama tried to use to broker peace between them and finally make their childhood dreams a reality. Although some Uchiha found the offer increasingly tempting, Madara was unwilling to accept after Tobirama killed his last remaining brother, Izuna. Wracked with grief, Madara made one final stand against Hashirama and the Senju and was summarily defeated. Tobirama attempted to kill Madara to finally end the fighting, but Hashirama stopped him, knowing that would only renew hostilities between the Senju and Uchiha. At Madara's suggestion, Hashirama offered to kill himself in order to achieve a peaceful resolution. As he was about to end his own life, Madara stopped him, moved by the gesture, and assented to peace.

The Senju, the Uchiha, and all their affiliated clans came together to found a village of peace, where children would never need to die in battle. Hashirama and Madara, rekindling their childhood friendship, called that village Konohagakure. Although Hashirama created much of the village's infrastructure with his Wood Release abilities, it was his wish that Madara become Hokage, the village's leader and protector. At Tobirama's insistence, the Hokage position was opened up to a vote by Konoha's villagers, and it was Hashirama that they elected into office. Hashirama wanted Madara to become his adviser so that he could improve his standing among the villagers and someday succeed him as Second Hokage. Madara felt that position would inevitably go to Tobirama, which would in turn end badly for the Uchiha. With his position in Konoha rapidly diminishing, Madara decided the village was a failed experiment and abandoned it, intent on someday returning to face Hashirama in battle yet again.

For a time, things were peaceful: Hashirama helped train one of Tobirama's students, Hiruzen Sarutobi; he got to spoil his first grandchild, Tsunade; he locked away the Scroll of Seals, the kinjutsu it contained no longer necessary in the world he'd made. Konoha's successes led other countries to create their own villages. Eager to form a lasting peace with these new villages, Hashirama convened a Kage Summit so that he could share the tailed beasts Konoha had acquired with them, thus balancing power amongst them. But cooperation would not be so simple as Hashirama intended it to be, first by Tobirama's demand that the other villages pay for the tailed beasts they received, then by the First Kazekage's counter-request of money and territory in lieu of a tailed beast. As unrest began to grow, Hashirama shared his fear that any agreement they made would only be temporary, but also that future generations could forge a lasting unity.

True to his promise, Madara eventually returned to Konoha with the Nine-Tails under his control, challenging Hashirama to one final contest. The Nine-Tails' power, as well as Hashirama's efforts to capture and contain it, devastated the landscape, carving out what would later be called the Valley of the End. Hashirama spent the duration of their battle trying to reason with Madara, but Madara continued fighting until he was too tired to keep even his Sharingan active. This enabled Hashirama to distract him with a wood clone while the real Hashirama stabbed him in the back. Madara collapsed and, before dying, noted how much Hashirama had changed from when they were children.

In the aftermath of the battle, Tobirama hid away Madara's body and Hashirama's wife, Mito, sealed the Nine-Tails within herself in order to contain its great power to Konoha's benefit. But the peace Hashirama had worked so hard for was starting to unravel; at some point Takigakure sent Kakuzu to assassinate him. Although he defeated Kakuzu, other wars began to break out, and it was during one of these that Hashirama ultimately died. Before his death he passed the title of Hokage to Tobirama, but also instructed him not to mistreat the Uchiha.

Personality
Hashirama was an excitable man with a boisterous personality. He loved meeting new people, having friendly competitions, and gambling. Headstrong and often impulsive, it fell to others – such as his brother, Tobirama – to be more responsible or realistic about things that Hashirama had gotten carried away with. When taken down in this way, or even when simply presented with information that troubled him, Hashirama could do a near-immediate about-face, going from a laughing goof to a brooding sulk. These moping periods were typically brief, though, and he'd quickly go back to his usual high-spirited nature. Later generations, upon meeting him, tend to remark that neither extreme of his personality is very fitting for a "God of Shinobi".

Despite the first impression he may give, Hashirama was capable of being serious when it came to matters that were important to him. He spent years opposing the practice of sending children to war and dreamed of a shinobi system where a child could be around others his or her age, never needing to "grow up" prematurely on the battlefield. To that end he became very devoted to Konoha upon its foundation, as it was the realisation of his dream for peaceful childhoods. He wanted the rest of the village to cherish what Konoha represented just as much as he did, encouraging them to regard every villager as part of one large family that should always look out for each other. As Hokage, his job was to protect that family at all costs, even if that cost was his life. This philosophy, known as the "Will of Fire", would become a cornerstone of Konoha teachings for decades after his death.

The Will of Fire is demonstrative of Hashirama's general optimism when it came to other people; he believed a village-first loyalty would naturally break down the mentality that shinobi had to look out for their clans. He always saw the best in others, either trusting that they acted in good faith or that they could, through non-violent means, be reasoned with. He was humble, not above lowering his head to his fellow village heads or claiming inferiority to those he'd never met but whose actions he approved of. If nothing else, Hashirama was kind, placing the needs of others before his own: he was willing take his own life if it would help create a world where his friends and family wouldn't need to die unnecessarily. It was on these points that Tobirama disagreed with Hashirama most ardently, as Tobirama felt that Hashirama should have a greater value of himself and a greater suspicion of others. It was, similarly, on these points that Hashirama was at his most forceful, asserting his views over Tobirama's; though Tobirama did not often agree, he knew better than to oppose his brother.

Hashirama had a lifelong friendship and rivalry with Madara Uchiha, eventually considering him a brother. As children, they would spend much of their free time together, talking, playing, and planning for a future that they weren't sure would ever come. Both were willing to oppose their own fathers by refusing to kill each other, but only Hashirama kept up this refusal into adulthood; even as enemies, Hashirama would go out of his way for Madara, restraining himself (and Tobirama) so as not to hurt him and indulging Madara's desires at his own consequence. When they were able to rekindle their friendship by making Konoha, Hashirama placed a great deal of trust in Madara by desiring him to be Hokage, believing it was the best way for Madara to recover from the loss of his brothers. When this ultimately failed, Hashirama respected Madara's opinions and dissatisfaction with the village, but would not permit him to move against Konoha, killing him in the end with sadness and reluctance in order to protect what they'd made together. Despite everything, Hashirama considered Madara his friend to the very end.

Appearance
Hashirama was a tall man with tanned skin and dark eyes. He had waist-length black hair typically styled in a centre-parted fringe that framed his face. He often wore the standard shinobi dress of his era, consisting of dark red armour worn over a simple black suit with sandals. This armour was constructed from numerous metal plates, formed into multiple protective guards along his body; each collar of his shoulder guards bore the Senju symbol. Prior to Konoha's formation he wore a white coloured cloth bearing his clan's symbol on his forehead, which he later replaced with the village's forehead protector.

Upon becoming Hokage, Hashirama tended to wear the traditional Kage attire consisting of the customary brown and white hat and haori over a full-length brown and white gown, along with a simple red headband. Otherwise, he wore a light-brown, short-sleeved, kimono shirt with mesh armour underneath, held closed by a red sash, and navy blue pants. In his Hokage portrait, he is seen wearing a kerchief.

As a child, Hashirama's hair was more bowl-cut in style, hanging around his face. His usual attire consisted of a dark kimono shirt, a short light green jacket with darker green linings, a white scarf around his neck, traditional pinstriped kimono pants of his clan, and a dark green sash around his waist.

Abilities
Hashirama was famed as the strongest shinobi of his era, reputed as a "God of Shinobi". Kabuto Yakushi claims during the Fourth Shinobi World War that Hashirama's power was so great that it had still yet to be matched. Madara Uchiha admitted inferiority to Hashirama since the time they were children, and even with the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan and the Nine-Tails he could never defeat Hashirama during their lifetimes.

Chakra Prowess and Life Force
Hashirama's chakra was remarkably strong, so dense that it could crack stone when moulded. This is partly because he was an inheritor of Asura Ōtsutsuki's chakra. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, after seeing Naruto Uzumaki distribute the Nine-Tails' chakra to the entire Allied Shinobi Forces, Hashirama noted that the volume was almost as much as his own. His chakra control is quite advanced, as he can perform certain large-scale jutsu with only one hand seal. Chakra aside, he has the stamina to fight nonstop for a twenty-four hour period, and a will strong enough to resist the control of the nearly perfected Impure World Reincarnation with relative ease. His body was brimming with vitality, granting him considerable regenerative powers that could mend most injuries with no residual effects, an ability that only Tsunade has come close to emulating.

Ninjutsu
Hashirama could use Summoning: Quintuple Rashōmon to protect himself from nearly any attack. He demonstrated skill and knowledge with barrier ninjutsu. He had unprecedented skill in medical ninjutsu, able to heal wounds without forming hand seals. Hashirama would sometimes carry scrolls into battle, within which he stored several different types of swords. He wielded them with enough skill to fight on par with Madara, himself a talented swordsman. In the anime, he could use the Contract Seal to break Madara's control over the Nine-Tails.

Nature Transformation
Hashirama was proficient in all five basic nature transformations, along with Yin and Yang Release. Hashirama was most famous for his use of Wood Release, a combination of earth and water-natured chakra. By converting his chakra into the source of life, he could create wood and plants from the ground or his very being of various sizes that he manipulated to his purposes. This ability was apparently exclusive to him, as it is not known to have occurred naturally in anyone else; attempts to replicate it in others have been noticeably weaker than Hashirama's capabilities. In the anime, he was shown performing Wood Release techniques without hand seals.

Hashirama could create wood constructs for any number of purposes. His most versatile and perhaps most infamous is the ability to make wood clones to aid him in battle, which are nearly indistinguishable from himself. He could also make flowering trees whose pollen rendered opponents unconscious, protective structures able to withstand Tailed Beast Balls, giant wood hands to apprehend large targets, as well as a giant humanoid creature strong enough to clash with Madara's Complete Body — Susanoo. In the anime, he could use roots to wield his swords, allowing him to attack from multiple angles. When Hashirama enters Sage Mode, his Wood Release techniques become considerably more offensive in nature and capability, as seen with his largest creation, the Sage Art Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands: by using it to deliver an enormous barrage of punches, it could strip Susanoo from the Nine-Tails and, in fact, was chiefly responsible for the formation of the Valley of the End.

Hashirama's Wood Release also granted him a method of subduing and controlling the tailed beasts. He could create wood dragons to wrap around a beast and absorb its chakra. Once it was weakened enough, he would use the Hokage-Style Sixty-Year-Old Technique — Kakuan Entering Society with Bliss-Bringing Hands to put the beast to sleep. He acquired several tailed beasts in this way and was able to maintain control over all of them at the same time.

Senjutsu
Because of his large chakra reserves, Hashirama could use senjutsu by entering Sage Mode, a feat he could perform instantaneously; it is not known where he learned it. In this mode, he gains red (black in the anime) markings around and under his eyes as well in the middle of his forehead. His different wood techniques become much stronger while he's in Sage Mode. Hashirama could also perform the Sage Art: Gate of the Great God to bind targets, even those as large as the Ten-Tails.

Other Skills
As a Senju, Hashirama is trained in a variety of shinobi skills. In the manga, he performs a genjutsu to lock a target in perpetual darkness for the technique's duration. He is similarly knowledgeable of skills he has no training in, being able to recognise the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique.

Konoha Crush
Orochimaru invades Konoha so that he can kill his master, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who is now the Third Hokage. Because Orochimaru wants Hiruzen to experience the same thrills of fighting a teacher as he is, he reincarnates Hashirama and Tobirama. Recognising Hiruzen and seeing how old he has gotten, Hashirama realises how long he's been dead. Tobirama, meanwhile, realises that they've been brought back with the Impure World Reincarnation, and therefore will have no choice but to fight Hiruzen. Orochimaru suppresses their personalities and forces them to attack.

Hiruzen struggles to land an attack against Hashirama and Tobirama, their coordination and responsiveness offering him few openings. The few attacks he does land are merely regenerated by their reincarnated bodies. Because killing Orochimaru will not end the Impure World Reincarnation, Hiruzen uses the only option he has left: after creating two shadow clones, he has a clone capture each of the deceased Hokage and use the Dead Demon Consuming Seal on them. With their personalities restored, Hashirama and Tobirama apologise for being such troubles to him, just as Hiruzen apologises for the fate he has sentenced them to. He pulls the souls from their reincarnated bodies, feeding them to the Shinigami for all eternity.

Fourth Shinobi World War: Climax
At the request of Sasuke Uchiha, Orochimaru releases the souls of the first four Hokage from the stomach of the Shinigami so that he can reincarnate them. After taking in their surroundings, Hashirama and Tobirama are excited to meet Minato, the Fourth, and take him as a sign of Konoha's continued prosperity. Hashirama asks who the Fifth is, and is informed that it is his granddaughter, Tsunade; Hashirama, accordingly, worries about the village's current fate. Sasuke asks the former Hokage about the history of the village, specifically with regards to the Uchiha clan. From Tobirama's comments, Hashirama realises that Tobirama did not follow his instructions to be understanding of the Uchiha. When Tobirama prepares to attack Sasuke in order to protect the village from one of the last Uchiha, Hashirama uses force to stay his hand.

The Hokage are told about recent events, namely the outbreak of the Fourth Shinobi World War and the reincarnation of Madara Uchiha. Tobirama wishes to go and help Konoha's forces in the war effort and asks for Hashirama's help. Although Orochimaru has perfected his control of the Impure World Reincarnation, Hashirama is still strong enough break free if he chooses. Instead of doing that, however, he decides to tell Sasuke about his work to create Konoha and the dealings with the Uchiha, as that is why he has been reincarnated in the first place.

Hearing Hashirama's history 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. Although worried by Madara's current plans, Hashirama is at the same time curious how Madara managed to survive their last encounter and looks forward to seeing him. When they arrive on the battlefield Madara, sensing Hashirama, excitedly asks for a chance to fight him, but Hashirama replies that he'll need to wait. Entering Sage Mode, Hashirama uses Sage Art: Gate of the Great God to bind the Ten-Tails, then assists the other Hokage in erecting a barrier to confine it.

Because he must stay with the barrier, Hashirama creates five wood clones to act on his behalf. Four lead an Allied attack against the Ten-Tails' minions while the fifth engages Madara; Madara is uninterested and offers to continue waiting until the real Hashirama is available. When Obito Uchiha appears on the battlefield, Hashirama realises that Madara is forcing him to use the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique to revive him. He creates six additional wood clones to go after Madara and stop him. Obito is able to resist Madara's control and instead seals the Ten-Tails into himself, becoming its jinchūriki.

Birth of the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki
With his new power, Obito rips down the barrier, easily shrugs off another Gate of the Great God, and tears through one of the wood clones before it has a chance to respond. The clone is able to retain its form for long enough to create branches that restrain Obito, allowing one of Tobirama's shadow clones to use Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags. When this fails to have an effect, Hashirama decides to get personally involved. Madara, however, is done waiting, and forces Hashirama to fight him. Hashirama tries to convince him to postpone, but Madara won't hear of it. While he engages Madara, his remaining wood clones provide what support to the Allies they can and keep Hashirama apprised of how the battle against Obito is going.

After Obito creates the Ten-Tails' giant tree form, Madara explains to Hashirama the tree's function in the eventual implementation of the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Needing to communicate this to the rest of the Alliance, Hashirama has Ino Yamanaka telepathically link one of his wood clones to the rest of the Alliance, which now includes Tsunade and the other current Kage. After saying hello to his granddaughter, the clone relays his message and implores them not to give. When feelings of futility begin to grow amongst the Alliance's ranks, Hashirama shares his memories of the first Kage Summit with them, helping to rally them all and, ultimately, defeat Obito.

The original Hashirama, meanwhile, manages to pin Madara with multiple Gate of the Great Gods and surrounds him with wood dragons to prevent him from escaping. Naruto Uzumaki arrives to help seal Madara, thus ending the war, but Madara implements a final trump card before they can do so: successfully forcing Obito to restore him to life with the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique. The full return of his original power allows Madara to break free of his restraints and, in the confusion, quickly immobilise Hashirama with chakra receivers. Madara is able to fight off several other immediate attackers, but his revival has left him without his eyes, diminishing his senses. He approaches Hashirama and absorbs his senjutsu chakra so that he can find targets based on their chakra signatures. Before he leaves, Madara notes that the plan for peace he mentioned to Hashirama so long ago is about to be achieved.

As Sasuke is about to go after Madara, Hashirama, still unable to move, offers to give him a jutsu that can be used to cancel out the senjutsu chakra Madara has taken. Sasuke asks why Hashirama would trust him, an Uchiha, to which Hashirama replies that he resembles Madara's brother, Izuna, and that maybe that likeness will remind Madara of the kind person he used to be before Izuna died. In the end, Sasuke fails and the Infinite Tsukuyomi is cast, with the whole world – the reincarnated Hokage excluded – getting wrapped into God: Nativity of a World of Trees.

Kaguya Ōtsutsuki Strikes
Sometime later, the chakra receivers disappear, restoring Hashirama's mobility. He reunites with the other Hokage and they try to figure out what they can do to break the Infinite Tsukuyomi. They are met by the spirit of the Sage of the Six Paths, who recruits their help. Combining efforts with the spirits of the other dead Kage, they summon Team 7, Madara, and the tailed beasts back from Kaguya's dimension. Hashirama approaches Madara, who is too weak to get up and is in fact dying from his ordeal. Madara uses his remaining moments of life to admit that Hashirama's method of peace was right all along. Hashirama forgives him and says that they are still friends despite everything, which Madara uses his last breath to say isn't so bad. Hashirama and the other Kage are returned to the Pure Land by the Sage of the Six Paths. As his soul ascends, Hashirama wishes Sasuke and Naruto luck, hoping they have a better experience together than he and Madara did.

Legacy
The fact that only Hashirama possessed the ability to use Wood Release – and the related ability to control tailed beasts – made his DNA highly coveted after his death:
 * In the anime, Konoha sanctioned several attempts to research and reproduce Hashirama's power, but all met with disastrous failure and further study was forbidden.
 * Orochimaru exhumed Hashirama's body for his own experiments, where he infused sixty child test subjects with cells harvested from the remains in the hopes that one would prove able to use Wood Release. Only Yamato survived the process.
 * Danzō Shimura had a work relationship with Orochimaru and had his right arm infused with Hashirama's cells. In addition to granting him increased chakra levels and limited Wood Release abilities, it extended the amount of time he could keep Izanagi active with his different Sharingan and increase how often he could use Kotoamatsukami.
 * Kabuto Yakushi continued Orochimaru's studies, eventually learning how to create an implant that would grant whoever received it access to Hashirama's power. The only recipient of this implant was Madara, enhancing him "beyond his prime".
 * Madara Uchiha took his own sample of Hashirama's DNA during their fight at the Valley of the End, which he applied to his injuries afterwards to accelerate his recovery. Decades later, towards the end of his natural lifespan, the mixing of Hashirama's DNA with his own would evolve his Sharingan into Rinnegan.
 * Using this DNA sample, Madara created a mindless clone of Hashirama, with which he was able to produce a substance that could heal injuries and replace lost limbs; Tsunade later does the same. This same substance would be used in the manufacture of the White Zetsu Army.

The most positive legacy Hashirama left was his philosophy of the Will of Fire, which became increasingly common amongst Konoha's ninja in the years after his death. Future Hokage, in particular, were expected to fully adopt the philosophy. In time, even members of the Uchiha clan began demonstrating signs of the Will of Fire, with Hashirama claiming Itachi Uchiha's dedication to the village was even greater than his own.

Video Games
He is also featured as a support-only character in Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm.

Trivia

 * is a Japanese word referring to the space between two pillars. This might be a play on the word, as the Hokage is said to be the pillar that supports the village. His family name "Senju" literally means , possibly referring to the clan being called "The clan with a thousand skills".
 * His face on the Hokage Monument has a crack across the bridge of the nose. This crack is not present in flashback depictions of the Monument.
 * Hashirama's face appears within the fireworks in the omake of Shippūden episode 129.
 * Studio Pierrot's Settei sheets show that Hashirama was 147cm when he met Madara.
 * According to the databook(s):
 * His hobbies were bonsai and wood sculpting.
 * His desired opponent was Madara Uchiha.
 * His favourite food was mushroom mixed soup.
 * His favourite phrases were and . They refer to perfect beauty without any artificial elements.
 * Despite Hashirama using the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique, a genjutsu, and the fact that all genjutsu is Yin Release, Yin Release is not listed as one of Hashirama's natures in the fourth databook.

Quotes

 * (To Madara) "No matter what happens I will protect our… no my village. I still believe that protecting the village is the best way to protect people, shinobi, and children…! Anyone who tries to harm it, whether they are my friends, siblings or my own children… I won't forgive them."
 * (To the five Kage) "But one day… In the future… I dream of a time when all shinobi will cooperate with each other… A time when everyone's hearts will be together regardless of their countries. That's my… dream of the future."
 * (To Hiruzen) "The fellow countrymen of the Konoha make up each part of my body… those of the village believe in me, and I believe in them… That's what it means to be Hokage!"
 * "Whenever you live, there will always be war."
 * (To Sasuke) "Shinobi are people who endure to achieve their goals… but depending on what they choose as their goal they change… like Madara and I…"