Recalling those days, Hiruzen sighed melancholy.
How happy they were when their teachers were still alive!
Although the departure of Hashirama led to the other ninja villages eventually challenging Konoha's dominance.
However, if the damned Raikage and Kumogakure hadn't killed his teacher, then as long as they escaped the siege of that year, Konoha Village could still have achieved a national strength far exceeding that of Konoha under his teacher's leadership.
But there are no "buts" in this world...
There's no such thing as "just"...
Some people might think that Orochimaru could actually become Hokage.
But in reality, Orochimaru will never, ever have the chance to become Hokage.
As for the reason?
Oh.
If we replace the three legendary Hiruzen, Danzo, and Kagami, then Jiraiya would undoubtedly be Hiruzen, Orochimaru would be Danzo, who is also Tsunade of Konoha's strongest ninja clan.
Danzo his life, Danzo seemed to be only one step away from becoming Hokage. It seems that if he had just been a little faster than Hiruzen in suggesting covering the rear, he could have become Hokage.
But what is the reality?
If he was truly the first to suggest staying behind to cover the retreat, then he probably really was the one who stayed behind...
As for the reason?
Oh!
On one hand, just as the Third Hiruzen, was always able to see the darkness hidden in his disciple Orochimaru's heart, how could the Second Hokage not see the darkness hidden in Danzo's heart?
On the other hand...
On the other hand, Hiruzen's father, Sarutobi Sasuke, was a prodigy who was qualified to compete with the Senju, Uchiha, and Hyuga during the Sengoku period.
Although Sarutobi Sasuke was completely overwhelmed by Hashirama and Madara, who in that era wouldn't be suppressed by those two?
Aside from Hashirama and Madara, Sarutobi Sasuke is no less capable than Tobirama and Izuna Uchiha, and in terms of outsiders, he can even be compared to the Raikage and Tsuchikage.
Even after the Nine-Tails' Attack, the Uchiha clan, terrified by the Sharingan in the Nine-Tails' eyes, worried about how to appease the Third Hokage. Their way of doing so was to name the clan head's youngest son Sasuke!
Why is Uchiha Sasuke called Uchiha Sasuke?
That was no coincidence. The Uchiha claimed they would use that name to commemorate Sarutobi Sasuke and one of the founding elders of Konoha Village during the Sengoku period!
That's right, Sarutobi Sasuke's title back then was indeed "Oni-Hero," but too many fan works have attributed this title to the Third Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Hiruzen Sarutobi indeed had many titles. Internally, the ninjas of the Hokage Village called him the Professor of Ninjutsu, while externally, the ninjas of the other four great nations referred to him as the God of Hiruzen Sarutobi!
That's right, his own people call the Third Hokage "Professor of Ninjutsu" because the Third Hokage knows he is not worthy of the title of God of Shinobi. He personally witnessed Hashirama and Madara's peak strength!
But they gradually forgot about Hashirama and Madara's rivals, namely the ninjas of the other four great nations.
In the eyes of those ninjas, Hiruzen Sarutobi's strength was already at the level of a ninja god!
So, just how strong is Hiruzen Sarutobi?
Don't forget, in the final battle, Hiruzen Sarutobi was the guy who could take down a low-level version of the Buddha Form in one move with his Five Release Great Combo Bullet!
Although the Edo Tensei Third Hokage possessed unlimited chakra, unlimited chakra did not increase his output ceiling. His Five Release Great Combo Bullet at his peak was indeed a technique that the Third Hokage's Lightning and Earth techniques could not deal with at all.
At this point, some might think that this is definitely an attempt to elevate the Third Hokage.
After all, in this day and age, people are more willing to go for Hiruzen Sarutobi.
But to be honest, considering the entire backstory of Naruto, the Third Hokage truly deserves the title of the greatest Hokage!
The First Hokage ruled for eight years, but actually did nothing; the Second Hokage did all the work.
The contributions of the first generation are truly immense; he was both the terminator of the Sengoku period and the founder of the Ninja Village era.
But in reality, the reason so many wars broke out during the ninja village era was entirely due to the foundation laid by the First Hokage's distribution of the Tailed Beast...
When Hashirama was Hashirama, he only did a few things, the most important being the distribution of Tailed Beast, which ironically became the root cause of chaos in the Shinobi World...
The Second Hokage ruled for two and a half years, but if you include the First Hokage's reign, the Second Hokage's actual reign should be considered to be ten and a half years.
For the past ten and a half years, Konoha Village has been progressing entirely according to the Second Hokage's plan.
Whether it's a nursing home, an orphanage, a hospital, or a ninja school.
These are all political legacies left over from the second generation of government.
Of course, the second generation was indeed a competent politician, but he was still unable to escape the extremism left over from the Sengoku period.
The way the Uchiha clan was dealt with was a consequence of the Second Hokage's stubbornness and self-will.
To be precise, the Second Hokage set a bad precedent for the future of Konoha Village.
That is... the unity in Konoha Village is just lip service. If necessary, Konoha Village can really turn against its own people!
Although the First Hokage didn't accomplish much politically, Hashirama truly left the Will of Fire for Konoha.
The Second Hokage had many political achievements, but he also left a real shadow over Konoha.
As for the third generation...
The three generations truly deserve to be called upon to lead in a time of crisis.
The main difficulty the Third Hokage faced First Shinobi World War wasn't actually the four enemy nations.
Under the suppression of Hashirama and Tobirama, Konoha Village was very strong at the time. The Ino–Shika–Chō clan and other families each had elites, and the Sarutobi Shimura and others were brave in battle.
After the Third Hokage returned to Konoha Village and learned of his teacher's death, the thing he did most during World War I was to take back power from the various ninja clans, who had become increasingly arrogant due to the death of the Second Hokage!
The older generation, including Sarutobi Sasuke and others, who came from the Sengoku period and participated in the establishment of the ninja village, would not easily accept Hiruzen, Danzo, and other children.
If we were to write a fanfiction, the protagonist would be a senior member of the Ino–Shika–Cho. The protagonist from Hashirama's era was suppressed, while the protagonist has been accumulating strength.
If the protagonist of this fanfiction doesn't step forward to compete for the position of Third Hokage after Hashirama and Tobirama die...
This fanfiction will get torn to shreds by readers!
This is exactly the situation Hiruzen is facing!
The Uchiha clan supports Uchiha Kagami, the Hyuga Clan supports the Hyuga clan head, the Ino–Shika–Chō trio supports the Nara clan head, Nara, and even the painter and dog breeder want to jump out and compete for the Hokage position!
What the hell is this situation?
This is the situation where, whenever there's a meeting, 18-year-old Hiruzen Sarutobi is cornered and mocked by a large group of men and women in their forties and fifties!
If we don't create the right for the Root elders to take over the Anbu on one hand, and appoint a Hokage to assist them on the other hand to sow discord among the many senior ninja clans...
Sarutobi could never become the Third Hokage!
The first Hokage's assistants were not Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, who were also eighteen or nineteen years old at the time.
The First Hokage's assistants were Mito Uzumaki, the Nara clan chief who was then Konoha's advisor and the wife of the First Hokage!
He had Mito Uzumaki, who supported him, stand up and fight against the Nara clan and other ninja representatives. On the other hand, he created the Root and opened up a new battlefield for the Anbu. After gaining enough merit on the battlefield, Hiruzen Sarutobi finally secured the position of Hokage!
Some people say that the Third Hokage chose his grand-disciple, the Fourth Hokage, as Hokage in order to control him and make him a puppet.
However, the Fourth Hokage was already in his late twenties when he took office, while the Third Hokage was only eighteen years old when he took office!
That's about the same age as Naruto when they fought in the Fourth Shinobi World War!
After the First Shinobi World War, Konoha Village faced a generational gap, with the older generation gradually passing away and the younger generation yet to rise to prominence!
So, who actually fought the Second Shinobi World War?
During the Second Shinobi World War, the three legendary Sannin combined couldn't defeat Hanzō, and it was only Tsunade and Sakumo Hatake combined that barely managed to hold off the Land of Water.
In other words, Konoha Village only had so many talented people at the time, so who was it that fought against the Tsuchikage, Raikage, and others during the Second Shinobi World War?
Of course it's Hiruzen, Danzo, Koharu, and Homura Mitokado!
Do you think the title of "God of Shinobi" was earned by the Third Naruto?
Some people say that Hiruzen is inferior to the Third Raikage because Hiruzen doesn't use forbidden techniques and can't break through the Third Raikage's defenses.
But in reality, all three generations of the Ryūki in World War I, World War II, and World War II lost to Hiruzen...
Some people say that Hiruzen couldn't beat the Third Hokage because Ōnoki could fly and his Dust Release was very strong.
But think about it, the Third Hokage still lost completely in both Shinobi World Wars!
During World War I and World War II, Konoha did not have the mature Legendary Sannin or Minato Namikaze, these few new generation peak powerhouses!
The powerful figures from Konoha Village that are familiar to readers were all trained during the reign of the Third Hokage...
Might Duy's single act of scattering the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist is tantamount to declaring the Land of Water's withdrawal from the Third Shinobi World War.
Who trained Might Duy?
No one trained him at all; he was inspired by the Will of Fire!
And what about the Will of Fire?
The first generation pioneered it, and the third generation carried it forward and perfected it—that's correct, isn't it?
Minato Namikaze, a third-generation disciple.
The three legendary ninjas were disciples of the third generation!
During the Third Shinobi World War, every prominent figure had an inseparable connection with the Third Hokage.
Is this just a coincidence?
It's not a coincidence; it's just that the three generations are truly skilled at education and propaganda.
Whether it was the development of the Will of Fire or the gradual formalization of the Ninja Academy, it was all driven by the Third Hokage.
We can say that the third generation is simply following the path laid out by the second generation.
But he did a good job, didn't he?
Europe has been waiting for three generations of leaders like this for far too long.
United Kingdom won both world wars, but lost its dominant position.
The Third Hokage won three world wars, Land of Fire remained the world's strongest nation. That's the Third Hokage's true strength...
Even during the most difficult period for the ninja villages, Konoha initiated the Second Shinobi World War.
Are Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo truly so flawed that they have absolutely no redeeming qualities?
Even someone as high-ranking and powerful as Danzo lost a hand and an eye in the war, didn't he?
He didn't intentionally harm himself for Hashirama cells and the Sharingan!
He truly gave his all in the war...
His personality and way of thinking are certainly full of flaws, but can you say he doesn't love Konoha?
He still loves her, just in a different way.
Danzo's problem was that he was too ruthless, too insidious, too cold-blooded, too radical, and a complete scoundrel.
But aside from those things, he ultimately loved Konoha deeply in his own way.
His own way of doing things was: I belong to Konoha and Konoha is mine.
That's right, it's this very difference.
He's just extremely arrogant.
The reasons why many haters relentlessly criticize Hiruzen Sarutobi can be summarized in a few points.
The first thing to blame is the bad things Danzo did, which people felt Hiruzen Sarutobi should bear the responsibility for.
People felt that since Sarutobi was the Hokage, he should have known about the heinous things Danzo had done.
In reality, Danzo was Sarutobi's trusted old classmate and comrade-in-arms. They had studied together, fought together, and even frequented brothels together.
In all of this, did Sarutobi truly have absolutely no trust in Danzo, to the point that Danzo had to report to Hiruzen even when secretly capturing a few people for experiments?
Hiruzen Sarutobi may have tacitly approved of Danzo's experiments, but he would never allow Danzo to extend his reach to the ninja clan.
What good would it do to take so many prisoners out of jail for experiments?
People die every day on the battlefield and during missions. What leader can clearly state the exact cause of death for each and every one of them?
On the other hand, there are Hizashi Hyuga the deaths of Sarutobi, Minato Namikaze, and White Fang, and the annihilation of the Uchiha clan, etc.
When Minato Namikaze died, Sarutobi's wife also died... Sarutobi would rather peep at women's hot springs than remarry, so he wouldn't joke about his own wife. Therefore, we'll leave it at that.
Everything is fate and an accident.
Besides, what is the connection between Hizashi Hyuga's death and Hiruzen?
That was a decision made internally by the Hyuga Clan, right? While Sarutobi and the spoiled Kumogakure were arguing about the attack on the delegation and Hinata Hyuga's kidnapping, Hizashi Hyuga had already stepped forward and committed suicide, leaving a letter for his son Neji Hyuga, telling him that everything was Hizashi Hyuga's own decision, right?
Isn't this precisely why Hyuga himself didn't want this incident to cause the Fourth Shinobi World War?
What mistake did Hiruzen make this time?
The Kumogakure demanded that Hiruzen hand Hyuga the Hyuga main branch, but Hiruzen refused. The Kumogakure threatened to attack if he refused, Hiruzen was considering whether to fight.
Then, Hizashi Hyuga's suicide occurred less than half a day after the Kumogakure launched their attack.
Can your great nation's leader really decide whether or not to wage the Fourth Shinobi World War in just half a day?
It was basically the Hyuga Clan who made this decision for Hiruzen!
The Second Shinobi World War was started by Konoha, so was the Third Hokage really as cowardly as his critics claim?
As for Sakumo Hatake...
Hiruzen was also helpless about this matter.
Sakumo Hatake is already the head of the Anbu), he holds a high position and wields great power.
The new successor to Konoha is relatively young. Wouldn't it be reasonable for Sakumo Hatake before Hiruzen over, preventing Sakumo Hatake from being usurped by a group of smaller ninja clans like the dog-raising and drawing clans?
Aside from the Konoha Village, even the Hokage's assistant and Danzo's words were ignored by Sakumo Hatake, the head of the Anbu.
Aside from the Hokage, Sakumo Hatake was the highest-ranking official. The Third Hokage even gave Kakashi Hatake the right to inherit the Hokage position. Didn't that do Sakumo Hatake?
Moreover, Sakumo Hatake, being Anbu, actually managed to commit suicide...
France presidents have surrendered so many times, yet they haven't committed suicide!
As for the Uchiha clan...
Hiruzen has never felt he made a mistake in this regard!
Because the extermination of the Uchiha clan was what Hiruzen's teacher, had been looking forward to most Tobirama his life!
The massacre of the Uchiha!
There is no second one!