Third Hokage

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Sarutobi Hiruzen 17
Alias(es)	Third Hokage (三代目火影); Professor of Ninjutsu; God of Ninjutsu; “Monkey,” used by rival Kage 30 79 100 161
Gender	Male 17
Affiliation	Konohagakure, Land of Fire 53 122
Occupation/Role	Third Hokage; military commander; teacher of Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade; continues administrative work after Hiroki succeeds him 17 62 170 186
Status	Alive; former Hokage following Sawada Hiroki’s succession 182 200 204
First Appearance	Earliest documented appearance in the supplied passages: Chapter 12, “Brain Overload Attack!” 12

Background / History

Hiruzen personally witnessed the strength of the First and Second Hokages and studied under the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama. When Tobirama was ambushed, Hiruzen was the first to volunteer to hold off the enemy—a decision associated with his selection as Hokage. Before becoming known for his conciliatory leadership, he was an elite jōnin who had killed countless enemies 60 86 145.

He later became the teacher of Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade. As Hokage, he relies on these direct disciples for sensitive military and political assignments, including reconnaissance, the operation against Hanzo, and the restructuring of Amegakure 45 62 80.

Appearance

Hiruzen is depicted as an aging man with a wrinkled face and eyes that can appear cloudy while remaining sharp 62 200.

• Pipe: Frequently held between his teeth, including during meetings and battlefield confrontations 53 79 141 182.
• Hokage haori: Worn when he intercepts Ōnoki’s attack on Konoha 121.
• Battle armor: Worn during his earlier confrontation with Ōnoki 79.
• Adamantine Staff: A prominent part of his combat appearance, formed by Enma 79 100.

Personality

Hiruzen is protective of young ninja but willing to expose them to danger when he believes the village’s future requires it. He hopes all three members of Orochimaru’s young team will survive their border mission, yet later proposes using ten-year-old Hiroki as the decisive element against Hanzo. Rather than simply ordering Hiroki to participate, he gives him time to prepare and leaves the choice to him 45 61.

His kindness coexists with political calculation. He recognizes that Hiroki’s unknown abilities offer an advantage that will diminish once enemies develop countermeasures. He also uses an archive appointment to conceal Hiroki’s identity and turns Hanzo’s capture into an opportunity to secure control over the Land of Rain 61 80 86.

Although he usually maintains harmony, Hiruzen can assert his authority ruthlessly. When jōnin obstruct his choice of summit guards, he orders Hiroki to incapacitate them. His willingness to defend Hiroki also brings him into conflict with longtime advisors Koharu and Homura 112 136 145.

His confidence in Hiroki is not unconditional. He privately fears that the boy may soon surpass him and that ambitions beyond becoming Hokage could drag Konoha into disaster. After retiring, he struggles with Hiroki’s harsher policies, particularly the elimination of the old noble forces, but recognizes that he no longer holds the office’s authority 139 200.

Abilities & Skills

Broad Ninjutsu Mastery

Hiruzen is known as the Professor of Ninjutsu, having mastered almost every jutsu in Konoha 30 85.

• Uses Fire, Water, Earth, Lightning, and Wind Release in coordinated attacks 100 121.
• Employs the Multi Shadow Clone Technique to deploy several techniques simultaneously; seven clones appear during the Chūnin Exams battle 100.
• Uses Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique to pressure Ōnoki while elemental attacks target the Third Kazekage 100.
• Despite his extensive knowledge, he cannot claim to use the Flying Thunder God Technique with ease 85.

Five Elements Great Barrage

Also rendered as Five-Style Great Barrage, this combined ninjutsu brings five chakra attributes together into a destructive torrent 100 121 158.

• Combines Fire Dragon Flame Bullet, Water Dragon Bullet, Earth Dragon Bullet, Roaring Thunder, and Cyclone during the Chūnin Exams confrontation 100.
• Uses a variant with Flame Bullet to counter Ōnoki’s Dust Release above Konoha 121.
• Attacks Madara’s Susanoo with the barrage, but Madara responds with a technique-absorption seal 158.

Elemental Offense and Defense

Hiruzen switches techniques rapidly to answer changing battlefield conditions 149 161.

• Wind Release: Great Breakthrough: Attempts to disperse the summit battlefield’s fog; the Preta Path absorbs the technique 149.
• Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet: Produces a sea of fire more than a hundred meters across when clashing with Madara’s Majestic Destroyer Flame 161.
• Water Release: Water Wall: Forms new hand seals immediately after his Fire Release to prepare a defensive response 161.
• Summoning: Triple Rashomon: Attempts to stop the Four-Tails’ Tailed Beast Bomb, without certainty that the defense will hold. Kurama ultimately stops the attack 100.

Taijutsu and Enma Cooperation

Hiruzen combines top-tier taijutsu with Enma’s size-changing staff form 100 123.

• Holds his ground against the Third Kazekage and Ōnoki simultaneously at close range, with Danzō providing support 100.
• Sends the Four-Tails a considerable distance away with the Adamantine Staff at the beginning of the Chūnin Exams battle 100.
• Uses Adamantine Prison Wall while attempting to prevent the Third Kazekage’s escape 100.
• Expands the staff to generate a physical gale that clears fog after ninjutsu-based wind is absorbed 149.

Tactical Analysis and Command

Hiruzen treats intelligence and unfamiliar abilities as decisive advantages in ninja warfare 61.

• Builds the Hanzo operation around Hiroki’s concealed activation conditions, contrasting them with the well-known techniques of the Yamanaka and Nara clans 61.
• Identifies the summit attackers’ shared vision and warns the other combatants about their coordinated attacks 149.
• Orders allied troops to withdraw when Madara begins replenishing himself by extracting chakra from Kirigakure ninja 161.
• Pursues cooperation with former enemies when Madara’s growing power makes resistance by any single nation impractical 150 152.

Limitations

• No flight: Cannot pursue Ōnoki when the Tsuchikage escapes through the air 121.
• Stamina expenditure: Is visibly exhausted after prolonged combat with Ōnoki and after defending Konoha during the Chūnin Exams 79 100.
• Range disadvantage: Attributes his success against two Kage partly to close quarters; he is uncertain of victory if they gain distance 100.
• Village-defense obligations: Cannot abandon Konoha to chase Ōnoki while he is its only Kage-level defender present 121.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Enma / Adamantine Staff — Enma transforms into Hiruzen’s staff, which changes size and supports striking, battlefield control, and defensive techniques 79 100 149.
• Pipe — His habitual smoking accessory; it slips unnoticed to the floor when he receives especially startling reports about Hiroki 60 70.
• Battle armor — Used in his confrontation with Ōnoki 79.
• Crystal ball — Displays the guarded spiral-towered mansion during his discussion of the Nine-Tails crisis with Hiroki 84.

Relationships

• Senju Tobirama — Teacher and predecessor. Hiruzen believes Hiroki is connected to the Second Hokage’s research legacy and grants him access to Tobirama’s secret laboratory 45 85 86.
• Senju Hashirama — Revered First Hokage whose power Hiruzen witnessed firsthand. Hiruzen doubts that human experimentation can easily reproduce that strength 60 86.
• Sawada Hiroki — Protected prodigy, strategic asset, and eventual successor. Hiruzen arranges his training, defends him against advisors, involves him in diplomacy, and supports his appointment as Fourth Hokage 17 70 136 162 170.
• Shimura Danzō — Longtime friend, political rival, and military collaborator. They disagree over training, risk, and expansion but cooperate in Konoha’s defense and Hiroki’s succession 17 61 100 170.
• Orochimaru — Direct disciple entrusted with Hiroki and Kushina’s instruction, border reconnaissance, and implementation of sensitive orders 17 45 80.
• Jiraiya — Direct disciple assigned to mentor Minato and later establish a pro-Konoha proxy in Amegakure 17 80.
• Tsunade — Direct disciple who challenges his decision to deploy Hiroki against Hanzo. Their wager makes Hiruzen’s continued tenure conditional on Hiroki exceeding her expectations within a month 62.
• Namikaze Minato — Young ninja whose Flying Thunder God proficiency Hiruzen recognizes. Selected alongside Hiroki for the Shadow Guard Squad and relied upon during the summit retreat 141 145 149.
• Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura — Old companions and advisors whose distrust of Hiroki clashes with Hiruzen’s judgment. He warns Hiroki of their visit and asks him not to kill them 112 136.
• Ōnoki — Rival Kage and repeated battlefield opponent who later cooperates with Hiruzen against Madara 79 100 121 152 161.
• Uzumaki Mito and Uzumaki Kushina — Central figures in his handling of the Nine-Tails succession. He remains concerned about Kushina’s safety when Hiroki attempts to secure full control of the beast 84 106 202.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Genin Mentorship and Border Escalation

Hiruzen initially proposes assigning Hiroki, Minato, and Kushina to Jiraiya. After Jiraiya refuses, Minato remains with him while Hiroki and Kushina await Orochimaru’s return. Hiruzen’s decision reflects both the students’ specialized needs and his reluctance to entrust them to unsuitable or politically unreliable instructors 17.

He later sends Orochimaru’s Team 7 to investigate Amegakure’s border activity. As the threat escalates, he recalls Jiraiya and Tsunade, orders Danzō to retrieve Orochimaru’s group personally, and undertakes to confront Ōnoki himself 45 53.

The Hanzo Operation

Evidence of Kakuzu’s capture shocks Hiruzen, but he accepts the report once presented with concrete proof. He briefly considers studying Earth Grudge Fear, then rejects its routine use because of its monstrous nature and instead focuses on Hiroki’s future 60.

Hiruzen proposes using Hiroki’s unfamiliar mental attack to create an opening against Hanzo. His preparations include training, armor, antidotes, mobility support, and elite backup; promised rewards include jōnin promotion, three techniques from the Scroll of Seals, and a bodyguard position. After Hiroki defeats Tsunade, Hiruzen gathers available jōnin to demonstrate techniques for him, though clan secrecy obstructs the effort 61 70.

Following Hanzo’s capture, Hiruzen forbids transporting him to Konoha. He orders on-site detention and interrogation, a permanent Konoha garrison, and the replacement of Amegakure’s independent ninja structure with arrangements controlled by Konoha. Sakumo receives a separate top-secret mission to escort Hiroki home 80.

Forbidden Techniques and the Nine-Tails Succession

Hiruzen grants Hiroki access to the Scroll of Seals and takes him to Tobirama’s secret laboratory. Hiroki chooses Bringer-of-Darkness, Flying Thunder God, and Eight Inner Gates. Hiruzen then tests his knowledge of Hashirama’s cells and assigns him an archive librarian position to keep his identity confidential 85 86.

He also brings Hiroki into preparations surrounding Mito’s approaching death and the Nine-Tails transfer to Kushina 84 86 106.

Chūnin Exams Attack and World War

During the attack on Konoha’s Chūnin Exams, Hiruzen fights the Third Kazekage and Ōnoki with Danzō’s support. The Third Kazekage dies, while Ōnoki escapes. Hiruzen declines to pursue him because of the threat further combat poses to the village 100.

When Danzō proposes annexing the Land of Wind, Hiruzen warns that other villages may retaliate. That concern is followed by a wider crisis: Earth and Lightning declare war, Pakura attacks another border, and Kirigakure disrupts the coastline. At the emergency meeting, Hiruzen publicly places Hiroki at the front as his likely successor and accepts his choice to deploy to the Land of Water 101 122 123.

Madara Crisis and Kage Cooperation

After Hiroki returns severely wounded, Hiruzen restricts hospital access and suspects a deliberate campaign against both the boy and Konoha. He offers Hiroki the choice of remaining in the village or attending the Kage Summit, requiring him to master Flying Thunder God within three days if he chooses to accompany him 133 138.

At the summit, Hiruzen confirms Madara’s involvement in recent attacks and fights the modified Six Paths of Pain. Following the retreat and Sunagakure’s surrender, he pushes for a new meeting and cooperation with Ōnoki and the Third Raikage 146 149 150 152.

He subsequently fights alongside those Kage against Madara. After Madara’s death, Hiruzen asks Hiroki what he intends to do next and begins involving him directly in postwar negotiations 158 161 162.

Retirement and the Fourth Hokage’s Government

Hiruzen announces his resignation because the era’s demands have exceeded what he believes he can control. He names Hiroki as successor, rejects further debate over the candidate, and promises a gradual transfer of duties rather than immediate withdrawal from village management 170.

He supports Hiroki’s forceful approach at the later succession meeting and continues handling paperwork after the inauguration while Hiroki remains occupied in Orochimaru’s laboratory 182 186.

His reduced authority becomes explicit after Hiroki eliminates Senju Tokuma and the remaining old noble forces. Hiruzen suppresses his objection that the purge violates the Will of Fire, while Danzō taunts him for no longer being Hokage. He remains involved in discussions of Kushina’s Nine-Tails control and the reforms her new combat strength makes possible 200 202 204.

Notable Quotes

“I hope—they can all return alive.” 45

“Tsunade, never underestimate any ninja, especially him.” 62

“Why must you force a ten-year-old child to despise you!?” 136

“We still have many tasks that will gradually be handed over to the next Hokage. I will also do everything I can to assist the new Hokage in completing his duties, until he no longer requires my help.” 170