Sarutobi Hiruzen

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Sarutobi Hiruzen (猿飞日斩)
Alias(es)	Third Hokage; “Professor of Ninjutsu” 156
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Konohagakure; later branded a traitor and leaves the village as a fugitive 168
Occupation/Role	Third Hokage of Konohagakure 144
Status	Alive; fugitive from Konohagakure 168
First Appearance	Chapter 144

Background / History

Following the Third Shinobi World War, Hiruzen was removed from office because of his wartime strategy. After the Fourth Hokage and his wife died, he resumed the Hokage position on the grounds that no suitable Fifth Hokage candidate existed 28.

Uchiha Huan attributes Konoha’s escalating persecution of the Uchiha Clan to Hiruzen and the Sarutobi, Shimura, Utatane, and Mito clans. Huan claims they seized Uchiha businesses, assigned the clan exceptionally lethal war missions, withheld compensation and promotions, and ultimately chose the clan’s destruction over reconciliation 150 151.

Huan further alleges that Hiruzen and the elders betrayed Uchiha Shisui after Shisui offered to use Kotoamatsukami to avert an Uchiha rebellion. According to Huan, this betrayal helped set Itachi on the path to the massacre 151.

Personality

Hiruzen maintains a calm, benevolent public manner, particularly toward Naruto, who calls him “Third Grandpa.” However, Naruto’s awakened sensory ability detects concealed malice from Hiruzen, leaving Naruto convinced that both Hiruzen and Huan are attempting to use him 144.

When faced with overwhelming force or the prospect of large-scale damage to Konoha, Hiruzen repeatedly chooses delay, compromise, or withdrawal. He orders Konoha’s shinobi to stand down after Uchiha Huan publicly kills Utatane Koharu, and later retreats despite Shinnosuke’s death and the ANBU force at his disposal 149 155.

As his authority collapses, his caution deteriorates into desperation. He employs Impure World Reincarnation, attempts to manipulate the resurrected dead, feigns the Reaper Death Seal to escape a losing battle, and ultimately kills civilians who might expose his hiding place 165 167 168.

Abilities & Skills

Fire and Wind Release

Hiruzen uses Fire Release to clear Orochimaru’s summoned snakes and Wind Release to disperse the resulting poisonous mist.

• Fire Release: Exploding Bomb Barrage — launches fireballs that detonate across an area. 164
• Wind Release: Great Wind Break — disperses poisonous mist produced by destroyed snakes. 164
• Is reputed to have mastered more than a thousand five-nature techniques, though the account notes he lacks a comparable record of decisive victories against peers. 156

Telescope Technique

Hiruzen uses a crystal ball-based surveillance technique to observe distant targets.

• Detects the chakra fluctuations of Kimimaro’s Spirit Rings from the Hokage’s Office. 154
• Watches Shinnosuke’s ANBU team enter the Forest of Death, but does not recall the team despite fearing for his son’s safety. 154

Summoning Technique: Enma

Hiruzen summons Enma, a powerful ape who can transform into the Monkey King Staff.

• The staff can rapidly extend to strike or sweep a wide area. 164
• Hiruzen relies on its broad reach to hit Orochimaru’s invisible Hidden Snakes. 164 165
• Enma is killed during the final battle against Orochimaru and the Hayate Clan. 167

Impure World Reincarnation

Unable to overcome Orochimaru and fearing Uchiha Huan’s greater threat, Hiruzen activates the forbidden technique.

• Reanimates Hashirama Senju, Tobirama Senju, Hatake Sakumo, and Moonlight Senba using prisoners as sacrifices. 158 165
• His version preserves the resurrected individuals’ consciousness and much of their former strength. 165
• Attempts to use the technique’s contract control over Sakumo and Senba, but Orochimaru releases them from his control. 165

Relationships

• Uchiha Huan — Principal enemy. Hiruzen seeks to contain or kill Huan, while Huan holds him responsible for Konoha’s persecution of the Uchiha and engineers his political downfall. 147 151 167 168
• Orochimaru — Former student turned lethal adversary. Their conflict culminates in Orochimaru overwhelming Hiruzen during the Konoha crisis. 164 165
• Sarutobi Shinnosuke — Son and ANBU leader. Hiruzen sends him with three elite ANBU to target Huan’s subordinates; Shinnosuke is captured and killed. 154 155
• Konohamaru Sarutobi — Grandson. Hiruzen attempts to protect him when Huan returns to Konoha, but cannot prevent Huan from severely injuring him. 148 149
• Naruto Uzumaki — Naruto regards him as “Third Grandpa.” Hiruzen becomes alarmed when Naruto learns about his parentage and later faces Kushina’s accusations over Naruto’s isolation. 144 164
• Tobirama Senju — Former teacher. After being reanimated, Tobirama concludes that Hiruzen must die for Konoha’s stability and leads the hunt for him. 165 168
• Shikaku Nara — Former adviser who abandons Hiruzen once his public legitimacy is destroyed, judging that his death in the arena would have benefited Konoha. 168
• Enma — Longtime summoning partner and combat ally, later killed during Hiruzen’s final stand. 164 167

Story Role / Major Arcs

Attempts to Contain Uchiha Huan

After learning that Naruto may know his origins, Hiruzen personally visits Naruto to determine how much Huan revealed 144. He later organizes an assassination operation against Huan before the Joint Chunin Exams; the attempt fails, and Orochimaru returns Teacher Chen’s corpse to the Hokage Building as a deliberate warning 147.

When Huan publicly executes Utatane Koharu and injures Konohamaru, Hiruzen considers the danger of war with the Land of Waves and orders Konoha’s shinobi to stand down. Huan recognizes this as another instance of Hiruzen accepting humiliation rather than acting decisively 149.

Forest of Death Retaliation

After observing Huan’s subordinates demonstrate Spirit Rings, Hiruzen sends Shinnosuke and three elite ANBU into the Forest of Death to kill them 154. All four are killed by Karin, Haku, and Kimimaro 155.

Enraged, Hiruzen mobilizes roughly three hundred ANBU toward the forest. Uchiha Huan and Orochimaru intercept him with six red Spirit Rings each and the Golden Tree’s healing power; convinced that a battle would kill him and devastate Konoha, Hiruzen withdraws under the pretext of preserving examination fairness 155 156.

Konoha Crush and Final Battle

During the Chunin Exam finals, Hiruzen suspects Huan has prepared a major operation but cannot identify it because Huan’s Flying Thunder God Technique evades ANBU surveillance 162. The ensuing crisis discredits Hiruzen before the village: civilians witness him slaughtering a section of the arena stands while he appears to have lost his mind, and Shukaku publicly accuses him of betrayal 163 164.

Hiruzen fights Orochimaru directly, using Enma and wide-area attacks against Hidden Snake. His aged body rapidly exhausts him, while Orochimaru’s Soul Core-enhanced recovery sustains the former student 164 165. In desperation, Hiruzen summons four historical figures through Impure World Reincarnation and attempts to frame Huan as Konoha’s traitor, but Huan and Orochimaru undermine his narrative and free Sakumo and Senba from his control 165.

Defection

Wounded and surrounded by Orochimaru and the Hayate Clan, Hiruzen threatens to use the Reaper Death Seal, then substitutes away and escapes when Huan and Orochimaru retreat from the perceived technique 167. His flight destroys what remains of his standing: Tobirama, Shikaku, the ninja clans, and Konoha’s civilians treat him as a traitor rather than their Hokage 168.

While hiding in a civilian home, Hiruzen kills a mother and child after the child attempts to report him. He then leaves Konoha, resolved to survive and restore his name 168.