Hiruzen Sarutobi

A wise leader who loved his village enough to become its greatest shield and its final sacrifice.

Hiruzen Sarutobi is the Third Hokage of Konohagakure, the village hidden in the leaves. He is a character from the Naruto manga and anime series created by Masashi Kishimoto.

Quick Facts

Title

Third Hokage

Affiliation

Konohagakure

Notable students

Jiraiya
Orochimaru
Tsunade

Lore & Background

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, is the longest-ruling Hokage of Konohagakure; when the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, died, he had to take up the post again. He prefers peaceful discussion to the more militaristic proposals of his advisers. When his favourite student, Orochimaru, invades Konoha years later, Hiruzen fights him to make up for never having brought him to justice. He cannot seal Orochimaru away with the forbidden Death Seal, but by sealing his arms he takes away Orochimaru's ability to use jutsu, which ends the invasion, and Hiruzen dies happy.

Reader's Guide

In his prime he was admired as the God of Shinobi and known as "The Professor", because he was said to know every jutsu in Konohagakure. With the Summoning Jutsu he calls the Monkey King Enma, who takes the form of a long rod when not summoned. He taught Jiraiya, Orochimaru and Tsunade, and he could never bring himself to see Orochimaru's evil. From the start he is one of the few who treat Naruto Uzumaki as a person rather than merely the host of Kurama. In the Fourth Great Ninja War, Orochimaru frees his soul from the Death Seal and reanimates him so that Sasuke can confirm what happened in the Uchiha Clan Massacre; Hiruzen then fights Obito and Madara beside the other resurrected Hokage and is put to rest after Kaguya's defeat. Hidekatsu Shibata voices him in Japanese and Steve Kramer in English.