How Strong is 3rd Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi? – Hey guys!. In this post, I’ll be discussing about How Strong is 3rd Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi?. We will attempt to determine how strong Hiruzen was most especially in his old age, since we don’t really know how powerful he was in his prime. So, let’s get started.
1. Ninjutsu
Hiruzen was a Ninjutsu Master, being the only shinobi shown to naturally use all 5 basic nature transformations proficiently and at a very high level unlike others who although are stated capable of the same have never really been shown using them. In the war, he successfully countered Tobi’s elemental attack made of all basic nature transformations with his own. He was also skilled in Fuinjutsu, Barrier Ninjutsu, Shurikenjutsu, could use the Summoning Technique, Shadow Clone Technique etc.
2. Genjutsu
Hiruzen possessed high level chakra control and although we never really saw him performing genjutsu, we saw him breaking out of one. He was unaffected by Tobirama’s Bringer of Darkness Technique which casts an illusion of darkness on the opponent, making them unable to see anything. Hiruzen however made use of his sense of smell to work around it.
3. Taijutsu
Hiruzen was said to have mastered all forms of shinobi combat and even in his old age, the statement was justified. He still showed incredible taijutsu skills in his battle against Orochimaru. He fought off the reanimations of Hashirama and Tobirama in closed quarters and he was also quite skilled in wielding his staff.
4. Speed
Hiruzen’s speed and reflexes had greatly deteriorated in his old age, but they were still very impressive. His reaction time was enough to successfully counter the majority of Orochimaru’s attacks and as an Edo was fast enough to counter the Buddha’s elemental attacks which was fired at high speeds with his own. He was fast enough to stop the reanimation of a Third Kage (Minato) by Orochimaru and his hand movements (time to create a hand seal) was shown to be one of the fastest in the series.
5. Strength
As with all physical aspects, Hiruzen’s strength was weakened by his aging body. However, he still possessed the necessary physical strength to wield Enma in its transformed state. Emma could transform into an extendable staff that was as hard as a diamond and quite heavy, yet Hiruzen despite his age was able to wield it with great proficiency although it is known that the weight became increasingly difficult to handle the older he became.
6. Intelligence
Hiruzen was a natural prodigy as a ninja, being one of the youngest to ever become a Kage. He was quite intelligent, being renowned as “The Professor” due to his unprecedented versatility in Ninjutsu and having personally created a variety of innovative techniques for his own personal usage and reputed for having advanced knowledge skill of all the techniques to ever exist within Konoha. He could deduce the mechanics of a technique simply by seeing the hand signs as seen when he could discern their attributes and limitations of the Truth Seeker Orbs in the war from only brief observation.
7. Defense
Being able to use all 5 basic nature transformations proficiently, Hiruzen had several options for offense and defense. He could directly use them to counter the techniques of others as already stated when he was able to intercept Tobi’s elemental attack and produce the respective counterbalancing natures. He could erect defensive walls; Earth Walls, Water Walls etc. to defend himself from incoming attacks.
8. Summoning
Hiruzen possessed a personal summon; Monkey King Enma which he could summon at any time to aid him in battle. Unlike most summons Enma was basically like a shinobi in his own right, being experienced, knowledgeable, physically very powerful and skilled in Taijutsu. He could battle independently of Hiruzen and he played a huge role during the battle against Orochimaru. Emma could transform into an extendable staff that was as hard as a diamond and capable of pushing Kurama out of Konoha.
9. Chakra
Hiruzen was said to have immense chakra but in his old age his chakra had greatly diminished to the point that splitting up his chakra with two shadow clones was a great risk for him. Still he had enough chakra reserves to continuously use his techniques against Orochimaru. This might have been largely due to his immense chakra control but a high amount of chakra was still needed to successfully do all that he did.
10. Stamina
As with chakra Hiruzen’s stamina was greatly affected by his age. His low stamina was the primary reason why he was unable to completely defeat Orochimaru. Still the fact that he was able to hold out against a shinobi much younger than him right till the end was very impressive. Even when he was already dying and completely out of chakra, he still managed to hold out until he successfully sealed off Orochimaru’s powers.
From the stats, we can conclude that the only thing that held Hiruzen back in his old age was his stamina and chakra reserves. For me, that would be the difference between in his old age and when he was in his prime. Let’s continue to determine how strong he was.
In Which Tier is Hiruzen Sarutobi?
Hiruzen’s feat against Orochimaru in part one was very impressive. Taking on his immensely powerful student as well as Two Reanimated Hokage. Of course the Reanimated Hokage were nowhere near their actual strength since Orochimaru hadn’t perfected the technique but still we can’t disregard it. Orochimaru himself was very powerful and to add Two Edo Kage wouldn’t have been easy for an old man. So, I will put him in the “High Kage Tier” and it is quite justified since he was still portrayed above most if not all the characters in part one. For his prime version, as I have already stated, I don’t think he was so much stronger. Infact he was wiser in his old age and more experienced and only lacked stamina and chakra. So, he would be at most a Tier Higher in his prime in my opinion.
Whom He Beats and Who Beats Him
Due to his versatility, I see Old Hiruzen beating any High Kage who does not have a tricky ability that would allow them to oneshot him or wear him out for example. Specifically, I can see him beating any version of Kakashi that isn’t DMS. I always view him as a better version of Kakashi. On the other hand, I don’t see him beating any Sannin at their strongest including Tsunade. She will simply wear him out and all she has to do is avoid getting caught by the Reaper Death Seal. I will not talk much about his prime version, but what I can say is, even in his prime, I don’t see him beating the Hokage; Hashirama, Minato, Tobirama but should beat Tsunade and Kakashi.
That is it from today’s post on How Strong is 3rd Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi?. If you do not agree with the points in the post and have some of your own opinions, share them with us in the comments section down below. Keep visiting Animesoulking for more information about Anime and Manga.
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