Analysis: Who the manga says is the strongest Hokage...

[-Vegeta-]

zetsu said itachi was invincible

kishi said hiruzen was PRAISED as the strongest hokage
renown as the strongest hokage

famous for being the strongest hokage

this is the opinion of MANY characters.. not just one

Kishi writes the manga and it's him speaking through the characters. The characters don't have a mind of their own.

Fact is Kishi has said a lot of things that have been contradicted or plain out just aren't true.

Anyway I'm not getting into a debate about this. Hiruzen isn't the strongest hokage imo. Nothing is going to change my stance on that matter.

 

[warawar]

if he was that strong why didnt he stop tobi and the kubi that time

 

[cozolinofly]

If Kishi's word is God then Itachi's invincible, amaterasu is as hot as the sun, Jiraiya can take down Itachi and Kisame at the same time, Minato is the strongest shinobi in Naruto(he was called unparalleled, unrivaled, and unsurpassable and it never said only during his time), and etc. I'm sorry but Kishi has contradicted himself countless times in this manga, so I strongly disagree.

I just find it funny how some people want to take Hiruzen's hype into account, but discard others. This is exactly the reason Hiruzen is so overrated.

is not about that Kishi contradicted himself....but in part 1 of Naruto,Sarutobi was the strongest ninja cuz GOD were would be the fun if you would just say from the beginning who SO6P was and who hashi/madara was ..and etc .. *pointing at DBZ* ,...the number of OP characters that came chapter by chapter was unmatched ...THE LEGENDARY SAYAN .. a god among humans in the DBZ universe in Freeza Saga,and a punching bag in Cell saga:scorps: therefore there is no fun to just say the whole history from the first episode (or 100 ) ...I wouldnt be surprised if i would see that there was someone else even stronger than SO6P

 

[Yondaime Namikaze]

Hiruzen is not the strongest first of all the mention came from his time stating that among the kages (meaning those present he is the strongest) ... in his prime didnt tobirama make him run away from the 20 ninja from the cloud if he was really that strong then tobirama wouldn't doubt the fact that he wouldnt suvive the encounter .....
JK iruka isnt qualified to say whose strong i pick kabuto's word over his anytime
Minato .... at the very begin of the anime was praised as the strongest , then hiruzen then hashirama and the list goes on ... even in the anime there is debate about who is the strongest

 

[Yondaime Namikaze]

is not about that Kishi contradicted himself....but in part 1 of Naruto,Sarutobi was the strongest ninja cuz GOD were would be the fun if you would just say from the beginning who SO6P was and who hashi/madara was ..and etc .. *pointing at DBZ* ,...the number of OP characters that came chapter by chapter was unmatched ...THE LEGENDARY SAYAN .. a god among humans in the DBZ universe in Freeza Saga,and a punching bag in Cell saga:scorps: therefore there is no fun to just say the whole history from the first episode (or 100 ) ...I wouldnt be surprised if i would see that there was someone else even stronger than SO6P

Smart + rep

 

[warawar]

open thes page and you the stronger hokage is looking for minato to help hime
503/7 manga

 

[MadaraHashirama]

If Kishi's word is God then Itachi's invincible, amaterasu is as hot as the sun, Jiraiya can take down Itachi and Kisame at the same time, Minato is the strongest shinobi in Naruto(he was called unparalleled, unrivaled, and unsurpassable and it never said only during his time), and etc. I'm sorry but Kishi has contradicted himself countless times in this manga, so I strongly disagree.

I just find it funny how some people want to take Hiruzen's hype into account, but discard others. This is exactly the reason Hiruzen is so overrated.

+Rep
Simply everything summed up, take Naruto character's words too serious and you'll have threads like these.

 

[slashestranged]

hiruzen cant even beat orochimaru. no way he can beat anyone in the akatsuki

 

[Prince Charles]

If Kishi's word is God then Itachi's invincible, amaterasu is as hot as the sun, Jiraiya can take down Itachi and Kisame at the same time, Minato is the strongest shinobi in Naruto(he was called unparalleled, unrivaled, and unsurpassable and it never said only during his time), and etc. I'm sorry but Kishi has contradicted himself countless times in this manga, so I strongly disagree.

I just find it funny how some people want to take Hiruzen's hype into account, but discard others. This is exactly the reason Hiruzen is so overrated.

i have to agree with this.

 

[warawar]

open 503/7 manga
and you well see who is the stronger

 

[MadaraHashirama]

Let's look and see what the manga and databooks say about who the strongest hokage is.

Spoiler

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Quite clearly, we can see Iruka say that Hiruzen was the strongest Hokage. Clearly.

Spoiler

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Page 265: "The Third is called the strongest, even among the past Hokage, and he is even admired as the 'God of Shinobi'." (「三代目は歴代火影の中でも最強と� �� �� ��われ、„忍の神”と謳われたこ� � �も 。」, "Sandaime wa rekidai Hokage no naka demo saikyō to iware, 'Shinobi no Kami' to utawareta koto mo")

Hashirama:

Spoiler

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"Consider him a fairy tale like the Rikudo Sennin".
What does this mean? It means people could not believe there was a shinobi so powerful. It doesn't mean he was as strong as or anywhere near the So6P's level.
If Hiruzen was said to be the strongest Hokage (which was clearly and undeniably stated in the manga), it just means: So6P > Hiruzen > Hashirama. This goes nicely with his title as "God of Shinobi" but people always choose to ignore or disregard this title. He knew so many techniques, but was labelled "God of Shinobi". Why?

Kabuto then goes onto say:
"There aren't ninjas on the same level of the first Hokage Hashirama Senju anymore. "
What does this mean? Key word in this statement is 'ANYMORE' - Why is it the key word? Because it implies that there WERE people at his level - Namely, Hiruzen in his prime (who was clearly and undeniably stated in the manga as being the strongest hokage.

Here's a page people love to bring up:

Spoiler

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All this shows is that he was the strongest at that time. It doesn't take into account all the shinobi who came after that time, including Hiruzen. Unless you're suggesting people of that time could see into the future?

People seem to ignore the fact that Hiruzen defeated both the first and second Hokages at age 69, yonks after his prime years. So already, even if you have your suspicions about that fight, you were not watching the Hiruzen who was famed for his strength. Another point people try to use is that that fight didn't reflect the true powers of Hashirama and Tobirama (that they were nerfed), even though Orochimaru perfect Edo Tensei (the same level as Kabuto's). That is true. The power levels in part 1 & 2 were different so clearly it just didn't reflect Hiruzen's ability fairly either. Moreover, Hiruzen defeated them in his old age - He was strongest in his prime (which was clearly and undeniably stated in the manga).

'Enma commented on his battle with Orochimaru, saying that it was "miserable" compared to his prime, even though he had clearly been able to hold his own against Orochimaru and two former Hokage without losing his composure.'
So even though he defeated the previous two Hokages, his own summoning labelled him as POOR COMPARED TO HIS PRIME.

KEY POINT: People ASSUME that Kishi has changed his mind in regards to who is the strongest or the plot. Do you have Proof? Evidence? Anything? Or just your subjective, opinionated thoughts? Because when debating about these kind of things, objective FACTS are the only things which have any value.

Lets have a quick peak at the data book entries:

Spoiler

Even if you point out that Iruka could have some bias or that characters that have stated this don't know anything, Kishimoto himself says in every databook that Hiruzen in his prime was the most powerful Hokage. In the first databook alone, this is stated at least three times:

Page 117: "He is such a genius ninja that he was even called the 'Professor', and he still garners everyone's respect as the strongest Hokage in history." (「„プロフェッサー”と呼ばれたほ� �� ��の天才忍者であり、歴代最強の� �影 として皆の尊敬を集め続ける。」, "'Purofessā' to yobareta hodo no tensai ninja de ari, rekidai saikyō no Hokage toshite mina no sonkei o atsume tsuzukeru")

Page 119: "'Strongest in history', 'genius', et cetera, the words used to describe the Third Hokage are filled with respect." (「„歴代最強”„天才”など、三代� �� ��火影を形容する言葉は賞賛に満� �て いる。」, "'Rekidai saikyō' 'tensai' nado, Sandaime Hokage o keiyōsuru kotoba wa shōsan ni michite iru.")

Page 265: "The Third is called the strongest, even among the past Hokage, and he is even admired as the 'God of Shinobi'." (「三代目は歴代火影の中でも最強と� �� ��われ、„忍の神”と謳われたこ� �も 。」, "Sandaime wa rekidai Hokage no naka demo saikyō to iware, 'Shinobi no Kami' to utawareta koto mo")

Being old=/= being irrelevant. Both the 2nd AND the 3rd databook state the same thing.

These words are clear and impossible to misinterperet.

In the databook, he achieved 5's in Ninjutsu, Taijutsu and Genjutsu. FACT. All he is missing is speed, stamina, and strength which declined greatly with age, as mentioned by himself, orochimaru and Enma.

Some people have also got it in their head that Minato could be the strongest Hokage. Let's take a look:

Spoiler

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What's important here is that these words are not clear and are easily interpreted differently by lots of people. It is not clear as with Hiruzen who was clearly stated as the strongest Hokage. But let's take a look nonetheless. What does unrivalled mean? Look at it this way:

If you are the best basketball player in 2012, does that mean your rival is Michael Jordan (who retired in 2003)? No. Your rival will be another awsome basketball player who also plays in 2012. With Minato, does him being unrivalled suggest no shinobi ever were on his level? Or does it suggest no shinobi DURING his time were on his level? Prime Hiruzen was not during his time. As I said, this can be interpreted in many ways, but i'm sure 90% of sane people will realise that Minato was not stated as the strongest Hokage.

You can talk all day about 'Hiruzen can't beat him', 'Hiruzen can't counter this', but at the end of the day, these are just your opinion. we must look at FACTS in the databook and manga. You don't need to see Hiruzen in his prime if the manga states he was the strongest. Unless you believe the manga is wrong?
This isn't about 'Hiruzen (prime) can defeat Hashirama' or 'Hiruzen (prime) can defeat Itachi'. This is not a vs thread. It is to point out that, at this current moment in time, the author has clearly and undeniably hyped Hiruzen to be the strongest Hokage. You cannot argue with the author.

Let me just say that its Kishimoto himself that has given Hiruzen the reputation he has, through statements in the manga. And you can't claim that the creator of the Narutoverse is wrong, his word is law, he is god in that world. When Kishimoto says "he is this", no-one can say anything against it. There are very few characters in the whole manga that have been given a reputation even close to Hiruzens, by Kishimoto. You can argue all you like about 'I wanna see feats', but if the author himself has shown Hiruzen to be the strongest Hokage in the manga through word alone this cannot be argued with.​

I gave you a +rep for the effort, however I strongly disagree with you and I will never be convinced that Hiruzen is the strongest Hokage unless Kishi says it in a interview.
While you may base yourself on what Iruka said, or whatever people called him, I find it funny how a "God" is known as a person to have created things, like how Rikudo Sennin "created" Ninjutsu, like how "God" in real life created everything. Hiruzen is not worthy that title, you may believe Konohamaru is the strongest if Iruka says so but I won't believe it because I know that Rikudo Sennin is stronger then him, this may all be opinion but atleast I'm using my brain to think through everything and know what Konohamaru is capable of and what not, neither has it been said by Kishi himself that he is the strongest Hokage, Kabuto said he was the strongest Kage from the 5 meaning from the 5 Nations, otherwise there would've been 6 Hokages for it to make sense.
But whatever I don't want to get into it again. Hashirama or Minato are the strongest and greatest Hokages for what they have done, they all are true hero's and all did great things both of them, that's what matters to me the most.
And the most important rule, something I say all the time when there are threads like these, aslong as you don't know anything about both these guys it's better to STFU otherwise there will be flame wars.

 

[Forget Me Not]

Hashirama > Hiruzen.

Deal with it.

 

[Zlad]

You fail. Hashirama was the strongest kage.

 

[Itachi Minato]

plus rep for effort but i disagree fact is Kishi has ****ed up and contradicted himself many so hashi is the strongest btw people are comin on here with some really bullshit arguments eg akatsuki wise guy plz STFU

 

[warawar]

if hirzeni was strong why didnt he stop tobi and the kubi him self thes man is not that strong

 

[Nikes]

Coconut.

 

[Prince Charles]

Coconut.

lmfao what a guy +rep lolz

 

[Omnislash X SageMode]

Let's look and see what the manga and databooks say about who the strongest hokage is.

Spoiler

You must be registered for see images

Quite clearly, we can see Iruka say that Hiruzen was the strongest Hokage. Clearly.

Spoiler

You must be registered for see images

Page 265: "The Third is called the strongest, even among the past Hokage, and he is even admired as the 'God of Shinobi'." (「三代目は歴代火影の中でも最強と� �� �� ��われ、„忍の神”と謳われたこ� � �も 。」, "Sandaime wa rekidai Hokage no naka demo saikyō to iware, 'Shinobi no Kami' to utawareta koto mo")

Hashirama:

Spoiler

You must be registered for see images

"Consider him a fairy tale like the Rikudo Sennin".
What does this mean? It means people could not believe there was a shinobi so powerful. It doesn't mean he was as strong as or anywhere near the So6P's level.
If Hiruzen was said to be the strongest Hokage (which was clearly and undeniably stated in the manga), it just means: So6P > Hiruzen > Hashirama. This goes nicely with his title as "God of Shinobi" but people always choose to ignore or disregard this title. He knew so many techniques, but was labelled "God of Shinobi". Why?

Kabuto then goes onto say:
"There aren't ninjas on the same level of the first Hokage Hashirama Senju anymore. "
What does this mean? Key word in this statement is 'ANYMORE' - Why is it the key word? Because it implies that there WERE people at his level - Namely, Hiruzen in his prime (who was clearly and undeniably stated in the manga as being the strongest hokage.

Here's a page people love to bring up:

Spoiler

You must be registered for see images

All this shows is that he was the strongest at that time. It doesn't take into account all the shinobi who came after that time, including Hiruzen. Unless you're suggesting people of that time could see into the future?

People seem to ignore the fact that Hiruzen defeated both the first and second Hokages at age 69, yonks after his prime years. So already, even if you have your suspicions about that fight, you were not watching the Hiruzen who was famed for his strength. Another point people try to use is that that fight didn't reflect the true powers of Hashirama and Tobirama (that they were nerfed), even though Orochimaru perfect Edo Tensei (the same level as Kabuto's). That is true. The power levels in part 1 & 2 were different so clearly it just didn't reflect Hiruzen's ability fairly either. Moreover, Hiruzen defeated them in his old age - He was strongest in his prime (which was clearly and undeniably stated in the manga).

'Enma commented on his battle with Orochimaru, saying that it was "miserable" compared to his prime, even though he had clearly been able to hold his own against Orochimaru and two former Hokage without losing his composure.'
So even though he defeated the previous two Hokages, his own summoning labelled him as POOR COMPARED TO HIS PRIME.

KEY POINT: People ASSUME that Kishi has changed his mind in regards to who is the strongest or the plot. Do you have Proof? Evidence? Anything? Or just your subjective, opinionated thoughts? Because when debating about these kind of things, objective FACTS are the only things which have any value.

Lets have a quick peak at the data book entries:

Spoiler

Even if you point out that Iruka could have some bias or that characters that have stated this don't know anything, Kishimoto himself says in every databook that Hiruzen in his prime was the most powerful Hokage. In the first databook alone, this is stated at least three times:

Page 117: "He is such a genius ninja that he was even called the 'Professor', and he still garners everyone's respect as the strongest Hokage in history." (「„プロフェッサー”と呼ばれたほ� �� ��の天才忍者であり、歴代最強の� �影 として皆の尊敬を集め続ける。」, "'Purofessā' to yobareta hodo no tensai ninja de ari, rekidai saikyō no Hokage toshite mina no sonkei o atsume tsuzukeru")

Page 119: "'Strongest in history', 'genius', et cetera, the words used to describe the Third Hokage are filled with respect." (「„歴代最強”„天才”など、三代� �� ��火影を形容する言葉は賞賛に満� �て いる。」, "'Rekidai saikyō' 'tensai' nado, Sandaime Hokage o keiyōsuru kotoba wa shōsan ni michite iru.")

Page 265: "The Third is called the strongest, even among the past Hokage, and he is even admired as the 'God of Shinobi'." (「三代目は歴代火影の中でも最強と� �� ��われ、„忍の神”と謳われたこ� �も 。」, "Sandaime wa rekidai Hokage no naka demo saikyō to iware, 'Shinobi no Kami' to utawareta koto mo")

Being old=/= being irrelevant. Both the 2nd AND the 3rd databook state the same thing.

These words are clear and impossible to misinterperet.

In the databook, he achieved 5's in Ninjutsu, Taijutsu and Genjutsu. FACT. All he is missing is speed, stamina, and strength which declined greatly with age, as mentioned by himself, orochimaru and Enma.

Some people have also got it in their head that Minato could be the strongest Hokage. Let's take a look:

Spoiler

You must be registered for see images

What's important here is that these words are not clear and are easily interpreted differently by lots of people. It is not clear as with Hiruzen who was clearly stated as the strongest Hokage. But let's take a look nonetheless. What does unrivalled mean? Look at it this way:

If you are the best basketball player in 2012, does that mean your rival is Michael Jordan (who retired in 2003)? No. Your rival will be another awsome basketball player who also plays in 2012. With Minato, does him being unrivalled suggest no shinobi ever were on his level? Or does it suggest no shinobi DURING his time were on his level? Prime Hiruzen was not during his time. As I said, this can be interpreted in many ways, but i'm sure 90% of sane people will realise that Minato was not stated as the strongest Hokage.

You can talk all day about 'Hiruzen can't beat him', 'Hiruzen can't counter this', but at the end of the day, these are just your opinion. we must look at FACTS in the databook and manga. You don't need to see Hiruzen in his prime if the manga states he was the strongest. Unless you believe the manga is wrong?
This isn't about 'Hiruzen (prime) can defeat Hashirama' or 'Hiruzen (prime) can defeat Itachi'. This is not a vs thread. It is to point out that, at this current moment in time, the author has clearly and undeniably hyped Hiruzen to be the strongest Hokage. You cannot argue with the author.

Let me just say that its Kishimoto himself that has given Hiruzen the reputation he has, through statements in the manga. And you can't claim that the creator of the Narutoverse is wrong, his word is law, he is god in that world. When Kishimoto says "he is this", no-one can say anything against it. There are very few characters in the whole manga that have been given a reputation even close to Hiruzens, by Kishimoto. You can argue all you like about 'I wanna see feats', but if the author himself has shown Hiruzen to be the strongest Hokage in the manga through word alone this cannot be argued with.​

^ i am to agree with this because well....he is the creator and lol u cant have something as low as a fan trying to piece together narutoverse logic to "thier" reality...tho i am also up to a reasonable update to the databook after a couple of important chapters in the manga. however lol its unreasonable to call someone a god of a manga because he is tech. the creator, that is just over-exaggerated. he is a creator not on the level of a god tho but we get your point tho

Wow, I didn't expected to see such a fail from you Ryuu.. Seriously what the heck ? Kishi called not one and not two shinobies the strongest ones.. Also Kishi changes the titles every chapter, so.. Hiruzen was called the strongest Hokage when there weren't any Senju abilities or Uchiha. He was strongest in part 1, now he's not even in top 5 of kages.

^ i thought this was about his prime...in regards to the manga ppl now i still think he would still be strong maybe some others could compete.

you seem to have huge misconception about the essence of the data book

^its called the databook...idk what it couldnt be confused for.:shrug:

 

[itachixnamikaze]

Guys,We all know that the strongest is the 0 Hokage.His name is the rower.

 

[UzumakiNaruto20]

Let's look and see what the manga and databooks say about who the strongest hokage is.

Spoiler

You must be registered for see images

Quite clearly, we can see Iruka say that Hiruzen was the strongest Hokage. Clearly.

Spoiler

You must be registered for see images

Page 265: "The Third is called the strongest, even among the past Hokage, and he is even admired as the 'God of Shinobi'." (「三代目は歴代火影の中でも最強と� �� �� ��われ、„忍の神”と謳われたこ� � �も 。」, "Sandaime wa rekidai Hokage no naka demo saikyō to iware, 'Shinobi no Kami' to utawareta koto mo")

Hashirama:

Spoiler

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"Consider him a fairy tale like the Rikudo Sennin".
What does this mean? It means people could not believe there was a shinobi so powerful. It doesn't mean he was as strong as or anywhere near the So6P's level.
If Hiruzen was said to be the strongest Hokage (which was clearly and undeniably stated in the manga), it just means: So6P > Hiruzen > Hashirama. This goes nicely with his title as "God of Shinobi" but people always choose to ignore or disregard this title. He knew so many techniques, but was labelled "God of Shinobi". Why?

Kabuto then goes onto say:
"There aren't ninjas on the same level of the first Hokage Hashirama Senju anymore. "
What does this mean? Key word in this statement is 'ANYMORE' - Why is it the key word? Because it implies that there WERE people at his level - Namely, Hiruzen in his prime (who was clearly and undeniably stated in the manga as being the strongest hokage.

Here's a page people love to bring up:

Spoiler

You must be registered for see images

All this shows is that he was the strongest at that time. It doesn't take into account all the shinobi who came after that time, including Hiruzen. Unless you're suggesting people of that time could see into the future?

People seem to ignore the fact that Hiruzen defeated both the first and second Hokages at age 69, yonks after his prime years. So already, even if you have your suspicions about that fight, you were not watching the Hiruzen who was famed for his strength. Another point people try to use is that that fight didn't reflect the true powers of Hashirama and Tobirama (that they were nerfed), even though Orochimaru perfect Edo Tensei (the same level as Kabuto's). That is true. The power levels in part 1 & 2 were different so clearly it just didn't reflect Hiruzen's ability fairly either. Moreover, Hiruzen defeated them in his old age - He was strongest in his prime (which was clearly and undeniably stated in the manga).

'Enma commented on his battle with Orochimaru, saying that it was "miserable" compared to his prime, even though he had clearly been able to hold his own against Orochimaru and two former Hokage without losing his composure.'
So even though he defeated the previous two Hokages, his own summoning labelled him as POOR COMPARED TO HIS PRIME.

KEY POINT: People ASSUME that Kishi has changed his mind in regards to who is the strongest or the plot. Do you have Proof? Evidence? Anything? Or just your subjective, opinionated thoughts? Because when debating about these kind of things, objective FACTS are the only things which have any value.

Lets have a quick peak at the data book entries:

Spoiler

Even if you point out that Iruka could have some bias or that characters that have stated this don't know anything, Kishimoto himself says in every databook that Hiruzen in his prime was the most powerful Hokage. In the first databook alone, this is stated at least three times:

Page 117: "He is such a genius ninja that he was even called the 'Professor', and he still garners everyone's respect as the strongest Hokage in history." (「„プロフェッサー”と呼ばれたほ� �� ��の天才忍者であり、歴代最強の� �影 として皆の尊敬を集め続ける。」, "'Purofessā' to yobareta hodo no tensai ninja de ari, rekidai saikyō no Hokage toshite mina no sonkei o atsume tsuzukeru")

Page 119: "'Strongest in history', 'genius', et cetera, the words used to describe the Third Hokage are filled with respect." (「„歴代最強”„天才”など、三代� �� ��火影を形容する言葉は賞賛に満� �て いる。」, "'Rekidai saikyō' 'tensai' nado, Sandaime Hokage o keiyōsuru kotoba wa shōsan ni michite iru.")

Page 265: "The Third is called the strongest, even among the past Hokage, and he is even admired as the 'God of Shinobi'." (「三代目は歴代火影の中でも最強と� �� ��われ、„忍の神”と謳われたこ� �も 。」, "Sandaime wa rekidai Hokage no naka demo saikyō to iware, 'Shinobi no Kami' to utawareta koto mo")

Being old=/= being irrelevant. Both the 2nd AND the 3rd databook state the same thing.

These words are clear and impossible to misinterperet.

In the databook, he achieved 5's in Ninjutsu, Taijutsu and Genjutsu. FACT. All he is missing is speed, stamina, and strength which declined greatly with age, as mentioned by himself, orochimaru and Enma.

Some people have also got it in their head that Minato could be the strongest Hokage. Let's take a look:

Spoiler

You must be registered for see images

What's important here is that these words are not clear and are easily interpreted differently by lots of people. It is not clear as with Hiruzen who was clearly stated as the strongest Hokage. But let's take a look nonetheless. What does unrivalled mean? Look at it this way:

If you are the best basketball player in 2012, does that mean your rival is Michael Jordan (who retired in 2003)? No. Your rival will be another awsome basketball player who also plays in 2012. With Minato, does him being unrivalled suggest no shinobi ever were on his level? Or does it suggest no shinobi DURING his time were on his level? Prime Hiruzen was not during his time. As I said, this can be interpreted in many ways, but i'm sure 90% of sane people will realise that Minato was not stated as the strongest Hokage.

You can talk all day about 'Hiruzen can't beat him', 'Hiruzen can't counter this', but at the end of the day, these are just your opinion. we must look at FACTS in the databook and manga. You don't need to see Hiruzen in his prime if the manga states he was the strongest. Unless you believe the manga is wrong?
This isn't about 'Hiruzen (prime) can defeat Hashirama' or 'Hiruzen (prime) can defeat Itachi'. This is not a vs thread. It is to point out that, at this current moment in time, the author has clearly and undeniably hyped Hiruzen to be the strongest Hokage. You cannot argue with the author.

Let me just say that its Kishimoto himself that has given Hiruzen the reputation he has, through statements in the manga. And you can't claim that the creator of the Narutoverse is wrong, his word is law, he is god in that world. When Kishimoto says "he is this", no-one can say anything against it. There are very few characters in the whole manga that have been given a reputation even close to Hiruzens, by Kishimoto. You can argue all you like about 'I wanna see feats', but if the author himself has shown Hiruzen to be the strongest Hokage in the manga through word alone this cannot be argued with.​

Hiruzen, Minato, and Hashirama have all been hyped to be the strongest Kage.

Don't forget that Minato has been hyped as recently as Naruto's fight with A. A said that he thought that Minato was a shinobi who would never be surpassed. And that was while Hiruzen was still alive(meaning Minato's prime). Kakashi also hyped Minato earlier in the manga.

I think it is impossible to actually compare the three given that the plot never gave them any significant screen time in their primes. And unless Kishi himself makes a statement or he can somehow get the three of them in the war(I wouldn't be suprised) we will all just be speculating.

Now if your just talking about feats then they've all pulled some amazing stunts. Hashi making the village, Minato taking out armies, Hiruzen taking on two edo kages + Oro.

But one on one fighting we don't know.