360NoScopeKamui
Member
It's human nature to be more impressed with things that happened more recently, so I don't blame people for having a "What have you done for me lately?" attitude regarding shinobi abilities. However, even though the Sandaime Hokage has been dead for over 450 chapters, I think he still deserves to rate, in his prime, as one of the greatest shinobi to have ever lived in the Naruto universe. A few "Top 10" lists recently made have completely excluded Hiruzen, even as an honorable mention.
Evidence for his high placement:
* Was called both the "God of Shinobi" and "The Professor" by his peers for his mastery of jutsu.
* As an old man, was still able to fight off Orochimaru, Tobirama and Hashirama at the same time while using a significant amount of chakra on the Dead Demon Seal.
* Even though he was still incredibly strong during that battle, his personal summon Enma states that he was "miserable" when compared to his prime.
* Kabuto said that even at his death he was said to be the strongest living Kage. IIRC, the other living Kage at the time were Yagura, A, Onoki, and Gaara's Dad (well, Gaara's dad was actually dead, but Kabuto was including him in the list), all of whom are incredibly powerful shinobi.
* Was said to be the strongest Hokage ever. Some may debate this, and may argue that the people who rated him as such weren't aware of Hashirama's full range of abilities.
* Trained the legendary Sannin, who all became top-tier shinobi. Of course, he was short-sighted when it came to Orochimaru's growing evil nature, but that's a personal weakness, and doesn't pertain to his power in battle.
Evidence for his high placement:
* Was called both the "God of Shinobi" and "The Professor" by his peers for his mastery of jutsu.
* As an old man, was still able to fight off Orochimaru, Tobirama and Hashirama at the same time while using a significant amount of chakra on the Dead Demon Seal.
* Even though he was still incredibly strong during that battle, his personal summon Enma states that he was "miserable" when compared to his prime.
* Kabuto said that even at his death he was said to be the strongest living Kage. IIRC, the other living Kage at the time were Yagura, A, Onoki, and Gaara's Dad (well, Gaara's dad was actually dead, but Kabuto was including him in the list), all of whom are incredibly powerful shinobi.
* Was said to be the strongest Hokage ever. Some may debate this, and may argue that the people who rated him as such weren't aware of Hashirama's full range of abilities.
* Trained the legendary Sannin, who all became top-tier shinobi. Of course, he was short-sighted when it came to Orochimaru's growing evil nature, but that's a personal weakness, and doesn't pertain to his power in battle.
