TheFlamingToilet
Member
This is my first post, just figured I'd mention that 
Hiruzen was the 3rd Hokage of the Leaf Village, the Professor that knew all jutsu in his village, and sensei to the legendary Sannin. You can't say he wasn't talented, as he was hand-picked by the legendary Tobirama Senju to take care of the village. His opponent for the position of Hokage was Danzo, who, as we know, gave Sasuke w/MS quite a hard time, even in his age. And Hiruzen was apparently more fit than him to be Hokage!
However, it's possible the term "God of Shinobi" would be overrating him a bit. We've only seen him in combat once, against Orochimaru. One battle can't really define a shinobi's abilities. Some argue that he solo'd the 1st and 2nd during this battle, however that is not entirely true. Though Madara's recent antics, we know Hashirama's power is far greater than what the 1st displayed during this fight. I think the barrier around the battle field limited him to using his jutsu on a small scale. While this could also be true for the 3rd, who might've been limited to use his Mud Wall and Fire Dragon Breath on a smaller scale, Hiruzen really couldn't counter anything his predecessors threw at him without resorting to a technique that kills him.
Then comes the age factor. Hiruzen during his battle with Oro could not wield the monkey-staff thing well. We can assume in his prime he was much more adept using Enma, but that doesn't change the fact that we still don't know much about the rest of his abilities. Hiruzen was very low on chakra in his age against Oro, and probably couldn't sufficiently use his supposed arsenal of jutsu from the Leaf (assuming his title of The Professor isn't an exaggeration.) However in his prime, he did not have much experience and probably did not know all the jutsu he was familiar with in his age. Even with less knowledge of jutsu, higher chakra levels and better physical versatility make Hiruzen in his youth a match for most current ninja. But weather it's a lack of knowledge of his skills or bad display of them by Kishi, I don't think Hiruzen is strong enough to be rendered as a God.
To sum up, Hiruzen was, in his prime and youth, a very powerful ninja. However, while revered by many, the label "God of Shinobi" seems like a bit of a stretch.
Hiruzen was the 3rd Hokage of the Leaf Village, the Professor that knew all jutsu in his village, and sensei to the legendary Sannin. You can't say he wasn't talented, as he was hand-picked by the legendary Tobirama Senju to take care of the village. His opponent for the position of Hokage was Danzo, who, as we know, gave Sasuke w/MS quite a hard time, even in his age. And Hiruzen was apparently more fit than him to be Hokage!
However, it's possible the term "God of Shinobi" would be overrating him a bit. We've only seen him in combat once, against Orochimaru. One battle can't really define a shinobi's abilities. Some argue that he solo'd the 1st and 2nd during this battle, however that is not entirely true. Though Madara's recent antics, we know Hashirama's power is far greater than what the 1st displayed during this fight. I think the barrier around the battle field limited him to using his jutsu on a small scale. While this could also be true for the 3rd, who might've been limited to use his Mud Wall and Fire Dragon Breath on a smaller scale, Hiruzen really couldn't counter anything his predecessors threw at him without resorting to a technique that kills him.
Then comes the age factor. Hiruzen during his battle with Oro could not wield the monkey-staff thing well. We can assume in his prime he was much more adept using Enma, but that doesn't change the fact that we still don't know much about the rest of his abilities. Hiruzen was very low on chakra in his age against Oro, and probably couldn't sufficiently use his supposed arsenal of jutsu from the Leaf (assuming his title of The Professor isn't an exaggeration.) However in his prime, he did not have much experience and probably did not know all the jutsu he was familiar with in his age. Even with less knowledge of jutsu, higher chakra levels and better physical versatility make Hiruzen in his youth a match for most current ninja. But weather it's a lack of knowledge of his skills or bad display of them by Kishi, I don't think Hiruzen is strong enough to be rendered as a God.
To sum up, Hiruzen was, in his prime and youth, a very powerful ninja. However, while revered by many, the label "God of Shinobi" seems like a bit of a stretch.
