5 Mistakes Hiruzen Sarutobi Made When Becoming Hokage, Not Perfect!

As HokageHiruzen has devoted himself to Konoha.

Even though it’s not always perfect, there are five mistakes that Hiruzen made when he became Hokage.

What are they? Check out the list below.

1. Not taking good care of Naruto and Sasuke even though they promised Minato and Itachi

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Minato’s request before dying was only one, he wanted Naruto to be known as a hero who “sacrificed” himself to become Jinchuriki to Hiruzen.

Meanwhile, after Itachi massacred his own family and clan, he only had one request from Hiruzen, namely that Sasuke could grow well in Konoha, then instill hatred only towards him and that Sasuke had a fire spirit to protect Konoha.

In fact, Hiruzen didn’t take good care of Naruto and Sasuke.

The two of them were left alone and ostracized until Naruto wasbully and Sasuke actually hated Konoha, something that Itachi was very afraid of.

2. Too late to prevent Orochimaru’s experiment

Orochimaru. (Doc. Pierrot/Naruto Shippuden)

During Hiruzen’s tenure, Orochimaru could freely carry out experiments in Konoha.

The problem is not a safe experiment, he uses humans as his experiment.

Hiruzen realized very late that his student had gone down the wrong path and when he realized it, hundreds or maybe thousands of innocent people’s lives had become victims of Orochimaru.

3. Free Danzo as he pleases

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From Danzo, who created Anbu Root, it was clear that it was a mistake because he created two powerful secret agencies with the same system and goals in one village.

There are still many moments where Hiruzen is too liberating and too gentle with Danzo.

We know that there are many impacts, especially those related to Orochimaru and the Uchiha.

4. Didn’t find a solution for Uchiha

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When he found out that Uchiha wanted to stage a coup against Konoha and there would be a war between Konoha and Uchiha, Danzo advised Hiruzen to take firm action by killing Uchiha.

Hiruzen didn’t want to and he wanted to do it in a subtle way first.

The problem is that Hiruzen didn’t find a solution for this, there hasn’t even been any discussion between Konoha and Uchiha to find a middle way, Hiruzen seems a bit slow in this case.

Finally, there was a massacre of the Uchiha clan which was also masterminded by Danzo.

5. One of the causes of the Second and Third Ninja World Wars

various sources

In the era Hiruzen took office, there had already been two world wars.

The problem is, both of these wars started with Konoha, one of them.

In the Second Ninja World War, the initial war involved Konoha, Suna, Ame, and Iwa.

Meanwhile in the Third Ninja World War, the beginning of the war involved Konoha against Iwa.

Nagato even said that Hiruzen or Konoha were the first to trigger the Second Ninja World War.

So, those are some of Hiruzen Sarutobi’s mistakes when he became Hokage. What do you think?

First published January 20, 2020. Revised July 19, 2021, republished April 19, 2024.