Hiruzen Sarutobi

Son of Sasuke Sarutobi, Hiruzen belonged to one of the earliest clans to settle the new village of Konohagakure and trained under Tobirama Senju alongside Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, with extra tutoring from the First Hokage after his talent stood out. His gifts sparked a bitter, one-sided rivalry in his boyhood friend Danzō Shimura. When the Kinkaku Force cornered Tobirama's squad during the First Shinobi World War, Hiruzen offered to be the decoy, but the Second Hokage sacrificed himself instead and named Hiruzen his successor.

Hiruzen went on to teach a squad of Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade, pinning his greatest hopes on Orochimaru, and eventually passed the hat to Minato Namikaze. When the Nine-Tails broke loose and struck the village, Minato and Kushina died sealing the beast into their newborn, Naruto, and Hiruzen, restored to office, outlawed all talk of the fox and gave the boy his mother's surname to shield him from hatred and from Minato's enemies alike. His later years brought fresh grief: he uncovered Orochimaru's monstrous experiments but could not bring himself to execute his favorite student and let him flee, and Danzō, acting behind his back, ordered Itachi Uchiha to wipe out the Uchiha clan, after which Hiruzen quietly agreed to watch over young Sasuke.

His life ends during the Konoha Crush, when Orochimaru returns disguised as the Fourth Kazekage, walls him off with a barrier, and reincarnates the First and Second Hokage to torment him. Hiruzen seals away both former leaders and, unable to finish the same technique on Orochimaru, settles for sealing his pupil's arms before dying with a smile. He is later reincarnated by Orochimaru during the Fourth Shinobi World War, confirms the truth of the Uchiha massacre to Sasuke, and fights beside the other Hokage against Obito and Tobi until the Sage of the Six Paths returns him to the Pure Land, where he entrusts the future to Team 7.

At his core Hiruzen upholds the Will of Fire, the conviction that Konoha's people form one family and that the Hokage must safeguard them above all. He makes himself available in others' hours of need and weighs every decision toward the greatest good, a gentleness that earns him a reputation for softness the Konoha Council forever tries to stiffen, even as villagers and rival Kage alike prize his kindness. That same leniency lets Danzō run a shadow faction to handle the village's uglier tasks. He cherishes his three students most, so partial to Orochimaru that he can never sever the bond even after the man's betrayal, blaming his own teaching instead; brought back by reincarnation, he judges his life full of failures, faulting himself for Danzō's descent and wishing he had ruled with a firmer hand. For all his selflessness he is no saint: he shares Jiraiya's fondness for spying on women, counts chatting with young girls among his favorite pastimes, falls prey to Naruto's Sexy Technique more than once, and enjoys his pipe.

A born prodigy and the strongest shinobi his clan ever produced, Hiruzen was crowned God of Shinobi and, in his prime, the mightiest Kage alive and arguably the greatest Hokage in history. His versatility earned the epithet The Professor: he was said to command every technique Konoha had ever known, the many Hidden arts among them, could name an incoming jutsu from its hand seals alone, and devised numerous original methods of his own. He wielded all five elemental natures with equal mastery plus Yin and Yang, could answer an enemy's element with its counter, and prized Fire Release above all, none more feared than his Fire Dragon Flame Bullet.

His arsenal reached into weaponry and sealing as well. He favored shuriken large and small and multiplied them by the thousand through the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique, while his summon and partner Enma could harden into an adamantine staff that grew heavy on him only in old age. In fūinjutsu he could invoke the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, a suicidal soul-sealing rite he could redirect through a shadow clone, and he numbered among the few able to undo bindings as strong as the Five Elements Seal. Even diminished by age, he fended off Orochimaru together with the resurrected First and Second Hokage and single-handedly sealed all three threats away.