Hiruzen Sarutobi was the Third Hokage of Konohagakure who was referred to as a "God of Shinobi," alongside the likes of Hagoromo Otsutsuki and Hashirama Senju. He was also the father of Asuma Sarutobi. Alongside being powerful enough to be hailed a shinobi god, he led his own team of Academy graduates, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade, who later on became known as the Sannin.
He was a firm believer of the Will of Fire, but despite his noble beliefs, notable achievements, and respected strength, Hiruzen Sarutobi managed to make some incredibly atrocious and unforgivable mistakes as the Third Hokage of Konoha.
10 He Allowed Root To Happen Despite How Unethical It Was
Some of the worst things Danzo ever did included the creation of Root, an extremely strict and secretive organization, where members were required to carry out missions that Danzo believed would benefit Konoha, even if the methods were wholly unethical.
Danzo trained members from a young age to lose their emotions and later on kill each other in a test of strength. He would then place a cursed seal on the successful candidates' tongues which would activate and paralyze their body if they spoke a word about Danzo or the organization. This was terrible, yet Hiruzen permitted this to happen.
9 He Allowed Children To Take Part In The Deadly Chunin Selection Exams
Though this technically is the fault of many, including their teachers, Hiruzen still allowed children to take part in the extremely dangerous Chunin Exams.
Harshirama and Madara originally built Konoha with the idea that children would no longer have to kill each other. But Hiruzen allowed a deadly exam, which has stages where killing isn't prohibited, to continuously take place.
8 He Never Disciplined His Grandson
At the very beginning of the series, fans were first introduced to Hiruzen's grandson, Konohamaru Sarutobi, when he ran into the room and interrupted a conversation between Hiruzen and Naruto. He attempted to defeat his grandfather but dramatically failed within seconds.
Hiruzen made no attempts to scold his rambunctious grandchild and consistently allowed him to act out, all while his poor teacher Ebisu had to pick up the pieces.
7 He Literally Let Danzo Do Whatever He Wanted
Danzo Shimura committed a long list of horrendous crimes, and despite being the Third Hokage, Hiruzen made minimal efforts to stop him.
Hiruzen and Danzo have a long history and first became acquainted during their genin days. Since they met, Danzo has attempted to rival Hiruzen in everything. When Hiruzen was appointed as the Third Hokage by Tobirama Senju, Danzo was bitter over his failure to become the leader of the village and held resentment toward Hiruzen for taking the title. But regardless, Hirzuen has consistently allowed Danzo to do whatever he wanted. Whether this was out of guilt for succeeding over him, or fear of causing internal conflict within the village, many Naruto fans have questioned why Hiruzen allowed Danzo to get away with so much.
6 He Didn't Acknowledge Asuma When He Needed It The Most
Hiruzen and his son Asuma, aka the teacher of Team 10, didn't see eye to eye on many things. When Asuma returned from a dangerous mission where he protected the Feudal Lord at the cost of many of his comrade's lives, Hizruen, who was at the Konoha gate when Asuma arrived home, said nothing and walked away. Asuma was devastated, and during a heated exchange with his father, he asked him why he couldn't acknowledge him even a little bit. Hiruzen said Asuma couldn't possibly understand the true significance of protecting the king as he is now.
Although Asuma finally understood his father's words before he died, Hizruen could have given more care than he did when his son needed it the most.
5 He Allowed Orochimaru To Escape
Allowing Orochimaru to escape after discovering that he was behind the mass kidnappings of Konoha proved to be one of the worst mistakes Hirzuen ever made. As he and two ANBU members arrived at Orochimaru's hideout, it was discovered that Orochimaru had used the kidnapped victims to conduct experiments that often turned deadly.
Hiruzen had the opportunity to stop him then. But instead, he allowed him to escape because he didn't have the heart to kill his student at the time despite his horrendous wrongdoings. This, later on, led to Orochimaru planning the destruction of Konoha.
4 He Didn't Stop The Massacre Of The Uchiha Clan
After Itachi Uchiha turned into a double agent and informed the village elders that the Uchiha Clan was planning Coup d'État to seize control of Konoha, Hirzuen suggested peaceful negotiations with the clan to avoid conflict. Danzo however, suggested that the only way to stop them was to slaughter them all, which led to the devastating massacre of the entire clan, Itachi bearing the burden of being responsible for it, and Sasuke following a disastrous path of revenge.
Despite the Konoha Council siding with Danzo, Hirzuen was the leader of the village and ultimately should have fought harder to prevent this tragedy and its ever-lasting effects.
3 He Was A Pushover & Let The Village Elders Run The Show
As well as failing to fight back when it came to the Uchiha's demise, Hizruen was often a pushover and struggled many times at putting his foot down with the village elder's obscene decisions and demands.
Hirzuen thrived for peace, but when it came to the overall political stance of the shinobi world, he wasn't firm enough and never seemed to have the strength to handle it.
2 He Allowed The Mistreatment Of Naruto
Why Hirzuen allowed Naruto to grow up suffering and alone remains a mystery. Before Minato died as a result of protecting the village from the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's Attack, he asked Hiruzen to protect his newborn son.
However, Hirzuen was unable to keep that promise, and Naruto spent the majority of his childhood alone and essentially abused by the villagers for being the Nine-tailed fox Jinchuriki. He didn't even know he was a Jinchūriki until just before he became a genin and had no idea his father was the Fourth Hokage. It's a miracle he didn't turn out evil.
1 He Became Hokage Again Despite Retiring
Minato Namikaze became the Fourth Hokage after Hirzuen's retirement. However, after Minato's tragic death, Hirzuen should have made efforts to appointed another Hokage, rather than returning to the job himself.
Considering he'd already served as the Third Hokage for well over 20 years before Minato replaced him, it was definitely time for someone else to shine.