Naruto has conquered the hearts of millions of fans worldwide. When the anime industry was slowly growing, Naruto made a massive leap towards worldwide popularity. While two-thirds of the Big Three of anime were making a name within the boundaries of Japan, Masashi Kishimoto’s name was sailing over the entire world. Naruto Uzumaki’s journey from a village outcast to a hero is quite commendable.
But when fans watched the anime for the first time, they could not control themselves from getting angry after seeing the treatment he received from the villagers. Even though the evil spirit of the Nine-Tails Fox was stored inside him, he was the son of the Fourth Hokage. He never got the respect he deserved. The fans believe it was all due to the third Hokage’s fault for not fulfilling the promise he made to Kushina.
Third Hokage Played A Major Role In Naruto’s Traumatic Childhood
The day Naruto Uzumaki was born, his parents were killed in a horrific accident. His father, Minato Namikaze, was the Fourth Hokage. He and his wife, Kushina Uzumaki, died protecting Konohagakure from the Nine-Tails’ attack. Before dying, Kushina handed Naruto to the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and asked him to take care of him, to which Hiruzen agreed.
But as the clock rolled over, Hiruzen was barely around Naruto and only paid him visits to hand him his allowance. To protect him, his parents gave him the Uzumaki name because naming him Namikaze would attract enemies towards him. But that did not do any justice to the boy. He was left with loneliness and an expired ration. If not for all this, Naruto Uzumaki could have led a normal life.
The Nine-Tails issue would be a problem, but a bit of sympathy from the village’s leader would have done the job. He did not even know who his parents were. Everyone feared him, and the Third Hokage did nothing to prevent it. He failed to keep the promise he made to Kushina. The scenario would have been different if he had named Naruto Namikaze. People would recognize him as the Hokage’s son.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was the worst Hokage. This is just a fraction of the ocean of evil he's committed. https://t.co/5T45JAI94B
— Master Thaaalith (@abudardapoet) March 19, 2024
What Minato did to protect his son turned out to be a major failure due to the worst Hokage in Konohagakure’s history. A few years back, a poll was hosted to consider the worst Hokage of all. Hiruzen Sarutobi acquired the highest votes and came out victorious. It shows that he was never liked by the fans for his treatment of Naruto, even though he had mastered all five elements.
Hiruzen Sarutobi Was The Artist of Multiple Failures In Naruto
Apart from his lack of sympathy towards Naruto Uzumaki, he lacked proper decisiveness and was bad at parenting. He was the master of the Legendary Sannin. Out of them, Orochimaru was the most talented one. But he was the one who became a rogue and tried to hurt Konohagakure multiple times.
Even though Hiruzen had the chance to kill him twice, he failed to do it since he had a connection with him. It was bad parenting on his part, and his lack of decisiveness had to be paid for by Konohagakure. He never tried to stop Danzo from his evil schemes and failed to stop the Uchiha massacre.
Moreover, Naruto Uzumaki was not the only one who was abandoned by him. The only survivor of the Uchiha massacre, Sasuke Uchiha, was also abandoned by him. Even though he promised Itachi Uchiha to take care of him, he barely did anything. As a result, Sasuke developed a fire of revenge within him. Even though he died saving the Konohagakure, his reign as a Hokage will always be the worst, especially after what he did to Naruto Uzumaki.
