Friday, April 6, 2007

The Third Hokage

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Third Hokage
* Age: 69 (Deceased)
* Rank: Hokage
* Height: 163.1 cm
* Weight: 50.6 kg
* Birthday: February 8
* Blood Type: A
* Seiyu: Hidekatsu Shibata
* Voice Actor: Steve Kramer

The Third's surname is Sarutobi (猿飛). His given name is unknown. His surname, inspired by Sarutobi Sasuke, means "jumping like a monkey", further supported by his Summoning Technique which summons an ape. The First and Second Hokages also called him "Monkey" (猿, Saru?). Masashi Kishimoto originally planned for the Third Hokage to be a dog, but eventually dumped the idea for being "too weird".

Many aspects of his character are borrowed from the Chinese literature classic Journey to the West; the monkey he summons bears a very strong resemblance to Sun Wukong, the protagonist of Journey to the West, and Sarutobi's chosen weapon is identical to Monkey's magical staff.

The Third Hokage was a student of the First Hokage and Second Hokage, where he was teamed with Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane. Later in his life he became the sensei of Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade, who would go on to become known as the "Legendary Three Ninja" (伝説の三忍, Densetsu no Sannin?). The Third was the father of Asuma Sarutobi and the grandfather of Konohamaru. His favorite foods were dried black seaweed and sardines, with his least favorite being pickled vegetables. His favorite phrase was "the ultimate truth".

Soon after becoming his master, the Third came to appreciate Orochimaru's natural talent, often telling Jiraiya to be more like Orochimaru. He also came to recognize an inner malice and a lust for power within Orochimaru, and tried to steer his student away from these personality traits. After taking the position of Hokage and occupying it for many years, the Third started looking for a successor to the title. While he hoped to be able to give the position to Orochimaru, it became apparent to the Third that Orochimaru was only interested in the role of Hokage as a way to get power. As such, the Third passed on the role of Hokage to one of Jiraiya's former students, the Fourth Hokage.

After relinquishing his title, the Third began investigating a number of disappearances within Konoha. Upon reaching the source of the abductions, the Third found Orochimaru to be the one responsible. Learning that Orochimaru had kidnapped so many people so that he could experiment on them in the hopes of gaining immortality, the Third prepared to kill Orochimaru. Although Orochimaru gave him the opportunity, the Third hesitated due to his unwillingness to harm his favorite student, thus allowing Orochimaru to escape. Sometime after Orochimaru had left the village, the Fourth Hokage sacrificed his life to seal the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox within Naruto Uzumaki, forcing the Third to reassume the title of Hokage.

The Third was called The Professor (プロフェッサー, Purofessā?) due to his vast knowledge of jutsu, knowing numerous types of elemental attacks and purportedly all the jutsu within Konoha. The Third also seems to have had some sense of lecherousness in him, volunteering to help Jiraiya test his Transparent Escape Technique (invented for the purposes of voyeurism). He also fell victim to Naruto's Sexy Technique on more than one occasion, and even enjoyed talking with young girls in his spare time.

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