The old stoner Hiruzen Sarutobi, better known as the Third Hokage, had an incredible reputation as one of the most powerful ninjas that ever lived. The Professor also had the longest active tenure as Hokage... But is he really that powerful, or was that just talk? Was Hiruzen really a God of Shinobi?

Worse than the old man, he was, in fact, deserving of titles and honors. And we can still see this in classic Naruto, in his fight against Orochimaru and the Edo Tensei.

Not for the simple fact that he holds his own wave facing a Sannin and immortal versions of two of the most powerful ninjas of all time. Being a cachectic elderly.

More than that, he demonstrated a talent that was only seen very few times during the series: the domain of multiple transformations of nature.

Transforming chakra into an element of nature is something very difficult and only high-level ninja can do it. More of an overpowered nature and this ninja can certainly be considered a rare talent.

Hiruzen Sarutobi mastered the five basic transformations. And he knew all of Konoha's jutsus to use them in combat. In the blink of an eye, he could utilize fire, water, wind, earth or lightning to fight.

Even more impressive: along with Darui, he was the only ninja shown in the series using more than one nature at the same time. And unlike Darui, who used only water and lightning, Hiruzen was already able to use all natures simultaneously, as in the Fourth Ninja War.

Despite the databook saying that a lot of characters have access to more than one nature transformation, only Hiruzen has shown such true versatility.

Only Naruto in his Sage of Six Paths mode was capable of something similar, and that was after receiving the chakra of all the tailed beasts. While Hiruzen never had access to divine powers and was still mixing elements already with the advanced age.

If that isn't enough for Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, to deserve the title of God of Shinobi, nothing is.

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Naruto Shippuden was shown between the years 2007 and 2017, counting the second phase of the anime. In it, Naruto returns after two years of training with the mission to fight Akatsuki and rescue Sasuke from the clutches of Orochimaru.

In all, the anime has 500 episodes, ending the story of Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi and preparing the ground for the direct continuation of the story.

The anime can be followed in full on  Crunchyroll, along with classic Naruto and Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, its direct sequel.