How Did the First Hokage (Hashirama Senju) Die?
The history of Naruto is filled with a variety of different and interesting characters. Among them are, of course, the primary protagonists of the series, but also a lot of secondary characters that make up the lore of Naruto as envisioned by Masashi Kishimoto. Some of them have been villains, while others have been an integral part of the evolution of the world of shinobi. One such example is Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, and in this article, we are going to tell you just how he died in Naruto.
The exact cause of death of Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, remains unknown. He died at some point during the First Shinobi World War, but the exact reason was never revealed. Due to his regenerative abilities, it is unlikely that he was actually killed in battle, which means that he probably died from natural causes but we never received a confirmation of that fact.
The rest of this article will further elaborate on the circumstances of Hashirama Senju’s death, or, the little facts we actually know about it. Hashirama Senju is an important character for the history of Konohagakure and in this article, we are going to tell you everything you need to know about him.
How did Hashirama Senju die?
The story of Hashirama Senju’s death is tied to his life story, simply because we have to explain how he came to be for you to understand the circumstances of his death. Hashirama was born during a troubled time, when the various ninja clans were mercenaries selling their power to the highest bidders.
Despite his young age, Hashirama was already a powerful ninja who wanted only one thing: peace in order to prevent children from dying on the battlefield. This desire was not shared by his father, but Tobirama agreed, believing that the clans should create laws and respect them even if it meant not being able to avenge his own.
He met Madara Uchiwa, who was about the same age as him, at a ricochet game and they became friends. After the death of his brother Itama at the hands of the Uchiha, he chatted with his new friend and they began to imagine a system to protect the children, which later gave rise to the Ninja Academy and the Mission System.
They faced each other in many challenges, testing and showing each other their respective techniques to strengthen their confidence in each other. Hashirama’s father was made aware of all this and decided to set a trap for Madara. But true to his friendship, Hashirama warned Madara and the latter also warns Hashirama of the trap set by his father.
Madara eventually ended their friendship, as his brothers except Izuna had been killed by Senju, and they clashed several times on the battlefields afterward. The two friends who became rivals became the chiefs of their respective clan. This war of rivalry caused many losses on both sides and Hashirama therefore decided to propose an armistice to the Uchiha clan.
Madara as chief opposed this proposal, but the rest of his clan, weary of all these wars, ended up forcing him to accept this truce. The Uchiwa lost ground to the Senju and finally one day Izuna received a wound from Tobirama which turned out to be fatal. Madara then received his eyes and challenged Hashirama with his newfound power. The fight lasted a whole day before Madara was brought down.
Soon after, the two clans united and the then daimyo of the Land of Fire, who wished to pacify his territory, signed an agreement with them, laying the foundations for what would become the hidden ninja village of Konoha. . The other great nations followed the example of the Land of Fire and signed agreements with the ninja clans to create hidden villages and pacify their territories.
With this system, many conflicts ended and a period of peace that everyone hoped would last began. But this ideal soon cracked and there were internal struggles to obtain the title of Hokage. Hashirama wanted to propose Madara so that he could watch over the members of the village and consider them as his brothers but Tobirama and the ninjas opposed it and wanted to nominate the Hokage by democracy.
It was Hashirama who eventually became the village’s First Hokage and Madara saw it as a victory for the Senju and an ousting of power from the Uchiha. He told Hashirama what he had read and after wanting those of his clan to rebel, but who turned their backs on him, he left the village of Konoha despite Hashirama’s pleas for it. to hold onto. Probably around the same time, Hashirama married Mito Uzumaki, a powerful kunoichi from the Land of Wind.
Madara, who was determined to take revenge on the village of Konoha, attacked Hashirama again, helped this time by the destructive force of Kyûbi. But Hashirama, thanks to his special talents, managed to control the Nine-Tailed Fox and defeat Madara whom he believed to be dead in the fight. The place where this historic fight took place was later called the Valley of the End and statues representing the two men were erected there.
At that moment, he decided that the village would take precedence over all other ties and that if even someone from his own family tried to destroy it, he would kill him because the village was for him the beginning of the peace he longed for. It is to come to the aid of her husband, that during this fight, Mito Uzumaki sealed Kyûbi in her, thus becoming the first jinchûriki of the Nine-Tailed Demon-Fox.
In order to ensure peace and the balance of power between the villages, he took control of several biju and entrusted their powers to the newly formed ninja villages. But this did not prevent the outbreak of the First Great Ninja War. Although we do not know the circumstances, it was during this Great War that he died, not without having, before that, passed on to his younger brother, Tobirama Senju, the post of Second Hokage and for instilling the will of Fire in a new generation, including Hiruzen Sarutobi.
As you can see, the exact circumstances of his death remain a mystery. Hashirama Senju had great regenerative abilities and he was one of the most powerful shinobi of his time, which means that it was unlikely that he was killed, especially since he had time to pass on the title of Hokage to his brother, meaning that he probably just gave it up and died sometime later.
Will we ever find out how the First Hokage died?
Seeing how many years have passed since Hashirama Senju was a relevant character, we highly doubt that Kishimoto will ever truly address the circumstances of his death. Hashirama Senju had a relatively important role in the Naruto manga, but since Naruto has, in the meantime, been completed and the whole narrative shifted towards Boruto, Senju has become a character from the history books and nothing else.
This is why it is highly unlikely that Kishimoto would return to the circumstances of his death, which, in turn, means that it is going to remain – a mystery.
