I hate saying this but Hiruzen failed Naruto

The beauty of Naruto lies in how evergreen it is. The story that began in the late 90s saw its end in the mid-2010s, and after that, the story continued with the progeny of the main characters. The first sequel, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, had the children of the Naruto characters; its sequel, Two Blue Vortex, showed the children as teenagers and young adults.

While the sequels are ongoing, many fans like revisiting the original story, especially its characters. These fans throw questions on character motivations and the plot. Many fans love revisiting the relationship between Naruto and other characters.

In the beginning, the titular character was heavily disliked in Konoha, but some characters loved him. One of them was Hiruzen, Konoha’s third Hokage, who was supposed to take care of the Uzumaki. However, Hiruzen did a poor job in taking care of Naruto, as the ninja was neglected in more ways than one. Keep reading to find out how Hiruzen failed Naruto.

Disclaimer: This article reflects the author’s views and may contain spoilers.

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How Hiruzen failed at raising Naruto

Hiruzen never understood the main character despite watching him keenly (Image via Studio Pierrot)

When viewers first watch Naruto, they are introduced to an orphan who is treated as a social pariah. His classmates constantly insult him, and the villagers look at him with disdain. It is only a handful of characters that treat him right. As viewers continue with the series, the fear becomes understandable.

The protagonist is a vessel for the Nine Tails, and that tailed beast was responsible for a lot of destruction in Konoha. Due to that destruction, Naruto, who was the jinchuriki, was a victim of that hate. Many feared that the Uzumaki was a time bomb, and he could lose control any minute. When the actions of the villagers begin to look stupid is when viewers find out that the Uzumaki is the son of the Fourth Hokage.

Minato sacrificed his life for the sake of the leaf, and his son was treated like an insect. The people who knew about this and could have taken better steps were Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Hiruzen. Jiraiya and Kakashi couldn’t be present, but Hiruzen had no excuse. While he provided food and shelter, the Uzumaki’s emotional needs were never met.

He is also supposed to look after Sasuke (Image via Studio Pierrot)

This emotional emptiness led the Uzumaki to make many rash decisions. It also led him to dangerous attention-seeking behaviours. The biggest proof of Hiruzen’s failure in Uzumaki’s life was reflected in his ineptitude in Ninjutsu.

Naruto was so bad at controlling ninjutsu that he kept on failing at the ninja academy. Many called the Uzumaki a failure, but there was an underlying issue. The sealing jutsu that was placed on the Uzumaki prevented him from controlling chakra. This means he could not do the most basic jutsu.

This condition was later discovered by Jiraiya, but for so many years, a child kept on being emotionally bullied for things that were not in his control. Hiruzen is a learned ninja; if he truly took his time with the Uzumaki, he would have discovered the problem. Instead, he loved him from afar, and that didn’t help the lonely Uzumaki.

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Final thoughts

While Hiruzen is an excellent leader and an astute ninja, he is deficient in some personal areas. This pattern of failing people close to him is not new to Hiruzen, as he has consistently let others down. He could not build a stable relationship with Asuma, and one of his other students, Orochimaru, went rogue. It seems like Hiruzen is unable to see the pain points of those close to him.

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