Over the years, there have been several debates among fans about who the worst Hokage in Naruto could be. A lot of fans had differing opinions, but the majority seemed to agree that there was one particular Hokage who was more flawed than the rest.
A hokage's position is the most vital one in any village, especially since they are deemed to be the leader as well as the strongest person in their village. That said, while a Hokage's position may be well respected, not every Hokage was very good at their job, as some of their greatest failures bore dire consequences for the series.
The worst Hokage in Naruto was introduced at the very beginning of the series
While it is certainly not an easy task to determine the worst Hokage in Naruto at first, it becomes a relatively easy task after looking at the best achievements and worst failures of each Hokage. Once that is evaluated, one can easily arrive at the conclusion that the worst Hokage in Naruto is none other than the one who was introduced at the very beginning of the series, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was the Third Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village, which is also known as Konohagakure. While he undoubtedly was an extremely powerful ninja, seeing as to how he was revered as the 'God of Shinobi', he failed to do an equally commendable job as the Hokage of his village.
Fans had come to this conclusion a couple of years ago in a Reddit poll to determine the worst Hokage in Naruto, where Hiruzen unfortunately received the highest number of votes.
On a separate note, the runner-up in this poll was the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade Senju. However, it should be noted that although Tsunade wasn't the strongest or greatest Hokage in the history of Konoha, she nonetheless did a commendable job during her tenure.
Hiruzen's failures, on the other hand, far outweighed his accomplishments. As per the fans, he had made numerous mistakes and blunders during his time as the Third Hokage. His most noticeable failures included his passive treatment of Danzo's schemes and actions, along with his inability to stop the Uchiha massacre.
Furthermore, he was unable to moderate Orochimaru's worst impulses and did not stop him when the time came. In fact, he failed to get rid of Orochimaru on two separate occasions, with the first one causing him an immense amount of regret even at his old age. It eventually led to his death and almost brought Konoha to ruin.
However, one of his biggest failures was his inability to properly care for the orphaned Naruto Uzumaki, despite promising his parents that he would look after him. Hiruzen was also unable to offer adequate care for Sasuke Uchiha, following the destruction of the latter's clan by Itachi Uchiha.
Some could also argue that Naruto and Sasuke becoming social outcasts after their parents' deaths was partly Hiruzen's fault, since he could have at least tried to look after the two and give them a better life than the one they had to endure.
To conclude
Due to all these reasons, fans consider Hiruzen Sarutobi to be the worst Hokage in Naruto. Although Hiruzen may certainly be celebrated as the 'God of Shinobi', there is no denying that his incapabilities and mistakes had long-term effects on Konoha.
Related Links:
How Hiruzen failed everyone with his bad decision-making skills
Naruto fandom finds yet another absurd example of Hiruzen’s neglect & carelessness
Why was Hiruzen labelled the most incapable Hokage of all time?
