Hashirama Senju was one of the leading figures during the Warring States Era of the Naruto world and together with Madara, he dreamed of creating an era of peace. Rising to the very top of his peers, Hashirama was able to accomplish his dream and created a village known as Konohagakure, where nobody would have to fight to survive.
Hashirama went on to become the First Hokage of the village and while he was a decent Hokage, some of his decisions weren’t thought through and only led to conflict down the line. In the end, he was even complicit in making some of the things he wanted to avoid come to pass.
7 He Ruled The Village Alone After Creating It With Madara
Hashirama Senju wasn’t responsible for the creation of Konohagakure on his own. The village was a product of both his and Madara’s hard work and their joint goal to see an era of peace where kids wouldn’t have to die in wars anymore. Hashirama, however, ended up ruling the village as its Hokage alone. Even though he wanted Madara to become Hokage, he had no qualms ruling alone and should, at the very least, have ruled together with Madara.
6 He Failed To Keep The People Of The Uchiha Satisfied In The Village
After losing Madara’s support, it’s not a surprise that Hashirama couldn’t help decide what was best for those of the Uchiha. The Uchiha Clan respected only Madara and were a part of the village because of him. Gradually, the clan lost faith in Konohagakure as they were mistreated and while most of it happened during the reigns of the later Hokage, Hashirama laid the groundwork and it culminated in the utter destruction of the Uchiha Clan.
5 He Enslaved The Tailed Beasts And Used Them As Weapons
For the longest time in the Naruto series, Tailed Beasts were seen as weapons of power to showcase the might of a village and maintain the balance of power among nations. This was made possible only by Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage who personally captured all the beasts and enslaved them.
The Tailed Beasts were never hostile towards humans, however, people like Hashirama, who never accepted them and never even tried to understand them made things complicated.
4 He Was Responsible For Starting A Problematic Jinchuriki System
The first Jinchuriki in the Naruto story was Hagoromo Otsutsuki, the Sage of Six Paths. After his death, Jinchuriki didn’t exist for centuries until Hashirama Senju’s time. After defeating Madara and Kurama, Hashirama’s wife, Mito Uzumaki became the Jinchuriki of the beast. Although the Jinchuriki system negatively impacted the lives of those hosts and reduced their value to a mere weapon, Hashirama didn’t stop his wife or anyone else from becoming one. Following his wife, Kushina Uzumaki became the second Jinchuriki of Kurama and finally the cursed system came to an end with her son, Naruto Uzumaki.
3 He Made Tobirama Senju The Second Hokage Of The Village
If there’s one thing Tobirama is known for in the Naruto series, it’s his disdain for the Uchiha. Despite knowing that, Hashirama Senju decided to make him the Second Hokage of the village and all he did to prevent the potential rift with the Uchiha was tell his brother to treat them well before dying. Needless to say, Tobirama did what he wanted and alienated the Uchiha even further, fanning the flames of hatred among them even more and eventually leading to the Uchiha Clan Massacre.
2 He Left The Village Underdeveloped
Hashirama ruled the village for very short periods of time and died in the First Great Ninja War. His time as the Hokage was mostly spent trying to maintain the balance of power between the shinobi nations, and thus, he paid little attention to the development of his village. Furthermore, Hashirama died shortly after distributing the Tailed Beasts, and thus what little time had spent as Hokage wasn’t enough to do anything other than establishing the groundwork.
During his rule, Konoha was a very basic village and it wasn’t until years later that the village finally started to develop with organizations such as the Anbu, or institutions like the Ninja Academy.
1 He Couldn’t Stop Kids From Going To War
One of Hashirama’s biggest goals was to prevent the death of kids in a war that they shouldn’t be fighting in the first place. With the creation of Konohagakure, he put a stop to it temporarily but as soon as the First Great Ninja War broke out, kids were fighting in wars again because the villages lacked manpower. In the end, Hashirama failed to accomplish this goal of his and most likely decided to send the kids to war as he reigned for quite some time through the First Great Ninja War. It wasn’t until later that his dream was eventually accomplished by the Child of Prophecy, Naruto Uzumaki.
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