Wasn't the him from a parallel universe who called himself the Sorcerer Supreme supposed to be the most powerful Sorcerer Supreme of all time?
No way he couldn't do it.
Or was it that the parallel universe version could do it, but it just wasn't in the inheritance?
Richest Man in the Lighthouse: "Wait — the chubby kid was a Sorcerer Supreme from another universe?"
Ninth Prince of Da Qin: "No, at that time the Sorcerer Supreme was Strange. Think of it as raw talent."
Richest Man in the Lighthouse: "Pfft!"
talent, my ass!
So the him who carried the title of greatest Sorcerer Supreme of all time across parallel universes was actually less talented than that chubby kid?
Ordinary Group Leader: "This can't be done, that can't be done."
Ordinary Group Leader: "I seriously doubt your magical talent measures up to your parallel-universe self."
Ordinary Group Leader: "Or maybe that title was just吹出来的 — blown out of proportion — same as with the 'Strongest Hokage of All Eras' in the Naruto world — Sarutobi Hiruzen."
Golden Flash: "."
Richest Man in the Lighthouse: "You dare compare me to Sarutobi Hiruzen?"
Richest Man in the Lighthouse: "That's an insult!"
Golden Flash: "."
Minato Namikaze couldn't help but feel a pang of frustration seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi getting lumped into this conversation.
The Third Hokage certainly had ability — whether in his research of ninjutsu or the coordination of various techniques, he was among the foremost in the shinobi world.
Among his contemporaries, the only one who might have surpassed Hiruzen in these areas was the Second.
The title "Hero of the Shinobi World" wasn't something the Third Hokage had given himself.
Still, thinking about the description of the Third from his school textbooks — [The Strongest Hokage of All Eras, called the Professor] — it hadn't struck him as anything at the time, but looking back now it was mortifying.
He wouldn't say his past self had surpassed the Third in his youth, but with Flying Thunder God Technique in his arsenal, it was hard for him to lose to someone whose power was roughly on par with the Third.
Maybe he couldn't win outright, but losing wasn't easy either.
As for comparing himself to the Second, Tobirama Senju, Minato believed the Second was probably the stronger of the two.
After all, the majority of the village's forbidden jutsu were created by the Second. In terms of understanding ninjutsu, no amount of research could surpass the creator himself.
And besides — after becoming Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen probably wasn't spending his days poring over ninjutsu research.
As for the First, Hashirama Senju, there was no point even bringing him up. That wasn't someone the Third could hold a candle to.
Ordinary Group Leader: "Come to think of it, when I first heard the title 'Strongest Hokage of All Eras,' I thought it was a meme. I mean, any normal person with half a face wouldn't dare say that about themselves."
Ordinary Group Leader: "But I never expected it to actually be real — and an early-series setting at that."
Ordinary Group Leader: "Sure, it got retconned later, but that's still wild. It was actually in the original material!"
Uchiha Dance King: "Retconned?"
Uchiha Dance King: "Hmph. Isn't it written plainly in the Leaf Ninja Academy textbooks?"
Uchiha Dance King: "'The Strongest Hokage of All Eras, called the Professor!'"
Uchiha Dance King: "What a title."
Madara said dismissively.
If you set aside the "Strongest Hokage of All Eras" part and just kept "Professor of Ninjutsu," he wouldn't have minded much.
After all, Sarutobi Hiruzen's talent in ninjutsu was genuinely solid — he could use over a thousand techniques and combine five different elemental ninjutsu. In terms of technique coordination and application, he was even more impressive than Tobirama Senju.
Even in Madara's eyes, the power those ninjutsu put out was hardly impressive — even an S-rank jutsu was nothing compared to whatever he could casually throw out with his fire style. But that was mainly because he was Uchiha Madara.
He was different from the rest of the shinobi world. He was different from Hashirama.
But as an ordinary person without a bloodline limit, for Hiruzen to have reached this level, Madara could acknowledge the Professor title.
But to then slap "Strongest Hokage of All Eras" on top of that?
Hmph.
Ordinary Group Leader: "So you're saying not only was it an actual setting, it was written into the textbooks too."
Ninth Prince of Da Qin: "Did you forget? The one who first declared Sarutobi Hiruzen the Strongest Hokage of All Eras was Iruka."
Ninth Prince of Da Qin: "Though Hiruzen himself never truly accepted that claim — in his conversations with Anko he even said the Fourth was stronger than him. But to红豆 and the others, it was just Hiruzen being modest."
Ninth Prince of Da Qin: "But anyone who'd read the history of Konoha and the Hokages' achievements, unless they were an idiot, would never think the strongest Hokage was Hiruzen Sarutobi."
Ninth Prince of Da Qin: "So how did Iruka come to believe it?"
Ninth Prince of Da Qin: "Even a ninja academy teacher thinks this — how many of the civilian villagers believe the same thing?"
Nothing happened without reason.
For Iruka to believe Sarutobi Hiruzen was the Strongest Hokage of All Eras, it had to be an understanding he'd held from the past to the present.
Where did that understanding come from?
The primary source of understanding was books.
Even without Minato Namikaze and Uchiha Madara joining the group, Ying Zinian was confident that in the Leaf Ninja Academy textbooks, there had to be a description matching this original discarded setting.
Ordinary Group Leader: "So why did Sarutobi Hiruzen do this?"
Ordinary Group Leader: "It's not like there was no one else from his generation around."
Ordinary Group Leader: "And this could only fool the civilians and the ordinary ninja — to the clan ninja, it's a joke."
Ordinary Group Leader: "Wasn't he embarrassed?"
Su Yunqing couldn't imagine doing something like this herself. Even if it hadn't been her writing it but someone else, she would've struck that passage out.
What was the phrase?
The layman watches the show, the expert watches the门道.
Even bragging wasn't supposed to be this shameless.
Ninth Prince of Da Qin: "Isn't it enough that the civilians believe it?"
Ninth Prince of Da Qin: "As for the clan ninja — even if they knew the truth, they wouldn't say anything because of Hiruzen's position as Hokage."
Ninth Prince of Da Qin: "Reputation is sometimes more important than strength."
Ninth Prince of Da Qin: "Why, after Minato died, when Sarutobi Hiruzen returned to the Hokage seat, was he able to calm the villagers' emotions so quickly?"
Ninth Prince of Da Qin: "This was part of the reason."
Ninth Prince of Da Qin: "If they had known that Minato actually didn't have to die — that the same sealing jutsu could have been used by Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen — but Minato chose not to ask."
Ninth Prince of Da Qin: "They might have felt deep admiration for Minato's sacrifice, and at the same time become even more convinced that Hiruzen was the Strongest Hokage."
Ninth Prince of Da Qin: "After all, even the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze himself believed Konoha could do without him, but not without Sarutobi Hiruzen — he actively chose to sacrifice himself to seal the Nine-Tails."
Ninth Prince of Da Qin: "That is the importance of reputation."
(End of Chapter)
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