During the story of Naruto, many characters grow into icon status. However, there are a few of them that are renowned as great among the characters dating back to the history of ninja. Hashirama Senju is one of these characters.

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Being both the first Hokage and partly responsible for crafting the Leaf Village, it’s no real surprise that Hashirama is held in such high regard, but just as impressive as his accolades is his power. Referred to as the God of Shinobi, Hashirama had mastery of Ninjutsu, Nature Transformation, and his Sage mode, Senjutsu.

With all this power, not to mention being in a leadership position over the village, you may be wondering, what came of Hashirama? What was his fate in Naruto?

How did Hashirama Senju die?

Hashirama was killed during the first Great Ninja War, but the show never explicitly explains the circumstances surrounding his death on the battlefield.

Fans have theorized that his death could have been induced from exhaustion after using too many of his powerful wood-style release techniques, though this isn’t directly supported in the anime or manga.

Right before his passing, Hashirama passed on the title of Hokage to his brother Tobirama Senju. This was then passed further along to Hiruzen Sarutobi before the end of the first Great War when Tobirama sacrificed himself on the battlefield.

While we do see Hashirama return in a reanimated state in multiple stages of the Naruto series, facing off against Tobirama in Naruto and later during the fourth Great Ninja War in Naruto Shippuden, these appearances don’t share any information on the circumstances of the First Hokage’s death.