Sandaime Hokage - Page 17

Character biography

Also known as Sandaime, he is the third hokage of the hidden village Konoha. Sarutobi is 68 years old and this is his second time to be Hokage. He retired so the 4th would be able to become kage, but when the 4th died in his fight with kyuubi, Sarutobi once again became the Hokage. He was the instructor of the sannin, the most noted ninja team of their era, but eventually all three left Konoha and him later in their lives. He is the first known to have done the bell training that we see Team 7 doing. To most of the villagers he is a very warm and paternal figure that mainly protects and provides for the villagers in a very kind and gentle way. Through his wisdom and strength as a leader, Konoha continued to flourish while he was the Hokage. His reputation for knowing all the jutsus from the village of Konoha has earned him the name "The Professor".

Eventually at the chuunin exam that Naruto participated in, Orochimaru made an alliance with the Sand village and they attacked Konoha and he engaged Sarutobi in a one on one battle. Orochimaru summoned the two previous hokages to fight Sarutobi and the outcome was that Sarutobi died in that fight but not before stilling the unholy summons and taking part of Orochimaru's spirit and his ability to do jutsus. Once before Sarutobi tried to stop Orochimaru, but he at that time was unable to kill his former student who had been his prized pupil and once desired successor. So he like the 4th makes the ultimate sacrifice and forfeits his life to protect the village.

He has a grandson Konohamaru who wants to succeed him someday, and then possibly the Jounin Sarutobi Asuma is closely related to him as well.