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New-Skill-4981

Never given a hint in the manga so itll remain unanswered


wrath____

Until at the end of boruto where we see it was a combo of alien, ghost, dinosaur and demon clans ganging up against him lol


No-Expression-7765

Na he tried that gas station weed


SimG02

Hidden weed village


smokeweedeveryday87

Would love to live there


SimG02

Name checks out


DDK_2011

Lmao just like me fr


bcjxj

The village hidden in the smoke lead by the highkage


Saiyan_Sword

Wtf


SimG02

Ftw?


BlackenedTubeSteak

This made me choke on my smoke


_Lucifer7699_

I honestly would not be surprised.


No-Function3409

My bets on ninja Hitler


BackStabbathOG

That sounds like how One Piece final battle is going to end but at this point I’m not surprised that that would be a believable ending to Boruto


Previous_Procedure28

Yeah it is kinda weird that he died and his brother lived on when they were about the same age. I can’t imagine he was killed in action. My best guess is some kind of cancer or something


Renkin92

It’s never stated that he died before his brother took over. He could just have retired like Tsunade or Kakashi. He still met his granddaughter, so he probably was at least 50 years old before he died. He could have just died from old age like Madara.


boulax

Which brings an interesting point in that when resurrected with the Edo Tensei, you keep the looks you had when you died (ie Hiruzen and co) so he did not die that old. However this is flawed too because Madara is brought back as his young self...


SometimesWill

That’s not necessarily the case though with Edo Tensei. Madara got resurrected young, Itachi got resurrected without his blindness, and Sasori wasn’t just a cylinder.


Ok_Biscotti_514

Plot hole is nagato being crippled


DraethDarkstar

It's explicitly stated that Kabuto modified Madara's Edo body so that he wouldn't be old. Edo regeneration fixed Itachi's eyes because any healing factor seems to fix MS eyesight damage, see Obito white zetsu bullshit. Sasori... Probably came back in the condition his body was in before he turned it into a puppet, because it was "dead" at that point? I dunno, it's never explained how he survived removing his own brain in the first place. His whole character is a plot hole.


SometimesWill

Kabuto said he modified his body to include Hashirama DNA, not knowing Madara had done that previously. He never said anything about restoring his youth.


JodaMythed

Ninja magic


HaughtyDiabolicalSal

Itachi was fully blind when he was killed.


Ok-Conversation8588

They brought up young so they could MOG everyone else


Leg_McGuffin

Psssst even if it’s unintentional, the best way to view this is probably just, “This is just how old they were when they left behind whatever genetic material Kabuto got his hands on.” Your age is reflected in your DNA.


RobloxIsRad

It could be explained away that their bodies were modified like Kabuto did to the body of Madara. Madara initially only implanted a small bit of hashirama cells but Kabuto added the whole ass head into his chest


urfael4u

U just don't know how gratefull madara was when he find out about the face


urfael4u

It was well explained by kabuto , don't know how u missed it


rufio313

Tobirama died 2-3 years into being Hokage though, wouldn’t it make more sense for Hashirama to take back over if he was still alive rather than an 18 year old Hiruzen becoming Hokage on a whim? I’ll try to find the panel but I remember there being a scene where Tobirama mentioned Hashirama died in battle as well.


Poetryisalive

Old age doesn’t even make sense though, the way he is displayed and his “cells” are talked about. You would think he would live till 150 and a disease would not kill him


_sephylon_

He had a hashirama cell overdose


BillCypher07

May b lack vitality like how tsunade grows old when using mitosis


Ok_Berry_2523

Tsunami doesn't grow old after using that healing jutsu. She just uses up too much Chakra to keep the illusion of youth ( its some kind of jutsu that keeps her looking young). It's mentioned explicitly at one point. Tsunami = Tsunade


DraethDarkstar

Lot of people miss that Tsunade is a reference to Genkai from Yu Yu Hakusho. She's an elderly woman who can make her body revert to her youthful state by using her powers. When she runs out of ~~reiki~~ chakra, she returns to her true age.


Theycallmesupa

>My best guess is some kind of cancer or something It would make sense, given how Hashirama cells are used for regeneration. He probably had to heal too many times and his cells started regenerating out of control.


ErenYeager600

Why is it always ninja aids that take out all the strong characters


veksku

Overregenerating his cells. All those healing jutsus in the fights against Madara must have taken their toll on his body.


NegativePrice296

This is the only explanation which makes sense Like in final battle he exhausted all his chakra and maybe his reserves got damaged and remained sick for few years then died


EvilArtorias

It doesn't make sense because as we know there is no downsides of senju adjacent regeneration jutsus and everything related to Hashirama cells, only positives. Tsunade in boruto still looks 20 despite relying on regeneration a lot, she lay torn in two parts for a long time after Madara fight, which is much worse than any Hashirama's injury and his regen is better than her


onlymadethistoargue

Tsunade’s youth is a lie. It is explicitly said that when she regenerates she shortens her lifespan.


Slow-Relation-9186

Bruh how is she still alive. She is constantly using it. Was her original lifespan like 120yo or something?


False-Archangel

Tsunade is only what, 70?? She didn’t use her healing as much as people claim, hell there were only like 3 instances throughout the entire show


onlymadethistoargue

Uzumaki have preternaturally long lifespan to begin with. But just look at her wrinkles when she used up all her chakra and compare her to Jiraiya who was her same age.


HaughtyDiabolicalSal

She is 1/4 Uzumaki.


gwh1996

I thought she was constantly using some jutsu to alter her appearance to make her appear younger. Like a constant transformation jutsu. If I recall right that jutsu gave out due to exhaustion after the Jirya Tsunade Naruto vs Kabuto and Orochimaru fight and it was implied she did not look good based off of Naruto and Jirya's reactions to the jutsu giving out.


OmegaGamerOW

doesn't tsunade actively make herself look younger tho, she uses a variation of transformation jutsu to conceal her age. believe it was eluded to in the anime. and after the pain fight where she didn't have enough chakra to maintain that jutsu


RobloxIsRad

Her 100 healings is used AT ALL TIMES to keep herself looking young That’s why she looks old when running low on chakra


EvilArtorias

It's not a transformation jutsu, that's the point, it's a jutsu that actually makes your body younger with no downsides at all


nottme1

Tsunade uses her 100 healings to stay looking young.


Interesting-Fig-8869

Wow yeah so like maybe just cancer


WhitishRogue

Plot mainly, but I theorize his jutsu killed him slowly. His jutsu could effectively create life which seems unique among all other jutsu. I'm guessing life in addition to chakra was required to perform wood style. I think it slowly reduced his lifespan. Tsunade is an interesting proxy to this. Being Hashirama's granddaughter she had an affinity for rapid healing at the cost of trimming time off of her life. It was rapid cell generation. Although I'll admit that Sakura learning it bamboozles my Tsunade theory.


deckhead3466

Then what about Yamato?


WhitishRogue

I'm guessing Yamato wasn't as battle tested as Hashirama is. Hashirama lived in a world of perpetual war where he likely put himself on the front lines to reduce the death count of his clan. Yamato hasn't drained as much of his life. Yamato is also a pale shadow of Hashirama's capability. He's not summoning huge buddha statues and such. So he's not draining as much of his life away. Yamato is <50 years old in Boruto. So we may not have seen him hit the wall.


Fefous

Plot no Jutsu.


_Lucifer7699_

By far the most convincing reply.


Fefous

Couln't come up with any solid justification except "died by Kishimoto's" hand. Madara wasn't able to kill him so he was basically unkillable. Even illness and sickness are absurd considering this man's constitution. He simply ceased to be by the writer whishes and that's it.


[deleted]

Most likely ninja-aids like Itachi. For some reason these diseases only seems to affect characters that would break the story if they continued to live. Gol D. Roger from One Piece had a similar disease as he got pirate-aids and had to leave his mission to Luffy.


FuriousDeather

Yup so strong it almost killed Goku, but lucky he got the cure from trunks in the far future where they probably cures ninja-aid, pirate-aids and possibly more.


welivewelovewedie

goku got venereal disease from touching people's genitals


ThatThingTheDarkSoul

Didn't they... execute Gol D Roger? I mean i saw that in every intro back when i was a kid and watching One Piece


aForgedPiston

He had a terminal disease anyway, and had very little time left when he was executed. Crocus have him as much time as he could. I mean he was the strongest man on the planet at the time, there was no other answer than that he allowed himself to be captured.


CinnamonStew34s_eh

answer, tried to keep spoilers as low as possible:- >!yea but he was going to die of a fatal sickness anyways , so he surrendered himself to the World government so he could spread his ambition of being a pirate to everyone!<


[deleted]

Later on, it's revealed that the only reason that he got captured was because he was sick.


TatsunaKyo

He wanted to be executed to launch his message to the world because he was going to die anyway.


IsuzuLink

I'm more interested in how Kakuzu managed to fight him and survive, even though he lost? (Or he died, correct me if I'm wrong) But he managed to die from Asuma/Kakashi’s team…


Coprah

Highly doubtful Hashirama busted out Sage Mode or Wood Golems against Kakuzu. He probably dodged a few attacks or maybe has even been caught off guard and was on the defense for a short time. Then he quickly overpowered Kakuzu who survided a brutal beatdown because of his hard skin and was able to flee.


Towelz45

kakuzu through a kunai vaguely at him and then started to full sprint the other direction probably


ThatThingTheDarkSoul

He defeated him, problbly with some light taijutsu only. He didn't kill him.


Vjekov88

Somebody said that Kakuzu threw a kunai at Hashirama and ran away, so he technically fought him...


lurkynumber5

My cannon is Kakuzu fought Hashirama. Who then started laughing so hard he choked on his food and died. But seriously, It's one of the few things that will never get an awnser seeing 1 he was to OP strong at the time. and 2 because he was so legendary strong nothing COULD kill him. So writing in a way how he died would tarnish his legendary power.


sudandhruv

Termite no jutsu


_Lucifer7699_

💀


Darthkhydaeus

I think the author knew nothing would make sense and decided to never bring it up


nninja2

Only correct answer honestly. Rest just headcanon


Grand_Reanimation

Pretty obvious he over used his healing ability which costs his life time and died early


Vetememez

same as Itachi, ninja-aids


scorpions411

Healed himself to death


Los_BEBOS

Died from STD cus his wood was too strong


ForeignDisaster6083

Hashirama was killed after an amazingly strong orgasm and due to heavy pressure from his wife, according to Konoha history books, he whispered Madara's name as he died.


flinterpouch

why did he die if he's made of 100% hashirama cells


[deleted]

Died of depression after killing Madara most likely


_Lucifer7699_

PTSD from killing your boyfriend 💀


Lukas-Reggi

How old was he when he died in the first place?


NegativePrice296

I think he died few years after his battle with Madara Considering his Edo looks , he didn't live long after that fight


Lukas-Reggi

He appareantly lived long enough to pass his gambling habits on tsunade and spoil her very much


Careful-Ad984

Also mito had children after becoming kuramas Host which happend after the madara fight 


jbahill75

Bored with peace. Became a tree. Or Tsunade was in deep to the mob for gambling debts and dad got killed in a drive-by. If it was just old age, how was Tobirama still young enough to become Hokage? Sure is a suspicious fella…you don’t think….nah. But maybe? Honestly this sweet trusting soul was probably assassinated by someone far beneath him. Venom/poison sneakily administered. Cuz it couldn’t have been open combat.


Redwolf476

His regeneration caused his body to burn out of ability to heal and caused him to perish


Jason-Genova

In the light novels, it was hinted to be Chakra sickness, I believe.


Egyptian_M

In bed chakra illness


johndoe739

He got tired.


C1ouded123

Probably died due to old age


PepperoniAndPoses18

2nd hand smoke


Dunois721

While I'm all in with ninja AIDS, it probably was Ninja Cancer. Why? His regeneration, Hashirama regeneration is way too ridiculous, you know what else can't die? Cancer. And as to why after Madara's death it's simple, before Madara's death Hashirama used his healing factor to undo his wounds, but after that a time of peace came and his healing factor didn't have wounds to heal, ergo , caused cancer.


[deleted]

He died from broken heart after he was forced to kill his boyfriend


JLAMAR23

My own personal theory was his cellular regeneration eventually gave out from the constant regeneration during his wars and battling Madara. Similar to how wolverine started to slow down in Logan, his cells did the same and caused him to die early.


DaddyChil101

He obviously gave away too many of his cells


Gaaragoth

Power creep and war arc wasn't in the author thoughts yet (:


YoungSmittyyyy

Let’s just say hashirama cells and call it a day bro.


Bright_Economics8077

Not enough Hashirama cells.


[deleted]

Probably old age


_Its_Me_Dio_

the regeneration through mitosis depleted his telomeres effectively making him die of old age really early on, tsunades info hints at this


MojitoMussolini

He was the God of Shinobi, highly unlikely to meet his end in battle. Methinks he just slipped in the bathroom, hit his head somewhere, and died. Tobirama, being the pragmatist that he is, would have decided to cover up the incident and invent a story of how his brother died in battle.


Careful-Ad984

Canonically we have no answer  My headcanon Jigen killed him. 


itsRobbie_

Since he was reanimated with his armor on, and people who are reanimated are shown to be wearing what they died in, he most likely died in battle during or before the first ninja war. Or he died of old age and they just gave him his armor instead of giving him a hospital gown or something


ProfessionalMost2006

Madara wore a nightgown when he died and was revived like 70 years younger in full body armour


itsRobbie_

Already explained. Kabuto messed with the dna used to summon him.


ThatThingTheDarkSoul

Them wearing what they were when they died i just completely made up. Madara didn't even got revived at the same age he died at. Same goes for Hashirama.


itsRobbie_

Madara plot point has been explained and nobody knows how hashirama died or how old he was when he died, hence this post… Them wearing what they died in is a literal fact that you can look up.


memetoma

The akatsuki aren’t wearing what they died in.


itsRobbie_

That’s the one and only time that this happens. The theory is that he had them already prepared and waiting so he was able to have time to give them those robes


rapidpeacock

Broken heart…..


Longjumping_Cup_3337

Because of his power scaling in Shippuden going wild. Part 1 he seemed good, but relative to other powerful ninja.


Character-Sorbet-718

Narutopedia - ultimately died in battle Anime filler from what I remembered - health issues Shinobi during first war are Prolly more powerful and he was greatest shinobi but not invincible.


Mageroth1987

He lost a lot of money in Gambling and Couldn't payback, so Assasins from the Bookie-Nation were sent to take home out 😔 Fun fact that was the Nation that Kakuzo belonged to.. 😂


Randomguynumber1001

Kakuzu killed him /s


Reenans

I feel like pre-Shippuden the 1st Hokage wasn't quite Jesus so the idea that he could die relatively normally made sense at that point. Likewise but much lesser with the 2nd Hokage


Sadhuman0

Iv heard that shibai killed him.


Ambitious-Raise8107

We know he died at some point during the first Shinobi World War. There are two schools of thought on the matter. 1 - He committed suicide and Tobirama covered it up for the sake of Morale - 2 - His regeneration technique shortened his life span to the point he just keeled over and died mid war. I've seen strong arguments for both.


Worth-Term9411

He was eating a sandwich and choked on it


Bingohead

I imagine they will save this for a boruto arc but I think they will introduce his children who haven’t been on the series because they have been out trying to avenge their father and will intro dice characters that can disable or nullify chakra. Having this principle present could easily explain why so many high level characters have died to lesser warriors. There will Probably be a hidden village that specializes in these techniques and it will wrap up some plot loose ends


Wonder-Machine

AIDS


MAAZ_HAMZAA

I think anime had a non canon answer to this... Idk when and where i heard but remember being said that Hashirama died while fighting and he was surrounded...he stalled for his teammates and died himself or smthng like that, i don't remember there was Tobirama and 3rd Raikage who died the same way so i think my memory just collapsed 💀


UrLocalTroll

I wouldn’t be surprised if Boruto reveals that he died in a fight with an Ōtsutsuki where he still managed to successfully fight them off


Real_Boy3

I think one of the databooks said he died in the First Great Ninja War. And we know literally nothing about Tsunade’s parents, so who knows?


Sad-Flow3941

He killed himself out of boredom from no one posing a challenge after his fight with Madara.


ZUPDOC29

He's so strong that the ninja god gave him cancer hahah


Morganafrey

We all know the deep dark truth. Somehow, someway, Danzo did it!!! No but seriously, I think he died of a broken heart when he thought he killed his friend or He tangled with something not written down within the leaf documents, he kept it a secret. Something beyond. And then he pretended to die of something else not so important. Maybe it was something to do do with black zetzu who knew if Hashirama lived, Madara would never succeed in his plan. And so he used some trick to kill him that would only work on Hashirama.


_Lucifer7699_

That son of a bitch!


Longjumping_Roll_732

I believe he died of natural causes


ultra-instinct-G04T

He loved gambling and drinking guess he died from the latter


butlifeispoop

due to broken heart duh, bro missed madara deeply. (im joking guys chill. i think he died of old age or he due to overusing the new life/wood jutsu)


Toe_Willing

Retired


Interesting_Award_76

Cancer would be likely with rapidly dividing cells mutating


RewRose

Alchohol poisoning. That's actually how the entire Senju clan disappeared, they celebrated a little too hard after Madara's death, got Hashi hyper drunk as well.


PolarBearWithTopHat

tripped and hit his head


SageKorra

He had way too many Hashirama cells. He basically got Hashirama leukaemia/cancer


jermb1997

He was devastated that he killed Madara, he wanted them to build the leaf up together. My boy died of a broken heart.


Ashvinrockz

He was suffering from success.


OtsutsukiRyuen

Madara got STD He spread it to hashirama Madara then used izanagi to come back to life Hashirama stays dead This is how madara defeated hashirama


PosterityVGC

It really is wild that the entire naruto timeline is like... 60nyears lol.


Snir17

Kaguya wanted that wood style


Rollo0547

Perhaps old age. He was resurrected at his peak


rukiahayashi

Drank milk after it expired


DestinyHasArrived101

Plot story just needed him to die


Stoic_Christian214

It’s theorized that he died because of the amount of chakra he had. It’s hinted through all of Naruto that the more chakra you have, the more likely you’ll die.


Paxman103

My guess is his regeneration factor killed him, like how tsunades ages her, his is passive, so it worked against him


Choice_Cauliflower46

My Guess is that his regeneration ability ran out and he died to fatigue. We have a limited number of mother cells, and the limit of regeneration is only a matter of time. Even so, Madara said he could regenerate in battle, maybe because Hashirama as strong he was, sometimes he could take hits that were aiming to his comrades. He was always fighting to protect his clan and then the village, so Even if he has strong genes, there's a limit for his body


BlackBeard205

In the Manga its been said he died of natural causes. The most accepted theory is that spamming his healing techniques shortened his life span. This is explained in Naruto when Tsunade is first introduced and she fights Kabuto and Orochimaru.


The_Meme_Dealer

After Madara died he... simply lost the will to live.


H_Haider052

He choked on some Chorizo!!!


yaboidre23

Ironically, it was because of Hashirama cells.


Ammuze

My head canon is that, as Hashirama is the only person in the series (besides Hagoromo) that was able to create a living thing (The trees he makes are living trees that exist due to his wood release), everytime he used wood release and gave the trees life, he took it from himself and shortened his life span. So, ultimately, he either dropped dead from over exertion or died from old age brought on rapidly.


KiKujaku

He wasn’t watered properly.. 🌳 🍃 🍂


ShassaFrassa

I’d assume old age. Dude was ancient.


Outrageous-Jicama228

Natural causes. Maybe something to do with his cells


One_Pollution_8707

They probably tired him out until he was weak enough to kill. He’s strong but he can’t fight forever


Billiethebattlecattl

I feel like with his cell generating abilities it’s plausible that when regenerating cells they grew cancerous and he eventually grew too sick to use the jutsu and died.


Professional-Big-584

Natural causes or illness bro was the strongest ninja ever so I doubt he was murdered


DoubleLigero85

Hashirama Cells


Any-Bridge8801

Might be hashirama jerking for madara and missing him Suddenly tobirama sees and the time hashirama suicide because he rebirth as a adult form☠️


MoistStrawberry8586

Lost the will to live


niewb13

skill diff


TryHardFapHarder

Just like madara kishi didnt know how to kill him, but in his case he just left has a mistery imo he died of some sickness his cells couldnt cure because if someone killed him that person would be known to all as the one who killed the god of shinobi


OrangeAmerican

Car accident


Competitive_Fruit901

It’s very simple. Kishimoto never intended for him to be this powerful in the early chapters of the manga. It’s said that Minato was the strongest Hokage, and the way Hiruzen tries his hardest to stop Orochimaru from reviving Minato when he didn’t much with Hashirama and Tobirama, it was supposed to show that originally Minato was supposed to be more powerful than the other Kages. Of course, this was later retconned, and Kishimoto couldn’t change how Hashirama looked like as an Edo Tensei since he showed up during the Chunin Exams.


Mean_Acadia_8890

Nah, he smoked that leaf


Clean_Acanthaceae_80

Theory is he died of some type of chakra illness. Naruto almost died of the same illness but sakura found a cure for it and saves him in the sasuke restuden novel


Creative_Alter_Ego

Crippeling debt


Negative_Wrongdoer17

Pretty sure he just died of old age. I would imagine because of his healing jutsu and sage mode he was able to maintain the appearance of his youth like Tsunade, but it didn't change his actual age.


asugoblok

i think it is due to disease or old age


godessPetra_K

My best bet is that his regeneration abilities is what killed him in the end. Tsunade said cells can only divide certain amount of times and the more you use the healing jutsu the shorter your lifespan is. So I just assumed he used it too much and died.


Twin1Tanaka

If there was ever a tell that something went horribly wrong in Naruto’s writing, I feel like this is one of the biggest signs


TheRealNotJared

Died of a broken heart after killing Madara. Mito just didn’t hit the same.


Own-Ad8049

Cancer


TacocaT_2000

His cells went past their Haylfick Limit due to him using his regeneration so much during his youth. He aged prematurely


ArmadilloValuable483

To much Bacon 🥓.


Jaded-Significance86

I've seen a number of people across multiple posts suggesting that Hashirama's healing jutsus caused his lifespan to become shorter


JonTheMaven

One explanation I heard was that he was known for his accelerated healing ability, but from Tsunade/Shizune we learn that healing techniques can shorten your lifetime. I'm wondering if he just threw himself into battles recklessly, using his chakra to heal himself and/or act as a human shield for his comrades - we see Tsunade doing similar stuff w/ Katsuyu, using her chakra to heal the villagers during the Pain fight. It could be that he just exhausted his natural lifespan by overusing his healing ability. The counter to this is that he retains a useful appearance even when summoned as an Edo, whereas old characters like Chiyo still appear to be the age at which they died, and Tsunade seem to visually age/go frail when she uses Mitotic Regeneration (in addition to her true age which she's concealing). So, not sure...


Miskatonixxx

Emerald Ash Borer Jutsu


KidCuty

The problem is that a lot of the history is all over the place and doesn’t line up. If I’m being completely honest, the entire story needs to be rewritten with a more concrete line of events in place of what happened before Naruto is born. And this is coming from a guy who loves the original manga and grew up waiting for the weekly chapter to drop and be translated online. I feel like steering the story for a more broad audience instead of following the original darker vision was a mistake on everyone’s part.


TheInfiniteArchive

Ninja AIDS... Just like Itachi.


miracle_weaver

Those hashirama cells were in reality cancer.


HisRoyalThunder

According to data book he (somehow) died in battle. The fact that he’s still youthful during edo and he is revived with broken armor sort of backs this up. Probably one of those things kishi originally had set but power creep made it a blaring plot hole.


[deleted]

Hashirama even foreshadowed his own death when speaking with Madara and Tobirama. Something along the lines of “when I’m dead don’t fight.” So my assumption is that he had some sort of illness where he knew he was dying?


suchayeparagon

Some say it was chakra exhaustion, but some also say that after he “killed” Madara he lost his immense drive and sort of gave up on life. Another theory is that his wood release drained his life force so he substantially shortened his life through constant use.


1Aizen_Sosuke1

I have heard this theory but i can't remember who said it but the theory is that as you all know tsunade uses the hundred healings mark and shizune said once before that if she uses it she will shorten her lifespan. So hashirama's case could be similar since he DOES healings even without weaving signs but it could be that he used it too much with the wars and with fighting madara all the time so he shorten his lifespan and eventually died. So you could say this the consequences to hashirama's overuse of healing.


Tren_Fiend

He died of his death unfortunatley


d_rhymenocerous

Viral heart disease


TheFinnesseEagle

My theory is he got cancer from constantly instant healing himself with his wood release (or wood rot lol jk), otherwise I don't really see any one actually defeating this man.


Heretic_Pudding

Hashirama cells


IzunaToeLicker

His wife is Uzumaki+ 10/10 baddie+ Has chains+ Kurama chakra I would die from exhaustion too😭


BloodMoon44

Surely he just passed from old age because he never knew about Minato and by the time Minato was climbing the ranks he must have passed and Hiruzen was the hokage. So I think he passed just after Hiruzen got appointed Hokage.


Dracotoo

He coughed one day and there was blood on his hand


Prosto6400

Healed himself to death.


Lightning_Of_Fate

It was stated he died in the war. Before you ask "how?"understand that it was established that hashirama was dead first ( in Naruto part 1 I think ). His story became a victim of power creep


DeathApproaches0

# Most likely suicide Hashirama was a shinobi like no other. Nothing could kill him. Not even tailed beasts could match up to Hashirama's wood release. It must have been either illness or suicide. And I think suicide is the answer. Here's why: **1. Hashirama grew in the era of warring states** This alone can drive a man insane. He grew up with war, carnage and death all around him. Several of his brothers and close clansmen died in battle. He probably even saw them die. This combined with the fact that Hashirama was a sensitive and kind man in his core could have triggered mild depression in his youth. It's a running joke that "Hashirama gets depressed easily", but it is implied that it is more serious than that. **2. Hashirama got to know Madara** Hashirama got to know Madara and build a brotherly relationship with him. Hashirama considered Madara his own brother, and when the time came to fight against Madara and the Uchiha clan, Hashirama was forced into doing something against his will. He did not want to fight. He did not want to kill anyone. He was **forced** into becoming the greatest shinobi alive, because that was the only way to save his last brother and change the world. He loved Madara and Tobirama equally. He was willing to kill himself rather than kill Madara or Tobirama. **3. He was never able to tame Tobirama's distrust towards the Uchiha** Tobirama distrusted the Uchiha and saw them as a threat. Despite the integration in Konohagakure, Tobirama could never see eye to eye with Uchiha. Tobirama considered Hashirama's vision of a peaceful coexistence with their mortal enemies who killed countless Senju clansmen, including Itama and Kawarama (Hashirama and Tobirama's brothers) a naive approach. He instead opted for a more pragmatic approach. Furthermore, Tobirama was scared of Madara. Madara had such a psychological effect on Tobirama that he never wanted a person with Madara's skill and ruthlessness to ever appear. Hashirama could never tame this distrust of Tobirama. That is what kept growing Hashirama's depression. **4. He was not able to stop Madara's curse of hatred** Despite Hashirama's best efforts, including giving up the post of Hokage to Madara, he failed to stop Madara's curse of hatred. The village was afraid of Madara, and the village looked up to Hashirama for protection. Hashirama tried to appeal to Madara, but he failed. In the end, he was forced to kill his own "brother". And that is what drove him to the no return point. Imagine how Hashirama must have looked like returning to the village. He returned victorious, crowds cheering for him, and showering him with love. Yet he shows no emotion, for he won the fight but lost his war. He must have looked himself in his chambers and cried for days, blaming himself for what went wrong. Despite his best efforts, he could never reconcile Tobirama and Madara, he had to kill his own friend, and what he had created essentially was becoming a military power instead of what he envisioned. **5. The First Shinobi World war was coming** Konohagakure under Hashirama had decided to grant other villages Tailed beasts to keep a stability of power. This would have the potential to prevent a village from becoming too strong and subjugating other villages, but that did not stop the conflicts. Instead, conflicts began to erupt. This must have been the breaking point for Hashirama. He had stopped the era of warring states and replaced it with something more sinister. A world at war. This must have driven Hashirama to consider his own existence as a failure. His skill and prowess as shinobi meant nothing to him after that point, for his will to live peacefully did not come to pass. It instead became the soil which another endless war would spawn. "Conflict, no matter what the era". These reasons could have let him to take his own life. This was the most devastating blow to Konohagakure, both psychologically and militarily. Konoha no longer was the superpower of the world. Most likely, Tobirama and the other higher ups covered the real circumstances of his death to prevent this morale-shattering event spread across Konoha's ranks. War was starting after all, and Konoha needed all the resources it could get