Naruto Resurrects The Second Hokage With Brutal New Redesign In Epic First Look

The Naruto story included several larger-than-life characters who were capable of awe-inspiring feats, but not all of them had the chance to show off the peak of their skills. Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage, is one such figure who was responsible for creating many of the Naruto franchise's most broken ninjutsu abilities. His inclusion in the story was only able to demonstrate a glimpse of his powers in the story, but a new release has finally given the brutal character time to shine.

After years of focusing primarily on Boruto content, the Naruto franchise recently announced that more content related to the original series was on the way. A four-episode anime crossover with a series that heavily inspired the story, a brand-new Naruto manga from its original creator, and a worldwide release for the extremely stylish Naruto Mobile game were recently announced. While I'm personally most excited about Kishimoto's new sequel manga, brand-new animated trailers for new Naruto Mobile content are doing a lot for my anticipation of its English release.

Over the last few years, the Chinese developer behind Naruto Mobile has been adding new content and releasing epic new animations to promote the game. Shorts including a beautiful Rock Lee tribute to Bruce Lee and Hinata training her incredible hand-to-hand combat skills are only a few of the animations that have been released so far. And now, the Second Hokage has finally gotten his own trailer that shows him and his abilities at their peak.

The Second Hokage Has Never Looked More Brutal

When the Second Hokage was resurrected in the Naruto storyline, he was a valuable asset and advisor near the end of the Fourth Great Shinobi War, but he was arguably past his prime. Possibly the franchise's most mysterious Hokage, Tobirama Senju was a menace in his younger years, which is evident from all the extremely powerful jutsus he created. The stunning animation above was posted on the official Naruto Mobile game YouTube channel, and it shows a young Tobirama taking on an entire army of a mysterious zombie-like force, and the water specialist has never looked cooler.

The Second Hokage created techniques like the Reanimation jutsu that helped fuel the war arc's biggest battles, the teleportation ability used by The Fourth Hokage, Minato, Naruto's Shadow Clone jutsu, and many others. While he had a wide range of broken abilities under his belt, his specialty in Water Release allowed him extreme versatility in both offense and defense. But judging by the Naruto Mobile animation focused on the Second Hokage's younger years in battle, sporting very sleek battle armor complete with a shadowy cape and swords, he seemed like an untouchable opponent who didn't need to worry about defense.

Tobirama's Life Is Ripe With Narrative Potential

Many of the previous Hokage had moments that helped explore their personalities and achievements that they accomplished throughout their lives, but Tobirama Senju feels like the least explored leader of Konoha in the Naruto franchise. Besides his untrusting attitude toward the Uchiha clan, little of his character's backstory was shown in the story. But with everything we know about the character, and if the latest Naruto Mobile animation starring him is anything to go by, his combat abilities made him a one-man army with capabilities not too far away from characters like Madara, Hashirama, or Minato.

Tobirama seemingly gave up his life during the First Great Shinobi War to act as a decoy so that his students, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzō Shimura, could escape with their lives. It must have been an extremely powerful force to be able to defeat him, and yet another battle I wish could have been shown, because anytime someone like Tobirama Senju is able to let loose, it's been a real treat to witness. And with the Naruto Mobile English release coming soon, more of these stylish and over-the-top animations will be able to be enjoyed by more Naruto fans worldwide.