Konohamaru: The Grandson of the Third Hokage

From the rowdy kid who wanted to "beat" his grandfather to the sensei of the new generation: Konohamaru Sarutobi grew up before our eyes. Here is his profile.

The Grandson of the Third Hokage

Konohamaru is the grandson of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, and of his wife Biwako, the great-grandson of Sasuke Sarutobi, the nephew of Asuma — and not his son, the most widespread confusion in French — and the cousin of Mirai, daughter of Asuma and Kurenai. His first name was coined by his grandfather after the name of the village.

The family tree does have a deliberate gap, though: his parents are never named, never shown, not even given a gender. A single omake published in 2015 says both of them are Anbu, serving the Hokage directly.

As a child, the villagers never call him by his name, but "Honorable Grandson" (Omago-sama). It is this refusal to be recognized for himself that pushes him to demand the title of Hokage right away, even if it means trying to beat his grandfather. His databook motto says the opposite: "There are no shortcuts on the road to Hokage!"

The Rival Who Became Naruto's Student

Konohamaru appears as early as chapter 2 of the manga, serialized on October 11, 1999: he is one of the very first characters in the series, Team 7 only being formed in the following chapter. Their meeting takes just a few pages: a Harem Jutsu that floors his private tutor, and a boy who is the first not to see the Third's heir in him.

What follows reverses the order suggested by the label of student: it is Konohamaru who breaks off that relationship, since becoming Hokage by leaning on Naruto would prove, in his eyes, that he is not worthy of it. He is a student for a handful of pages, then a self-proclaimed rival forever — Naruto was never his official teacher.

What remains are the marks of attachment: "oyabun" (boss), "niichan" (big brother), and a verbal tic, "kore", which answers his role model's "dattebayo".

🍥 A fan of the new generation? Find its heroes in our Naruto figures.

Ebisu, Moegi and Udon: A Team for Life

The private tutor floored in chapter 2 is called Ebisu, whom the child used to run away from, judging him too strict. Yet he is the one who becomes his team leader after the time skip: a tokubetsu jonin specialized in training elite ninja, he leads Team Ebisu from chapter 253 on. And it is by seeing Konohamaru apply Naruto's lessons, in chapter 90, that he stops seeing the latter as the Nine-Tailed Fox brat.

His two teammates, Moegi Kazamatsuri and Udon Ise, only come on stage in chapter 34 — and not in chapter 2 with him. At the academy, the trio is nicknamed "Konohamaru Gundan", Konohamaru's ninja squad: a name that comes from the anime and the official guides, not from the manga. In the New Era, the anime makes them jonin in turn, each at the head of their own team.

The Rasengan Master

The Rasengan that Naruto passes on to him in chapter 428 comes at the end of a precise chain: invented by Minato, broken down into three steps by Jiraiya — rotation, power, containment — then taught according to those same steps, which the student will reuse just as they are for Boruto: the same method, word for word, across four generations.

His first feat of arms pits him against the Naraka Path, one of the Six Paths of Pain — and not against Pain himself. Ebisu, posted in front of it to cover his escape, is beaten without giving up Naruto. Konohamaru comes back, sends a clone in as a diversion and strikes from behind, a second clone helping him form and contain the Rasengan he holds himself. Defeat or retreat, it is unclear, but the Path is put out of action.

His sphere is smaller than his role model's at that stage and requires a clone; he will later learn to perform it alone, one-handed, and then to enrich it with his nature type, Wind Release (Fūton) — an ability only Naruto possessed before him, not to be confused with the Rasenshuriken.

A Sarutobi Arsenal Beyond the Rasengan

The fourth databook credits him with three natures before the Fourth Great Ninja War: Fire Release (Katon), Wind Release and Lava Release (Yoton); Lightning Release (Raiton) and Earth Release (Doton) only exist in the anime. He also practices fuinjutsu — in the Boruto manga, he breaks on his own a seal placed on him by Kashin Koji — and the anime credits him, as an adult, with Hiruzen's bojutsu and Asuma's blade gloves.

On the fire side, the family legacy is explicit: Asuma's Burning Ash, Hiruzen's Fire Dragon Breath, and the clan's Hiden, the Fire Release - Supreme Flame — and not "Great Flame". His personal technique, the Fire Meteors, opens chapter 21 of the Boruto manga.

Only the anime gives him summons: the toads of Mount Myoboku, then the ninja monkeys. His monkey, Enra, turns into a staff through the Transformation - Adamantine Staff, a technique also attributed to Enma. A nod rather than a succession: no kinship is established between the two monkeys.

The War, the Scarf and the Inauguration

In the manga, Konohamaru does not fight on the front lines of the Fourth Great Ninja War: he is captured in Konoha by the Ten-Tails' roots during the Infinite Tsukuyomi, then freed by Naruto and Sasuke. His wartime feats all come from the anime: Shikamaru asks him the riddle of the "king" a shinobi must protect, Tsunade then refuses him the Allied Shinobi Forces, and Temari sweeps aside the genin who comes to challenge her. It is Moegi who will give him the answer: the king is the children and the elders of the village.

His promotion to the rank of Chunin is only shown in an OVA, whose exams are held in Sunagakure. Two years later, in the film The Last: Naruto the Movie, he finds at his grandfather's house a scarf knitted by Kushina and gives it to Naruto. And when the Seventh misses his own inauguration, it is he who takes on his appearance with the Transformation Jutsu, in an omake adapted into an OVA.

The Sensei of the New Team 7

Now a jonin, Konohamaru leads Boruto, Sarada and Mitsuki. The manga soberly names this group "Team Konohamaru"; it is the anime that dubs it "Team 3" before Boruto and Sarada obtain the name Team 7 from Naruto. Kawaki will become an honorary member, and against Boro it is Sarada who is in command.

He teaches Boruto the basic Rasengan, nothing more: the invisible Rasengan is his student's own find, and it is Sasuke who takes over the training afterwards, with the captain's approval. The master has his lapses: his demonstration of the Kote, Katasuke's gauntlet, costs a destroyed farm and a lecture from Naruto.

The anime gives him his real inner conflict: Mitsuki is the son of Orochimaru, his grandfather's killer. Judged too involved to go looking for him, helped by his cousin Mirai, he infiltrates Iwagakure alone in Anbu gear, chooses to trust his student rather than arrest him, then obtains the reinstatement of his three genin.

The Kara Era and Two Blue Vortex: The Hokage's Right Hand

With Mugino, he is the one who reports to Konoha the existence of Kara and of its Outers. What follows are instructive defeats: beaten by Kashin Koji, then by Jigen's rods, then by Isshiki. Mugino, for his part, dies by collapsing a cave on himself and on Ao.

In Two Blue Vortex, still being published as of summer 2026, Naruto is missing and Shikamaru becomes interim Eighth Hokage: Konohamaru is only his right hand, he is not Hokage and never has been. If he first takes Boruto for Naruto's murderer, that is the effect of Ada's Omnipotence, which swapped the two boys in the world's memory.

Here the manga credits him with his adult techniques: a wind shield that stops a Chidori, then an Odama Rasenrengan with both hands that maims Matsuri, a humanoid God Tree born from Moegi's chakra — neither Moegi herself nor an Otsutsuki. It is Boruto who finishes her off; Konohamaru secures the Soul-Thorn Bulb and frees Moegi.

Summary Table

FAQ

• Who is Konohamaru in Naruto?
  The grandson of Hiruzen Sarutobi (the Third Hokage), self-proclaimed rival then student of Naruto, and sensei of the new Team 7.
• Does Konohamaru master the Rasengan?
  Yes: Naruto taught it to him. He masters it well enough to use it in combat and then pass it on to Boruto.
• What is the connection between Konohamaru and Naruto?
  Naruto is the first to treat him as an individual; Konohamaru makes him his rival and his role model, calling him "boss".
• Which team is Konohamaru the sensei of?
  The new Team 7: Boruto, Sarada and Mitsuki.
• Did Konohamaru invent the Sexy Jutsu?
  No: Naruto is the one who created it. Konohamaru is an enthusiastic user who comes up with his own variations of it.

In summary

Having grown from a willful child into an accomplished mentor, Konohamaru links the generations of Konoha — faithful, to the very end, to his dream of becoming Hokage.