There was one quality about Hashirama that stood out to me besides the glaring power discrepancy. It's that he handled Sasuke in a different manner - he took a different approach to reason with him. Naruto was always trying to appeal to his sense of decency and suppressed emotions, hoping that they're memories together would somehow rekindle the spark of humanity which Sasuke extinguished. It didn't address the root cause for Sasuke's aggressive state of mind. From Sasuke's perspective, Naruto might have come off as a naive child, oblivious to the circumstances of what made him what he was.
Sasuke's fury intensified when he interpreted the happy expressions of the Rookies in his mind as being symbols of ignorance and complacency. That right there should have been an indication that it was more than just severed relationships and a lust for power that made Sasuke resent Konoha.
On the other hand, Hashirama had the knowledge and the willingness to communicate with Sasuke regarding his grievances and questions. Unlike Naruto, he didn't have a one-track mind and he openly admitted that the harsh realities which Sasuke begrudged the village for having were true (at least somewhat). He thoroughly explained everything which Sasuke wanted to know while maintaining an impartial tone. Hashirama didn't come across as arrogant or selfish with a holier-than-thou attitude which arguably Naruto might have. I believe that it was because of the fact that this man, a Senju, was able and willing to confront an Uchiha about the injustices they believed they suffered and admit to the mistrust and bias that existed in the village, is what really persuaded Sasuke to follow in Itachi's footsteps (in his own mind). It wasn't brushed aside or hand waved with an indefinite "I understand why you did it" remark in the hopes that he would simply come frolicking back to Konoha.
That's why I have much more respect for Hashirama as an Hokage and as a voice of reason than Naruto. He actually knows what to say and has the finesse to properly acknowledge when a wrongdoing has been committed, whereas Naruto just stutters and provides one of his several ambiguously worded retorts without much understanding of the depth that it holds or how he is supposed to reach that objective. "Because that's my ninja way" or "I'm going to believe in what Jiraiya believed in me". He's just blindly riding on what he says, hoping that it will all turn out for the better in the end.
Say what you will about Hashirama's pitiful display during the first Kage summit, but at least he had an actual plan for trying to enact peace by allowing the five nations to maintain an equal balance of power through the bijuu.
Edited by Atheck, 19 October 2013 - 10:50 PM.
