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Hashirama Senju was the legendary ninja in the world of Naruto, he was also the only one who managed to defeat Madara Uchiha.
How come Hashirama could not break the seal of Edo Tensei (when Orochimaru, who was less proficient in Edo Tensei than Kabuto later on) much like Madara did with Kabuto? It seems silly that Hashirama who was stronger than Madara could not break Orochimaru's seal, while Madara was able to break Kabuto's more powerful seal.
Hashirama doesn't need to break the Edo-Tensei because it's already mentioned that Orochimaru (Jutsu owner) is not able to control Hashirama.
Which means he is already acting on his own free will. The only risk is if someone catches Orochimaru and undo the Justsu somehow (like Itachi did to Kabuto), all 4 Hokages will vanish. Even in that case, there is Edo-Tensei grace period. During that time, Hashirama can break the Jutsu and recast it on his own, same like Madara did (maybe 2nd also, he is the Jutsu creator).
How did Orochimaru summon the 1st Hokage?
Orochimaru used 4 Zetsu bodies as bodies for the 4 hokages. Then, recall how each one of them were sealed in the death god? The 4th sealed himself with part of the kyuubi, and the 3rd sealed himself along with the first two when fighting against Orochimaru at chuunin selection exam. Thus Orochimaru can pull them all out of the death god and put them in the Zetsu bodies.
Why couldn't Hashirama break the seal?
Madara stated that you can free yourself if you know the seals to Edo Tensei. Hashirama probably knew the seal (as his brother created the jutsu), but he didn't even need to use it. Orochimaru specifically stated that he couldn't even control Hashirama to begin with. This is probably due to Hashirama being incredibly strong as well as Zetsu bodies being made with Hashirama cells.
Why is there so much mystery about Hashirama's power?
Because he is considered the god of all Shinobi. And since Naruto takes place in an era where he is dead, no one really knows his true strength. Of course, the only person who would know his true power is Uchiha Madara.
Hashirama (in Chunin Exam Arc under Orochimaru's Control was only at 40% and had a talisman inserted into him; Madara did not, and Hashirama, as I previously stated, was at 40%, thus weaker, and unable to use his full power). In Shippuden, once again revived by Orochimaru, easily breaks free from the seal due to to his immense strength and prowess.
Kabuto's edo tensei is different since he can keep the old mind of the deceased iam pretty sure orochimatu didn't do so when madara was ascending to heaven he had control over his body and was able to revive himself hashirama didn't get the grace period of ascending cause of sarutobi.
When Orochimaru summoned Hashirama in part one, he was using the incomplete version of the jutsu and it took kabuto from the time of Orochimaru's death to the fourth great ninja war to perfect it. So the Hashirama that was summoned earlier was not a complete copy whereas Madara is the perfected version.
