Danzo

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Shimura Danzō (团藏) 25 258
Alias(es)	Pot Kage; Ninjutsu of Darkness 10 236
Gender	Male 231
Affiliation	Konohagakure; Shimura clan; Root 231
Occupation/Role	Root leader; former Hokage’s assistant; elder advisor; military commander 10 28 68 117
Status	Killed by Hiruzen Sarutobi; later appears as an enemy under Impure World Reincarnation 258 297
First Appearance	Chapter 3 3

Background / History

Konoha Leadership and Hostility toward the Uchiha

Danzō is a student of Tobirama Senju and a longtime political partner of Hiruzen Sarutobi. While Hiruzen holds the Hokage office, Danzō commands Root and serves as the Hokage’s assistant. He invokes his teacher’s condemnation of the Uchiha to justify advocating their complete eradication 3 10 28 208.

His hostility toward Uchiha Kazuki predates their major confrontations. Kazuki had already humiliated him publicly, and Danzō treats Kazuki’s contact with the Nine-Tails’ jinchūriki as evidence of a possible plot. Hiruzen initially restrains him because Kazuki is Kagami’s descendant, Shisui’s brother, and an important member of the Uchiha peace faction 3 13.

When Kazuki and Shisui lose their Mangekyō Sharingan, Hiruzen, Koharu, and Homura blame Danzō. He repeatedly denies responsibility, but their certainty turns him into the presumed culprit without establishing his involvement 10 11.

Root’s Failed Attack

Root’s attack on Kazuki ends with more than a dozen elite operatives dead. Danzō subsequently orders Kazuki’s capture and clashes with Fugaku, who demands an explanation for the assault. Hiruzen intervenes before the confrontation becomes an open conflict between village factions 20 21 22.

Under pressure from Fugaku and other village ninja, Hiruzen removes Danzō from the Hokage’s assistant position and confines him for reflection. Root loses roughly one-third of its strength and suffers budget deductions. Koharu and Homura cover part of Root’s financial burden, but the organization remains substantially weakened 28 33.

During Danzō’s detention, Hiruzen questions him about Kagami’s Sharingan and warns against withholding or falsifying the eyes. Danzō objects to returning powerful Sharingan to the Uchiha, while Hiruzen emphasizes Konoha’s need for peace 45.

Escalation against Kazuki

Kazuki continues to humiliate Danzō, including publicly mocking an injury that left him with one testicle destroyed. Danzō’s resentment develops into an explicit determination to kill him, while his accusations of treason repeatedly encounter Hiruzen’s reluctance to act 65 77 86.

The Kumogakure operation brings further losses to Root. Hiruzen exposes Danzō’s attempts to shift responsibility, then questions whether he has continued pursuing Wood Release after the village secured a Wood Release ninja. By this point, Root’s cumulative losses are estimated to exceed half its personnel 85 91.

Despite these setbacks, Danzō remains useful to Hiruzen as an opponent of the increasingly powerful Uchiha. He is appointed overall commander for the force confronting Kumogakure, with Fugaku ordered to lead the Uchiha contingent 96 117.

After the Uchiha’s departure from Konoha, Kazuki visits Danzō’s home intending to poison him. Danzō immediately detonates the house and activates Izanagi, surviving Kazuki’s attack at the cost of his right eye. With his residence destroyed, he stays at Hiruzen’s house 153.

Danzō later commands Konoha forces against the Hokage Village. Kazuki’s explosive-tag ambush inflicts heavy casualties, and Danzō responds by ordering close combat while his troops attempt to restrain a tailed beast with chains 172.

The Hokage Succession and Civil War

Danzō’s ambition briefly appears attainable when Hiruzen promises him the Fifth Hokage position if his proposed operation succeeds. Their arrangements also require Danzō to handle Orochimaru’s involvement, drawing on a relationship built through funding and materials supplied for human experimentation 187 190.

That promise does not result in his accession. When Hiruzen brings Takefu Akimichi out of retirement, Danzō learns that Takefu is intended to become the Fifth Hokage and Kakashi the Sixth. Hiruzen’s suggestion that Danzō wait for the Seventh position enrages him, since the proposed succession could leave him waiting decades 222.

Konoha subsequently divides into rival factions. Danzō refuses to abandon his claim to power, deploying the Shimura clan and hundreds of elite Root operatives against his opponents. Root’s members are compelled to fight for him through the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal 230 231 232.

After Kakashi becomes the Fifth Hokage, Danzō seriously considers Kazuki’s suggestion that he establish a separate Shadow Village. His hidden bases keep Hiruzen from locating him, but he ultimately attends Konoha’s war council and pledges 1,500 Shimura ninja. Kazuki reveals that encouraging this ambition was intended to make Danzō preserve Konoha for his own future plans 236.

Betrayal and Death

As rumors about the Sarutobi clan spread, Hiruzen suspects Danzō of orchestrating them. Kakashi rejects punishment without sufficient evidence, despite Danzō’s earlier attempts to seize his Sharingan and his connection to Sakumo’s death 253 254.

Hiruzen nevertheless decides to make Danzō bear responsibility for Konoha’s past wrongdoing, protecting his own reputation and clan. He traps Kakashi and other officials in the Hokage Office Building, then attacks Danzō’s forces. Danzō responds with fury at being betrayed by his former partner 254 255.

Their battle exhausts both men. Danzō repeatedly survives fatal injuries through Izanagi; nine Sharingan on his arm have closed by the time Hiruzen severs his body with a Dragon Cannon. Recognizing that his forbidden experiments have been exposed, Danzō considers escaping with his remaining followers 256.

Hiruzen eventually finds Danzō in a temporarily activated hidden sanctuary and kills him. Danzō’s final reserves include three Sharingan: one visible, one hidden, and one in his eye socket 258.

Before his death, Danzō sells Kakashi incriminating evidence against Hiruzen. Kakashi later identifies Hiruzen’s attempt to silence Danzō as the cause of that transaction, making Danzō’s retaliation instrumental in Hiruzen’s downfall 261.

Impure World Reincarnation

During the later war, Kazuki and Kakashi anticipate that Orochimaru may summon Danzō because his body was not sealed and his strength was Kage-level. Danzō subsequently appears among the reincarnated enemies; after Gari and Hanzō are sealed, he and Hiruzen remain among the enemy’s strong fighters 289 297.

Appearance

• Elderly man: His age becomes a practical limitation during his prolonged battle with Hiruzen, leaving both combatants nearly exhausted 256.
• Single visible eye: Early appearances emphasize his one-eyed glare and his ability to maintain an imposing presence despite it 3 11 45.
• Cane: He walks with a cane, whose tapping is recognizable to Konoha’s elders 3 10 65.
• Sharingan-bearing arm: His later battle with Hiruzen reveals multiple implanted Sharingan on his arm 256.

Personality

Danzō combines uncompromising anti-Uchiha prejudice with a habit of presenting his actions as service to Konoha. He advocates extermination rather than compromise and repeatedly insists that his conduct is justified by the village’s interests, even when Hiruzen challenges that explanation 3 28 86.

Becoming Hokage is his central obsession. He cares less about public opinion than about obtaining the office, and Kazuki describes him as a man whose life has become inseparable from that ambition. Being passed over for younger successors makes him increasingly desperate 157 222 231 236.

His secrecy extends beyond ordinary operational caution: he trusts no one but himself, including subordinates controlled by his own seal. At the same time, Kazuki acknowledges his determination, judging that once Danzō commits to a goal, he pursues it wholeheartedly 236.

Danzō is frequently enraged by humiliation, but he remains capable of decisive survival measures. Destroying his own home to escape Kazuki’s assassination attempt contrasts sharply with his repeated criticism of Hiruzen’s indecision 153. Hiruzen’s eventual resolve to kill him wounds him precisely because that decisiveness is directed against their former partnership 254.

Abilities & Skills

Izanagi

• Survives Kazuki’s assassination attempt and returns completely unharmed after activating the Uchiha forbidden technique 153.
• Consumes his right eye during that escape 153.
• Repeatedly survives Hiruzen’s attacks; nine implanted arm Sharingan have closed during their prolonged battle 256.
• Provides additional chances to survive, not permanent invulnerability: Hiruzen ultimately kills him 258.

Modified Body and Implanted Sharingan

• His corpse contains combined Senju and Uchiha power in an unusual state of balance 259.
• His implanted Sharingan serve as reserves for forbidden techniques 153 256 258.
• Hiruzen regards the body as exceptionally valuable for its biological secrets and potential power 259.
• Possession of these modifications does not establish that Danzō personally uses Wood Release.

Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal

• Brands Root operatives and binds them to Danzō’s control 231 255.
• Compels Root members to fight desperately for him during Konoha’s civil war 231.
• Makes transferring those operatives into another leader’s service dangerous and impractical 255.

Command and Covert Operations

• Commands hundreds of elite Root ninja in addition to Shimura clan forces 231.
• Holds overall military command during preparations against Kumogakure 117.
• Maintains numerous concealed bases whose locations are not fully known even to his trusted assistants 236.
• Keeps incriminating intelligence on Hiruzen and sells it to Kakashi when their partnership collapses 261.
• His authority does not automatically extend to ordinary village ninja or the Hokage’s Anbu 22 86.

Relationships

• Hiruzen Sarutobi — Longtime partner, political rival, and eventual killer. Hiruzen relies on him against the Uchiha but ultimately attempts to sacrifice him as Konoha’s scapegoat 96 254 258.
• Tobirama Senju — Teacher. Danzō invokes Tobirama’s words to justify his anti-Uchiha stance; the reincarnated Tobirama later questions his clan’s growth and absence during Konoha’s crisis 3 208.
• Uchiha Kazuki / Yishū — Sworn enemy and repeated source of humiliation. Their conflict costs Danzō personnel, political office, his home, and an eye; Kazuki later manipulates his ambition to secure his support for Konoha 28 153 236.
• Uchiha Fugaku — Clan leader who confronts him over Root’s assault and pressures Hiruzen to punish him 22 28.
• Orochimaru — Research collaborator whom Danzō supplies with funding and materials for human experimentation 190.
• Hatake Kakashi — Target of repeated attempts to seize his Sharingan, then an unexpected defender against unsupported accusations. Danzō eventually sells him evidence against Hiruzen 253 254 261.
• Takefu Akimichi — Rival whose proposed appointment as Fifth Hokage displaces Danzō’s promised succession 222.
• Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura — Fellow elders who initially accept accusations against him, but later subsidize part of Root’s financial penalty 10 28.

Notable Quotes

“When it comes to the Uchiha, we must use thunderous methods to eradicate them completely.” 3

“Believe it or not, I didn’t do this.” 10

“Hiruzen, you’re indecisive as always. Uchiha Yishū has come to Konoha. This is such a great opportunity. If we miss this one, do you think there will be a second?” 179