Shimura Danzō

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Shimura Danzō (志村团藏)
Alias(es)	“The Darkness of the Shinobi World” 140
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Konohagakure; Root; Shimura Clan 67 258
Occupation/Role	Root leader; Konoha Elder and Hokage Advisor; contender for Fourth Hokage. His elder position is revoked, although he later disputes the order’s validity 68 81 148 235.
Status	Deceased; publicly executed by beheading 368
First Appearance	Chapter 11, “Shimura Danzō!” 11

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Transplanted Mangekyō Sharingan; Izanagi acquired	40 282	Obtains Kagami Uchiha’s remaining eye after Kagami’s death. He learns Izanagi’s hand seals from Kagami and keeps the technique as a hidden trump card. This eye is sacrificed during the Land of Rain operation.
Hashirama-cell replacement arm and additional Sharingan	269 274	Replaces his severed right arm with an experimental arm containing five Three-Tomoe Sharingan. The transplant increases his chakra and physical capabilities and grants basic Wood Release.
Six-Sharingan Izanagi capacity confirmed	275 276 278	With one Sharingan in his right eye and five in his arm, he can theoretically sustain Izanagi for approximately six minutes. He combines it with repeated suicidal sealing attacks; his chakra exceeds even his former peak.

Background / History

Danzō joins Konoha in its first year and becomes a direct disciple of the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama. His service during the First and Second Shinobi World Wars makes him one of the village’s longest-established veterans 13 367.

In his later account, Danzō traces his suspicious worldview to the First Shinobi World War’s unprecedented large-scale battles and devastating casualties. Near the war’s end, he serves among Tobirama’s six Shadow Guards when Kumogakure forces surround them following Kinkaku and Ginkaku’s coup. Tobirama’s decision to sacrifice himself becomes a defining event in Danzō’s recollection 329.

During a subsequent mission, Kagami Uchiha takes a fatal blow to protect Danzō, then survives through Izanagi. Kagami explains the technique under Danzō’s persistent questioning. Danzō’s envy of the Sharingan turns into covetousness; after another mission in which Kagami dies, Danzō returns alone with Kagami’s remaining eye 282.

Danzō later builds Root into a covert organization operating beneath the Anbu. As Root develops, he becomes less publicly visible, accumulating intelligence, forbidden techniques, and research materials over decades 34 148.

Appearance

• Land of Rain mission: Described as middle-aged, with both arms intact, Anbu battle clothing, a sword on his back, and bandages covering his right eye 34.
• After his defeat: Returns to Konoha with half his body bandaged. Jin identifies his losses as an arm and an eye 67 79.
• Augmented right arm: A pallid replacement embedded with five Three-Tomoe Sharingan, ordinarily concealed beneath bandages 269 274.
• Chest markings: Carries pre-inscribed sealing runes for the Inner Four Symbols Seal beneath his clothing 275.

Personality

Danzō presents coercion, experimentation, and warfare as necessities for Konoha’s development. He treats people as instruments: he promises to turn Jin into a “useful tool,” regards intelligence agents as disposable, and dismisses his own attacking subordinates as expendable troops intended to exhaust the enemy 73 274 286.

His ambition centers on becoming Hokage. He resents Hiruzen’s authority, openly agrees while secretly disobeying orders, and values his controllable Root organization above the Shimura Clan. Although capable of patient planning and political compromise, setbacks provoke vindictiveness, purges, and increasingly extreme attempts to seize power 37 67 81 102 258.

After awakening from Izanami, Danzō admits that his supposed devotion to Konoha concealed an obsession with proving himself worthy of the Hokage position. He offers assistance and accepts his fate, but Jin cautions that recognizing one’s motives does not necessarily erase deeply entrenched beliefs 329 330 331.

Abilities & Skills

Wind Release

Danzō’s wind-nature chakra control is explicitly described as far beyond that of an ordinary jōnin 40.

Technique	Demonstrated use
Vacuum Bullets	Fires a broad, sustained barrage of chakra-infused air projectiles. Hanzō counters with Water Release: Water Prison Wall 40.
Wind Style: Shuriken	Coats thrown shuriken in concentrated wind chakra, forming cutting blades around them 275.
Vacuum Great Sphere	Scatters Hiruzen’s fire dragon and later breaks through Homura’s attacking chains 275 279.
Vacuum Blade	Forms a wind blade around a kunai. Used against Homura’s lightning sword and to sever opponents’ limbs 275 279.
Vacuum Serial Waves	Releases multiple slicing currents against Hiruzen, Koharu, and Homura 279.

Izanagi

A forbidden Uchiha technique that rewrites unfavorable events, including death, as though they never occurred 276.

• Activation: Uses the Rabbit, Boar, and Goat hand seals learned from Kagami 282.
• Cost: Each use permanently blinds one Sharingan 276.
• Duration: Approximately one minute per eye at Danzō’s level; six eyes provide roughly six minutes in total 276.
• Early application: Restores him after a poisoned, arm-severing attack during the confrontation with Hanzō, consuming Kagami’s Mangekyō Sharingan 39 40.
• Combat strategy: Enables him to accept lethal exchanges and repeatedly use the Inner Four Symbols Seal without remaining dead 275 278.
• Counter: Does not prevent Jin’s Izanami from trapping him in a repeating sensory experience 282 284.

Hashirama-Cell Augmentation and Wood Release

His replacement arm is an experimental product of Orochimaru’s Wood Release research, combining Senju and Uchiha powers 274 278.

• Physical enhancement: Allows him to meet attacks from Hiruzen’s Adamantine Staff head-on, unlike in their earlier sparring matches 275.
• Chakra enhancement: Gives him reserves exceeding those of his original peak despite his age 278.
• Wood Style: Violent Spear Tree: Extends a large tree from his arm to block attacks and launch sharpened branches 275.
• Scope: Jin identifies his Wood Release as basic rather than comparable to the First Hokage’s full capabilities 269.

Inner Four Symbols Seal

A suicidal sealing technique inscribed across Danzō’s chest 275.

• Releases blood and expands into a large sealing sphere, engulfing the Hokage Tower’s battlefield 275.
• Becomes especially dangerous inside the Four Purple Yang Formation, where opponents have limited space to retreat 275.
• Paired with Izanagi, repeatedly exhausts Hiruzen and Koharu while leaving Danzō restored 275 278.
• Jin escapes its range during their confrontation; Danzō recognizes that repeating it without restraining Jin would be ineffective 283.

Summoning: Baku

• Summons Baku to counter Ibuse’s poisonous mist with suction 40.
• Hanzō resists the suction using his kusarigama 40.

Close Combat and Battlefield Tactics

• Uses a tachi to block Hanzō’s kusarigama 40.
• His original taijutsu is considered competent but not outstanding among his peers; augmentation substantially improves his performance 275.
• Exploits incomplete enemy intelligence about his transplanted arm and Izanagi 269 275.
• Targets Hiruzen and Koharu to force Homura into a rescue attempt, then severs Homura’s sword hand 279.

Intelligence and Political Manipulation

• Commands spies, conducts purges, manipulates public opinion, and uses false identities to inflame conflicts between villages 37 102 308.
• Holds copies of nearly all materials in the Hokage Collection Room, including secret techniques, forbidden techniques, and technical data 148.
• Uses clan needs, promised offices, and access to forbidden techniques as bargaining tools during his Hokage campaign 122 164 165.
• Maintains control over Root through cursed seals and indoctrination, although field intelligence personnel are less uniformly loyal 258 286.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Tachi / long sword — Carried on his back during the Land of Rain mission and used against Hanzō 34 40.
• Kunai and shuriken — Enhanced with wind chakra for melee and ranged attacks 275.
• Kagami’s Mangekyō Sharingan — His original concealed transplanted eye; sacrificed to Izanagi in the Land of Rain 40.
• Hashirama-cell arm — Replacement limb housing five Three-Tomoe Sharingan 274 278.
• Forbidden-technique records — Supplies the Uchiha with scrolls for Spirit Transformation, Eight Gates Released Formation, and Summoning: Rashōmon as payment for promised assistance 167.

Relationships

• Senju Tobirama — Teacher. Danzō inherits his vigilance toward the Uchiha and later recounts Tobirama’s final sacrifice as a decisive event in his life 13 329 330.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen — Longtime friend, comrade, superior, and eventual political enemy. Their conflict escalates into assassination attempts and an armed coup, yet Hiruzen later still tries to rescue him 148 275 354 370.
• Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura — Former leadership partners whom he targets alongside Hiruzen. They subsequently participate in efforts to save him and mourn his execution 269 351 368.
• Uchiha Jin — Enemy and temporary political partner. Jin cultivates Danzō’s ambitions without intending to make him Hokage, defeats him with Izanami, and exposes Root’s crimes 167 282 284 308.
• Minato Namikaze — Rival for Fourth Hokage. After his capture, Danzō expresses trust in Minato’s partnership with Jin; Minato nevertheless oversees his public execution 148 330 368.
• Orochimaru — Research collaborator and political supporter. Creates the experimental arm Danzō uses in the coup 120 148 278.
• Kagami Uchiha — Former teammate who saves Danzō and teaches him about Izanagi. Danzō obtains his remaining Sharingan after his death; Hiruzen later acknowledges the eye’s origin while noting the absence of conclusive evidence about the death 282 441.
• Hanzō the Salamander — Apparent ally against Akatsuki. The Hanzō acting under Jin’s control instead turns the operation against Danzō and devastates Root’s elite force 34 40 67.
• Yamanaka Fū and Aburame Ryōma — His most capable Root aides, involved in recruitment, intelligence, and assassination planning 67 168.
• Tenzo — Experimental survivor whom Danzō names and raises as a Root operative. Sent against Hiruzen, later transferred to Anbu, and becomes a witness against Danzō 160 226 254 311.
• Yakushi Nonō — Former Root spy he attempts to coerce back into service by threatening the orphanage’s funding 78.
• Shimura Clan — His birth clan, whose resources he diverts toward Root. Its leadership later seeks to separate the clan from his crimes 258 309.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Land of Rain Operation

• Opposes Hiruzen’s proposed armistice with Iwagakure and sends Root to provoke renewed conflict among Konoha, Iwagakure, and Amegakure 11.
• Discovers Nagato’s Rinnegan and seeks to obtain it by persuading Hanzō to eliminate Akatsuki 16 34.
• Poses as a peace-talks representative and requests the three Akatsuki leaders’ corpses, claiming they contain sensitive Konoha intelligence 34.
• Is outmaneuvered by the Hanzō controlled by Jin. The ensuing battle costs him an arm, Kagami’s eye, and much of Root’s elite manpower 34 39 40 79.
• Returns injured and orders accelerated Root training. Hiruzen removes him as elder and suspends Root’s activities, though Danzō retains his advisor title and continues operating secretly 67 68 81.

Fourth Hokage Campaign

• Fails to obtain Jin or Shisui for Root after Hiruzen refuses to surrender Uchiha personnel 73.
• Attempts to force Nonō into infiltrating Amegakure, but Jin intervenes at the orphanage 78.
• Exploits clan opposition to Minato’s proposed interference in internal affairs and seeks support from the Hyūga and other clans 122 148.
• Offers the Uchiha an elder position and three forbidden techniques. He then proposes assassinating Hiruzen and dividing the daimyo’s funds, with the Uchiha receiving 30% 164 165 166.
• Negotiates with Kumogakure’s Dodai over Hiruzen’s assassination. The resulting ambush kills Hiruzen’s son Shinnosuke and daughter-in-law, but Hiruzen survives 170 370.
• Is identified by Jin as the architect of the Kumogakure envoy’s escape and subsequent invasion. When challenged publicly, Danzō admits deliberately provoking the war 202 242 247.
• Exploits the absence of formal paperwork to dispute his earlier dismissal after Hiruzen’s authority is challenged 235.

Coup at the Hokage Tower

• Plans to eliminate Hiruzen, Koharu, and Homura, using the Four Purple Yang Formation and Root’s special abilities to delay intervention 269.
• Sends Root fighters against the three leaders, then unveils his Sharingan-bearing arm after his subordinates are defeated 274.
• Combines Izanagi with repeated Inner Four Symbols Seals, exhausts Hiruzen’s group, and severs Hiruzen’s arm and Homura’s hand 275 278 279.
• Is severely injured when Tsunade intervenes before he can finish Hiruzen and Koharu 279.
• Learns that Jin never intended to support his accession. Jin counters Izanagi with Izanami, leaving Danzō motionless and captured alive 282 284 285.

Root Investigation and Judgment

• The Military Police seize Root facilities and rescue more than a thousand children, from infants to twelve-year-olds, held as trainees or experimental subjects 290.
• Jin exposes training more than ten times harsher than ordinary clan instruction. Root’s assessments use chūnin standards, and failure means death 67 290.
• A Jōnin Meeting reviews ten charges supported by evidence, including the coup, human experimentation, murder for profit, enemy collusion, persecution of dissidents, and deliberate war provocation 308.
• The proceedings reveal Danzō’s manipulation behind Hatake Sakumo’s death and further document his attempts to assassinate Hiruzen 309 311.

Awakening and Execution

• Awakens from Izanami and acknowledges that his pursuit of the Hokage position—not selfless service—drove his actions 328 329.
• Offers to help Jin absorb resistant Root personnel and discloses a secret overseas experimental base 330.
• During an attempted prison rescue, identifies the supposed Root rescuers as agents sent by Hiruzen, Koharu, and Homura. Hiruzen subsequently admits his involvement 351 354.
• Is brought bound and controlled by cursed seals to an unprecedented public execution outside the Hokage Tower 367.
• At high noon, an Anbu executioner beheads him with Kubikiribōchō after Minato publicly presents his crimes 368.

Notable Quotes

“As long as the village needs me, I can appear anywhere!” 34

“History is written by the victors. As long as the benefits are great enough, there's nothing that can't be done!” 274

“I said it was for the village, but in truth, it was for the Hokage Position!” 329

“If you need old man to cooperate with you on anything, as long as it does no harm to the village, old man will do everything in his power to help!” 330