Danzo

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Danzo (团藏), also rendered Danzō
Species/Race	Human 729
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Konoha; Shimura clan; Root, later disbanded 260 490 613
Occupation/Role	Root leader; former Hokage’s aide; later Hokage, removed after the Five Kage Summit 283 729
Status	Deceased; killed by Sasuke. His soul is subsequently summoned by Shiraishi Yoshijo 729
First Appearance	First documented appearance in the provided passages: Chapter 20 20

Background / History

Early Conflict with Shiraishi Yoshijo

Danzo killed Shiraishi Yoshijo’s parents, establishing the personal grievance behind their long rivalry. Nevertheless, the two later cooperated before separating again; Konoha’s leaders found their shifting relationship difficult to interpret 504.

After witnessing Yoshijo’s talent, Danzo urged Hiruzen Sarutobi to place him in the Anbu rather than let him work at the hospital. Root subsequently planted Yakushi Nonō there to monitor him. Yoshijo detected the surveillance and confronted Hiruzen, who offered him an Anbu squad staffed by trusted personnel 20 31.

Danzo also sought to weaken independent clan power. Yoshijo concluded that his efforts to start and prolong wars were a means of keeping the shinobi clans under control 40.

The Root Ambush

Orochimaru supplied Yoshijo with the location of Danzo’s base, but Yoshijo suspected the information could be bait. He prepared surgically altered human decoys to trigger traps, then detected more than a hundred hostile presences while arranging his own counterambush 82 83 96.

Danzo pushed to kill Yoshijo despite Hatake Sakumo’s objection that an execution without questioning violated procedure. Hiruzen recognized that Danzo’s unauthorized attack threatened both his authority and Konoha’s relations with the clans 99 100.

During the confrontation, Danzo fought alongside Aburame Ryoma but was overwhelmed by Yoshijo’s Garan Colossus. Afterward, he blamed the Rain Ninja and gave Yoshijo the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style to help settle the incident and coordinate their accounts 101 102 104 105.

Restricted Authority and Renewed Schemes

Hiruzen barred Danzo from interfering in village affairs for four years. When Yoshijo’s secret relocation of his clansmen became a concern, Hiruzen brought Danzo back into the investigation; Danzo assigned Ryoma to handle it 191.

Yoshijo later raided a Root base, killing its personnel while sparing a hidden child, and seized its scrolls, weapons, equipment, and nearly one hundred million ryo. The stolen materials included Wood Release techniques, but not the Hashirama Cells Yoshijo wanted 253 260.

By this period, Danzo had lost an eye and an arm. Yoshijo suspected that his continued fixation on the Shi-Die stemmed from coveting their secret techniques rather than pursuing Sharingan transplants 260.

Although stripped of his position as Hokage’s aide, Danzo retained command of a depleted Root. He eventually entrusted Hashirama Cells to Orochimaru for research; the first documented experiment killed its subject in an explosion 283 285.

Exposure and War with Yoshijo

Yoshijo accused Danzo of involvement in an assassination attempt and of leaking intelligence to the Rain Ninja. He presented a dozen captured Root jonin bearing Danzo’s cursed seal and forced testimony from one through forbidden Medical Ninjutsu. Hiruzen stopped the interrogation and transferred the witnesses to the Anbu 291.

The subsequent leadership meeting left Danzo feeling abandoned by those who had relied on him for covert work. As the others departed without acknowledging him, he shattered the conference table in anger 293.

Danzo continued organizing attacks against Yoshijo. Orochimaru later disclosed that planting Explosive Tags in the Ninja Military Academy had been Danzo’s idea, carried out by the Daimyo’s son, Zhixiong. Danzo had also ordered Orochimaru to cooperate in killing Yoshijo during the capital operation 424.

When Yoshijo returned to Konoha nearly ten years later without visibly aging, Danzo connected his appearance and the Daimyo’s rejuvenation to a possible immortality technique. He proposed inviting Zhixiong to Konoha through the Chunin Exams as part of a plan to counter the Daimyo’s control 501 505.

Konoha’s Decline and the Uchiha Conflict

Facing Yoshijo’s overwhelming forces, Danzo initially hoped the Daimyo would protect Konoha. His hopes collapsed when the arriving airships failed to provide the intervention he expected 577.

He later led several hundred ninja against Yoshijo’s statue, attempting to sever its neck with Wind Release. A remotely supplied barrier prevented its destruction; Yoshijo’s taunting drove Danzo to spit blood and collapse 587.

Root secretly assassinated Uchiha ninja on missions and collected their Sharingan. Danzo also accused Uchiha Fugaku of colluding with foreign forces and personally ordered an attack on the clan compound 598 604 613.

After the Uchiha clan’s extermination, Hiruzen dismissed Danzo and ordered Root disbanded. The two advisors supported the decision, concluding that Danzo’s private ambitions had overtaken the village interests he claimed to defend 613.

Hokage Tenure, Death, and Posthumous Captivity

Danzo continued seeking power after his dismissal. He offered Orochimaru assistance against Hiruzen, declaring that the latter was no longer fit to lead Konoha 640.

By the Five Kage Summit, Danzo held the Hokage position. His manipulation of Mifune and escape during Sasuke’s assault destroyed the remaining trust in him and cost him the office. Sasuke subsequently killed him, his death received little public attention, and Kakashi was reinstated as Hokage 729.

Yoshijo obtained Danzo’s blood and summoned his soul alongside those of Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu. He prepared an experiment involving the fusion of human souls with animals, extending his revenge beyond their deaths 729.

Appearance

• Missing eye and arm: Both losses are explicitly noted by the time Yoshijo examines the materials stolen from Root 260.
• Controlled expression: His icy demeanor breaks when his own subordinates testify against him 291.

Personality

Danzo presents covert violence as necessary service to Konoha. He resents Hiruzen for occupying the Hokage position while leaving him the dirty work, and interprets political compromise with Yoshijo as weakness. When fellow leaders distance themselves from him, he sees their behavior as betrayal rather than a response to his actions 208 293.

He is persistent, suspicious, and willing to act without authorization. Hiruzen expects him to replace an exposed surveillance agent rather than abandon monitoring Yoshijo, while his failed attack leads him to shift responsibility onto the Rain Ninja 31 100 104.

His composure deteriorates when Yoshijo frustrates him. Hiruzen has to keep him focused during their military preparations, and the failed statue attack ends in a physical collapse. By his dismissal, even his fellow advisors judge his claims of serving Konoha to be a cover for personal ambition 414 587 613.

Abilities & Skills

Wind Release

• Vacuum Serial Waves: Produces enormous wind blades; Danzo uses it against Yoshijo, during the palace assault, and in his attempt to decapitate Yoshijo’s statue 101 520 587.
• Vacuum Great Sphere: Used alongside Vacuum Serial Waves when resisting Yoshijo’s attack 101.
• Limit: His Wind Release does not prevent the Garan Colossus from overwhelming him and Ryoma 101.

Cursed Seal of Sealing

• Root jonin bear Danzo’s cursed seal, which Yoshijo identifies as evidence of their connection to him 291.
• During the interrogation, Yoshijo uses Medical Ninjutsu to regrow a Root ninja’s tongue and force testimony despite Danzo’s secrecy measures 291.

Covert Operations and Political Manipulation

• Uses Root to conduct surveillance, investigations, assassinations, and Sharingan collection 31 191 598 613.
• Arranges attacks through intermediaries, including Orochimaru and Zhixiong 424.
• Supplies sealing and barrier techniques; Hiruzen’s account of Yoshijo’s mastery makes Danzo realize that his own gifts helped strengthen his enemy 105 265.
• Seeks leverage over the Daimyo through his eldest son and later attempts to enlist Orochimaru against Hiruzen 505 640.

Relationships

• Shiraishi Yoshijo — Enemy, former collaborator, and eventual captor of his soul. Danzo killed Yoshijo’s parents; their temporary cooperation never erased the underlying grievance 504 729.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi — Political partner and rival. Hiruzen repeatedly restricts his authority and ultimately dismisses him; after death, Hiruzen admits that some of Danzo’s actions had his tacit approval 191 613 750.
• Orochimaru — Research collaborator and unreliable political partner. Danzo supplies Hashirama Cells, but Orochimaru leaks his plans to Yoshijo and later refuses to help with the Hokage election 285 424 573.
• Aburame Ryoma — Trusted operative who fights beside him and receives responsibility for investigating Yoshijo’s clan relocation 101 191.
• Hatake Sakumo — Opposes Danzo’s attempt to kill Yoshijo without questioning and urges Yoshijo not to kill Danzo during their confrontation 99 101.
• Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura — Fellow Konoha leaders who eventually support his dismissal. Yoshijo later summons all three souls for experimentation 613 729.
• Uchiha clan — Targets of Root’s assassinations and Sharingan collection; Danzo’s actions repeatedly intensify their conflict with Konoha 598 604 613.
• Sasuke Uchiha — His killer following the Five Kage Summit 729.

Notable Quotes

“Smash the statue to pieces! Leave no trace behind!” 587

“Sarutobi Hiruzen! He has completely fallen from grace. He is no longer fit to lead Konoha!” 640