Danzo

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Shimura Danzō (团藏)
Alias(es)	“Darkness of the Shinobi”; “Konoha’s true shadow”
Species/Race	Human
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Konohagakure; Root; Fifth Hokage of Konohagakure
Occupation/Role	Konoha elder; leader of Root; Hokage
Status	Alive 325
First Appearance	108

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Hashirama-Cell Sharingan arm	156	Orochimaru provides an arm made from Hashirama Cells and implanted with ten Sharingan. The eyes suppress the cells’ otherwise uncontrollable growth and enable Izanagi.
Stolen Mangekyō Sharingan	193 201	Takes Shisui Uchiha’s Mangekyō Sharingan after ambushing him with Root; initially possesses its ocular power but cannot yet use Kotoamatsukami.
Mutual Devouring fusion	220 221	Fuses with Root operative B through a modified Living Corpse Reincarnation technique, gaining controllable Wood Release, renewed physical condition, and a younger body.
Kotoamatsukami activation	241	Uses Shisui’s Mangekyō ability to overwrite Hiruzen Sarutobi’s memories and will, forcing him to name Danzō as Fifth Hokage.
Battlefield-scale Wood Release	267	Deploys Deep Forest Emergence and the Wood Human Technique against the Fourth Raikage’s Lightning Release Armor.

Background

Danzō was a disciple of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, alongside Hiruzen Sarutobi, Koharu, Homura, Kagami, and Torifu. During the First Shinobi World War, he hesitated when Tobirama demanded a decoy against the Kinkaku Force. Hiruzen volunteered first, and Tobirama named him his successor; Danzō’s regret over this moment became the foundation of his obsession with the Hokage position 171.

As Root’s leader and a Konoha elder, Danzō cultivated a public image of loyalty to Hiruzen while secretly pursuing forbidden research with Orochimaru. Root supplied funding and human test subjects in exchange for Hashirama-Cell experiments, culminating in Danzō’s Sharingan-filled prosthetic arm 156.

He viewed the Uchiha Clan as an inherent danger to Konoha and repeatedly advocated preemptive extermination. His hostility helped intensify the divide between the Uchiha, Root, and Konoha’s leadership 173 190.

Appearance

Danzō initially appears as an aged shinobi who relies on a cane and conceals most of his body beneath bandages. His modifications are hidden to prevent Hiruzen and the Uchiha from discovering the stolen eyes and Hashirama-Cell experiments 160 173.

• A wood-like prosthetic arm implanted with ten Sharingan 173.
• An additional transplanted Sharingan concealed beneath facial bandages 173.
• A hoarse voice, aged physique, and a habitual cane before his fusion with B 156 160.
• A younger, stronger body after gaining controllable Wood Release through Mutual Devouring 220.

Personality

Danzō is calculating, authoritarian, and intensely pragmatic. He justifies human experimentation, theft, indoctrination, and murder as necessities for Konoha’s security, even while privately pursuing power for himself 156 221.

His self-image as Konoha’s unseen protector coexists with profound envy of Hiruzen. He believes Hiruzen’s restraint caused Konoha’s decline and that only his own ruthless leadership can secure the village’s future 173 190.

Danzō’s greatest weakness is his fixation on becoming Hokage. When his inner world is exposed, he imagines betraying his comrades, killing Hiruzen, purging the Uchiha, conquering the Shinobi World, and becoming the “God of Shinobi” 172 220.

Abilities & Skills

Wood Release

After fusing with B, Danzō gains direct and stable command of Wood Release rather than relying solely on unstable Hashirama Cells 220 221.

• Deep Forest Emergence — creates a vast forest capable of restraining large targets and dominating a battlefield 239 267.
• Violent Spear Tree — enlarges his arm into a massive piercing tree and binding roots 221.
• Wood Human Technique — summons a colossal wooden humanoid capable of trading blows with the Fourth Raikage’s strongest Lightning Release Armor 267.
• Before the fusion, Hashirama Cells required implanted Sharingan and medicine to suppress their destructive growth 156.

Sharingan and Forbidden Uchiha Techniques

Danzō weaponizes stolen Uchiha eyes for survival, mind control, and political seizure of power.

• Izanagi — sacrifices the sight of one implanted Sharingan to rewrite an unfavorable outcome as illusion; he uses it to survive Simu’s lethal Chakra arrow 193 239.
• Kotoamatsukami — employs Shisui’s Mangekyō Sharingan to overwrite Hiruzen’s memories and force a public endorsement of Danzō as the Fifth Hokage 241.
• Kotoamatsukami consumes extensive ocular power, forcing Danzō to remove and seal away Shisui’s eye during its recovery period 255.

Mutual Devouring Technique

A modified form of Orochimaru’s Living Corpse Reincarnation, developed to let Danzō acquire another person’s abilities without abandoning his own identity and body 221.

• Fuses Danzō with Root operative B, granting him a portion of B’s Wood Release and rejuvenating his damaged body 220 221.
• B’s face can emerge from Danzō’s neck after the fusion, reflecting the incomplete separation between their bodies and consciousnesses 221.
• Unlike full body possession, the technique does not grant all of the absorbed person’s abilities 221.

Wind Release

Danzō uses precise Wind Release as a lethal offensive tool.

• Blade of Wind — severs the Apostle of Desire’s legs during the battle outside Konoha 238.

Root Indoctrination and Covert Control

Danzō maintains Root through psychological conditioning, surveillance, and absolute obedience.

• Uses Kabuto’s Phantom Medicine to weaken recruits’ mental defenses before applying Sharingan genjutsu 171.
• Attempts to erase recruits’ identities and instill the doctrine that Root members have “no past, no future, no names, no selves” beyond serving Konoha and Danzō 171.
• His conditioning can fail against targets with exceptional mental resistance, as Simu turns Danzō’s genjutsu back upon him 171.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Cane — carried while presenting himself as an elderly, physically weakened elder 160.
• Bandages — conceal his modified arm and transplanted eyes from Konoha’s leadership 160 173.
• Hashirama-Cell arm — a prosthetic arm containing ten Sharingan 156 173.
• Shisui Uchiha’s Mangekyō Sharingan — used for Kotoamatsukami 193 241.

Relationships

• Tobirama Senju — teacher and Second Hokage. Tobirama choosing Hiruzen over Danzō as successor became Danzō’s defining grievance 171.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi — fellow disciple, longtime rival, and political opposite. Danzō resents Hiruzen’s restraint, later uses Kotoamatsukami to force him to endorse Danzō’s succession 190 241.
• Orochimaru — secret research partner. Orochimaru receives funding and test subjects from Root while providing Danzō with biological modifications and forbidden techniques 156 221.
• Shisui Uchiha — target of Danzō’s Root ambush. Danzō steals Shisui’s Mangekyō Sharingan to obtain Kotoamatsukami 191 193.
• B — fanatically loyal Root operative fused into Danzō through Mutual Devouring, granting him stable Wood Release 220 221.
• Tenzō/Kinoe — Wood Release shinobi who attacks Danzō after discovering B’s dried corpse; Danzō overpowers and binds him 221.
• Simu — Root recruit whom Danzō attempts to indoctrinate through drugs and genjutsu. Simu outwardly flatters Danzō while covertly exploiting his ambition and obtaining Root’s Wood Release techniques 171 174 182.
• Koharu and Homura — fellow Konoha elders who support Danzō’s eventual succession and assist his postwar political consolidation 246.
• Kakashi Hatake — Danzō attempts to recruit him as Root’s commander, valuing the “darkness” he perceives in Kakashi; Kakashi refuses 245.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Root Experiments and the Uchiha Crisis

Danzō secretly develops Wood Release assets through Orochimaru’s Hashirama-Cell research, conceals them from Hiruzen, and uses Root to escalate pressure on the Uchiha Clan 156 179.

He organizes the ambush on Shisui Uchiha, steals one of Shisui’s Mangekyō Sharingan, and intends to use Kotoamatsukami to control Hiruzen and claim the Hokage position 191 193.

Seizure of the Hokage Position

During the Jashin Cult’s attack on Konoha, Danzō publicly fights beside the injured Hiruzen while privately preparing to remove him 238 239.

After the Apostle of Desire devastates the battlefield, Danzō uses Kotoamatsukami on Hiruzen. He then deceives arriving reinforcements into believing Hiruzen was fatally wounded by the enemy and makes the controlled Hokage name him successor 241.

Danzō first rules as Acting Hokage, then consolidates his position as Fifth Hokage through clan negotiations, economic concessions, public mourning for Hiruzen, and anti-@@REF_ENTITY_11291877@@ Cult propaganda 245 246.

Fifth Hokage and the Expanding Wars

As Hokage, Danzō directs Konoha’s reconstruction, labels Itachi and Jashin Cult members as S-Rank rogue ninja, and launches targeted operations against Jashin Cult strongholds 246.

He balances conflict with Sunagakure, Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and the Land of Fire’s Daimyo while seeking to preserve Konoha’s military authority over emerging Quinque technology 249 290 307.

When Kumogakure invades the Land of Fire, Danzō personally confronts the Fourth Raikage with Wood Release and the Wood Human Technique, proving that he is no longer merely Konoha’s hidden power broker 267.

Notable Quotes

“Why can’t the position of Hokage be mine?!” 172

“Only the victors have the right to define the Will of Fire.” 241