Danzo

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Shimura Danzō
Alias(es)	Danzo; Danzō
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Konohagakure; Shimura Clan; Root, officially the Anbu Training Department 85 110
Occupation/Role	Leader of Root; advisor to the Third Hokage; Byakuya’s master 69 89
Status	Alive; right arm severely damaged following the war against Sunagakure 89 117
First Appearance	Mentioned through Hiroya’s connection to him 4; appears directing operations with Aburame Tatsuma 6

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Hashirama Cell and Sharingan augmentation; acquisition of Wood Release	64	Transplants diluted Hashirama Cells into his own right arm and embeds four Three-Tomoe Sharingan. The cells grant Wood Release, while their physical energy balances the eyes’ spiritual energy. He must continually suppress the cells with chakra to avoid being consumed.

Background / History

Danzō was a disciple of the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, alongside Sarutobi Hiruzen, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura. He resents Tobirama’s designation of Hiruzen as Third Hokage, believing the succession would otherwise have remained uncertain. He describes Tobirama’s death as the point when he committed himself to sacrificing whatever was necessary for Konoha’s prosperity 27 41 64.

He personally brought about Root’s creation, with monitoring the Uchiha Clan among its original purposes. Officially called the Anbu Training Department, Root operates under Anbu jurisdiction, but its covert activities include missions unknown to the Hokage 6 85 111 119.

Root also recruits unofficial personnel through the Ninja Academy. Hiroya recruits roughly twenty or thirty ordinary civilians rather than children from prestigious clans, assigning them peripheral threats and surveillance work. Recruitment quotas eventually lead him to enlist Byakuya, whose parents had also served as unofficial Root ninja 29 69.

Danzō considers Root’s emotionally stripped operatives suitable for killing and mission execution, but unsuitable for leading the organization. Byakuya’s clean background, concealed talents, and demonstrated judgment make him an unusually promising successor 27 64.

Appearance

Danzō’s altered right arm is concealed beneath white bandages. When uncovered, it has ghastly pale skin and four embedded Three-Tomoe Sharingan 64 67.

• Right eye: Still intact and without a Sharingan transplant when his augmented arm is revealed 64.
• Arm tremor: Byakuya notices the bandaged limb trembling during their post-mission meeting 67.
• Later damage: Following the Sunagakure campaign, the arm is described as effectively ruined 89.

Personality

Danzō evaluates subordinates by their “capacity”—their ability, potential, and usefulness. He expects obedience rather than questions, praising Nonō for knowing what not to ask and explicitly describing both Byakuya and Orochimaru as tools to be cultivated for Konoha 9 26 28.

His desire to become Fourth Hokage shapes his military and political decisions. He wants future Hokage to come from his own line of disciples, arguing that only those who have served as Konoha’s roots understand the difficulty of protecting the village. His confidence in Byakuya nevertheless becomes suspicion when public praise begins presenting his disciple as a rival Hokage candidate 110 117.

His ruthlessness is selective rather than indiscriminate. He prepares to annihilate the Uchiha if they defy village orders and accepts casualties as the price of securing the Hokage position. However, he rejects immediately assassinating Homura and Koharu because their deaths could disrupt Konoha’s administration and lose the war 114 117.

He also shows limited personal concern for Byakuya. When the boy’s fate is unknown, he regrets the possibility that Byakuya’s parents have lost their only son, alongside the practical loss of a promising successor. Later, he makes political concessions to support his disciple’s mission in Sunagakure 64 90.

Abilities & Skills

Intelligence and Covert Operations

Danzō directs Root’s espionage network, using infiltrators, civilian informants, and intelligence analysis to shape village policy 9 29 116 117.

• Orders spies in Sunagakure to remain concealed and continue collecting information after the Third Kazekage disappears 9.
• Tests Byakuya’s analytical ability by asking him to identify the Third Raikage’s weaknesses 40 41.
• Obtains information about Iwagakure’s finances to determine reparations that would undermine its ability to resume war 116.
• Monitors fellow Konoha leaders through spies placed in their residences 117.

Military and Political Strategy

Danzō combines battlefield command with provocation, alliances, propaganda, and economic pressure 41 64 112 116.

• Uses an apparent alliance overture to make Konoha look weak and encourage Sunagakure to invade the Land of Fire 41 64.
• Credits Root with helping instigate the war between Kumogakure and Iwagakure 64.
• Recognizes that cornering either village could provoke destructive retaliation from its Tailed Beast Jinchūriki 64.
• Proposes full war reparations and a two-year truce to give Konoha time to recover 115.
• Orders rumors portraying Hiruzen as hiding behind the front lines while other village leaders fight 112.

Wood Release and Hashirama Cells

His right-arm transplant grants Senju Hashirama’s Wood Release, but the augmentation remains unstable 64.

• Uses his own chakra to continually suppress the transplanted cells 64 86.
• The embedded Sharingan provide spiritual energy that balances the cells’ physical energy 64.
• Hiruzen warns that heavy chakra expenditure will intensify rejection far beyond Danzō’s expectations 65.
• The Sunagakure war leaves the arm severely damaged and significantly reduces his combat strength 89.
• Orochimaru later reports progress toward repairing it; the repair is not yet completed in the documented events 117.

Izanagi Knowledge

Danzō studies a top-secret Root file on the Uchiha forbidden technique Izanagi. He understands it as allowing unfavorable events to be treated as though they never occurred while favorable outcomes become reality 64.

• Its stated cost is permanent blindness in the Sharingan used 64.
• He regards Three-Tomoe Sharingan as necessary for his purposes and dismisses one- and two-tomoe eyes as useless to him 64.
• He claims the technique should belong to him rather than the Uchiha; no use of Izanagi by Danzō is documented in the supplied events 64.

Cultivation of Subordinates

Danzō rewards useful service with techniques, authority, and access to Root’s resources 26 68 69.

• Gives Byakuya Water Release: Water Severing Wave and Flying Thunder God as S-rank rewards 27.
• Provides three squad members and a choice of priority missions to develop Byakuya’s command ability 69.
• Secures the Hokage’s recognition of Byakuya as a Root captain 85.
• Grants his disciple unrestricted access to Root’s collected ninjutsu 115.
• Accepts Byakuya’s proposal to introduce the Will of Fire into Root as a means of improving operatives’ effectiveness and loyalty 115.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Four Three-Tomoe Sharingan — Embedded in his augmented right arm; two obtained by Orochimaru from the battlefield and two collected by Root 64.
• Right-arm bandages — Conceal the transplant and its embedded eyes 64 67.
• Sealing scrolls — Used to store and transfer confidential intelligence, including information on the Third Raikage 40.
• Top-secret Izanagi file — Contains information on the technique’s effects and blindness cost 64.

Relationships

• Senju Tobirama — Former master. Danzō invokes Tobirama’s mentorship when defending both his leadership ambitions and Byakuya’s advancement 27 90.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen — Fellow disciple, Hokage, and principal political rival. They coordinate wartime operations while disputing Root’s autonomy, succession, and the Uchiha question 41 64 114 117.
• Senkaku Byakuya / Shuten-doji — Direct subordinate, formal disciple, and intended Root successor. Danzō increasingly relies on his achievements but fears others may elevate him into a rival candidate for Fourth Hokage 26 89 107 117.
• Orochimaru — Research partner in a mutually exploitative alliance. Danzō supplies laboratories and equipment, depends on his Hashirama Cell research, and eventually promises him the Hokage advisor position 28 112 117.
• Yakushi Nonō — Highly valued intelligence operative. He pressures her into renewed Kirigakure infiltration by supplying her orphanage, and intends her to support Byakuya’s eventual leadership of Root 112 122.
• Hiroya — Academy administrator and recruitment intermediary. Danzō uses his ambitions and promises of promotion to expand Root’s unofficial personnel 4 29 69.
• Izumi Orange / Falcon — Intelligence subordinate later assigned to Byakuya. She carries orders, reports mission results, and helps monitor the Academy 40 64 117.
• Aburame Tatsuma — Subordinate whose questioning Danzō rebukes; he contrasts Tatsuma unfavorably with Nonō’s discretion 9 26.
• Aburame Torune — Intelligence aide who regains Danzō’s confidence through service at Kikyo Pass and later takes over much of Root’s intelligence work 117.
• Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu — Fellow Tobirama disciples and political opponents. Their apparent support for Minato threatens Danzō’s succession plans, but he considers their administrative roles indispensable during wartime 115 116 117.
• Sasori — Prospective collaborator who offers support for Danzō becoming Hokage in exchange for a hidden puppet laboratory in Konoha. Acceptance of this offer is not documented 56 57.
• Uchiha Clan — Surveillance target and intended source of Sharingan. Danzō admits that exterminating the clan would supply the Three-Tomoe eyes he needs 111.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Recruitment and Byakuya’s Rise

• Directs an early operation involving bounty hunters and a plan to eliminate Byakuya’s team; Byakuya survives and kills the two hunters 6 8.
• Gives Byakuya the Root codename Shuten-doji and places him under direct command after his successful Land of Rivers operations 26.
• Begins considering him as a successor despite Nonō’s warning that he lacks a binding curse seal and will be difficult to control 27.
• Advances him into squad leadership, with orders to gather intelligence and kill forty Kirigakure ninja; permits retreat against a Jinchūriki or elite jōnin 69.

Kikyo Pass and the Sunagakure Alliance

• Engineers Sunagakure’s attack and commits Root’s manpower to defeating it, leaving only a small guard force at the underground base 64 85.
• Wins at Kikyo Pass but suffers severe damage to his transplanted arm 89 90.
• Supports Byakuya’s mission to install Pakura as Fourth Kazekage and establish an offensive and defensive alliance with Konoha 90.
• Treats Byakuya’s elimination of Rasa and weakening of Sunagakure’s militant faction as a shared master-disciple achievement 107.

Uchiha Confrontation

• Reveals that Root’s surveillance has allowed—and encouraged—the Uchiha to move toward betrayal, creating grounds for their destruction 111.
• Orders Root to prepare for an internal war if the clan refuses deployment orders, assigning Byakuya to delay Fugaku 114.
• Loses the immediate opportunity when Hiruzen announces that the Uchiha have already left for the battlefield; the operation is subsequently suspended 114 115.

Kirigakure Collapse Plan

• Participates with Konoha’s senior leadership in a destabilization plan initially assigning Root the Third Mizukage’s decapitation 64.
• Supports Byakuya’s broader strategy of driving Kirigakure’s factions into a costly civil conflict 108 112.
• Sends Nonō back into Kirigakure under the alias Aikawa Sachiko after Root’s spies disappear 112.
• Protects Byakuya’s altered departure schedule from Hiruzen’s interference 115.

Konoha Rebirth Plan

• Interprets public promotion of Shuten-doji as an attempt to divide master and disciple and block his own Hokage candidacy 117.
• Begins planning with Orochimaru to become Fourth Hokage after Hiruzen’s death 117.
• Delays activation until Byakuya returns because their faction lacks sufficient high-end combat strength without him 117.
• Considers using Byakuya’s relationship with Pakura to obtain Sunagakure’s cooperation. The plan remains in preparation in the supplied events 117.

Notable Quotes

“You do not need to understand my meaning; you only need to complete the tasks I assign you.” 9

“Just like you, he is a tool that must be cultivated for the sake of Konoha.” 28

“The Hokage can only come from my line of disciples, because only those who have first served as Konoha’s root can understand how difficult it is to protect this towering tree called Konoha!” 110

Trivia

• Danzō practices calligraphy one-handed after his arm is damaged, writing “Calm the mind, steady the spirit” during a confrontation with Orochimaru 112.
• His transplanted arm appears much earlier than Byakuya expects from his knowledge of the original timeline, prompting Byakuya to question whether the graft is Danzō’s own arm 67.
• He mistakenly describes Hashirama’s and Madara’s powers as opposing forces that cancel each other out. Byakuya privately understands the transplant’s interaction as a balance of physical and spiritual energy 111.