Danzo

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Shimura Danzō
Alias(es)	Danzo; “the darkness of Konoha” 6 58
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Konohagakure; Shimura Clan; Root; later a Konoha rogue ninja 74 107 251
Occupation/Role	Leader of Root; former Hokage Assistant and advisor to Sarutobi Hiruzen 80 107
Teacher	Senju Tobirama, the Second Hokage 30 80
Status	Deceased; publicly executed by Uchiha Chiba 268
First Appearance	Enters Hiruzen’s office to discuss Chiba’s abnormal growth 6

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Barely Kage-level in his youth	30	Retrospective assessment of his natural strength. His power subsequently declined with age, motivating his pursuit of Hashirama’s cells.
Hashirama-cell arm transplant	170	Orochimaru replaces the arm lost to Kumogakure. Danzō withstands the cells’ erosion despite Orochimaru considering him physiologically unsuited to the transplant.
Two transplanted Sharingan confirmed	182	Chiba detects one Sharingan in Danzō’s right eye and another in his right arm. The eyes provide two opportunities to use Izanagi 183.

Background / History

Danzō was a student of Senju Tobirama. During the First Shinobi World War, his hesitation cost him the opportunity to become Hokage, while Sarutobi Hiruzen secured the succession. Danzō later described this moment as the beginning of their political partnership and his enduring resentment over the position 73 267.

Working in secret, Danzō killed opponents and helped Hiruzen consolidate authority despite resistance within Konoha. In return, he became Hokage Assistant, the village’s second-in-command. He founded Root with the initial intention of protecting Konoha, but remained dissatisfied with serving beneath Hiruzen 267.

Their early targets included the Senju Clan, whose influence threatened Hiruzen’s position. Danzō’s eventual confession linked their policies to numerous Senju deaths on the battlefield and the surviving members’ disappearance into the civilian population. He also participated in the destruction of the Uzumaki Clan, although he failed to obtain its most closely guarded sealing techniques 73 267.

His other concealed crimes included collaborating with Hanzō against Yahiko’s fledgling organization, inciting the public backlash that drove Hatake Sakumo to suicide, and taking Kagami Uchiha’s Sharingan after his death while preventing his body from entering Konoha’s cemetery 268.

Appearance

• Bandaged right eye: Present at his first appearance; a transplanted Sharingan is later confirmed beneath the bandages 6 182.
• Advanced age: His declining physical strength is repeatedly identified as a major limitation 30 181.
• Replacement right arm: After losing an arm to Kumogakure, he receives a Hashirama-cell transplant containing another Sharingan 105 170 182.
• Permanent loss of both arms: Chiba eventually severs the souls of his arms, preventing their restoration 258.

Personality

Danzō is driven by the desire for strength, authority, and the Hokage’s position. He regards his natural limitations and Hiruzen’s superior rank as obstacles to overcome through stolen bloodlines, forbidden research, and political manipulation. Even after losing his public office, he refuses to accept a permanent existence in hiding 30 176 177.

His preferred form of control is coercive and physical. Unlike Hiruzen’s manipulation of loyalty and public sentiment, Danzō uses cursed seals to make disobedience and betrayal impossible. He also seeks to weaken personal bonds: when approaching Chiba, he invokes Shisui’s name to imply that Shisui leaked confidential information 38 209.

Usually cautious and secretive, he becomes reckless when offered a chance to claim military credit. At the Kumogakure front, the attention of clan representatives gives him a taste of being Hokage, and he ignores warnings about the enemy’s willingness to fight despite losing its jinchūriki 74 77.

Danzō can endure prolonged physical torture without surrendering valuable information. His resistance finally breaks under the prospect of further soul-cutting by Chiba, leading him to exchange a full confession for a quick death 234 235 262 263 267.

Abilities & Skills

Root Command and Intelligence

• Recruits specialists from clans including the Aburame, Yamanaka, Nara, and Hyuga; he also attempts to acquire Uchiha talent 39.
• Combines complementary secret techniques effectively. Chiba acknowledges that the coordinated Nara and Kato operatives can threaten opponents stronger than either individually 38.
• Maintains closer surveillance of the Uchiha than the Anbu and habitually approaches promising recruits before Hiruzen can secure them 6 39.
• Uses intelligence leaks, altered mission routes, and enemy forces to attack targets indirectly 58 84.

Wind Release

• Wind Style: Vacuum Great Sphere: Releases a dense barrage of cutting wind blades capable of slicing through iron 182.
• Wind-blade kunai: Uses a wind-enhanced kunai in close combat 182.
• Limit: Chiba destroys the wind barrage with a gravity-enhanced sword strike and attacks before Danzō can raise his weapon 182.

Sharingan and Izanagi

• Possesses two transplanted Sharingan, placed in his right eye and right arm 182.
• Uses Izanagi to turn injury and death into an unreal outcome; his first recovery against Chiba restores both flesh and soul damage, but not consumed chakra 181 183.
• Attempts a counterattack immediately after recovering, only to be intercepted by Chiba’s future sight 183.
• Prepares a delayed Izanagi contingency. Chiba identifies a likely Transcription Seal, and Danzō later survives and escapes Konoha 183 215.
• Limit: Chiba’s Observation Haki can perceive his Izanagi-related movements, preventing him from using the technique to secure a surprise kill 183.

Hashirama-Cell Arm

• Restores the arm lost during his first Kumogakure captivity and heals injuries elsewhere on his body 170 181 235.
• By reducing his suppression of the cells, transforms the arm into a massive tree that destroys his prison cell 248.
• Limit: Uncontrolled growth threatens to strip away his consciousness; he must quickly suppress the cells again 248.
• Limit: The transplant cannot remedy Chiba’s later severing of his arms’ souls 258.

Cursed Seals and Sealing Techniques

• Uses cursed seals to enforce absolute control over Root operatives. A tongue mark on a dead operative becomes evidence of Root’s involvement in the attack on Chiba and Itachi 84 209.
• Plants a cursed seal on the Raikage and remotely releases a genjutsu drug through it 248.
• Studies Uzumaki sealing techniques extensively, but lacks access to their most classified arts 73.
• Reverse Four Symbols Seal: Releases black sealing inscriptions from his body as a final attempt to take Chiba down with him 183.
• Limit: Chiba crushes Danzō and the seal with gravity before escaping its contraction 183.

Summoning Jutsu

• Summons a small Baku carrying a sealing scroll containing a sample of Hashirama’s cells 235.
• No combat application of this summon is documented in the provided events.

Hashirama-Cell Research Knowledge

• Studies Hashirama’s cells for decades and supplies Orochimaru with experimental subjects through arranged procurement channels 30 235.
• Understands enough of the research to bargain with Kumogakure using cell samples and the promise of limb-regeneration technology 235.
• Limit: Orochimaru retains the core technology; Danzō possesses only a partial understanding and cannot independently reproduce its results 234 235.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Kunai — Used with Wind Release against Chiba and unsuccessfully against Shisui’s Susanoo 182 252.
• Hashirama-cell samples — Stored in a sealing scroll and offered to the Raikage as proof of his proposed alliance’s value 235.
• Genjutsu drug — Obtained from Orochimaru for a plan to destabilize jinchūriki; later deployed against the Raikage, Killer B, and Yugito Nii 226 235 248.
• Chiba’s soul-cutting blade, coveted — Danzō repeatedly seeks the weapon but never obtains it 45 58 109.

Relationships

• Sarutobi Hiruzen — Former comrade, political partner, and superior. Hiruzen uses Danzō to perform covert crimes, sacrifices his public reputation when evidence emerges, and later releases him because Root remains useful 58 108 158 267.
• Senju Tobirama — Teacher. Danzō regrets hesitating when the opportunity to succeed him as Hokage arose 73 80.
• Orochimaru — Research partner and transplant surgeon. Danzō provides subjects in exchange for Hashirama-cell research; both distrust and exploit the other 30 58 170.
• Uchiha Chiba — Failed recruit and principal enemy. Danzō offers to restore his sight, later orders attacks on him, and is ultimately exposed and executed by him 39 58 268.
• Uchiha Itachi — Initially valued as the clan head’s son and a means of controlling the Uchiha’s future; later targeted alongside Chiba 6 14 58.
• Uchiha Shisui — Desired recruit who remains in the Anbu. Danzō later attempts to seize his Mangekyō Sharingan but is captured through Kotoamatsukami 8 251 252.
• Hyuga Hiashi — Front-line commander displaced by Danzō. Hiashi opposes his counterattack and later participates in the negotiations that recover him from Kumogakure 74 104.
• Uchiha Obito — Co-conspirator in the Nine-Tails plot. Danzō treats the self-proclaimed “Madara” as a useful impostor rather than a trusted ally 180 181 215.
• Fourth Raikage — Captor, torturer, and temporary ally. Danzō bargains for support in becoming Hokage, then betrays him with a cursed seal and genjutsu drug 234 235 248.
• Namikaze Minato — Hokage whom Danzō seeks to overthrow. Minato eventually authorizes Chiba to handle Danzō’s punishment 177 235 262.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Attempts to Recruit Chiba

Danzō initially favors Itachi because his talent is visible and his position as Fugaku’s son offers political leverage. Chiba’s blindness makes him a less attractive prospect, although Danzō speculates that an unusually early Sharingan awakening might explain his growth 6 14.

After learning that Orochimaru has concealed Chiba’s strength, Danzō makes recruitment a priority. His first team attempts forcible capture and is killed. He then approaches Chiba personally, claims he can restore Chiba’s own eyes without transplantation, and expects the offer to overcome his refusal. Chiba rejects both this invitation and a later public attempt to recruit him 30 36 38 39 45.

Supply-Route Conspiracy and First Capture

Danzō leaks the movements of a supply escort containing Chiba and Itachi to Kumogakure, intending to eliminate them through enemy action and recover Chiba’s blade. The operation also involves a substituted route map and Root teams following the convoy. Chiba and Itachi survive and preserve a Root corpse as evidence 58 68 84.

Seeking to prevent the Uchiha from claiming the victory, Danzō travels to the Kumogakure front without warning and takes command from Hiashi. He treats Yugito Nii’s capture as sufficient leverage to force peace, orders a counterattack despite opposition, and leads the Shimura contingent into an overwhelming enemy assault. Kumogakure captures him and severs an arm 69 73 74 75 77 85 105.

Arrest and Secret Release

Chiba’s accusations and the front-line clans’ demands force Hiruzen to act. After Danzō is exchanged for Yugito Nii, Hiruzen arrests him for suspected enemy collusion and conspiring to murder Konoha comrades. His offices are revoked, and the altered route map and Root corpse become central evidence 98 100 104 105 107 108.

Under interrogation, Danzō admits that he targeted Chiba and Itachi to obtain the blade. The treason charge nevertheless remains formally unconfirmed. Once public attention subsides, Hiruzen releases him in exchange for lending Root personnel to monitor the Uchiha, while forbidding him from appearing publicly 109 158 176.

Nine-Tails Plot and Escape

After obtaining his replacement arm and Sharingan transplants, Danzō approaches the retired Hiruzen with a plan to exploit Kushina’s weakening seal during pregnancy. Removing Minato would allow the former leadership to return to power. Danzō passes the secret information outside Konoha and makes contact with Obito 170 176 177 180 221.

Chiba intercepts him, exposes his enhancements, and cuts him in half. Izanagi restores him, but his counterattack and Reverse Four Symbols Seal both fail. A delayed contingency later reverses his death, allowing him to seek information from Homura and Koharu before fleeing Konoha 181 182 183 215 216.

Kumogakure Alliance and Recapture

Danzō obtains Orochimaru’s genjutsu drug and approaches the Raikage, offering Hashirama-cell research in exchange for help becoming Hokage. After enduring half a month of torture, he secures an agreement and supplies a cell sample. He also leaks information enabling Kumogakure agents to bypass Konoha’s barrier 226 234 235 239.

During the ensuing conflict, Danzō releases the drug through a cursed seal planted on the Raikage, causing Killer B and Yugito Nii to lose control of their tailed beasts. He breaks out of prison using his transplanted arm, but Shisui intercepts him. His attempt to kill Shisui and steal his eyes fails against Susanoo and Kotoamatsukami 248 251 252.

Confession and Execution

After the genjutsu is lifted, Chiba permanently disables Danzō’s arms by severing their souls. Minato entrusts his punishment to Chiba and approves a public execution intended to expose the former leadership’s crimes 258 262.

Danzō initially refuses to confess, but accepts a quick death rather than further soul torture. His public testimony reveals Root’s crimes, Hiruzen’s complicity, the suppression of the Senju, the campaign against Sakumo, and the plots involving all three tailed beasts. Chiba then executes him with his Zanpakutō. The revelations destroy public faith in Hiruzen and provoke outrage against the Shimura and Sarutobi clans 263 267 268 269.

Notable Quotes

“Even the roots buried in the soil yearn for the sunlight!”
— Explaining his refusal to remain hidden 177

“I just want to walk the streets of Konoha in the open!”
— Describing what he wants to reclaim 177

“I, Shimura Danzō, am guilty... everything must begin with the First Shinobi World War—”
— Opening his public confession 267