Danzo

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Shimura Danzō (团藏), commonly called Danzo 129 196
Alias(es)	“The Darkness of Konoha” 280
Gender	Male 6
Affiliation	Konohagakure; Shimura clan; Root 6 129 283
Occupation/Role	Root leader; Hokage advisor and village elder; commander-in-chief on the Hidden Stone front 21 196 254 271
Status	Alive but incapacitated and restrained; awaiting a planned public trial. His remaining Root organization is taken over by Uchiha Yan 293 294 296 297
First Appearance	Chapter 6, requesting that the one-year-old Uchiha Yan be placed in Root 6

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Hashirama-cell augmentation and implanted Sharingan	By 256	His right arm has been replaced with a Wood Release arm containing several Sharingan, allowing repeated survival through Izanagi. Yan later confirms that the entire arm consists of Hashirama cells 256 290.
Enhanced Impure World Reincarnation	281	Incorporates Hashirama cells into the summoning formula and uses two Elite Jōnin prisoners as sacrifices to resurrect Hashirama and Tobirama. His own implanted cells strengthen his control; Tobirama’s restored physique and chakra reserves exceed their living condition 281 284.

Background / History

Danzo was a student of Tobirama Senju alongside Hiruzen Sarutobi, Koharu, and Homura. He remains convinced that he could have become Third Hokage if he had acted slightly sooner. Tobirama later rejects this belief outright, stating that he never considered Danzo suitable for the position 289 291.

According to Yan’s account, Root arose while Hiruzen’s administration was struggling to consolidate authority over Konoha’s powerful clans. Danzo handled covert operations and the leadership’s dirty work, helping Hiruzen maintain his position while building an organization of his own 17 124.

Danzo also attempted to control Tsunade through Dan Katō, whom he sent to approach her. His private thoughts reveal that he regarded Dan’s subsequent loyalty to Tsunade as betrayal and justified ruthless retaliation, despite publicly denying responsibility for his death. Nawaki’s death is initially treated as a suspicion; later, Yan cites stolen Root records when revealing Nawaki’s death and dissection for research and the leadership’s role in destroying the Senju main line 17 96 120 290.

Appearance

• Bandaged right eye: Conceals an implanted Sharingan. Koharu links the hidden eye to her accusation that Danzo killed Kagami Uchiha 275.
• Cane: Uses a cane when walking away from a leadership meeting 79.
• Modified right arm: Made from Hashirama cells and embedded with multiple Sharingan. After losing control of it, he cuts it off; the severed arm grows into a tree more than ten meters tall 256 290 292.
• Chest sealing formula: Carries the Reverse Four Symbols Seal beneath his clothing as a final suicide attack 292.

Personality

Danzo presents his actions as service to Konoha, but his private thoughts repeatedly expose envy, possessiveness, and a conviction that only he deserves power. He resents Hiruzen’s office, envies Yan’s mastery of Flying Thunder God, and dreams of combining Wood Release with the Mangekyō Sharingan to dominate the Ninja World 7 17 50 262.

His hatred of the Uchiha coexists with his desire to possess their abilities. He calls rebellion inherent to the clan, seeks to turn its prodigies into Root assets, and eventually resolves to destroy it even without proof that it caused his troubles 6 19 21.

He is patient when arranging political traps, but accusations and humiliation frequently provoke angry outbursts. His caution returns when facing an opponent capable of killing him: he avoids a premature break with Hiruzen and submits outwardly to Yan while privately planning revenge 83 89 256.

Abilities & Skills

Sealing Techniques and Root Control

Danzo uses seals to enforce obedience and protect sensitive assets 19 116.

• Cursed Tongue Eradication Jutsu: His principal control technique for Root personnel. Yan learns to cast and dispel it, then removes it from captured agents before returning them as spies 19 21.
• Treasury defenses: Places extensive sealing formations around Root’s secret vault and maintains a warning seal that alerts him to interference from the Hidden Stone battlefield 116 117.
• Limitations: Yan bypasses the vault’s defenses and eventually replaces Danzo’s control over Root with his own illusions and Enslavement Seals 116 296.

Sharingan and Izanagi

Danzo uses transplanted Sharingan to rewrite fatal outcomes through Izanagi 286 291.

• Repeatedly survives Tsunade’s otherwise lethal punches and attempts to counterattack after reappearing 286.
• Draws on eyes implanted in his right arm and right eye socket 286.
• Has a finite supply of usable eyes; repeated deaths cannot sustain him indefinitely 256 286.
• Yan interrupts an activation and removes the remaining right-eye and arm Sharingan, ending this means of escape 291.

Wood Release and Wind Release

His forbidden research eventually produces usable Wood Release, although it does not make him competitive with Tsunade in close combat 17 286.

• Wood Release: Root Burial: Sends thick roots toward Tsunade’s back after an Izanagi revival 286.
• Wind Release: Launches an attack that Tsunade destroys with a punch; the supplied passage does not name the technique 286.
• Cell instability: His detached Hashirama-cell arm grows uncontrollably after he severs it 292.

Impure World Reincarnation

Danzo resurrects the First and Second Hokage as controlled combatants for his attempt to seize power 281 283.

• Uses Hashirama cells and human sacrifices in the summoning formula 281.
• Inserts specially sealed kunai into the resurrected Hokage’s heads to maximize control 281.
• Directs Hashirama to occupy Yan and the other defenders while Tobirama attacks Hiruzen 284.
• Loses command of both Hokage when Yan and his Shadow Clone remove their control devices 286 287.

Reverse Four Symbols Seal

A last-resort technique intended to take nearby enemies with him when defeat becomes unavoidable 292.

• Activates the formula on his chest and charges toward Yan and the Hokage 292.
• Believes the activated seal cannot be stopped, but Yan forcibly interrupts it 292.

Military Command and Political Manipulation

Danzo combines battlefield authority with covert recruitment, propaganda, and incriminating records 120 130 254.

• Recognizes when a direct clash with Ōnoki and two jinchūriki would be disastrous and prepares an urgent reinforcement request 130.
• Seeks to capture Kitsuchi as leverage against Ōnoki and to buy Konoha time 133.
• Inflates Sakumo’s reputation to make a future failure politically devastating 82 83.
• Selectively reports stolen records implicating Hiruzen’s faction while concealing his own independent crimes and Hashirama-cell stockpile 119.
• Uses reinforcement deadlines, frontline assignments, and staged provocation to endanger the Uchiha under the appearance of military necessity 254 255.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Walking cane — Used during his departure from the Hokage’s office 79.
• Implanted Sharingan — Stored in his right eye and modified arm; Yan removes the remaining eyes during his defeat 286 291.
• Hashirama-cell stockpiles and research apparatus — Maintained secretly despite Hiruzen’s prohibition. Yan steals the original headquarters’ apparatus and nutrient solution; Danzo later retains access to cells for his resurrection ritual 116 119 281.
• Special sealing kunai — Inserted into Hashirama and Tobirama to control their resurrected bodies 281.
• Research and classified records — Include Hashirama-cell data, Sharingan files, and evidence of crimes involving Konoha’s leadership. Their theft gives Yan political leverage 120.
• Shimura clan holdings — Produce substantial monthly income; Danzo and his clan are described as the wealthiest of the four leadership factions 268.

Relationships

• Hiruzen Sarutobi — Longtime comrade, political partner, and principal rival for the Hokage position. Each relies on the other while preparing to limit or betray him 17 135 267.
• Tobirama Senju — Former teacher. Danzo invokes his anti-Uchiha policies, later resurrects him as a weapon, and is ultimately beaten and publicly disowned by him 6 283 290 291 294.
• Uchiha Yan / Yan — Initially a coveted recruit and potential source of Sharingan power; eventually his decisive enemy. Yan infiltrates Root, steals its assets, exposes Danzo, and prevents both resurrection and suicide escape 6 21 116 291 292 294.
• Tsunade — Political and personal enemy. She suspects him in the deaths of Nawaki and Dan, protects Yan from him, defeats him in the Hokage election, and overwhelms him in combat 17 283 286.
• Uchiha Senichi — Yan’s father and an opponent Danzo suspects of organizing attacks on his reputation. Danzo targets Senichi’s clan through battlefield deployments 21 254 255.
• Hatake Sakumo — Potential Hokage rival targeted through propaganda and a planned mission scandal. Sakumo’s withdrawal from politics neutralizes the trap 82 83 89.
• Orochimaru — Research associate with connections to the Wood Release experiments. Danzo expects him to possess backup research and credits him with revealing Hashirama cells’ usefulness for resurrection 20 120 281.
• Jiraiya — Deputy commander who openly refuses Danzo’s anti-Uchiha orders, monitors Root, and forces him to apologize after Yan intervenes 196 255 256.
• Dan Katō — Sent to approach and control Tsunade. Danzo considers his change of loyalty betrayal and privately justifies retaliation 17.
• Kagami Uchiha — Tobirama’s deceased student. Koharu accuses Danzo of murdering him, and Yan later alleges that Danzo betrayed Kagami and took his Sharingan 275 290.
• Owl, Dove, and Crow — Root operatives whose apparent service conceals loyalty imposed by Yan. Their infiltration helps Yan steal personnel and resources from Danzo 21 47 116 120 296.
• Yamato / Kinoe / Tenzo — Survivor of Danzo’s Wood Release experiments, later removed from Root and brought to Konoha by Yan 297 298.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Attempts to Capture Yan

Danzo first asks to place the one-year-old Yan in Root. When Hiruzen refuses, he argues for eliminating the child while actually seeking to control his talent. Hiruzen and Tsunade repeatedly forbid interference, but Root continues pursuing Yan 6 7 17.

Yan captures four Root operatives and counters with a rumor campaign about grave desecration and forbidden experiments. Tsunade attacks Danzo over the allegations, while Yan removes the captives’ control seals and converts Dove and Crow into returning spies 19 20 21.

Danzo later assists Hidden Cloud infiltrators in abducting Kushina and orders Root to capture Yan alive. The operation fails after Yan uses Flying Thunder God to bring Senichi into the confrontation 46 47 50.

Sakumo’s Reputation Trap

Danzo orders Root to exaggerate Sakumo’s fame, then plans a mission designed to exploit his loyalty to comrades. An apparent mission failure would turn inflated admiration into hostility and remove Sakumo as a Hokage candidate 82 83.

Sakumo publicly renounces participation in Hokage elections, escaping the trap. Hiruzen orders Danzo to stop the propaganda; Danzo considers continuing it against Hiruzen but decides the resulting rupture would be too dangerous 89.

Destruction of Root Headquarters

With most Root personnel deployed to war, Yan and Owl exploit the headquarters’ weakened defenses. Yan takes control of its remaining personnel, empties the treasury, steals Hashirama-cell materials, and arranges the base’s destruction under cover of a Hidden Mist attack 116 117.

Danzo initially suspects Hiruzen, then sends Jie to investigate and conceals key losses in his reports. Owl’s false account reassures him that some research was destroyed and that backups remain available. Danzo does not learn Yan’s responsibility until his eventual capture 118 119 120 293.

Wartime Factional Conflict

Hiruzen arranges a campaign intended to weaken Danzo’s faction while protecting the Sarutobi clan. Yan, Tsunade, and Jiraiya coordinate the maneuver 135 136.

When Hidden Stone renews the war, Danzo receives command with Jiraiya and Minato supporting him. He sees the invasion as an opportunity to undermine Hiruzen, then attempts to sacrifice incoming Uchiha reinforcements. Jiraiya blocks his orders, and Yan exposes the scheme, forces an apology, and kicks Danzo from his chair before the assembled commanders 196 254 255 256.

Hokage Election and Attempted Seizure of Power

After Yan’s victory against Hidden Stone, Danzo works to separate himself from Hiruzen’s failures and accelerate his removal. He publicly undermines Koharu during peace negotiations, believing himself the strongest remaining Hokage candidate 267 271 273.

The election instead gives Tsunade more than four-fifths of the votes; Danzo receives only the dozen or so Shimura votes. Rejecting the result, he reveals the resurrected First and Second Hokage and attempts to seize power by force 283.

Yan relocates the battle outside Konoha. Danzo and the controlled Tobirama attack Hiruzen while Hashirama occupies the other defenders, but Yan frees both resurrected Hokage and Tsunade repeatedly defeats Danzo despite his Izanagi 284 286 287.

Capture and Loss of Root

Yan removes Danzo’s remaining Sharingan and interrupts Izanagi. Danzo severs his unstable arm and attempts a Reverse Four Symbols Seal suicide attack, which Yan also stops 291 292.

Yan then stabilizes his life, blocks his chakra, and prevents suicide so that he can be questioned and publicly tried. Danzo learns that Yan orchestrated the earlier headquarters raid; his insistence that everything served Konoha fails to convince the witnesses. Tobirama disowns him and the former leadership 293 294.

At Tobirama’s request, Yan takes over Root’s remaining bases, personnel, children, and resources, transferring most of them to the Dark Star Trading Company. The supplied context does not establish Danzo’s trial verdict or execution 296 297.

Notable Quotes

“No matter how many geniuses they have, rebellion is rooted in the Uchiha's bones.” 6

“If I hadn't secretly managed Root all these years and settled all those unsavory matters for you, could you have sat securely in the Hokage's position?” 17

“Root is a Konoha institution! Everything I've done has been for Konoha!” 294