Danzo

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Shimura Danzō (Danzo; 团藏) 13 41
Alias(es)	Pot Kage; jokingly called the “Fifth-and-a-Half Hokage” by the narration 11 56
Gender	Male 1
Affiliation	Shimura Clan; formerly Konoha; Root; later associated with a mysterious organization 53 183
Occupation/Role	Root leader; former Hokage Advisor Elder 41 53
Status	Deceased; killed by Hatake Ziyan and buried beneath the earth 183
First Appearance	Chapter 1, “The Sword God returned to the village” 1

Background / History

Sabotaging Konoha’s White Fang

Danzo helped engineer Hatake Sakumo’s downfall to prevent his reputation from threatening Hiruzen Sarutobi’s position as Hokage. The advisors arranged a mission Sakumo was certain to fail, then spread rumors to destroy his standing. Danzo argued that leaving Sakumo alive would allow him to regain his honors on the battlefield 1 51.

Before acting, Danzo had searched for Hatake Ziyan for nearly twenty years. He assumed the Sword God was dead and believed his absence would make Konoha easier to control. Ziyan’s return terrified him: his men identified Ziyan using a portrait from the time he left the village 1 2.

Ziyan confronted Danzo in the Hokage’s office, killed a Root subordinate who tried to defend him, and severed Danzo’s right arm as “interest” for attacking the Hatake clan. Danzo thanked him for sparing his life rather than retaliating. His arm had been reattached by the subsequent dispute over the Nine-Tails 2 3 8.

Political Intrigue and Hashirama-Cell Research

After Hiruzen killed Utatane Koharu, Danzo spread news of the incident to undermine him and force him out of office. When confronted, Danzo denied responsibility while using the scandal as leverage. Hiruzen countered by reminding him that Ziyan could still punish him for the Sakumo affair 11 12.

Danzo also desecrated Hashirama Senju’s remains and commissioned Orochimaru to investigate whether transplanted Hashirama cells could grant Wood Release. Orochimaru believed every subject had died, but Danzo concealed a surviving child and raised him within Root. Ziyan discovered the tampering at Mito Uzumaki’s burial but deliberately left Hashirama’s coffin closed, keeping Danzo fearful instead of exposing him immediately 12 14.

When Tsunade later demanded Danzo’s death, Ziyan revealed that Tobirama Senju had begun earlier experiments involving Hashirama’s body and volunteer Senju subjects. He nevertheless maintained that Danzo would eventually be killed, postponing it until they understood what he had planned 54.

Forced Support for Minato’s Succession

During the war, Danzo arrived at the Land of Wind battlefield to take Minato Namikaze back to Konoha for allegedly defying the Hokage’s orders. Tsunade challenged him, and a letter from Ziyan warned him not to obstruct Minato’s route to becoming Hokage 41.

Danzo worsened his position by mocking Ziyan’s handwriting. Faced with threats of torture, he agreed to support Minato’s succession, propose abolishing the Hokage Advisor Elder posts, and grant Minato and Tsunade one favor each. He subsequently backed Minato as the sole Hokage candidate 42 43 46.

At the reform meeting, Danzo publicly admitted the advisors’ sabotage of Sakumo and exposed Hiruzen’s knowledge of it. Although he presented himself as a defender of accountable government, his private thoughts made clear that survival—not a change of principles—motivated his cooperation. The resulting Konoha Senate excluded both Danzo and Hiruzen from power 51 52 53.

Defection to the Land of Rice Fields

After taking control of the Anbu, Minato discovered the scale of Root and Danzo’s human experiments. He invoked Danzo’s promised favor to demand control of Root, threatening to expose the experiments if Danzo refused. Danzo pretended to agree, then escaped with Root shinobi and Shimura Clan elites to the Land of Rice Fields 53.

Minato assigned Sakumo, Shisui Uchiha, and Hizashi Hyuga an S-rank mission to capture him. Ziyan reached Danzo first and ordered him to flee while leaving at least half his men behind. He also confiscated Danzo’s intelligence scroll and warned him against passing Konoha’s secrets to other villages 55 56.

Danzo escaped with his strongest subordinates. Sakumo’s team subsequently reached the abandoned base, where Sakumo killed every remaining ninja 56.

Return to Konoha and Death

Danzo later returned during the attack on Konoha, claiming he had allied with Sunagakure and the other three great villages. He exploited Naruto’s false belief that Minato had offered Kushina to Ziyan, attempting to turn Naruto against his parents and redirect his hostility toward Ziyan. He knocked Minato unconscious and supplied a fabricated account of the family’s relationship with the Sword God 181.

His manipulation faltered when he attacked Kushina with Wind Release, provoking Naruto’s anger. Sasuke blocked his escape and withstood his Vacuum Barrage using Susanoo, prompting Danzo to summon Baku and seek another opportunity to retreat 182.

Ziyan intercepted the fleeing Danzo and struck his neck with a sword. A mysterious being then controlled Danzo’s fatally wounded body and fought Ziyan before abandoning it to attack as a soul. Ziyan destroyed that soul with one slash and buried Danzo’s corpse 183.

Appearance

• Cane: Uses a cane during meetings and visits to the Hokage’s office 1 12.
• Right arm injury: Loses his right arm to Ziyan; it is later reattached 3 8.
• Exposed eye: Fixes Tsunade with his exposed eye during their battlefield argument 41.

Personality

Danzo’s overriding ambition is to become Hokage. He resents Hiruzen’s use of the office to assert authority over him and views military merit, Root’s strength, and political scandals as opportunities to improve his own position. His concern for Konoha repeatedly serves as justification for eliminating rivals or retaining personal power 1 12 26 53 56.

He is adept at manipulating others and shifting responsibility. He leaves Koharu’s fate to Hiruzen, conceals research results from Orochimaru, and exploits Naruto’s distress to undermine his family. Ziyan explicitly compares his ability to manipulate people with Hiruzen’s 10 14 181 182.

Despite his aggression toward political opponents, Danzo becomes submissive when confronted by Ziyan. He begs for mercy, abandons escape plans when his secrets are exposed, and accepts reforms that damage his ambitions because staying alive takes priority 2 13 42 51.

Abilities & Skills

Wind Release

• Vacuum Sphere: Fires an air bullet at Kushina’s heart; Ziyan secretly intervenes to prevent it from hitting her 182.
• Vacuum Barrage: Launches more than a dozen air bullets at Sasuke. The attack fails to penetrate Susanoo 182.

Summoning Technique

• Baku: Summoned after Danzo realizes he cannot overcome Sasuke’s Susanoo. The provided account does not establish the summon’s capabilities 182.

Sharingan and Izanagi

• Ziyan identifies Danzo’s single Sharingan as belonging to Kagami Uchiha 42.
• Danzo considers using Izanagi to escape Ziyan, but abandons the idea after Ziyan reveals that he knows about it 42.
• Continuity discrepancy: The death scene later states that this world’s Danzo never obtained Izanagi, contradicting the earlier account 42 183.

Intelligence and Covert Command

• Builds Root by transferring talented children from the Anbu and Konoha squads into his organization 53.
• Commands approximately 100–200 Root ninja, including 30–40 jōnin; even its weakest members are chūnin 53.
• Coordinates his followers’ escape through weak points in Konoha’s defenses and departures disguised as missions 53.
• Possesses sensitive village intelligence and forbidden-technique knowledge, making his defection a security threat 54 56.

Equipment / Items

• Cane — Carried during his political activities 1 12.
• Kagami Uchiha’s Sharingan — Identified by Ziyan as Danzo’s sole Sharingan at the time 42.
• Intelligence sealing scroll — Contains the information Danzo surrenders to Ziyan after defecting 56.

Relationships

• Hiruzen Sarutobi — Longtime teammate, political collaborator, and rival. Their shared schemes coexist with Danzo’s efforts to discredit Hiruzen and take the Hokage position 1 10 12 51.
• Hatake Ziyan — Feared adversary who repeatedly humiliates, coerces, and spares him before finally killing him 3 42 55 183.
• Hatake Sakumo — Target of Danzo’s arranged mission and smear campaign; later leads the team sent to capture him 51 55.
• Minato Namikaze — Initially obstructed by Danzo, then supported under Ziyan’s pressure. Minato’s demand for Root triggers Danzo’s defection and lasting resentment 41 46 53 181.
• Tsunade — Opposes his interference with Minato and vows to kill him after learning about his experiments on Hashirama’s remains 41 53.
• Orochimaru — Researcher commissioned to study Hashirama-cell transplantation. Danzo’s concealment of a surviving subject enrages him 14.
• Naruto Uzumaki — Manipulation target during Danzo’s return to Konoha; turns against Danzo when he threatens Kushina 181 182.
• Mysterious organization — Promises to draw Ziyan and Konoha’s strongest fighters away. A being associated with it possesses Danzo’s body during his final confrontation 183 187.

Notable Quotes

“I merely did what you wanted to do but didn’t dare! Don’t pretend to be a good man in front of me!” 1

“Since you didn’t kill me immediately, Lord Ziyan, you either have no intention of killing me, or I’m still of use to you.” 55

Trivia

• “Pot Kage” is a joke about Danzo repeatedly taking the blame for others, rather than an office he holds 56.
• References to Pain’s invasion and Sasuke killing Danzo appear in Ziyan’s recollection of the original storyline; they are not Danzo’s fate in this novel’s altered timeline 56 183.