Danzo

Biodata

Power Progression

Personality

Danzo places becoming Hokage above even his hostility toward the Uchiha. He believes that taking power himself is the route to restoring Konoha’s former greatness, and repeatedly treats military achievements as opportunities to displace Hiruzen. His fixation is strong enough that he welcomes the prospect of becoming Hokage even when warned that Yan might use him as a disposable scapegoat 26 46 138.

He is ruthless toward enemies and subordinates alike. He attempts to provoke the Uchiha into rebellion, considers leaking intelligence to Kumogakure for political advantage, and silences a captured Root operative before a public interrogation. Nevertheless, he recognizes useful talent: he privately regrets that Yan is an Uchiha, imagining how valuable the boy would be in Root 13 26 27 36.

His ambition does not entirely erase his loyalty to Konoha or his old companions. He arranges a fallen Root operative’s burial, compensation, and protection for the man’s family. During the later war, he returns to help Hiruzen and ultimately sacrifices himself to evacuate Tsunade, Itachi, and their companions 72 159 160 165.

Abilities & Skills

Espionage and Intelligence Operations

Danzo commands Root’s operatives inside Konoha and across other nations. Yan acknowledges that espionage is an area in which Danzo has greater authority and experience than he does 144 158.

• Uses surveillance, infiltration, planted information, and controlled leaks to influence opponents 26 50 67.
• Maintains spies capable of supporting operations against foreign daimyō bloodlines 158.
• Copies Yan’s daily training movements through intelligence gathering 154.
• Claims that the other ninja villages combined cannot match his intelligence-gathering capabilities 154.

Military Command and Political Strategy

Danzo seeks victory through calculated sacrifices, coercion, and exploitation of enemy priorities. Yan judges him capable of leading an expansionist Konoha when the village is strong, but unsuitable when it needs peace and internal unity 94.

• Uses the Three-Tails’ revival and Hyūga Shinkō’s presence as bait in his plans against Kirigakure and Yan 67.
• Employs Shisui’s genjutsu to pressure Kumogakure during negotiations over the Byakugan 96.
• His authority has limits: clan ninja refuse his order to abandon Shinkō, forcing him to continue directing the battle 79.

Wind Release

Danzo uses Wind Release: Vacuum Wave to force Ōnoki to evade during the battle involving Hiruzen and the four Kage 160.

Sealing and Cursed Seals

• Tongue Root Calamity Eradication Cursed Seal — Yan identifies this seal after a captured Root operative’s head explodes, preventing interrogation 13.
• Self-Exerting Curse Binding Seal — Spreads black markings over the Fourth Raikage’s body, immobilizing him while his Lightning Release Armor fades 160.
• Four Symbols Seal — Hiruzen reveals that Danzo has learned it 142.
• Reverse Four Symbols Sealing Technique — Activated through markings on his chest during his final charge into Kirigakure’s ranks. He uses it to hold off the enemy while Fū evacuates his companions; the technique costs him his life 165 167.

Survival Technique

Danzo survives an apparently fatal punch from the Fourth Raikage. His shattered body disappears, and he reappears behind the Raikage to apply a binding seal; the passage does not name the survival technique 160.

Wood Release and Self-Healing

Yan refers to Danzo’s Wood Release as useful for suppressing tailed beasts. Danzo also reports developing self-healing by copying Yan’s exercises, while admitting that the result still falls short of Hashirama’s recovery abilities 154.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Cane — Used while walking and as a weapon; Yan blocks a cane strike with a kunai during their confrontation at headquarters 12 49.
• Kunai — Uses one to deliver the fatal blow to the wounded Ōnoki 163.
• Pair of Sharingan — Offers them to Orochimaru in exchange for a sufficiently valuable proposal 50.
• Hashirama cells — Supplies Yan with a glass container holding two drops of blood during the confrontation over Naruto 122.
• Sealing Reincarnation Scroll — Appears in Root’s archive in the altered finale. Unsealing it fills Danzo’s office with books associated with Yan 305.

Relationships

• Hiruzen Sarutobi — Longtime friend and rival for the Hokage position. Their mutual dependence helps balance Root against the Uchiha; despite wanting Hiruzen removed from power, Danzo returns to protect him in battle 102 142 159 160.
• Tobirama Senju — Teacher. Danzo invokes his identity as Tobirama’s student before making his final stand 12 165.
• Uchiha Yan — Mortal enemy, political manipulator, and occasional tactical partner. Danzo repeatedly tries to eliminate him but also respects his intelligence and accepts some of his advice 36 49 90 94.
• Uchiha Fugaku — Opponent in the struggle between Root and the Uchiha. Fugaku refuses Danzo’s demands for prisoners and commits the clan to blocking his rise to power 12 14.
• Uchiha Shisui — Both a military asset and a potential source of coveted eyes. Danzo investigates his Mangekyō abilities and later deploys his genjutsu against Kumogakure 85 96.
• Uchiha Itachi — Initially treated as a threat because of his unusual eyes. Itachi later protects Danzo from an attack, and Danzo saves him during the final evacuation 131 163 165.
• Yamanaka Fū — Trusted Root subordinate who relays battlefield intelligence and carries out Danzo’s final evacuation order 158 159 165.
• Orochimaru — Covert collaborator involved in Sharingan bargaining, intelligence gathering, and efforts to provoke conflict with Kirigakure 50 102 131.
• Unnamed daughter — Serves on the battlefield. Danzo cites her exposure to danger when accusing Hiruzen of shielding Asuma from an envoy mission 90.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Nine-Tails Attack and the Hokage Election

During the Nine-Tails attack, Root brings Yan and Itachi before Danzo as suspected infiltrators. Danzo initially dismisses the idea that two children could be spies, then changes his attitude after noticing their Uchiha crests. Yan counters his accusations by claiming that Minato ordered him to seek Anbu reinforcements 2.

After Yan attacks him with a small fireball, Danzo declares an Uchiha rebellion and orders immediate suppression. Hiruzen intervenes and later condemns him for attacking villagers without evidence and preventing the Uchiha from supporting Minato. Danzo resists Hiruzen’s attempt to remove him as Root leader 3 4 5.

At the funeral, Danzo again confronts the Uchiha over a captured operative and Yan. Jiraiya’s arrival prevents him from recovering the prisoner, who is then killed before interrogation. Danzo subsequently challenges Hiruzen’s authority to mobilize troops without first settling the Hokage succession 12 13.

The Uchiha support Hiruzen’s return specifically to block Danzo. Hiruzen wins overwhelmingly, although Homura announces a falsified close result—102 votes to 99—to preserve Danzo’s dignity 14 17.

Kirigakure Front and the Three-Tails Scheme

Yan arranges for information about Kirigakure’s instability to reach Danzo, hoping to keep him away from the Uchiha fighting Kumogakure. Danzo sees an opportunity to gain military prestige and undermine Hiruzen, then orders Root to provoke another clash with the Uchiha to force a decision 24 26 27.

When the resulting casualties reach the Hokage Building, Yan accepts responsibility. Hiruzen refuses Danzo’s demand to hand Yan over to Root. Later, under Danzo’s command, Yan secures intelligence support by exposing a recruitment strategy that could make clan deputies fear Danzo’s interference in their succession 28 35 36.

After Yan returns with intelligence about cooperation between Kirigakure and Kumogakure, Danzo attacks him with his cane. Yan uses the political consequences of his death to obtain a promise that Danzo will not openly harm him during the war, then reveals the approaching revival of the Three-Tails 49.

Danzo nevertheless develops a plan using the Three-Tails and Shinkō as bait. The operation breaks down: his troops refuse to abandon Shinkō, and other clans oppose sacrificing Yan to Genji. Yan survives the ensuing battle, while the Uchiha blame Danzo’s scheme for the disaster 67 79 82 83 84.

Commander Against Kumogakure

Yan later recommends Danzo to command the operation pressuring Kumogakure to return the Byakugan. His reputation for warmongering makes the appointment a credible threat, while Hiruzen remains in Konoha to receive allied envoys 94.

Danzo takes a harder line than the initial plan requires. When the Fourth Raikage challenges his authority, he asserts that he fully represents Konoha and orders Shisui to incapacitate dozens of Kumogakure ninja with genjutsu 96.

Yan’s Defection and Return

When Yan takes Naruto and attempts to leave Konoha, Danzo enthusiastically orders Root to pursue and kill him. During the confrontation, however, he supplies the Hashirama cells Yan demands in exchange for Naruto’s release. After Yan escapes, Danzo criticizes Koharu and Homura for opposing his classification as a missing-nin 120 122.

Danzo continues opposing Yan after his return, predicting an Uchiha rebellion. Homura suggests that Yan might instead install Danzo as Hokage and use him to absorb blame for reforms—a prospect Danzo finds appealing despite the danger 138.

Yan later explains their three-way political balance: Hiruzen, Root, and the Uchiha restrain one another. Danzo remains involved in espionage and village deliberations, including discussions of Yan’s Academy teaching and the threat of a multinational alliance 142 144.

Massacre of the Daimyō and the Four-Kage Battle

After learning of the daimyō’s conspiracy against Konoha, Danzo orders Root to kill the Land of Fire’s daimyō and ministers. He extends the order to Root spies abroad, directing them to cooperate with the Uchiha against other daimyō bloodlines. He then abandons his Hokage ambition in favor of becoming daimyō himself 158.

Danzo joins Hiruzen’s battle against the four Kage. Although he initially fears entering the fight and recognizes the political benefit of Hiruzen’s death, he also understands that losing Hiruzen would leave him vulnerable to the Uchiha 159.

After being ordered back to Konoha, he returns to check on Hiruzen, intercepts the Raikage’s attack, and immobilizes him after surviving the apparently fatal blow. Hiruzen eventually persuades him to leave, arguing that Konoha still needs Root as a counterweight to the Uchiha 159 160.

Final Stand

Danzo subsequently fights alongside Konoha’s defenders at Jinghai Town. Unable to prevent Homura’s mortal injury, he later kills the wounded Ōnoki with a kunai. Itachi protects him from the retaliating Iwagakure ninja 161 163.

When Kirigakure surrounds Tsunade’s group to kill Itachi, Danzo throws Itachi toward Root and orders Fū to evacuate everyone. He charges alone into the enemy and activates the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing Technique. Tsunade later confirms his death and credits him with taking Genji and the attackers down with him 165 167.

His death removes one side of Konoha’s political balance. Yan explains that, had Danzo survived, Tsunade would have needed to become Hokage to preserve stability. Instead, Yan takes the position 168 229.

Altered Finale

In the finale’s changed aftermath of the Nine-Tails attack, Danzo is alive but repeatedly mentions Yan and Shisui without knowing why. The village leaders agree not to target the Uchiha, attributing the Sharingan seen in the Nine-Tails’ eyes to Madara or a descendant 305.

Danzo volunteers to bear the village’s hatred, reasoning that the eventual truth will make the villagers feel guilty. He then questions why he instinctively credits Yan for the idea. Back at Root, he discovers Yan’s books and orders Fū to investigate the unfamiliar name 305.

Notable Quotes

“I’d still be Hokage!” 138

“I’m not becoming Hokage anymore. If I’m going to be anything, I’ll be a daimyō!” 158

“Where the leaves dance, the fire burns on!” 165