Danzo Shimura

Leader of the Foundation, and the 6th Hokage.

History
In his youth, Danzō was good friends with Hiruzen Sarutobi. However, Danzō always felt inferior to Hiruzen, harbouring a desire to surpass him. Shortly after the foundation of the village, Hiruzen and Danzō sparred, while a few of their future team-mates watched. Danzō at some point saw Hashirama in battle and saw him perform the Wood Release Secret Technique: Nativity of a World of Trees and Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees and was awed by their powers. During the First Shinobi World War, Danzō, along with his team-mates Kagami Uchiha and Torifu Akimichi, as well as Hiruzen and his team-mates Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, formed a squad led by the Second Hokage. At some point, the team was pursued by Kumogakure's Kinkaku Squad, realising that one of them would need to sacrifice themselves as a decoy to ensure the others' safety. Hoping to die for his companions, just as his father and grandfather had, Danzō tried to volunteer but was paralysed with fear at the prospect of dying, allowing Hiruzen to volunteer before he could compose himself. Angry that Hiruzen had once again beaten him, Danzō began to protest before the Second Hokage decided to be the decoy instead while appointing Hiruzen as his successor.

During the Third Shinobi World War, Danzō agreed to help Hanzō of Amegakure in order to receive help in claiming the title of Hokage, sending some of his forces to deal with Akatsuki but they were all wiped out by Nagato.[5][6] In the anime, it is revealed Danzō manipulated Hanzō into joining forces with him against Akatsuki, having brought him corpses of Ame shinobi claiming they were killed by Akatsuki. In truth, they were Root members disguised as Iwa shinobi that were killed during Nagato's rampage, originally being used to disrupt a peace treaty between Konohagakure and Iwagakure in his pursuit to strengthen Konohagakure. Once the two shinobi joined forces, Danzō approached Akatsuki as an Ame shinobi named Kanzō (カンゾウ, Kanzō), informing them that Hanzō is allowing the group to make peace negotiations, which of course was a ruse concocted by the allied shinobi. He would later betray Hanzō at some point in history.

With Hiruzen having beaten him to the title of Hokage, Danzō began planning to someday attain the title himself.[8] Taking up the village's more clandestine operations — something that Hiruzen noted because of his own indulgence, he allowed Danzō to do[9] — he created the Anbu subsidiary named Root. Within this group, Danzō himself hand-picked various young shinobi with noticeable potential to join.

At some point in time he also had dealings with Orochimaru, who accompanied him with another Root shinobi to Konoha Orphanage where he strong-arms a former agent, Nonō, to infiltrate Iwagakure and confirm the intel on what the village was planning. Soon after, Danzō notices Kabuto Yakushi spying from the window and decides to recruit the boy as well.[11] However, in time, both Kabuto and Nonō become assets too dangerous to be left alive and Danzō tricks a brainwashed Nonō into killing Kabuto. Danzō sent Orochimaru to ensure no survivors, however, he instead took Kabuto under his wing without Danzō's knowledge. At some point, Orochimaru also surgically replaced Danzō's right arm with Shin Uchiha's, infusing the limb with Hashirama Senju's DNA to modify his physical energy.[12][13] Later in the anime, when Hiruzen sought to end the bloodshed from the Third Shinobi World War, Danzō voiced his disdain, feeling that a truce was spitting on the memory of all the Konoha shinobi who died so far. Understanding Danzō's pain, Hiruzen decided to take responsibility for the loss by stepping down as Hokage. At a meeting with the Land of Fire Council, Danzō strongly suggested that Orochimaru be made Fourth Hokage. Hiruzen, however, pointed out that Orochimaru had grown power-hungry and showed signs of sinister intent. Ultimately, Minato Namikaze was elected as Fourth Hokage unanimously, excluding Danzō who detested the idea, feeling that following Hiruzen's ideology will ultimately destroy Konoha.

In the anime -- during Kurama's attack on Konoha -- Danzō insisted that the Uchiha clan not be allowed to join the battle in fear that someone like Madara Uchiha would take advantage of the situation and capture the Nine-Tails. Ultimately, he convinced Hiruzen to have the Uchiha purely protect the citizens and avoid the Nine-Tails.[15] After Kurama was stopped, Danzō was one of the elders to suspect the Uchiha clan and began a spying operation on them. With the Fourth Hokage sacrificing himself to seal away the Nine-Tails inside his son, Hiruzen humbly resumed his role as Third Hokage, much to Danzō's disdain. After which, Danzō approached a grieving young Kakashi Hatake, noting that it was Hiruzen's orders for the children, even high-ranking ninja like Kakashi, to not help battle the Nine-Tails, ultimately preventing Kakashi from possibly saving his sensei and his wife. Convincing an emotional Kakashi that Hiruzen was not best for the future of the village, Kakashi agreed to join Danzō's Root division and spy on Hiruzen for him.[16] Later, as the Third Hokage resumed his role, Danzō, no longer able to tolerate Hiruzen's overly-passive methods, sought to dispose of him. He sent several Root members to assassinate Hiruzen. However, a smug Danzō was soon approached by Hiruzen, who revealed that Kakashi informed him of the assassination attempt. As Danzō feared for his life knowing he would be executed for this treason, Hiruzen calmly chose to spare Danzō, keeping this event a secret on the condition Danzō agreed to dedicate his life to protecting the village. Quickly recomposing himself, Danzō plainly stated that Hiruzen's naive faith and mercy would be his end one day, to which the Third solemnly admitted may be so. Later, Danzō met with Orochimaru, telling him about the recent events and insisted they not meet for a while in fear Hiruzen might realise that Danzō and Orochimaru were behind the abduction of several Konoha citizens, to which the Sannin voiced that Hiruzen probably already has his suspicions.[17] However, Orochimaru did another implant onto Danzō taking Shin Uchiha's Sharingan-embedded arm and placing that, alongside some of Hashirama Senju's cells, onto that of Danzō's.

Later, Orochimaru's sinister actions were discovered by the Third Hokage, forcing the Sannin to abandon Konoha. When Danzō learned of this, he knew Orochimaru would most likely go to their hideout with the Iburi clan. He sent Kinoe to inform the clan of Orochimaru's arrival.[19] Danzō's true goal was to have Kinoe capture Orochimaru, agreeing with Hiruzen that Orochimaru was too dangerous to let go rogue.[20] Over the years, Danzō continued to recruit new members of Root including Torune Aburame of the Aburame clan.[10] Three years after Orochimaru escaped the village, fearing that his stolen Sharingan eye would soon go blind from its overuse, Danzō sent Kinoe in an attempt to steal Kakashi's Sharingan as a replacement.[21] Kinoe soon returned, having chose to abandon his mission, much to Danzō's fury. Reminding the young shinobi of his duties as a Root member, Kinoe insisted that they should not attack allies to Konoha, which Danzō proclaimed that Root's only true allies is its own and exists only to protect Konoha itself. Unable to accept Danzō's cold views, Kinoe spoke out, making his feelings known. Horrified to see how much Kinoe had changed, Danzō used his Sharingan to incapacitate Kinoe, having one of his men take Kinoe to have his cursed seal activated. As Danzō arrived at the operating room, he discovered Kakashi freeing Kinoe and retreating with him. Danzō and his men soon surrounded the duo. As Kinoe was still under Danzō's command and Kakashi had trespassed on Root territory, Danzō had full authority to execute them. Before Danzō could act, the Third Hokage arrived, revealing that Kakashi was sent on his orders with a summoning request to be delivered to Danzō. No longer able to attack, Danzō faked ignorance of Hiruzen's letter and called off his men. Hiruzen then spoked to Danzō of Kinoe and his abilities. Insisting that Konoha need the Wood Release, Danzō agreed to hand over Kinoe to Hiruzen's command but chose to not remove Kinoe's cursed seal.[22] Three years later, a potential alliance between Konoha and the Land of Woods was made. While a team was sent to exchange secret scrolls with the Wood-nin as a sign of trust, a small team of Anbu, under Danzō's command, was sent to observe under the suspicion that the Wood-nin would betray Konoha, in which case, the Anbu were ordered to kill the Wood-nin. Danzō chose Kakashi, still having high respect for his abilities, and the new recruit Danzō recommended into Anbu, Itachi Uchiha, as a two-man team for the mission.[23]

Two years later, when word reached Konoha's leadership of a planned coup d'état by the Uchiha clan, Danzō took advantage of Itachi Uchiha's pacifist tendencies and convinced him to provide him and the other elders with information of the clan's actions. Determined to protect the village in his own way and believing that Shisui may try to manipulate him as well, Danzō stole and implanted the right Mangekyō Sharingan of Shisui Uchiha shortly before his death.[24] When Hiruzen decided to end the coup diplomatically, Danzō secretly met with Itachi and inveigled him into choosing to slaughter his clan by presenting him with the option of killing them and sparing his younger brother, Sasuke Uchiha or having them all killed.[25] Itachi regretfully chose to agree to killing the Uchiha clan.

Soon after performing the deed, Danzō told everyone that Itachi had done this, having grown to despise his clan and even sought greater power by stealing Shisui's eyes. While everyone else believed this fabricated story, Hiruzen saw through Danzō's lie, voicing his disgust at Danzō's actions. While trying to justify his actions by saying it was for the village, Hiruzen retorted that the Uchiha was part of the village. No longer able to trust Danzō and his underhanded ways, Hiruzen immediately removed him from the Konoha Council and ordered for the Root division to be disbanded.[26] Afterwards, Itachi, disguised as a Root member, approached Danzō and threatened to expose Konoha's secrets to the other countries if Danzō ever harmed Sasuke.[27] He met with Tobi around this time for as yet unknown reasons.[28] Over the years, despite his Root division being officially disbanded, Danzō continued to keep it secretly active.

After seeing Hiruzen sacrifice himself using the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to defeat Orochimaru during the Konoha Crush, Danzō decided to teach Sai how to use a powerful fūinjutsu, in order to prevent the same from happening to himself. During the training, Danzō noted that Sai could use "emotional energy" to bolster the power of the attack, but warned the young man not to fall prey to his negative emotions.[29]

In the anime, Danzō revealed that he had apparently been in touch with Hanzō even after his betrayal. When Hanzō suddenly stopped contacting him, Danzō met with the Konoha Council, and told them to keep an eye on the genin sent by Amegakure to the joint Chūnin Exams, suspecting that Hanzō is no longer alive.

Tenchi Bridge Reconnaissance Mission
Danzō assigned Sai to Team Kakashi as part of a plan to secretly assassinate Sasuke Uchiha. To achieve that goal, Danzō had Sai make contact with Orochimaru in a ruse to make it seem he wanted to join forces with him to destroy Konoha. When Sai failed his mission but asked to remain with Team Kakashi, Danzō allowed him to do so while reminding the young man that emotions brought hatred, which in turn led to war.

Twelve Guardian Ninja
Main article: Twelve Guardian Ninja (Arc)In the anime, Danzō was shown being followed by Anbu agents, on Tsunade's orders, when he was to be briefed by Tatsuji — a spy of his in Amegakure. He and Tatsuji were apprehended by the Anbu and later questioned by Tsunade, although the interrogation was interrupted by Sora, who was discovered eavesdropping.

Pain's Assault
When Pain began his assault on Konoha, Tsunade asked the toad Kōsuke to retrieve Naruto Uzumaki from Myōbokuzan to help defend the village. In the anime, Danzō went to Homura and Koharu to tell them that Tsunade was risking the possible loss of the Fourth Hokage's legacy and the Nine-Tails by calling Naruto back. In the manga however, Danzō waited until everyone had left the room and killed Kōsuke in an attempt to stop Naruto from returning, Danzō then gathered his Root Anbu and instructed them not to aid Konoha in the hopes that Pain's actions would end Tsunade's reign as Hokage. When asked if all the villagers would not then die, Danzō denied this, claiming that Tsunade's medical abilities would save most of them.

Following the invasion, leaders of the Land of Fire and Konoha gathered for an emergency meeting. Here, despite Shikaku Nara's best efforts, Danzō convinced the daimyō that previous Hokage's peaceful ideologies had made Konoha weak and presented himself as the type of leader the village currently needed to enforce the laws of shinobi and bring order to the world. After brief consideration, the daimyō agreed to appoint him as Sixth Hokage Candidate.

Five Kage Summit

When Danzō returned from the meeting he received a letter from theFourth Raikage, informing him of the approaching Kage Summit and the actions of Sasuke Uchiha. As his first order, Danzō ordered Sasuke's execution for treason marking him as a missing-nin. Although he would have preferred confining Naruto to protect the Nine-Tails, Danzō was aware of Naruto's new-found popularity in the village following his defeat of Pain and settled to have Naruto watched by his agents at all times to ensure he could be made an official Hokage. He also delayed Anko Mitarashi's assassination while ordering his men to find Kabuto Yakushi instead, who was in possession of medical information that could help with his right eye and arm. Danzō later departed for the Kage Summit with Torune Aburame and Fū Yamanaka as his bodyguards, revealing the Sharinganin his right eye socket when they were ambushed by remnant shinobi of the Land of Woods along the way.

Upon arrival in the Land of Iron and the meeting's start, Danzō did not actively participate other than reporting to the other Kage of "Madara Uchiha"'s involvement with Akatsuki. Mifune suggested that the five Kage form an alliance of their villages to eliminate Akatsuki with Danzō as its leader. As the Fourth Raikage accuses him and Akatsuki, rather than Orochimaru, of staging the Konoha Crush to dispose of Hiruzen and theFourth Kazekage, Ao exposes Danzō's manipulating Mifune before White Zetsu appeared and revealed that Sasuke was nearby. As the Raikage left to eliminate Sasuke, with Ao instructed to keep an eye on Danzō, who explained to the remaining Kage that his ultimate goal was to unify the shinobi nations under one empire, ending the possibility of future war between them.

When Sasuke arrived at their location, Danzō and his bodyguards used the opportunity to flee, with Ao in close pursuit. At some point during their escape, Danzō's party was beset by Black Zetsu's Spore Technique, but managed to dispatch the clones. Danzō ordered Fū to stop Ao, and emphasised that the retrieval of his Byakugan was a top priority. Fū managed to throw Ao off their trail, but failed to retrieve the Byakugan.

On their way back to Konoha, Danzō and his men were confronted by Tobi at the Samurai Bridge. Danzō instructed Fū and Torune to distract Tobi while he unsealed his right arm. Once Fū and Torune were defeated, Tobi brought out Sasuke. Danzō, revealed his right arm to show that it was embedded with Sharingan all over, and voiced his intent to add Tobi's and Sasuke's to his collection. Sasuke immediately questioned him about the Uchiha clan's assassination, hoping to find out if the Konoha elders really did force Itachi to murder his family. Danzō confirmed the story and questioned why Itachi would sacrifice peace to tell Sasuke the truth. Angry that Danzō spoke about his brother so casually, Sasuke crushed him with his Susanoo's hand.

Despite his apparent death, Danzō was unharmed by Susanoo, as well as Sasuke's subsequent attacks. All the while Danzō goaded Sasuke by constantly talking about Itachi, prompting him to fully develop his Susanoo. Sasuke used Susanoo to fire an arrow at Danzō, who was forced to use his Wood Release to divert the attack. Tobi, having been observing the battle, surmised that his use of Sharingan and Wood Release must mean that he planned to control the Nine-Tails as well, and that he was using Izanagi, with the many Sharingan on his arm being sacrificed one-by-one to escape death. When he was finally reduced to one, Danzō and Sasuke prepared one final attack breathing wind-natured chakra onto a kunai creating a blade, Danzō prepared to clash with Sasuke's Chidori Sharp Spear.

Dying, Danzō staggered towards Sasuke and Tobi, thinking about Hiruzen and how, no matter what he did, he could never match him, not even having properly become Hokage. With his last breath, he proclaimed that for the sake of the world and the safety of Konoha, he would take Sasuke and Tobi with him to the grave. He then activated the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing, but Sasuke and Tobi were able to get out of range. Danzō was, nevertheless, able to destroy Shisui's Sharingan in order to prevent Tobi from obtaining it.

Legacy
Danzo is widely recognised as being one of the leading figures in the village's growth after the death of the Second Hokage. Acting as Hiruzen's top intelligence advisor and through his own sanctioned actions, Danzo's willingness to take on the dark, but vital tasks of the village such as management of espionage and assassinations of high profile threats were crucial to the success of the village. Though the true extent to which Danzō has both influenced and protected the ninja world will remain predominantly unknown, certain people — especially those in Root — remain adamant that if it were not for Danzō and his actions, peace would not have been maintained for so long. He made it a point to eradicate any opposition to Konoha that would destroy the peace that the village enjoyed. As his final act in protecting the village, he attempted to kill Sasuke Uchiha, a missing-nin from the village, as well as Tobi, the mastermind of the terrorist organisation Akatsuki. Unsuccessful in this, however, in order to thwart Tobi's plans, Danzō crushed Shisui Uchiha's Sharingan before dying. Though he has done a great deal in the way of protecting Konoha, Danzō had a manipulative, duplicitous and militant perspective born from the era of the Three Great Wars, and at times, he was unable to fully clean up and control the blowback of some operations, such as in the case of Nagato, Kabuto and Sasuke. Despite this, the actions of Danzō, Homura, Koharu and Sarutobi regarding the Uchiha clan did avoid a world scale conflict, which Sarutobi had failed to stop diplomatically. In an ironic turn of events, Sasuke had later unwittingly taken up many of Danzō's traits after deciding to protect the village, proclaiming that he would change the system of shinobi that he considers the source of all the chaos the ninja world has endured.

Superpowers
A Curse Mark that causes paralysis. He must have placed it then. The flow of Danzo’s Chakra has changed. What’s he up to?

As soon as Danzo weave those signs, the feel of his Chakra has shifted just a slightly. He launched the other Jutsu!He recast the Jutsu, but those three eyes stayed shut…As far as I can tell, there are ten Sharingan on that arm… in addition of First Hokage’s cells… Uchiha’s power and Hashirama’s power. It looks like he is planning to try to control the Nine Tails. Danzo’s Chakra dropped again just now… it seems like that Jutsu takes quite a tall. That must be why he needed to undo it before…In order to preserve his Chakra! And another thing… those Sharingan on his right arm are definitely linked to his Jutsu. I just know it! There’s some secret to those eyes that keep closing.There’s no mistake… This is the Visual Jutsu forbidden even among the Uchiha… "Izanagi"…

That was wood style… now it make sense. With that many Sharingan, I knew there had to be some kind of secret to allow someone who wasn’t Uchiha to be able to use them. Damn that Orochimaru… It’s seems he is in close contact with Danzo. He had the cells of the First Hokage, Hashirama implanted in him to enhance his physical energy. That’s how he is able to control so many Sharingan.

The Izanagi… welfare of few seconds span of time, anything disadvantageous to the wielder, a damage or death can be rewritten as a dream… And anything have advantageous, such as the wielder’s attacks that can just part of the reality. An ultimate Genjutsu cast upon oneself, that blurs the border between fantasy and reality. And the eye that uses Izanagi loses its light… never to open again. But with that many eyes… but the erosion of Izanagi buries with each user's. He wanted to extend that time no matter what it took.

Now, Susanoo won’t be able to move. And I’ll augment the Baku’s orbit impressive in suction power, but even more force. Wind Style, Vacuum Blast Be large!

Those eyes… one shut in every sixty seconds, and Danzo’s Chakra keep dropping rapidly all the while. Which means… that right arm of his can be used to measure the duration of action of his weird Jutsu… And just four left. About two hundred and forty seconds or four minutes is the time limit of that Jutsu. From what I can tell, while his Jutsu is active, it allows his attack to be successful, but make Sasuke’s attacks ineffective. That’s the way this Jutsu works! When all ten of the eyes you have on your right arm have closed, your Jutsu will be undone, isn’t that right?With Izanagi, a Sharingan is cast away once the Jutsu is been exhausted. But eye will keep the Jutsu acting for sixty seconds.

Training
According to Sasori of the Red Sand the Foundation raises you two from the time you are young like Siblings and then forced to fight and kill one another in the end. A training system that destroys emotion. Where there is no feeling there is no doubt and that makes for a truly powerful Shinobi. Sealing Jutsu: Crouched Tiger Bullet: It is important that you learn this Sealing Jutsu. The Third Hokage was unparalleled in his use of Jutsu. But when Orochimaru used the Reanimation Jutsu to bring back the First, and Second Hokage the Third Hokage had to seal them away with the Reaper Death Seal and sacrificed his life in doing so. You have been taught that emotions merely hinder a Shinobi. All of the feelings that you have surprised have created a massive resovier of energy somewhere deep inside of your heart. And by releasing that pent up emotional energy you will be able to imbue your Sealing Jutsu with great power but be careful releasing your emotions can make you subtle to the effects of your Negative feelings. And that can be very dangerous.
 * 1) Throw the Kunai at the targets.
 * 2) Fight to the death. You have three days. This is your final test.
 * You sub come to your Negative Feelings. They are consuming you. You must assimilate the mass of Negative feelings you have pent up within you. And train carefully to use them. This Jutsu is the reason why I raised all of you from the time you were young. Keep going until you gain complete control over your emotions. Learn to release all your negative feelings you have to master them Sai.

Making contact with your opponent is the basis of your Jutsu. I want to see your Taijutsu skills. So I am going to have you spar with Fuu. Lord Danzo told me about you. The main thing is just to avoid touching your skin right? Not that you'll be able to touch me! Lord Danzo needs to asses you. He needs to know your true strength. So you have to fight seriously.
 * A Sealing Jutsu that becomes more powerful when i release my emotions. But those emotions don't have to be Negative ones from Anger or Sadness.

A Foundation Shinobi have no names, we have no emotion, no past, no future, we have only our missions.

Jutsu

 * 1) Cursed Tongue Eradication Technique
 * 2) Genjutsu: Sharingan
 * 3) Izanagi
 * 4) Kotoamatsukami
 * 5) Reverse Tetragram Sealing Jutsu
 * 6) Sealing Jutsu: Crouched Tiger Bullet
 * 7) Self-Cursing Seal
 * 8) Summoning Jutsu : Baku
 * 9) Wind Style Slash
 * 10) Wind Style: Vacuum Blade
 * 11) Wind Style: Vacuum Blast
 * 12) Wind Style: Vacuum Blast Barrage
 * 13) Wind Style: Vacuum Bomb
 * 14) Wind Style: Vacuum Bullets

Students

 * 1) Sai
 * 2) Shin
 * 3) Torune Aburame

Training Episodes

 * 1) Sai and Shin
 * 2) The Helmet Splitter: Jinin Akebino!
 * 3) Power – Episode 5
 * 4) Shino vs. Torune!

Trivia

 * Elements of Danzō's design and backstory, including the x-shaped scar on his chin and his status as the leader of Root, appear to have been taken from Kishimoto's original concept for Itachi Uchiha, as revealed in Naruto Hiden: Jin no Sho Character Official Data Book.
 * Like Dan Katō, Danzō's name may be a reference to Katō Danzō, a noted ninja master during the time of the Sengoku period of Japan.
 * Danzō's family name, Shimura, is written with the kanji for will,intention (志) and village (村) and can be interpreted as "I did it for the village," possibly hinting at Danzō's true intentions.
 * Danzō's relationship with Hiruzen Sarutobi was very much like Naruto's rivalry with Sasuke, where Danzō felt that Hiruzen was always "one step ahead of him" in every way.
 * Although a well-intentioned extremist, Danzō's actions have ironically enough made him a primary catalyst for the formation of the villainous world views of both Nagato and Kabuto Yakushi, as evidenced by their flashbacks. This also made him the reason for many of the protagonists' troubles throughout much of the story, most particular is the eventual rise of Sasuke's bitter and merciless vendetta against Konohagakure.
 * Danzō's death is similar to Deidara's, as both involve last ditch efforts against Sasuke Uchiha.
 * Studio Pierrot's Settei sheets of Danzō show that he was 146cm around the time the Valley of the End was created, and 168cm when Tobirama died.
 * In the fourth databook, summoning is not listed among Danzō's special characteristics. Also, despite his usage of Izanagi, a technique based on the Six Paths' Creation of All Things Technique, Yang Release wasn't listed as one of his natures.[2]
 * According to the databook(s):
 * Danzō's hobbies were appreciating famous pictures, and keeping diaries.
 * Danzō's favourite food and drink was hijiki (which he shared with his rival Hiruzen Sarutobi) and genmaicha (brown rice tea), while his least favourite was warabimochi (jelly-like confection).
 * Danzō did not want to fight anyone in particular.
 * Danzō's favourite word was "fortitude" (不屈, fukutsu).