Danzō Shimura

is a Konoha elder, one of the oldest villagers in Konoha. He is also in charge of the ANBU faction named Root. He is later appointed as the after Pain's invasion.

Background
In the past, Danzō competed with Hiruzen Sarutobi for the position of Third Hokage. When he was not selected for the position, he created the ANBU faction named Root. Although the group was later officially disbanded, it remains active. During the Third Great Shinobi World War, Danzō agreed to help Hanzō of Amegakure in order to receive help in claiming the title of Hokage. He sent some of his forces to deal with the Ame Orphans, but they were all wiped out by Nagato.

When word reached Konoha's leadership of a planned coup d'etat by the Uchiha clan, Danzō was one of the elders to help in dealing with the issue. He took advantage of Itachi Uchiha's pacifist tendencies and convinced him to provide him and the other elders with information on the clan's actions. When Hiruzen's attempts to end the coup diplomatically failed, Itachi was ordered to wipe out the Uchiha clan. However, Itachi refused to kill his younger brother, Sasuke Uchiha, and threatened to share everything he knew about Konoha with rival countries if Danzō ever harmed Sasuke. He met with Madara Uchiha around this time for as yet unknown reasons. At some point, after Shisui Uchiha was killed, Danzō implanted Shisui's right Sharingan and arm into his own body.

Personality
Danzō is a calm and collected individual. Like the Root members that serve under him, he does not allow his emotions to surface. He has been seen losing his composure on only one occasion: when the Fire Daimyo was considering Kakashi Hatake for the position of Sixth Hokage. Danzō believes that Kakashi, like the five previous Hokage, would place morals and peace above Konoha's best interests and lead the village to destruction. For this same reason he does not approve of Tsunade (the granddaughter of the First Hokage and a student of the Third), though he speaks to her politely.

Danzō says that he seeks peace for the ninja world, one he would achieve by uniting all shinobi forces under Konoha's control. To that end, he works in the shadows to ensure that this future comes to fruition. He uses Root to eliminate potential threats to Konoha (with or without the consent of the Hokage) and to further him along the path to becoming Hokage, as he believes he is best prepared for the "necessary" transition. Because of the nature of his actions, Danzō cannot allow the details of what he has done become public knowledge, and thusly brands members of Root with cursed seals to prevent them from revealing his secrets.

However, his loyalty is questionable, because while he speaks about make Konoha stronger, he has no qualms in sacrificing significant portions of village in a bid to become Hokage, or providing information to Orochimaru on Konoha's ANBU members for a chance to assassinate Sasuke Uchiha.

Danzō is not above using his enemies to achieve his goals. He worked with Hanzō in exchange for help with becoming Hokage, allowed Akatsuki to destroy Konoha to help him facilitate a coup against Tsunade, and has some history with Orochimaru. The Fourth Raikage suspects that Danzō was involved with Otogakure and Sunagakure's plot to invade Konoha, which led to the deaths of the Third Hokage and the Fourth Kazekage. He is, however, prone to breaking such allegiances; although Danzō promises Itachi Uchiha that he will not harm Sasuke, he nevertheless sends Sai to assassinate Sasuke and after his meeting with Madara.

His fellow elders, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, hold Danzō in high regard, and often take his advice when dealing with the politics of the village. It is unknown how much they know about his actions.

Sai and Sasuke arc
Danzō assigned Sai to Team 7 as a replacement for Sasuke Uchiha. Because of this, Tsunade assigned Yamato to the team as well, in order to keep an eye on Sai, in case Danzō had other plans for him. During a mission, Sai made contact with Orochimaru on Danzō's behalf, proposing that the two join sides in order to destroy Konoha. Although believing this to be the evidence needed to prove Danzō works against the village, Yamato later discovered that Sai's actions were a ruse to get close to and kill Sasuke. When Sai proved unsuccessful and displayed attachment to Team 7, Danzō merely stated that "emotion brings hatred, and hatred brings war".

Fire Temple 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 from Amegakure. He and Tatsuji were apprehended and questioned by Tsunade, although the interrogation was interrupted by Sora, who was discovered eavesdropping.

Invasion of Pain arc
When Pain began his invasion of Konoha, Tsunade asked the toad, Kōsuke, to retrieve Naruto Uzumaki from Myōbokuzan to help defend the village. Danzō killed Kōsuke to keep the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox away from Akatsuki's grasp. Danzō was later shown with the members of Root, instructing them not to help with the defense of Konoha in the hopes that Pain's actions would end Tsunade's reign as Hokage.

Following the invasion, leaders of the Land of Fire and Konoha gathered for an emergency meeting. Danzō convinced the daimyo that each of the previous Hokage had passed on a peaceful ideology to their students. This in turn made them too soft on military issues, resulting in Konoha's destruction. The village now needed a strong and firm leader who would enforce the laws of shinobi and bring order to the world. He stated that he alone was fit to be Hokage. After a brief consideration, the daimyo agreed to appoint him as the Sixth Hokage.

Five Kage Summit arc
When Danzō returns from the meeting he receives a letter from Ē, the Fourth Raikage, informing him of the approaching Kage Summit and the actions of Sasuke Uchiha. As his first order, Danzō orders Sasuke be executed as a traitor to Konoha.

While preparing for the Kage meeting, Danzō gives a number of tasks to Root members. Because of Naruto's actions during Pain's assault he has become a hero of the village. Although he would prefer confining Naruto to protect the demon fox, Danzō still needs the support of the Jōnin to officially become Hokage, so he settles for keeping Naruto watched at all times. In regards to Anko Mitarashi's search for Kabuto Yakushi, Danzō put off Anko's assassination. He instead instructs Root to find Kabuto before she does, hoping that Kabuto possesses medical information that will help will his right eye and arm.

Danzō departs for the Kage Summit with Torune and Fū as his bodyguards, after ordering Torune to have his men prevent Naruto from leaving the village. The three are attacked by remnants of the Land of Wood along the way, but Danzō neutralizes them singlehandedly with his Sharingan. Upon arrival in the Land of Iron and the meeting's start, Danzō does not actively participate, only reporting to the other Kage Madara Uchiha's involvement with Akatsuki. Mifune suggests that the five Kage form an alliance of their villages to eliminate Akatsuki, and, because Konoha's Nine-Tails is the only tailed beast that has yet to be captured, nominates Danzō as the leader.

Ao becomes suspicious about the proceedings and uses his Byakugan to expose Danzō's manipulation of Mifune. Before he can be pressed on the matter, Zetsu appears and reveals that Sasuke is nearby. The Raikage leaves to eliminate Sasuke, but instructs Ao to keep an eye on Danzō. When Sasuke arrives at their location, Danzō and his bodyguards use the opportunity to flee, with Ao in close pursuit. At some point during their escape, Danzō's party is tackled by Zetsu's Spore Technique, but manages to dispatch it. Danzō orders Fū to stop Ao, and emphasizes that the retrieval of his Byakugan is top priority. Fū throws Ao off of their trail, but fails to retrieve the Byakugan.

On their way back to Konoha they are confronted by Madara Uchiha. Danzō instructs Fū and Torune to distract Madara while he unseals his right arm. Once he is ready, Madara releases Sasuke Uchiha and Karin. Danzō, revealing that his right arm is encrusted with Sharingan, voices his intent to add Madara's and Sasuke's to his collection.

Sasuke questions Danzō about the arm. Danzō refuses to explain, and springs at Sasuke, launching a punch with his Sharingan-covered arm. Sasuke, however, blocks the attack with Susanoo's rib, and grabs Danzō with Susanoo's arm. He proceeds to ask Danzō if he truly did order Itachi to kill the Uchiha clan. Danzō admits that he did, and then states that many other ninja have died in the same manner as Itachi, and that such shinobi are the cost of peace in the shinobi world. Sasuke then crushes Danzō with Susanoo, telling him never to speak Itachi's name again. Danzō, however, had maneuvered behind Sasuke uninjured and unnoticed, and prepares to attack, while proclaiming that the battle will have to be between their eyes.

Seemingly, Danzō is smashed into the ground by Susanoo and incinerated by Amaterasu, but reappears unharmed at a different location. Karin concludes that he isn't using bunshinjutsu or genjutsu to survive the attacks, but was using some sort of trick. When Danzō goes on the offensive he is captured by Sasuke's Tsukuyomi which created a copy of Itachi, but Sasuke was stopped short of attacking when stopped by Danzō activating his cursed seal, binding Sasuke in place. Calling Sasuke Itachi's only failure, Sasuke anger forces his Susanoo into perfection, freeing him of the curse seal. Sasuke's Susanoo, equipped with a bow and arrow takes a shot of Danzō, who is forced to use Wood Release, gained through Orochimaru's experimentation on the First Hokage's cells. Madara concluded that, with the Sharingans on his arm and the addition of the First's DNA, Danzō's plan was to forcibly take control of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, and, like Akatsuki, was after Naruto. Madara also concluded that Danzō's collection of Sharingan has somehow allowed him to use a technique forbidden amongst the Uchiha, Izanagi.

Abilities
Although he appears rather frail, even leaning on a stick, Danzo is an extremely powerful ninja. He has shown several unique and powerful techniques that are either currently Hiden or Kinjutsu. He is proficient with the sword, as he killed several would-be-assassins with one. He is also well-versed in seal placement, as shown when he placed a seal on Sasuke which paralyzed him, and his placement of binding seals on all Root members. Danzō is also good at distinguishing genjutsu from reality as he saw through Sasuke's Tsukuyomi, causing it to have no effect on him. Though it was noted that Sasuke's Tsukuyomi hadn't been perfected.

Elemental Release Techniques
Danzō is proficient with Wind Release techniques. After performing the necessary hand seals, he can exhale from his mouth powerful vacuum-based attacks that can either slash like blades or pierce like bullets. He can also use wind release to blow himself to safety while in mid-air.

By having the First Hokage's cells integrated into his right arm, Danzō could use the Wood Release kekkei genkai. Unlike Orochimaru's method, which overwrote the recipients DNA with the First's, the method Danzō used also augmented his physical strength. However, Danzō using the Wood Release takes a significant toll on his chakra, prompting him to only use it when necessary. It also appears that he can only use the Wood Release from his right, augmented arm.

Shisui's Sharingan and Arm
Danzō possesses the Sharingan of Uchiha Shisui, which he normally keeps concealed under bandages to conserve chakra, as he is not an Uchiha. His Sharingan is apparently damaged, as Danzō himself said that Orochimaru's data can help with his eye. Despite this, he is very skilled at using it, detecting multiple shinobi assassins in the forest and massacring them all with his sword. He also has access to a technique exclusive to Shisui, through which he can manipulate other people's thoughts without them being aware of it. This technique does not require direct eye contact, as demonstrated when he manipulated Mifune without exposing his Sharingan. Danzō states that he can only use this technique once a day.

Danzō's most fearsome trait resides in his right arm, which holds a total of ten Sharingans embedded onto it. He normally keeps the arm hidden under bandages and a bolt mechanism, presumably to conserve chakra. The eyes allow him access to the Izanagi technique, a justu forbidden even amongst the battle-excelling Uchiha clan. It is supposedly related to a rebirth technique, as he is capable of escaping death from almost every one of Sasuke's attempts to kill him. After being struck by a lethal blow, Danzō's body disappears, only to reappear again in a near by location, completely unscathed. Every time this occurs it causes one of the ten Sharingans on his arm to close. Due to the limitations on his chakra, he cannot use Izanagi for an extended amount of time. What is truly curious is the fact noted by Madara: that Danzō, a non-Uchiha, can control ten Sharingan simultaneously. Madara also stated that together with the Sharingan and Wood Release, Danzō could possibly control the Nine-Tailed Fox.

Trivia

 * Judging by Tsunade's and Shizune's reaction to a picture they saw in an anime omake, Danzō was quite handsome in his youth before the Great War.
 * Danzō, possessing the Sharingan and Wood Release, is one of four characters in the manga to possess a Kekkei Genkai (or in his case two) despite not being a member of the appropriate clan(s), the others being Kakashi Hatake, Tenzō, and Ao.
 * He is the only person with the Wood Release to use an elemental ninjutsu that isn't Earth, Water, or Wood.
 * He, along with fellow Kage Mei Terumī, both possess two Kekkei Genkai; Danzo has a elemental and a dōjutsu, while Mei has two elemental.
 * Danzō's name may be a reference to Kato Danzo, a noted ninja master during the time of the Sengoku period of Japan.
 * In Chapter 459, when Ao is looking at Danzo with the Byakugan, you can see the chakra flow of the face on Danzo's right arm.

Quotes

 * (To Sai) "Emotions lead one to hate...and hate leads one to conflict and war..."
 * "To be a shinobi is to sacrifice oneself. Closing your eyes to the sunlight, distinguishing yourself in the shadows. That is the true form of ninja."
 * (To Sasuke) "You may have the same eyes as your brother, but you percieve things differently. You do not value Itachi's truth. Instead you just throw your anger at anything and everything. You have wasted the Uchiha clan's sacrifice."