Danzō Shimura

is a Konoha elder, one of the oldest villagers in Konoha. He is also in charge of the ANBU faction named the Foundation. He is later appointed as the acting 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 The Foundation. Although the group was later officially disbanded, it remains active. At some point, Danzō agreed to help Hanzō of Amegakure in return for 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 Sasuke Uchiha, and threatened to share everything he knew about Konoha with rival countries if Danzō ever harmed Sasuke. At some point, after Itachi killed Shisui Uchiha, Danzō implanted Shisui's right Sharingan and arm into his own body.

Personality
Danzō is a blunt tactician, which is demonstrated by his preference of eliminating threats and ordering them to be executed instead of using negotiation. He is ready to use anyone, even his enemies, to achieve his goals. Danzō is a calm and collected individual, and similar to the Foundation members that he trained, does not allow his emotions to surface. However, he occationally loses his composure, an example being that when the Fire Daimyo considered Kakashi Hatake for the Sixth Hokage, Danzō angrily opposed, saying that the Third Hokage's wisdom had destroyed the village little by little.

He always keeps an eye on everything; before attaining his today's position, he had immediately acted if he saw anything that may have looked like a threat to Konoha with or without the consent of previous Hokage. His fellow elders, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, hold him in high regard, and often took his advice when dealing with the politics of the village.

Even though he addresses Tsunade politely, he does not approve of her. This is mainly because she is the granddaughter of Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, and, like Hiruzen, inherited the same teachings and philosophy as him, something that Danzō opposes. Despite disapproving these ideologies, Danzō does believe in the idea of bringing ninja together, however, by teaching them not to show feelings and disregard morals if needed.

Danzō's public care and loyalty to Konohagakure is a mere facade, as he intended to overthrow Tsunade and become Hokage himself, believing that he alone knows what is best for the village's future. His desire to become Hokage was so great that he was willing to align himself with Hanzō of the Rain village, as well as allow Akatsuki to attack the village and wait until the moment was right to make his move. This shows Danzō to be extremely conniving.

Danzō is very careful and secretive. Despite the Foundation being loyal to him, Danzō was still cautious and had Cursed Seals placed on their tongues, to prevent information leakage. However, he trusts them enough; he let them know about having Shisui's arm and eye implanted in his body, which he hides from other people.

Also, despite promising Itachi that he would spare Sasuke's life (especially under a threat), Danzō still ordered Sai to assassinate him, even when Itachi was still alive at the time. After Itachi died and Danzō was elected as Hokage, he officially ordered to eliminate Sasuke. This proves that Danzō is not a man who would keep his promises, and that he is unafraid of threats that would injure the village.

In spite of his obsession of becoming Hokage, and the great lengths of underhanded tactics to achieve this dream, Danzō chose to flee from the Kage summit, losing the trust of all the other Kage, as well as jeopardizing his chances of securing his seat permanently.

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
Danzō was later 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 and Tsunade asked the toad, Kōsuke, to retrieve Naruto Uzumaki, Danzō killed Kōsuke to keep the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox "out of the way". Danzō was later shown with the members of the Foundation, instructing them not to help with the defense of Konoha in the hopes that Pain's actions would give him the opportunity to overthrow Tsunade.

Following the invasion, leaders of the Land of Fire and Konoha gathered for an emergency meeting. Danzō convinced the daimyo of the Land of Fire that each of the previous Hokages had passed on a peaceful ideology to their students. This in turn made them too soft on military issues, resulting in Konoha's current crisis. 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 short time spent considering, the Daimyo agreed to appoint him as the Sixth Hokage. Upon reading the letter from the Raikage delivered by Samui, Danzō's first action as Hokage was labelling Sasuke as a missing-nin to be killed by the village.

Five Kage Summit arc
Even though Danzō has been appointed as Hokage by the daimyo, he still requires the votes of the Jōnin to officially acquire the position. So, as acting Hokage, Danzō ordered his subordinate, Sai, to keep an eye on Naruto. Sai asked him what his plans would be. Danzō replied that Naruto is now a hero to Konoha, and he is more trusted by the citizens than himself. Naruto could sway the vote for Hokage out of Danzō's favor, so Danzō does not plan on making any moves against him. However, Naruto is still the container for the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, and eyes must be kept on him at all times. Danzō added that he would not be as weak as Tsunade.

Before heading off to the Five Kage summit, when a Foundation member suggested assassinating Anko Mitarashi, Danzō belayed that. He instead ordered them to find Kabuto Yakushi before Anko does, since Kabuto may know of his relationship with Orochimaru. He also indicated that the data Kabuto has on Orochimaru's experiments may be useful for restoring his arm and eye.

After leaving for the Five Kage Summit, Danzō was attacked by eight shinobi from the Wood Country's Hannya clan. He ordered his bodyguards to stand down and that he would take down the assailants himself, and he revealed the Sharingan under the bandages of his right eye. After killing the eight enemies, he saw seventeen more hidden in the woods, and killed them as well. It was after he killed the ninja assassins that he revealed his plot for the world, and that he believes that this philosophy and the meeting at the Five Kage Summit going well will gain him the permanent seat of Hokage.

During the meeting, the Raikage suggests that Danzō had some involvement in the invasion of Konoha. Danzō himself does not take an active part in the conversation, instead allowing the Kazekage, Tsuchikage, and Raikage to bicker. Mifune suggests that the five Kage unite their village's efforts to bringing down Akatsuki, and, because Konoha's Nine-Tails is the only tailed beast that has yet to be captured, nominates Danzō as the leader. However, Ao raises his suspicions that Danzō is using his Sharingan to manipulate Mifune thus causing Mifune and the other Kage to almost take action against him. However, Zetsu's arrival manages to keep them off his back for the time being. Ao is ordered by the Raikage to watch Danzō. While Danzō admits that he did use Shisui Uchiha's technique to manipulate Mifune, and receiving reprimand for using ninjutsu in the meeting when it was forbidden to do so, he did so in order to unite the five nations together, which he believed to be vital for overall peace.

When Sasuke managed to break into the meeting chamber, he, along with Fū and Torune, used the distraction to make his escape with Ao in pursuit. Sasuke also attempted to give chase but was stopped by the Fifth Mizukage. With this escape, along with his hypnotism against Mifune, the other four Kage claimed that Danzō is no longer trustworthy for the alliance, and they assumed that he would not last long as Hokage either.

Well aware of Ao's pursuit of him, Danzō has Fū intecept him, informing Fū that he wishes to aquire Ao's Byakugan. However, Fū failed to obtain the Byakugan, and it is unknown what Danzō plans to do in light of this.

Abilities
Sai stated that Danzō placed a cursed seal on every Foundation member. The seal prevents them from revealing any information on the Foundation or Danzō. The seal activates when the the wearer speaks about anything relating to Danzō or the Foundation, and will paralyze and mute the member in question completely.

In battle, Danzō seems to have some Wind Release technique that allowed him to slash through his assailants after making the necessary hand seals before spinning around while exhaling. He is also quite skilled with a sword, killing many more assailants with one.

Sharingan
Danzō is in possession of Shisui Uchiha's Sharingan in his right eye, which he keeps hidden under the bandages. It is apparently damaged, as the sclera is not white. Despite this, he is very adapted to using it, detecting seventeen assassins hidden inside a forest. It's also been stated by Ao that Shisui's Sharingan was capable of manipulating others without their knowing, leading to speculation that he is using Mifune. Danzō eventually admits it, but states that he can only do it once a day, and that he had already broken the illusion he had placed (Ao isn't sure whether or not to believe him).

Danzō also claimed that with Orochimaru's research notes held by Kabuto Yakushi, he would be able to heal his (Shisui's) arm and Sharingan, which further indicates they are damaged.

Danzo, when confronted by Madara, revealed that he was about to release his seemingly metallic right arm. What abilities, if any, are contained in his arm are yet to be revealed.

Trivia

 * Judging Tsunade 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, is one of four people to possess a kekkei genkai despite not being a member of the appropriate clan, the others being Kakashi Hatake, Tenzo, and Ao.

Quotes

 * (To Sai) "Emotions lead one to hate...and hate leads one to conflict and war..."