| “ | The ninja world is an ascetic world. To remain anonymous is a source of pride. But by controlling both the surface and underground, one can truly strengthen the village and nation. I will make certain that this summit is a success and that I am recognised as Hokage. Then the jōnin will have no choice but to accept me as Hokage. My era has finally come | „ |
| ~ Danzo on not being well known, showing his desire to be Hokage |
| “ | Hiruzen… it looks like it's my turn next… but I… never did become Hokage… no matter how far I went I could never catch up with you… you are the leaves bathing in the sun. I… am the roots that grow in the dark. Hey, Hiruzen… what do you think of me? What am I to you…? | „ |
| ~ Danzo's final words |
Danzō Shimura is a major antagonist in the manga/anime series Naruto. He is the leader of an organization called Root. Danzō was behind many crimes that led to many tragedies, such as being the mastermind of the Uchiha Clan massacre, among them.
He was interested in becoming the Sixth Hokage after Tsunade was incapacitated fighting against Pain during the latter's invasion. Due to his role as the mastermind behind the Uchiha Clan massacre, he becomes the arch-nemesis of Sasuke Uchiha.
He was voiced by the late William Frederick Knight in the English version, and by Hiroshi Ito in the Japanese version.
His Evil Ranking[]
What Makes Him Close to Being Pure Evil?[]
In General/Background[]
- Despite Danzō claiming all of his actions are for the good of the Hidden Leaf Village, most of them were mostly for fueling his personal goals, plans, or selfish reasons or at the cost of many lives, in a sort of "the ends justify the means" situation, albeit with no evidence or certainty throughout the series that his actions are actually effective or beneficial in both the short and the long term.
- He worked with Orochimaru to conduct experiments by injecting Senju and Uchiha DNA into him and also implanting the Sharingan of deceased Uchiha, even abducting innocent citizens for their experiments.
- He manipulated many people, including Kabuto Yakushi and Hanzo, for his own agenda.
- He intended to disrupt the peace treaty between the Hidden Stone and Hidden Leaf Village because of his own belief in asserting the Hidden Leaf Village's dominance.
- He manipulated Hanzo into joining forces against the Akatsuki by presenting to him the corpses of Iwa shinobi, making Hanzo believe that the Akatsuki were after his position.
- Because of this act, he is responsible for Nagato's descent into villainy and his negative perception of the Hidden Leaf Village.
- As confirmed in Volume 2 of Itachi Shinden, Danzō is revealed to be the one who exposed Naruto's Jinchuuriki status to everyone at Konoha as a way to further worsen the Uchiha Clan's reputation, as Sharingan is one of the notable methods to subdue Kurama the Nine-Tailed Fox, turning most of Konoha citizens against Naruto through his childhood in the process.
- Though relying on fridge horror, taking into account of his dealings with Orochimarum which helped him in grafting Hashirama's cells and stolen Sharingans into his arms so he could control Kurama, he also planned to discredit Naruto once he managed to attain the position of Hokage only to be prevented by Sasuke.
- He attempted to have Hiruzen, the Third Hokage and his friend, assassinated because he viewed him as too weak for the role.
- He manipulated Nono Yakushi into believing her adopted son Kabuto is an enemy, subtly changing his picture to that of a stranger, and similarly convinced Kabuto that Nono is an enemy. This would lead to Kabuto accidentally killing Nono during their standoff, and Kabuto's descent to villainy after being found by Orochimaru.
- Despite having been spared of death by Hiruzen for the assassination attempt in exchange for promising to do the best for the village, he did not respect Hiruzen's decision or wishes and continued to operate through the shadows with deception and force, while calling Hiruzen's ideals foolish.
- Fearing that his Sharingan eye would go blind, he attempted to have Yamato steal Kakashi's eye. Then, when Yamato objects to Danzo's methods, he has his Root members restrain Yamato and attempt to activate his curse seal, which would've killed him had Kakashi and Hiruzen not intervened.
- He stole the Sharingan eye from Shisui Uchiha despite his loyalty to the village in order to use it for himself, preventing the Uchiha uprising from potentially being settled peacefully and forcing Shisui to commit suicide out of fear of having his other eye stolen.
- He is ultimately responsible for the Uchiha clan massacre by ordering Itachi Uchiha to carry out the massacre, acting on his own authority and going against Hiruzen's orders.
- He practically forced Itachi to kill his entire clan, including his own parents, also making him responsible for Itachi becoming a criminal.
- Because of this act, Danzo is responsible for Sasuke's descent into villainy and desire for vengeance against the Hidden Leaf Village.
- It is also possible Danzō likely would not have kept his word to Itachi about sparing Sasuke and would've probably killed him as well to tie up the last loose end, something that Itachi suspected and only stopped Danzo from doing by threatening to reveal classified information to the other villages if anything happened to Sasuke, returning to the village after Hiruzen's death to remind him.
- Despite this, he sent Sai to kill Sasuke, meaning that he almost had classified information about the Leaf Village revealed.
- He continued to keep the Root division in operation after Hiruzen had officially disbanded the organization.
- He held no care for any of the members of the Root, forcing them all into secrecy through tattoos that would kill them if they ever revealed any secrets.
- On top of that, he trained them to bury their emotions by first pairing them with a partner and then later forcing them to fight their respective partners to the death. Sai is an example of this, who was paired with his brother and later was forced to fight him to the death, although Sai could not do it so his brother killed himself instead.
Present[]
- During the Pain Invasion of the Hidden Leaf Village, he murdered the toad, Kosuke, to prevent him from telling Naruto that there was an invasion taking place. He then ordered his men not to aid Konoha in Pain's assault so that Tsunade's reign as Hokage would end, not caring about the lives that would be lost and claiming that Tsunade would heal "most" of the villagers.
- This allowed Pain to blow up the whole village using Shinra Tensei, which could have slaughtered nearly all of the Konoha population were it not for Tsunade's intervention and Pain resurrecting everyone with Rinne Rebirth. Even if one could argue that Danzō killing the frog gave Naruto more time to perfect his Sage Mode, that purpose was defeated the moment Danzo refused to help the people of Konoha during the assault. Lending a hand in this manner could have prevented civilian casualties and there was really no reason not to, but Danzō's refusal to do such an action proved his callous disregard for the citizens of his own country and his hypocrisy towards his own belief that he was protecting the village.
- When the assassins from the Wood village attacked him, he finished one of the dying assassins even though this later asked him to kill him, this shows how lethal he is by stabbing his neck. Then later he used his dead body as a shield to counter kunais
- During the Kage meeting, he used the Sharingan eye he stole from Shisui to manipulate Mifune through Kotoamatsukami and become leader of the Allied Shinobi Forces. After having his treachery exposed, he shows no guilt for his deception, even when Mifune says that he would've likely chosen Danzo to lead the Allied Shinobi Forces anyway.
- He took Karin hostage to prevent Sasuke from killing him.
- Even after his death, Danzō's actions brought steep consequences despite Sasuke, Kakashi and Tsunade's efforts to mitigate them (ex. wisely chose not to disclose Root's members given to their track records); one of Danzō's most loyal followers and top researchers, Tanuki Shigaraki, became so consumed by revenge that he completed Gozu Tennō against Konoha and corrupted his daughter Sumire Kakei for the endeavor prior to his passing.
- Although Sasuke found himself walking in a path not unlike Danzō did in his later years (protecting Konoha from the shadows), he chose a more humane approach and truly worked in tandem with Naruto unlike Hiruzen and Danzō did. Moreover, while facing justice for his misdeeds, Sasuke's murder on Danzō was unexpectedly removed from his list of crimes since deserting Konoha, showing how little regard Konoha held for the extremist.
What Prevents Him from Being Pure Evil?[]
- He overcame his fear of death and attempted to sacrifice himself in order to ensure that Sasuke and Tobi could not threaten the Hidden Leaf Village while destroying Shisui's eye to prevent Tobi from using it. This is the only time where his actions were for the good of the village and without involving sacrifices.
- In his final moments, Danzō reminisces about Hiruzen and the peaceful moments in their childhood, showing that he had some respect for his rival.
- He genuinely believes that his actions are what is best for Konoha, even though he understands his negative actions, though this is undermined by his willingness to sacrifice his own men and even the innocent villagers in order to become Hokage, making this a minor prevention.
External Links[]
- Danzō Shimura on the Naruto Wiki
- Danzō Shimura on the Villains Wiki
- Danzō Shimura on the Moral Ranking Wiki
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 Near Pure Evils
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