The Naruto Franchise clearly sets a precedent in terms of exploring moral ambiguity, as the series' antagonists can never truly be defined under the standard pretext of good or evil. While they may initially seem to be despicable and cruel, their motives and intentions reveal where their anguish stems from, and what compelled them to set out on such a path. Danzo Shimura's case is quite similar, as many have speculated whether he should even be considered a villain in the series.
Throughout the series, Danzo's actions have been heinous, as he is solely responsible for several significant deaths, along with a complete massacre of an entire clan. Despite such apparent acts of cruelty, his reasoning and intentions are still debatable, as deep down, his actions stemmed from his desire to protect the Hidden Leaf at all costs. Analyzing the results of his actions and his true ulterior intentions can shed some light on the moral ambiguity of Danzo's deeds.
Danzo's Most Profound Misdeeds
Playing the role of a shadow Hokage of sorts, Danzo was responsible for protecting the Hidden Leaf from the shadows, deterring any threat that lay beneath the surface. However, with such a dire responsibility came an even darker reality of going to any extent for the sake of the village – be it simple deceit or all out genocide. Creating a list of Danzo’s atrocities is quite a difficult feat, as his streak of misdeeds exceeds far beyond expectations. However, some of his acts truly stand out, either due to their absurdity or simply the horrific extent of what Danzo was capable of achieving.
Danzo’s foremost crime is his role in the Uchiha massacre, an event that entirely shifted the Hidden Leaf’s political dynamics, along with the eradication of its strongest clan. If killing off an entire clan wasn’t enough, Danzo even attempted to have the Third Hokage assassinated in a bid to become the next Hokage himself. Moreover, he partnered with the Naruto series' most vile character – Orochimaru, even aiding him in his experiments on children and Leaf shinobi.
Danzo was also solely responsible for creating the rifts between Hanzo and the Akatsuki, which eventually resulted in Yahiko’s death and the creation of Pain. This led to Pain’s assault on the Hidden Leaf, an event that was further exacerbated through Danzo’s malicious actions since he killed the messenger toad that was set to relay information about the attack to Naruto in Mount Myoboku. Furthermore, he hid himself during the assault, and barred the Foundation’s Anbu shinobi in aiding the resistance.
Danzo’s Intentions Behind His Actions
Danzo’s true intentions have always been quite debatable, even more so as his measures never matched his words. Throughout the series, he would state that his extreme measures simply stemmed from his love for the Hidden Leaf, as he would go to any lengths to protect the village he held close to his heart. However, the result of his orders would always create more problems for the Leaf, yet the only one to benefit from them was Danzo himself.
His motive behind initiating the Foundation was to train the Leaf’s fiercest fighters to have them protect the village, yet all they did was Danzo’s own bidding. During Pain’s assault, his reasoning for keeping Naruto in Mount Myoboku was to keep the Nine-Tails safe, yet the actual motive was to allow the Akatsuki to destroy the Hidden Leaf. This allowed him to place all the blame on Tsunade and take the title of Hokage for himself – something he was able to achieve later on during the Five Kage Summit when Tsunade was still in a coma.
Are Danzo’s Actions Morally Justifiable?
While most of Danzo’s actions are clearly motivated from self-interest, some of his deeds can still be explored from the perspective of benefiting the Hidden Leaf Village. Killing off the Uchiha Clan might have saved the village from a civil war, yet initiating a genocide was an act that is far too extreme and can never be justified. The same could be said for working with Orochimaru, as he intended to use him to strengthen the Leaf’s military prowess. Nevertheless, he was still responsible for the deaths of countless children and shinobi, with Orochimaru eventually becoming a rogue shinobi, making the claim of strengthening the Leaf entirely worthless.
These events clearly Depict Danzo’s true intentions as he was simply a power-hungry shinobi that hid behind the facade of a righteous patriot. His only job was to ensure the Leaf’s stability from the shadows, yet his greed and hunger for power forced him to act out of self-interest and try to seize all the power for himself. While his actions may seem morally ambiguous at first, delving deeper into the folds of his misdeeds depicts how unjustifiable and groundless his claims of self-sacrifice were, revealing his true cowardly nature.