Root: the shadow of Konoha, Danzo and the secret ANBU division

The shadow that the leaf casts. The darkness that the Hokage prefers not to speak of out loud. While the Hokage led the village in the light, Root did its dirty work in the darkness: eliminated threats, extracted secrets, and sacrificed what a hero could not sacrifice. This is a story about how people give up their own feelings and names to protect an ideal. Here are gathered all known Root operatives from our catalog, the philosophy of its founder, and the price paid by an organization without a heart. This is a spoke of the big breakdown of Konoha characters.

Root: Shadow of Konoha, Danzo and the secret ANBU division

Root is a secret subdivision of ANBU, which was solely managed by Danzō Shimura. It was formally disbanded, but in reality the organization operated underground for decades, obeying only its leader.

Root's task was simple and terrifying: to ensure the village's safety by any means that no one, not even the Hokage himself, should know about.

Root: the shadow of Konoha, Danzo and the secret ANBU division. Its weapons are operatives without names and feelings, ready for any task for the sake of the village's survival, and complete freedom from the Hokage's conscience.
Masks of Root operatives

Danzo's philosophy: shinobi without feelings

The Root organization is based on the doctrine of its founder. Danzo believed that a true village tool should have neither a name, nor emotions, nor hesitation.

  • Erase the personality. Recruits were taught from childhood to suppress feelings so that fear and pity would not interfere with carrying out orders.

  • A shadow instead of a face. A Root operative is not a hero or a person, but a faceless tool in the service of an idea.

  • The end justifies everything. Danzo was convinced that any evil was permissible for the survival of Konoha, and he took that evil upon himself.

Root's dark deeds

It was Root that stood behind the village's most terrible secrets.

  • The [Uchiha](/clan/uchiha) clan massacre. Danzo was one of those who authorized the destruction of an entire clan to prevent a coup.

  • Eliminations and intrigues. Root removed the undesirable, obtained forbidden techniques, and played a double game behind the leadership's back.

  • Preemptive action. The organization acted before a threat became obvious, and therefore its own people repeatedly became its victims.

Key fact. Root is not a gang of villains, but a logical continuation of the idea that "the goal is more important than the person." Its tragedy is that while protecting the village, it repeatedly betrayed the village's own people.

All known members of Root

Character

Role in Root

Shimura Danzo

Founder and sole leader of the organization

Sai

Operative-artist assigned to Team 7

Yamanaka Fuu

Master of the Yamanaka clan's mental techniques

Aburame Torune

Carrier of rare poisonous kikaichu

Yamato

Former operative with unique Mokuton

Sai: How Root Loses Its Grip

The essence of the organization is best revealed through Sai. He was raised as the perfect tool: without a name, without emotions, with a painted smile on his face instead of a real one.

In the pages of "Konoha's Personages", Sai first learned what comrades are. Through his friendship with Naruto, he step by step regained what Root had been eradicating for years: a name, feelings, and the right to choose for himself whom to fight for. In his story, Root loses the main battle — for the human soul.

And if you don't want to read about faceless operatives, but want to choose between orders and conscience yourself, there is a separate world in Konoha for that.