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The Land of Sound (音の国,, Oto no Kuni) is a geographical feature in the Naruto anime and manga series. It was likely named after the Otogakure, which Orochimaru founded, and both refer to what could be considered as one political entity.

The Land of Sound, along with Otogakure, is a relatively new country in the political scene, though the country itself existed long before Orochimaru took it over and renamed it. It conspired with the Land of Wind to launch a surprise attack and hopefully destroy the Land of Fire. Instead of using elemental jutsu, the Sound ninja use sonic-based jutsu, often augmented by various devices.

In the anime, the country in which Orochimaru established his village is named the "Land of Rice Fields" or "Rice Field Country" (田の国, Ta no Kuni). Orochimaru seems to have renamed it after his takeover.

Otogakure

File:Oto no Kuni Symbol.gif

Otogakure (音隠れの里, Otogakure no Sato, literally "Village Hidden in Sound") was founded by Orochimaru as a part of the Land of Sound, and is run by him. Not much is known about it: what is certain is that it actually consists of a series of lairs, located both within Sound country and away from it, and is rotated every week. Other than that, and the fact that its ninja specialize in techniques involving manipulation of sound waves, as well as using a cursed seal to increase their power, little else is known about it. Although he is the leading ninja of Otogakure, Orochimaru isn't a Kage, despite his equivalent power level. The reason for this is because the five Kages of the five great Hidden Villages don't acknowledge Otogakure.

Villagers

Orochimaru

Main article: Orochimaru

Orochimaru is the leader of the village and country. Though he is not a Kage (the other villages do not recognize him as an equal), he has been nicknamed the Otokage ("Sound Shadow") by fans due to his Kage-level power and knowledge. Orochimaru is also one of the Legendary Three from Konoha. Though he is essentially the military dictator of the Sound village, he does not live in it. For most of the series, he is seen using a secret underground base as his headquarters. After Sasuke joins him, Kabuto mentions that they move into a new base every week.

Sasuke Uchiha

Main article: Sasuke Uchiha

Though originally a member of the Hidden Leaf Village, Sasuke Uchiha has since joined Orochimaru in his quest to become more powerful, to kill his older brother Itachi.

Kabuto Yakushi

Main article: Kabuto Yakushi

Kabuto Yakushi is Orochimaru's right-hand man and most-trusted agent, though Kabuto does not always seem to be completely loyal to Orochimaru. Orochimaru also seems to recognize this, but keeps Kabuto around regardless.

Sound Four

The Sound Four (音隠れの忍四人衆, Otogakure no Shinobi Yonin Shū, literally Hidden Sound Shinobi Four People) were Orochimaru's elite bodyguards (Sakon and Ukon are counted as one entity due to their kekkei genkai). They are specialists in barrier jutsu and each has a cursed seal. Each one also has a cardinal direction associated with them; this is probably a reference to their positions when performing jutsu as a group. They were all defeated and killed by Naruto's friends in the Sasuke Retrieval arc. Kimimaro Kaguya was a part of the group for a short time (making them the Sound Five), since he was stronger than all four put together and was intended to be Orochimaru's next host, but an unexpected illness prevented him from participating normally.

Jirobo

File:Jiroubou.jpg
Jirobo
  • Age: 14 (deceased)2
  • Rank: Genin
  • Height: 181.3 cm2
  • Weight: 97.3 kg2
  • Birthday: June 26
  • Blood Type: B
  • Gate: Nanmon, 南門, "Southern Gate"
  • Seiyu: Kenta Miyake
  • Unique traits: Immense physical strength, chakra absorption abilities

Jirobo (次郎坊, Jirōbō) is the physically strongest member of the Sound Four and the weakest overall, according to the other members of the Sound Four. His fighting style consists mostly of basic physical strikes supplemented with the ability to use his chakra to hold the earth solid. His physical strength is unbelievable, which is demonstrated when he holds up a mountain-sized Choji Akimichi when in Level 2 cursed seal form. He tears boulder-sized chunks of dirt out of the ground to throw, creates barriers by tearing up massive sheets of rock, and can drain chakra with his Chakra Absorption Technique. He dislikes it when Tayuya uses foul language or when she calls him "fat", and he always criticizes her when she does. When in Level 2 cursed seal form, his skin becomes red, his mohawk becomes a mane down his back, his eyes turn black, and he gains ten times his normal strength. He was killed by Choji during the Sasuke Retrieval arc with a fatal punch to the chest.

Kidomaru

File:105px-Kidoumaru.jpg
Kidomaru
  • Age: 14 (deceased)2
  • Rank: Genin
  • Height: 159.2 cm2
  • Weight: 56.2 kg2
  • Birthday: December 16
  • Blood Type: A
  • Gate: Tōmon, 東門, "Eastern Gate"
  • Seiyu: Susumu Chiba
  • Unique traits: Six arms, able to make webs out of a special liquid and chakra, able to excrete a chakra-blocking liquid from his pores that solidifies into a metal

Kidomaru (鬼童丸, Kidōmaru) is the spider-like member of the Sound Four; he possesses four extra arms for a total of eight limbs, and has the ability to make webs. He enjoys playing with his enemies before he kills them. If his spider like abilities aren't enough, he is an excellent tactical analyzer, capable of figuring out his enemy's weak point quickly and efficiently. During the Destruction of Konoha arc, Kidomaru uses his webs to protect the Sound Four and Orochimaru as they escape. The webs can be used both defensively and offensively. He makes his webs through a special type of liquid that is created by infusing body liquid with chakra. He can also harden this substance at will, into a golden metallic solid. He can also make the golden metallic solid from his sweat glands. This hardened material can be fabricated into body armor, kunai, or his especially deadly bow and arrow. His abilities are not kekkei genkai, but clan-related. The name of his clan is unknown. When in Level 2 cursed seal form, he becomes even more spider-like. His skin becomes darker, and he grows long, white hair. He also gains the ability to control the path of his arrows with chakra. He was defeated and killed by Neji Hyuga during the Sasuke Retrieval arc. He spoke to Neji about not being able to save Sasuke before dying. Out of all the members of the Sound Four, Kidomaru is the only one who wears a visible Sound forehead protector, as it covers his third eye which is used in level 2 cursed seal form to improve his accuracy.

Sakon

File:Sakon (Naruto).jpg
Sakon

Sakon (左近) is very twisted and enjoys bad-mouthing the opposition. He possesses amazing power and speed (Orochimaru refers to Sakon as being the best of the Sound Four), but these are not the only things he has at his disposal. From behind, one can see what appears to be another head hanging from his back. This is his older brother, Ukon. Due to their unique kekkei genkai, Ukon is able to merge his body with Sakon's. Ukon generally stays asleep in Sakon's body unless needed in combat, effectively doubling the strength of Sakon's physical attacks. Each brother can independently activate a curse seal. In his Level 2 cursed seal form, he takes on the appearance of an ogre, with the exception of only having one horn on his left side. This gives him increased healing abilities and armor. He (along with Ukon) fights Kiba Inuzuka and Akamaru during the Sasuke Retrieval arc, and nearly defeats them. However, Kiba and Akamaru are rescued by Kankuro, who kills both Sakon and Ukon.

Trivia

  • Both Sakon and Ukon's names are also the names of the two connected sticks of a nunchaku.
  • The way to tell Sakon apart from his twin brother Ukon is that Sakon's hair falls to the left, while Ukon's falls to the right. Also, Sakon wears a necklace of beads, and Ukon does not.
  • Sakon means 'left', while Ukon means 'right' which respectively are their hair sides.

Ukon

File:Ukon (Naruto).jpg
Ukon wearing Kiba's coat and Sakon's head sticking out the back.

Ukon (右近) generally stays within Sakon's body unless needed in combat. It is suggested that he cannot remain outside of Sakon for very long, since he cites the need to rest after a short battle apart from his brother. He seems to be more impatient than his brother, as seen when he tells Sakon to finish Kiba quickly and activate his Level 2 cursed seal when Sakon wanted to play around more. When he comes out, he effectively doubles the strength of Sakon's physical attacks. Similarly to how he lives inside Sakon's body, Ukon can use his kekkei genkai ability to enter and slowly destroy an opponent's body. Each brother can independently activate a cursed seal. In his Level 2 cursed seal form, he takes on the appearance of an ogre, with the exception of only having one horn on his right side. This gives him increased healing abilities and armor, and also allows him to remain apart from Sakon for a longer period of time. He (along with Sakon) fights Kiba Inuzuka and Akamaru during the Sasuke Retrieval arc, and nearly defeats them. However, Kiba and Akamaru are rescued by Kankuro, who kills both him and Sakon.

Tayuya

File:110px-Tayuya.jpg
Tayuya

Tayuya (多由也) is the kunoichi of Orochimaru's Sound Four. She is foul-mouthed (a fact for which Jirobo berates her) and ill tempered, but very powerful. Her main weapon is her flute. With it, she can summon three powerful demons and control them to fight for her. Tayuya is very intelligent and can think of excellent strategies and battle tactics. She can also perform genjutsu with her flute. Her preference for sound-based, long-range combat with her flute makes her vulnerable at close-range combat. When in Level 2 cursed seal form, her hair grows longer, her skin turns dark brown, and she grows several horns on her head. She almost defeats Shikamaru Nara during the Sasuke retrieval arc, but Temari comes to his aid. Temari kills Tayuya with Summoning: Quick Beheading Dance, uprooting most of the forest and crushing her under a tree. Tayuya is the only member of the Sound Four to actually use sound as a weapon.

Kimimaro Kaguya

File:Kimimaro.jpg
Kimimaro Kaguya

Kimimaro Kaguya (かぐや君麻呂, Kaguya Kimimaro) is the fifth member of the Sound Four, thus temporarily changing their group name to the Sound Five. The original four were forced to accept him against their will, as Kimimaro's combat abilities (largely due to his powerful bloodline limit) exceeded all of their skills combined. He was the sole survivor of the Kaguya clan (かぐや一族, Kaguya Ichizoku), who could manipulate their bodies' skeletal frame. The Kaguya clan was wiped out when they attacked the Hidden Mist Village (seemingly for no reason other than the desire to kill). Having underestimated their opponent's defenses, they were slaughtered to the last man, with only Kimimaro surviving.

Kimimaro was referred to by Orochimaru as the most powerful member of the clan, having "abilities that even that war loving clan feared". Because of this, he was locked away in a cage for most of his life, only released occasionally when needed to fight other clans. He retreated from the fight with the Hidden Mist Village, which is probably why he survived. Afterwards he was found by Orochimaru and recruited as one of his most loyal servants.

Kimimaro's bloodline limit and other abilities make him well suited for close combat fighting, and he can hold his own at a distance by firing the bones in his fingertips as bullets. Since he can regenerate and make new bones (shown when he was able to move his left arm again, despite having removed the humerus), he has an endless supply of bones he can use against his opponent. Kimimaro's only weakness is a sickness that he constantly suffers from (possibly tuberculosis or lung cancer, because of his bloody coughing). The sickness seems to have been recently developed, as he was once a prime candidate for Orochimaru's next host body.

He had a strong devotion towards Orochimaru, bordering on religious zealotry or considering him a father figure, as Orochimaru was the only person to care for and inspire him. On his way to the Hidden Mist, he encountered Zabuza Momochi and Haku, presumably leaving the Village after their failed coup d'état; this encounter had strong overtones of the soon-to-be relationship between Orochimaru and himself.

Like many others of Orochimaru's closest followers, Kimimaro was branded with a curse seal, which gives him greater power at the expense of his free will. He bears the cursed seal of Earth, which is said to be equal in power to the Heaven seal branded on Sasuke and Anko. When in his Level 2 form, his appearance is similar to that of a dinosaur, with dark gray skin, six large bone spines on the back of his chest, and a long bone spiked tail. He also appears to have much greater control over his seal than any other character seen so far since he was able to restrict its spread to his chest in order to grant him a greater surge of power without activating it fully.

Kimimaro died in his fight with Rock Lee and Gaara, the latter of which appeared as a result of renewed relations between Sunagakure and Konohagakure. Though he was able to hold off all of Gaara's attacks, and even gained the upper hand near the end, he succumbed to his illness just before finishing off Gaara with a surprise attack. Gaara came to the conclusion after the fight that no one can defeat loneliness, even if it means to care for an evil person like Orochimaru. Gaara comments that Kimimaro had the same eyes as Sasuke, which say (so to speak) "I want to confirm the value of my existence."

While belonging to a clan that loves killing, murder, and slaughter, and being the most powerful of this clan, Kimimaro was not truly violent because he never really knew the outside world. Thus, the only reason he fought was because his clan needed him to do so, and being needed by someone was the one thing he truly desired (until he meets Orochimaru, where his desires change to serving him and ensuring the continuation of his master's dreams and ambitions).

Other villagers

Numerous other residents of the Hidden Sound Village, as well as the Land of Sound in general, have been seen, but don't play an especially large role in events.

Gen'yumaru

File:Genyumaru.jpg
Gen'yumaru
  • Age: 17 (Orochimaru's new body)2
  • Rank: ?
  • Height: 172 cm2
  • Weight: 57.3 kg2
  • Birthday: July 27
  • Blood Type: B

Gen'yumaru (幻幽丸, Gen'yūmaru) is Orochimaru's current body. He was told to have a fight to the death with the others that Orochimaru had kept captive, and the winner would be able to go free. Gen'yumaru defeated and massacred them all, only to find out that he was the next vessel for Orochimaru. As his last wish, he asked for his clan to be released, which was being held captive for Orochimaru's experiments. It is unknown if this request was ever granted. Orochimaru comments that part of Gen'yumaru would remain within Orochimaru after the transfer, so he is still alive, in a sense.

Fuma clan

The Fuma clan (ふうま一族, Fūma Ichizoku) is a shinobi clan from the Land of the Rice Fields. Some of their most powerful members were tricked by Orochimaru, who promised to restore their clan status, and were used in his kinjutsu development experiments. This clan appears only in the anime storyline, not in the manga.

Arashi

Arashi (アラシ) is the leader of the Fuma shinobi who was under Orochimaru's command, and lost his mind after mastering and constantly using the Shisha Kugutsu to absorb his comrades of the Fuma clan in order to become more powerful. That same jutsu proved to be his ultimate doom, though he was able to return to his old self at the very end. It is unknown whether he died, but it is implied that he is crushed when Orochimaru's lair caves in, as his feet are stuck to the ground by the remnants of his Shisha Kugutsu. He also notes that leaving the lair would result in his death.He is currently the akatsuki leader.He is also Naruto's father.

Hanzaki

  • Age: ?
  • Rank: ?
  • Height: ?
  • Weight: ?
  • Birthday: ?
  • Blood Type: ?
  • Unique traits: Zanbatō
  • Seiyu: Masaki Aizawa

Hanzaki (ハンザキ) is the leader of the Fuma clan's members who were not seduced by Orochimaru's power, and is a strong melee combat-based shinobi who fights with a giant blade called Zanbatō. After the incident in Orochimaru's lair, Sasame was placed under his care by Jiraiya.

Jigumo

  • Age: ? (deceased?)
  • Rank: Jonin5
  • Height: ?
  • Weight: ?
  • Birthday: ?
  • Blood Type: ?
  • Seiyu: Kozo Shioya

Jigumo (ジグモ) was one of the members of the Fuma clan who were betrayed by Orochimaru. He was one of a three-member group who guarded Orochimaru's base in the Land of the Rice Fields. Later, he was absorbed by Arashi's secret kinjutsu along with one of his comrades.

Like Kidomaru, Jigumo used spiders and spider webs in combat and for scouting, though his skills are not on the same level.

Kagero

Kagero (カゲロウ, Kagerō) was one of the members of the Fuma clan who were betrayed by Orochimaru. She was one of a three-member group who guarded Orochimaru's base in the Land of the Rice Fields. Though she was actually a young girl, she constantly disguised herself as a member of the opposite sex. Kagero died during a fight with Naruto while disguised as Kabuto.

Kamikiri

  • Age: ? (deceased?)
  • Rank: Jonin5
  • Height: ?
  • Weight: ?
  • Birthday: ?
  • Blood Type: ?
  • Unique traits: Giant pincers
  • Seiyu: Bin Shimada

Kamikiri (カミキリ) was one of the members of the Fuma clan who were betrayed by Orochimaru. He was one of a three-member group who guarded Orochimaru's base in the Land of the Rice Fields. Later, he was absorbed by Arashi's Shisha Kugutsu along with Jigumo.

Sasame

Sasame (ササメ) is a young kunoichi of the Fuma clan. In search for her older cousin, Arashi, she helped Naruto, Jiraiya, and Sakura find Orochimaru's lair in the Land of the Rice Fields. Naruto also developed a small crush on her. After the incident, she decided to join forces with the remaining members of the Fuma clan to rebuild the clan's former glory.

Kabuto's team

Kabuto's Jonin sensei

File:UnnamedJounin.JPG
Kabuto's unnamed Jonin-sensei.

Kabuto Yakushi, Yoroi Akado and Misumi Tsurugi were a three-man Genin team that entered the Chunin exam. It is unknown whether or not they had a Jonin in charge of their team. Since all the other teams had a sensei present, it would stand to reason that they do as well. If they had a Jonin sensei, it is unknown whether or not this person was loyal to Orochimaru, or if he was a normal shinobi. During the preliminary battles of the third stage of the Chunin exam, all the Jonin sensei are standing on a platform behind the Third Hokage. Among them is an unnamed, Leaf Village Jonin (pictured to the right) whose attire is similar to that of Kabuto and his team. Given that all the other Jonin present were assigned to the other teams, this would mean that this particular Jonin is the leader (whether in actuality or simply as a ruse) of Kabuto's team. As none of Kabuto's team makes it to the third exam, no further information was made available regarding who their Jonin was, or if he may have been cooperating with Orochimaru. This Jonin appears again in the Naruto anime during the Third Hokage's funeral, standing next to Izumo Kamizuki.

Misumi Tsurugi

File:Misumi.jpg
Misumi Tsurugi

Misumi Tsurugi (剣ミスミ, Tsurugi Misumi) poses as a Genin-level ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village during the Chunin exam, along with Kabuto Yakushi and Yoroi Akado. To be more efficient in the gathering of information, his body has been surgically altered to be able to fit into any space, with contortional abilities akin to Orochimaru's. This ability also has its benefits in battle, allowing Misumi to envelop his opponent in an inescapable hold, and then killing them utilizing constriction like a python. He was defeated by Kankuro in the preliminary fights of the Chunin exam. The audible snapping sound by Kankuro's puppet snapping his neck (as Misumi had done on the puppet) lead many fans to believe that he died in this battle. However, due to the intervention usually seen when a competitor is close to dying as well as his aforementioned contortion skills, he wasn't killed.

Misumi Tsurugi makes a second appearance with Yoroi Akado in the anime's Sea Country filler arc, where he is depicted as a research assistant and bodyguard to Orochimaru's scientist, Amachi. He, like Yoroi, has taken off the cloth covering his lower face. During the events of this arc, he is restrained in the lab when it caves in. He is never seen dead, but presumed so due to being buried alive, which would eventually lead to him suffocating even with his contortional abilities.

Trivia

  • Tsurugi means ("sword").
  • Together with Yoroi Akado ("armor") and Kabuto Yakushi ("helmet"), they form an armor-helmet-sword trio.

Yoroi Akado

File:Akadou Yoroi.jpg
Yoroi Akado

Yoroi Akado (赤胴ヨロイ, Akadō Yoroi) is a part of the three-man team of ninja from the Hidden Sound Village posing as ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village, along with Kabuto Yakushi and Misumi Tsurugi. He possesses the ability to absorb his opponents' chakra through close physical contact. He used this ability against Sasuke Uchiha during the preliminary matches of the third stage of the Chunin exam, making it very difficult for Sasuke to keep his cursed seal under control. Despite this, Sasuke still defeated Yoroi, debuting his Lion Combo.

Yoroi makes a second appearance with Misumi Tsurugi in the Sea Country filler arc, where he is depicted as a research assistant to Orochimaru's scientist, Amachi. He has taken off the cloth covering his lower face, appearing much older with a very defined facial structure. During the events of this arc, he is defeated twice by Shino Aburame. Upon his second defeat, he sinks beneath the water and does not visibly resurface. As he is not pursued, his death remains unclear. He may have died from complete chakra drainage by Shino's Kikai bugs, or from drowning by being unable to resurface. Conversely, he could have been fished out of the water and taken by the local authorities afterwards.

Trivia

  • The name "Akado" means "a red armor" and "Yoroi" means "an armor" as well. This may be taken from a group of elite soldiers of Tokugawa Ieyasu who dressed in the red armor to instill fear to the enemy's heart.
  • Together with Kabuto ("helmet") and Tsurugi ("sword"), they form an armor-helmet-sword trio.

Amachi

Amachi is a medical ninja/scientist who is an accomplice of Orochimaru. He and Orochimaru terrorized the peoples of the Sea Country and kidnapped the citizens for their deadly experiments. He also seems to know Anko as well, since she was with Orochimaru at the time. Much later, in the Kaima filler arc, Yoroi and Misumi join him as bodyguards and assistants. He also summons the indestructible Umibozu in this arc.

Sound Genin

Sound Jonin disguise

File:Yashagoro.jpg
Orochimaru's Jonin disguise.

The Jonin for the three Sound Genin, observing during the preliminary matches, was none other than Orochimaru acting as their Jonin sensei. As none of the Sound Genin were present for the third exam, no excuses for his absence were made, and he could later easily fill the role of the Fourth Kazekage without any suspicion.

The disguise is quite similar to Orochimaru's normal appearance, so it seems strange that he was not recognized, even after his confrontation with Kakashi in which he admitted that the Hidden Sound Village was his. It can be assumed that, like Anko's knowledge, this did not result in the stopping of the exam and declaration of martial law due to unwillingness to jeopardize relations with other nations, as well as Orochimaru's threat of reprisal against the Leaf Village if the exam were halted. During the Chunin exams, the Genin from other villages are gathered to come compete against one another so much of the attention is put on them instead. This is why Kabuto gave up before the prelims as he was a spy in the Leaf Village for many years and didn't want onlookers. In fact, outside of Guy's Team and the Rookie Nine, all the other Genin were a hidden threat to Konoha and weren't noticed in matches of the third exam.

Dosu Kinuta

File:Dosu Sound Amplifier.jpg
Dosu with his Melody Arm.

Dosu Kinuta (ドス・キヌタ) is one of the three Genin from the Hidden Sound Village who entered the Chunin exam. Out of all of them, he is the strongest being the only one to get through the third part of the Chunin exam. They did not do this to become Chunin, but rather as part of a mission from Orochimaru to assassinate Sasuke Uchiha (which was actually meant only to test Sasuke's power after having obtained Orochimaru's cursed seal). Dosu was equipped with a special speaker tied to his wrist which served to amplify sound waves and dramatically strengthen his sound-based attacks.

Dosu wounded both Rock Lee and Kabuto Yakushi (presumably Kabuto healed himself with his medical abilities) during the first and second exams by directing his sound into their inner ears. Both later recovered for their fights. In the preliminary examination, Dosu easily defeated Choji Akimichi. Dosu was largely a jealous person, attempting to kill Sasuke after realizing that Orochimaru's intentions were not as he had told them. Similarly, his attacking of Kabuto was a result of not being notified of Kabuto's affiliation. He seems to be loyal to Zaku and vice versa. After Zaku is maimed in the battle with Shino Aburame, Dosu says he will avenge him (or rather, his severed arm). Dosu and Zaku really didn't bother to help or sympathize with Kin after her possession by Ino and her defeat by Shikamaru. They even attacked her once (though they said that they would kill any of their teammates if they absolutely had to).

Orochimaru treated him as largely a pawn, even though he was quite a powerful ninja. Dosu begins to realize this and thus loses some respect for Orochimaru, claiming that he was going to prove that he was not merely a guinea pig. Dosu's undoing, however, was his own attempt to kill Gaara so that he could fight Sasuke earlier in the third stage of the Chunin exam. Not realizing the monstrosity he was actually going up against, his death was quick and unceremonious, only taking Gaara one strike to kill him.

Trivia

  • "Dosu"; is onomatopoeia for the sound of a sword piercing flesh.
  • A kinuta is a wooden stick used to air out clothing. It's also the Japanese name for one of the three ear bones, anvil.
  • Some fans have rearranged Zaku, Kin, and Dosu's names to fit the Asian format, but the canon way to arrange their names is the western way. It was revealed in a footnote about Zaku's shirt in volume 5 that Kishimoto had originally planned on using their current surnames as their given names and vice versa, but decided against it, possibly to give them a more "foreign" feel.
  • The anime shows that his hair is black under the bandages, but in the manga his hair is light-colored.
  • The first databook reveals that the melody speaker is an implant.

Kin Tsuchi

File:KinTsuchi.jpg
Kin Tsuchi

Kin Tsuchi (キン・ツチ) is a Genin-level ninja from the Hidden Sound Village. She takes part in the Chunin exam under orders from Orochimaru to kill Sasuke Uchiha. In the process her body gets taken over by Ino Yamanaka's mind-swapping technique, and she has to be knocked out by her own teammates. She uses a combination of bells, strings, and needles to confuse her enemies. In the anime, the bells caused genjutsu through sound waves, further confusing and disorientating her opponent.

In the third stage preliminaries she is matched against Shikamaru Nara, who defeats her through his Shadow Imitation Technique by contracting his shadow and minimizing it under the string attached to a needle she threw; she didn't notice that a string at that height wouldn't be able to cast a shadow. Shikamaru used his jutsu to bring her head into the wall while he was a different distance away. In the process, Kin received a concussion.

Kin is later betrayed and murdered by Orochimaru in order to be one of the sacrifices needed to summon the First and Second Hokages from their graves with his Summoning: Impure World Resurrection.

Trivia

  • Kin is named for the sound of metal clashing, specifically samurai swords in battle.
  • In addition Kin is Japanese for 'Golden'.
  • Tsuchi means Earth. It's also the Japanese name for one of the three ear bones, hammer.
  • In the English dub, when the computer selects Kin and Shikamaru as opponents, Kin is written as her last name, instead of her first, even though Dosu and Zaku were calling her Kin. This may be due to the fact that in the Japanese anime, the name is written as "Kin Tsuchi", with her surname last rather than first.

Zaku Abumi

File:Zaku.jpg
Zaku and his Decapitating Air Wave release vents.

Zaku Abumi (ザク・アブミ) was a Genin-level ninja from the Hidden Sound Village. He was part of the team that took the Chunin exam at the Hidden Leaf Village in order to assassinate Sasuke Uchiha. Like many Sound ninja, he has been physically altered with unnatural enhancements that enhance his abilities; in his case, he was fitted with hollow air tubes that extend through his arms and open through his hands, allowing him to propel a combination of air pressure and sound in various ratios, controlled by his chakra. Unlike his partners, a glance into his past and how Orochimaru recruited him was given, making him a far more dramatic character. The anime shows that he was an orphan living on the streets who hustled by stealing for a living, and was almost always beaten for it. Orochimaru had told him he had potential and liked the strength in his eyes. He refuses to give up, even at the cost of his own life.

After saving his partner Dosu from Rock Lee's lotus attack, he brutally fought off Sakura who attempted to prevent him from killing Sasuke. After the helpless Sakura lay beaten on the ground, he and his team had to fight Asuma's team (Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka, and Choji Akimichi). During the fight, Sasuke finally regained consciousness, and asked Sakura who had injured her. Zaku took the credit, and Sasuke proceeded to dislocate and greatly injure Zaku's shoulders. He was the only Sound ninja to fight Sasuke, as the others retreated. During his fight with Shino Aburame in the preliminary exams, he overcame the injuries to his shoulders and was able to use his arms to defend himself against Shino. His arms were even more brutally crippled in a counterattack that prevented him from doing any damage in the future. (In the manga, his right arm is blown off due to the beetles Shino used to fill up Zaku's air tubes, and the left was kept intact but halfway sliced. In the anime both of his arms are left intact, but have numerous holes in them, achieving the same, albeit less gruesome, result.) Dosu says he will avenge him (or rather, his severed arms), but failed to do so. He is later murdered as a sacrifice for Orochimaru's Summoning: Impure World Resurrection for the First and Second Hokages against the Third Hokage.

Trivia

  • Zaku's name is derived from "to cut," which relates to his "air cutter" attack. It is also the sound of a person walking on snow or sand. With the former name meaning, he and his two teammates have names relating to swords, fitting based on their aggressive behavior and deadly intentions. However, based on the latter meaning, he and his two teammates all have names that come from onomatopoeias, fitting since they come from the Hidden Sound Village. Their naming pattern (Slash, Clang, and Crunch) is similar to that of Snap, Crackle and Pop.
  • The kanji on Zaku's shirt is 死 ("Shi", death).
  • Abumi means stirrup. It's also the Japanese name for one of the three ear bones, stirrup.
  • Zaku is the only Sound-nin that was never affiliated with a previous village whose past is explored.

Sources

  1. First Official Data Book (秘伝・臨の書キャラクターオフィシャルデータBOOK, Hiden: Rin no Sho Character Official Data Book)
  2. Second Official Data Book (秘伝・闘の書キャラクターオフィシャルデータBOOK, Hiden: Tō no Sho Character Official Data Book)
  3. Jump's 2nd Great Hero Book's Mini Data Book (秘伝・翔の書オフィシャルキャラクターデータBOOK mini, Hiden: Shō no Sho Official Character Data Book mini)
  4. Naruto manga chapters
  5. Based on character's ability and status
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