The villains within Naruto often end up just as well-liked as the heroes themselves. This can be for their personalities, as many of them are eccentric and have unique worldviews that contrast those of the heroes viewers are used to following. They can also become popular for their unique and interesting fighting style, something that the series is incredibly good at.
The members of the Sound Four are remembered for their unique appearances as well as their one-of-a-kind combat styles. Despite being relatively early villains within the Naruto franchise as a whole, there’s never been a group just like them. However, there’s actually a lot about them that makes their realities within the series’ universe quite harsh.
9 They Are Originally Orochimaru’s Prisoners, Forced To Fight Others To The Death
The Sound Four don’t come to serve Orochimaru out of their own free will. Rather, they begin as his prisoners. They’re forced to fight their fellow prisoners, and this isn’t a friendly sparring match — they fight to the death.
Ultimately, the four of them proved themselves to be the strongest out of all of the people Orochimaru was keeping prisoner. Thus, they were appointed to be his bodyguards despite likely harboring hatred towards him.
8 They Have To Accept Kimimaro As Their Leader After Being Beaten By Him In Battle
Though their official title is the Sound Four, they’re technically known as the Sound Five due to being forced to take Kimimaro in as their leader. It makes sense that Orochimaru needs someone other than himself to keep them under control, as at this point in the story, his current host body has been badly damaged.
Kimimaro was easily able to defeat all four of them in battle and become their leader. They assist Orochimaru with assassinating the Fourth Kazekage as well as killing a team in the Chunin Exams before Kimimaro falls terminally ill and has to withdraw, making them the Sound Four once again.
7 They’re Forced To Serve, Help And Protect Orochimaru Until Their Deaths
Not only are the Sound Four forced to kill others to escape their imprisonment, but they’re then forced to be his bodyguards as well, up until the moment of their deaths. They impersonate the Kazekage’s bodyguards while Orochimaru impersonates the Kazekage himself.
After Orochimaru’s arms are sealed, they protect him and ensure that he flees safely. The group’s very next mission is to retrieve Sasuke to become his next vessel, a task that would ultimately end in all four of them losing their lives.
6 They Lose To The Sasuke Recovery Team, A Group Of Teenagers
The Sound Four only get to embark on a handful of missions together before they’re tasked with retrieving Sasuke. They do so, but they encounter the Konoha Special Mission Platoon — a group of highly skilled jonin — along the way.
They’re forced to use the power of their cursed seals in order to defeat them and are then attacked by the Sasuke Recovery Team while still trying to recuperate from their previous fights. If they had been able to fight Naruto’s group at their full power, they likely would’ve survived.
5 Tayuya, Sakon, And Udon Would’ve Won Their Fights If It Weren’t For The Sand Siblings
Jirobo loses his life against Choji, while Kidomaru ultimately succumbs to Neji. However, the other half of the Sound Four — Tayuya against Shikamaru and Kiba against Sakon and Udon — actually would have won their fights if it weren’t for intervention.
Unluckily for them, Temari and Kankuro respectively show up to ensure that their newfound allies in the Hidden Leaf stay alive, and the Sound Four are ultimately defeated. It has to be an especially bitter defeat knowing just how close they were to standing victorious.
4 They Ultimately Fail Their Mission Of Bringing Sasuke Back To Be Orochimaru’s Next Host
Even though Sasuke does make his way to Orochimaru after the Sound Four are defeated, their mission is ultimately a failure. This is due to the fact that he doesn’t arrive quickly enough to become Orochimaru’s next vessel, as was the original plan, as he’s held up during his fight against Naruto.
Not only do they all end up losing their lives in the name of holding back the Recovery Team long enough to successfully complete their mission, but it’s a failure in the end.
3 They’re Beaten By The Sasuke Recovery Team Not Once, But Twice
It’s painful enough that the Sound Four, a group of hardened prisoners who had to fight tooth-and-nail to prove themselves stronger than anyone else, lose to a group of mostly genin. What’s even worse is that they ultimately end up losing to them again.
Three years after their deaths, they’re revived by Kabuto, who instructs them to seek revenge on those that killed them. At this point, though, the members of the recovery team have all improved significantly, and they’re able to defeat them after Naruto releases them from the Space-Time Technique.
2 Their Overconfidence Is A Large Part Of Why They End Up Losing
Due to the fact that they’re viewed as some of Orochimaru’s strongest underlings, as well as how they were chosen in the first place, the Sound Four are incredibly overconfident. This is a large reason why the Sand Siblings have enough time to reach Sakon, Udon, and Tayuya and defeat them.
This is especially true with Sakon and Udon, who are quick-to-anger and waste time using super flashy jutsu when provoked. If they spent less time playing around and took their opponents more seriously, they likely could’ve ended things sooner and ultimately succeeded.
1 Kimimaro Is Noted To Be A Vital Member By Kabuto And Orochimaru, Despite The Sound Four Not Wanting Him On The Team
The Sound Four are happy as they are and don’t want another member, but are forced to take Kimimaro as a leader after he easily defeats them all in combat. Not long after, however, Kimimaro falls terminally ill and has to withdraw from the team.
After the partial failure of the Konoha Crush mission, it’s noted by both Kabuto and Orochimaru that things likely would’ve gone much smoother if Kimimaro was still there to lead the Sound Four. It has to hurt knowing that they’re only partially as effective without a leader that they didn’t even want.
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