From the original Naruto series, the Sound Four were a group of Orochimaru's most devoted and competent lieutenants, tasked with bringing back Sasuke Uchiha (surprisingly, not by force). After he left the village to join them, Shikamaru Nara assembled a team to rescue his wayward comrade, where they would encounter these villains and fight them.
With much of their screen time devoted to violence, there was little room to explore the nuances of each of these characters. For a fuller appreciation of the soldiers that pushed Konoha's finest to their limit, here are explore ten things fans didn't know about the Sound Four shinobi.
10 Jirobo's Age
The visibly oldest of the Sound Four, one might assume Jirobo to be in his late thirties by looking at him. However, despite his mature stature, guttural voice, tremendous strength, and balding head, he is actually only fourteen years old.
Conversely, Choji was between 12 and 13 at the time of their fight. As surprising as this development may be, their clash becomes more appropriate given this context, as it means it wasn't a grown man beating up a child just trying to protect his friends in the middle of nowhere.
9 Fight Sequences
When analyzing the fights as a whole, it's difficult to ignore that the shinobi Shikmaru's team fought against were perhaps the worst match-ups they could have had. This made what should have been fairly easy opponents significantly more deadly.
For example, Kiba's fang over fang would have been fantastic in pressuring Tayuya and preventing her from using her flute, Neji's palm technique would have obliterated Jirobo in melee combat, and Choji's human boulder could to deflect Kidomaru's projectiles and smash any of the trees he tried to take shelter in.
8 Technically The Sound Five
Though Kimimaro would later join the effort in procuring Sasuke, he was often not included in the aggregate of the Sound Four. It may be surprising to know that the group was previously called the Sound Five, with the bone wielding shinobi taking precedent among them.
His exclusion was on account of illness following one of the group's successful missions in assassinating the Fourth Kazekage. Much like Rock Lee, he would use the assignment as a chance to recover from his injuries and officially end his own retirement.
7 Tayuya's Adage
Tayuya may have seemed among the brashest of the Sound Four, though this was a mentality she would not exclusively reserve for her enemies. According to the databook, she had a favorite saying, "I alone am exalted."
As appropriate as this may be to her ego, this is ironic considering the nature of her power. She is the only member of the Four to rely almost exclusively on summoning minions to win her fights, as even Kidomaru has resin bows and armor at his disposal when his spiders can't measure up.
6 Kidomaru's Village Loyalty
Out of the entire Sound Four (including the dubious Kimimaro), Kidomaru is the only member to wear a headband representing the Sound Village. This is unusual, considering that the members are supposed to represent Orochimaru's interests even more than the underlings (such as Dosu and Zaku).
Further, it entails that he may feel more patriotic toward his village than his other three allies. This is likely on account of the fact that the ninja has expressed fealty toward Orochimaru specifically much more than any nation or creed. Nonetheless, the aesthetic choice distinguishes Kidomaru's identity from that of his peers.
5 Jirobo's Disposition
When traveling together, Jirobo will often attempt to correct Tayuya on her language since it "isn't ladylike" to be profane. Comically, this usually ends with her insulting him.
However, Jirobo is not outraged by this, expecting such a reaction of Tayuya. This would not be reciprocated in his fight with Choji, demonstrating that he can in fact be agitated. It entails that despite the tenseness of the Four's interactions with one another, there was genuine camaraderie, as they were able to tease and joke among friends just as their enemies in the Leaf Village might.
4 Sakkon's Irony
Much like Tayuya, Sakkon's favorite phrase is also dripping in irony. It is "unique and peerless," which immediately belies the nature of his abilities.
The only of Orochimaru's henchmen to have two consciences inside the same body (which he liberally employs to prevail in his battles), his fighting style may be unique, though it is certainly not peerless. Under his own pretense that he's the best member of the group, he's still not unrivaled on account of the sibling he bears on his back. So long as Ukon is at his side, he will never be truly unique, nor will he be peerless.
3 The Sasuke Retrieval Opening Cameos
During the fifth Naruto opening, the Sound Four are depicted after Orochimaru. They are introduced in a sequence of Sakkon, Tayuya, Kidomaru, and finally Jirobo. This is not coincidental.
Each member of the Sound Four belongs to a respective gate. Sakkon is the West Gate, Tayuya is the North Gate, Kidomaru is the East Gate, and Jirobo is the South Gate. Therefore, by the order they're introduced, it is actually going in a clockwise direction.
2 Kidomaru's Career
Kidomaru's proficiency against Neji is no coincidence. He has had many years and missions to hone his archery and web-slinging skills alongside the Sound Four, resulting in a surprisingly lofty portfolio.
Overall, he has completed 20 D-Rank missions, 15 C-rank missions, 8 B-rank missions, 2 A-rank missions, and 1 S-rank mission. Given what we know about the Sound Four and specifically Kimimaro, it's reasonable to assume his S-rank mission was the one which resulted in the Fourth Kazekage's assassination. This makes the fact that he met his end against a far less seasoned opponent all the more poetic.
1 They Proved Their Point
Once they were resurrected through the Edo Tensei, the Sound Four craved victory against those that defeated them. They had an insatiable desire to prove that they were stronger than their opponents and that their first losses were only a stroke of luck.
Though the Konoha shinobi may have been able to defeat them individually, when they came together as a group and brought their opponents into a dome, the Leaf's finest were hopelessly outmatched. It would take Naruto Uzumaki himself to save them, though this would prove the point: that they were stronger than their vanquishers.