Dosu Kinuta

was a shinobi of Otogakure and the unofficial leader of Team Dosu, which was officially led by Orochimaru, who had assigned them to covertly participate in the Chūnin Exams.

Personality
Dosu was demonstrated to be a very alert and logical ninja. He rarely rushed into anything before first observing and analysing the situation. Dosu seemed very loyal to Orochimaru's cause and, to a lesser degree, his team-mates. Although he claimed that Oto-nin are willing to sacrifice their own team-mates for their cause, he promised to avenge Zaku after his debilitating defeat by Shino Aburame. He showed dedication to Orochimaru's task of killing Sasuke Uchiha, but became disillusioned after learning that Orochimaru had given Sasuke a cursed seal. Realising that he and his team were actually pawns used to determine Sasuke's worth, Dosu became determined to undermine Orochimaru by completing the task of killing Sasuke. He has also been described as courteous and reliable.

Appearance
Dosu had bandages covering most of his face, leaving only his left eye uncovered. He also wore a large poncho with long sleeves, a snake patterned scarf around his neck, a straw raincoat protruding from the back of his scarf, and a large amplifier on his right arm for most of his attacks. His back was hunched, which made him look smaller than he actually was.

Abilities
Dosu's battle style revolved around his ability to manipulate sound. Like Zabuza Momochi, he had a very keen awareness and understanding of sound-waves. During the first round of the Chūnin Exams, he simply listened to the strokes of other ninja's pencils to determine what they were writing for the written test. His main attack was done with help from the "Melody Arm" on his right forearm, which he used to generate sound for his attacks. His abilities attacked the inner ear, directing his sound deep into it, which would cause great pain, disorientation, vertigo and nausea. During their match, Chōji attempted to block his attacks by pulling his head inside his Human Bullet Tank, only to be thwarted by the fact that, by directing sound through the water in his body, Dosu could still generate the effect. Chōji was instantly defeated by the attack. Dosu was also quite intelligent — perceiving both Sakura's traps and Orochimaru's plan to test Sasuke.

Chūnin Exam Arc
Team Dosu travelled to and arrived in Konohagakure to participate in the Chūnin Exam. Before the exam started, Dosu and his team overheard Kabuto talking about their village and decided to attack him. After Zaku threw Kunai as a distraction at Kabuto, Dosu ambushed him and attacked with his Melody Arm, damaging Kabuto hearing. To prevent the situation from escalating, the exam proctors, led by Ibiki Morino, appear and settle things down. After Dosu passed the written portion of the Chūnin Exams by interpreting the sound of others' pencil markings, he moved onto the second phase of the exam alongside his teammates. During the second phase in the Forest of Death, Dosu initiated his team's real mission: killing Sasuke Uchiha. After Team 7's fight with Orochimaru had finished, Sasuke fainted due to the affects of Orochimaru's Juinjutsu, and Naruto Uzumaki passed out during the battle, leaving only Sakura Haruno conscious as Team Dosu watched from a distance and waited to attack.

Seeing an opportunity to kill Sasuke, Team Dosu attacks Sakura, activating her traps she laid out. After getting passed the traps, Team Dosu was intercepted by Rock Lee. Dosu recklessly attacked Lee and ended up the victim of his Front Lotus technique. Seeing that his teammate was going to be killed, Zaku softened the ground, leaving Dosu to survive the attack. Suffering from the side effects of using the Front Lotus, Dosu effortlessly defeated Lee. With Lee out of the way, Team Dosu once again advanced towards Sakura, leading to Team 10 intervening. After the fighting began between the two teams, Dosu tried giving aid to Zaku who was fighting against Choji but was caught in Shikamaru's Shadow Imitation Technique. With Shikamaru's jutsu coming to an end, Lee's teammates arrived. After noticing Neji's Byakugan, Sasuke woke up. Looking on in fear after witnessing Sasuke's curse mark he had received from Orochimaru activate, Zaku attacked the Uchiha before Dosu had the chance to warn him of the situation. After dodging Zaku's attack, Sasuke quickly defeated him and turned his attention towards Dosu. Seeing the predicament his was in, Dosu handed over his scroll to Team 7 and fled with his teammates.

During the preliminaries, Team Dosu reunited with Orochimaru, who was disguised as their Otogakure sensei. After watching Zaku lose his fight against Shino, he vowed to avenge him. During the last match of the preliminaries, he was matched up against Chōji Akimichi. Chōji used his Human Bullet Tank technique with the intention that he was safe from Dosu's sound tecnique, but Dosu attacked and defeat him with one blow. After winning his fight, he was assigned to fight Shikamaru Nara during the first round of the finals. In an effort to make sure that Sasuke survived until they could fight, so that Dosu could kill him personally, Dosu challenged Gaara, Sasuke's first opponent, on the roof top of Kikyō Castle. Gaara promptly killed him, while Baki and Kabuto Yakushi witnessed it.

Trivia

 * Dosu is named for the sound "crunching" especially those made by footsteps. His last name, "Kinuta", is the Japanese word for the incus or 'anvil' bone in the ear.
 * In Finally a clash! Jōnin vs. Genin!! Indiscriminate Grand Melee Tournament Meeting!!, Dosu can be seen standing behind Sakura Haruno while she explains that the jōnin are also going to participate in the event.
 * Like many of the other characters, Dosu appeared in the omake at the end of Naruto: Shippūden episode 129, along with the rest of his team.

Quotes

 * (To Ibiki) "Sorry, it's our first time. Guess we're a little jumpy… Sir."
 * (To Lee) "Effort by itself does nothing. Now watch, we're going to show you something called the wall."
 * (To Lee) "Oh, I forgot to mention this little gadget I wear. You might be able to dodge my blows, but you can't get away from it."
 * (To Chōji) "Fine, Fatso - if you want this match to end quickly, I'll just win it quickly."
 * (To himself, after he defeats Chōji) "Lord Orochimaru, or rather Orochimaru, now do you see? I'm more than a mere puppet."
 * (To Gaara) "I wonder which is faster, your sand or my sound?"