Sound Four


 * Name: Sound Four, aka Sound Five
 * Leader: Sakon, formerly Kimimaro
 * Members: Sakon and Ukon, Jirobo, Kidomaru, and Tayuya
 * Affiliation: Otogakure
 * Status: Inactive, All members deceased

were Orochimaru's elite bodyguards (Sakon and Ukon are counted as one entity due to their kekkei genkai). Each was given a cursed seal by Orochimaru. They were all defeated and killed by the Sasuke Retrieval Squad and Konoha's allies, the Sand Shinobi, in the Sasuke Retrieval arc. Kimimaro was a part of the group for a short time, since he was stronger than all four combined, and was intended to be Orochimaru's next host, but an unexpected illness prevented him from participating normally. All five repeatedly refer to their opponents as "trash".

The Sound Four were all talented in barrier jutsu. When first seen the four use to create a box-like barrier around the area of Orochimaru's battle, causing anything that touches to burst into flames. To prevent themselves from being attacked and thus bringing down the barrier, the Sound Four created the same barrier around themselves. When the group later fetches Sasuke Uchiha, the four use on him to put him into a coma, preventing his death while his cursed seal advances. When Sasuke is put into a barrel while his seal advances, Sakon puts a seal on the barrel with to protect Sasuke from harm. As the group later rests, they set up a by placing four exploding tags in an array around where they are. When the tags are set, they create an invisible barrier around the area and will detonate should anyone pass the barrier, killing the intruder. Each member of the Sound Four also has a cardinal direction associated with them; this is probably a reference to their positions when performing jutsu as a group.

Of the sound four only Kidomaru wore a headband, perhaps because they were missing-nin or because the others were never officially trained, only taught by Orochimaru (note that this is only speculation).

The Sound Four, just after fetching Sasuke and putting him into the barrel, almost killed the Jonins Raido Namiashi and Genma Shiranui by using the second stage of their Cursed Seals. However, all of them were defeated one by one by the Sasuke Retrieval Squad and Sand Shinobi, who were all mere Genin. Jirobo was defeated by Choji, Kidomaru was defeated by Neji, Tayuya was defeated by Temari after a long fight with Shikamaru, and Sakon and his brother Ukon were defeated by Kankurou after a long fight with Kiba and Akamaru. All of the Konoha Shinobi were wounded almost to death, but managed to win their respective fights in the end, with the exception of Shikamaru and Kiba, who ended up without Chakra and were helped at the last moment by Temari and Kankurou.

Rock Lee and Gaara were not able to defeat Kimimaro after he entered the 2nd form of his cursed seal, however, the illness he suffered took Kimimaro's life before finishing off the 2 Genin.

Strongest to Weakest
In the Invasion of Konoha arc, it was hard to tell who was the strongest of the four. Based on looks it would appear Sakon and Jirobo were the strongest; so Kidomaru and Tayuya were the weakest. Later in the Sasuke Retrieval arc it is revealed Jirobo was in fact the weakest and Sakon, contradicting his appearance, was the strongest (though Tayuya arrogantly claims she's second strongest). When the arc would have come to an end with Naruto regaining Sasuke, Kimimaro appears and reveals he's the strongest of the former Sound Five.

Trivia

 * The recurring symbol on the Sound Four's tunics, pictured on the left, is the yin-yang without the black parts. Because the black is missing, it represents imbalance, alluding to their evil natures and that of the seals, and preventing harmony in life.
 * Jirobo and Sakon (and Ukon) specialize in close-quarter combat, while Kidomaru and Tayuya specialize in long range combat. Kimimaro is balanced in both types.