Kidōmaru

was a shinobi from Otogakure and a member of the Sound Four.

Background
In the anime, the Sound Four were originally prisoners of Orochimaru, forced to fight other prisoners to the death in battle royales. By surviving their respective matches, they proved themselves to be the strongest of Orochimaru's prisoners and as such were made his bodyguards. The Sound Four were at some point forced to accept Kimimaro as their leader, who easily defeated them all in battle and, because of his Shikotsumyaku abilities, was slated to be Orochimaru's next host body. Under Kimimaro their group was known as the.

In the anime, the Sound Five assisted Orochimaru with assassinating the Fourth Kazekage and killing Shiore's team during the Chūnin Exams in Konohagakure. Kimimaro fell terminally ill after this, forcing him to withdraw from the group; he became ill at some unspecified time in the manga.

Personality
Kidōmaru generally saw a battle as a game, and displayed a laid-back ease in fights. Kidōmaru greatly enjoyed combat and relished in strong opponents as a source of entertainment, finding weaker opponents not worth his time and boring. His speech also reflected this when battling Neji Hyūga, he referred to Neji as a "minor character" and analysed his situation using typical gaming language such as "level" and "difficulty".

Like the other members of the Sound Four, he is extremely arrogant with his opponents, though he was not as arrogant as the others, believing they could not defeat Kakashi. Kidōmaru was shown to have a sadistic side, often playing around with the opponent too much because he preferred to have fun seeing the opponent struggle and would even laugh sometimes as he gradually become more brutal in his attacks. Due to this, he tended to slow down his team by over extending the battle with an opponent he was interested in and his team-mates noted that when Kidōmaru gets particularly excited he would entered the second level of his cursed seal quickly, despite knowing the dangers of using it recklessly. This flaw and Kidōmaru's overconfidence made him underestimate Neji, redundantly aiming for his blind-spot without thinking Neji may create a countermeasure, which ultimately proved to be Kidōmaru's undoing.

In the anime, he, as with his comrades, was very bitter to have been killed, and upon being resurrected, devoted to killing the Sasuke Recovery Team in revenge.

Appearance
Kidōmaru was a dark-skinned shinobi with black, shaggy hair tied into a ponytail and black eyes. He was the second-tallest member of the team and was always depicted with a confident grin on his face. Uniquely, Kidōmaru also had six arms and an eye on his forehead that was usually closed and concealed under his black Otogakure forehead protector.

Kidōmaru's attire was a black, sleeveless shirt under a sleeveless grey tunic that bore the symbol of the Sound Four on the hem, and black skin-tight shorts. He wore black arm-warmers, traditional black shinobi sandals with calf-length leg warmers covered by bandages, and a purple, rope-like belt tied in an inverted bow around his waist.

After being reincarnated, he looked like he did while alive with the exception the grey sclerae common in all the other ninja Kabuto Yakushi brought back.

Abilities
As stated by Kabuto, Kidōmaru was the most intellectual member of the Sound Four which was witnessed in his fierce battle style and quick strategies. Kidōmaru was an excellent tactical analyser, capable of figuring out his enemy's weak point quickly and efficiently. He does not miss any slight discrepancies nor make any unnecessary moves, while refining his next wave from what he learned previously. During his battle with Neji Hyūga, Kidōmaru was able to use what he learned from his attacks to discover the Byakugan's abilities and its secret blind spot, then adjust his strategies accordingly to take advantage of what he learned. By Neji's admission, of all the enemies he fought at that point, Kidōmaru was by far the strongest.

Under Orochimaru's wing, Kidōmaru was informed of the many Konohagakure ninjas and techniques, being able to recognise Kakashi Hatake and heard of the Gentle Fist style of the Hyūga clan from his master.

Although he prefers to attack his enemies at a distance, Kidōmaru was competent in taijutsu, as when he tried to attack Sasuke. In the anime, he demonstrated considerable taijutsu prowess against Neji, an expert user of the Gentle Fist style. Shikamaru Nara noted that Kidōmaru's prowess was at jōnin-level. Furthermore, Kidōmaru's abilities were considered great enough for Kabuto Yakushi to reincarnate him.

Body Modifications
Kidōmaru had a unique body structure, possessing two extra pairs of arms, which essentially gave him a total of eight appendages, relating to his spider theme. These allowed him to add extra power and variety into his attacks, hold multiple tools, simultaneously perform multiple tasks, and form several hand seals at once. He could also use the multiple arms to pull his bowstring to incredible tension, drastically increasing the arrows' power.

He also possessed a third eye on his forehead, usually concealed by his forehead protector. In a serious battle, he would reveal the eye. This eye increased his perception and accuracy by a significant amount, allowing him to pinpoint the enemy's vital points with his arrow. The eye was precise enough to allow him to note his arrow missed the intended target by 15 cm, even at a 50 metres distance.

Cursed Seal
As one of Orochimaru's closest and most powerful warriors, Kidōmaru was branded with a cursed seal, which greatly magnified his skills. When active in Level 1, it spread across his entire body in twisted, entwining lines, and when in his Level 2 form, his skin became dark red, he gains yellow irides with dark black sclerae, elongated canine teeth and fingernails, as well as his hair becomes longer and turns grey. In addition, Kidōmaru gains horns on his forehead, shoulders and elbows, and his mouth become wider, allowing him to create more refined weapons. Finally, the eye on his forehead that was usually closed and concealed under his forehead protector, opens and seemingly grants him greater accuracy in his attacks as well as what appears to be the ability to see chakra.

In the anime, following his reincarnation, when experiencing strong feelings of hatred and rage, he could draw even more power from the seal. As a result, Kidōmaru could weave his Spider Sticky Gold at a much faster rate, and the weapons produced by them were even deadlier than before.

Spider Techniques
Kidōmaru had the ability to make spider webs by infusing his spit or sweat with chakra. He could use his webs to bind, trap, or sense enemies. These threads were extremely sticky, yet durable and elastic. This is because his chakra was constantly flowing through the webs, and is also why the threads could not be cut with normal tools such as kunai. However, the Gentle Fist can cut them, as the fighting style is based on using the user's chakra to attack precise points.

He could also create a thicker golden liquid that hardened into a chakra-blocking metal on contact with air. By chewing the spider web liquid inside his mouth, he could make it more solid and gum-like, allowing him to form makeshift weapons. This hardened material could also be released through the sweat pores and fabricated into a body-covering armour that could completely defend him from physical attacks, metal throwing weapons, and even chakra-based attacks, such as the Gentle Fist. Finally, he could form his especially deadly bow and arrows which could shatter trees when fired.

In the anime, after being reincarnated and having his cursed seal enhanced by Kabuto, he could produce and fire them at an extremely quicker rate.

Summoning Technique
In keeping with his spider-theme, he could summon the Kyodaigumo, a giant spider that can spawn an immense number of smaller spiders to use the Rain of Spiders technique, which created threads as powerful as Kidōmaru's own. He could also make Kyodaigumo burst into his thread for aid in battle.

Cooperation Ninjutsu
Despite the volatile relationship between the members of the Sound Four, they were well-versed in a series of Cooperation Ninjutsu. They could use the Combination Transformation in order to pose as Orochimaru's bodyguards while also concealing their numbers. During the battle between the Third Hokage and Orochimaru, they could produce the Four Violet Flames Formation in order to avoid anyone from entering or leaving the confines of the barrier. When carrying Sasuke to Orochimaru, they used another technique, a barrier called the Four Black Fogs Formation which traps the target in a temporary death state in order to allow him to adapt to the cursed seal and make for easier transportation.

In the anime, they also displayed another technique, the Space–Time Technique Formula: Underworld Turnover, that sends the souls of both the user and the target into the confines of a special barrier. They could also use the Sound Four: Summoning: Four Beasts Encirclement Formation, which brought out their individual summons to trap their opponents from all sides.

Konoha Crush
Kidōmaru made his first appearance with the rest of the Sound Four, erecting a barrier to keep others from interfering in Orochimaru's fight with the Third Hokage. Although Orochimaru succeeded in killing Hiruzen, his arms were crippled with necrosis, and he ordered the Sound Four to fled and escort him back to Otogakure. Kidōmaru used his Spider Bind technique to prevent Konoha Anbu from following them.

Sasuke Recovery Mission
On Orochimaru's orders, Kidōmaru and the rest of the Sound Four returned to Konohagakure to convince Sasuke Uchiha to join sides with Orochimaru. Kidōmaru joined Sakon and Jirōbō in a small skirmish to test Sasuke's abilities, before Sakon ends the fight and defeats him. Tayuya and Sakon then offer Sasuke the opportunity to join Orochimaru, so that he could gain power like theirs. They then leave Sasuke to consider their offer. Later that night, the Sound Four waited outside of the village for Sasuke's arrival and bowed to their new leader.

Once they were far enough away from Konoha, Kidōmaru and his team-mates give Sasuke the Mind Awakening Pill that will mature his cursed seal to a second, stronger stage and preformed Four Black Fogs Formation to put him an unconscious state while his body adjusted to the drug. The group was soon confronted by Konoha ninja Genma Shiranui and Raidō Namiashi, who notice they were leaving in the direction of Konoha. A battle soon erupted and the Sound Four activate level two of their cursed seals to defeat Genma and Raidō, leaving Kidōmaru and the rest of the Sound Four completely exhausted. After hastily making some traps in the forest, the Sound Four stop to rest, much to their frustration as they were short on time. Due to Kidōmaru using his Spider Web Area while they rest, Kidōmaru was able to detect the Sasuke Recovery Team and flush them out of hiding. The Sound Four were all caught in Shikamaru Nara's Shadow Imitation Technique, but Sakon's brother, Ukon, secretly attacked him from the tree cover and broke his hold on the rest. After Jirōbō traps to the recovery team, rest of his group went ahead and Kidōmaru takes over carrying the coffin Sasuke was in.

Soon after, Sasuke Recovery Team found the Sound Four again, having left Chōji Akimichi behind to deal with Jirōbō, Kidōmaru allowed his comrades to go ahead of him and let him handle their pursuers. Kidōmaru quickly caught the recovery team in his webs and wanted to toy with them before killing them, starting with Naruto Uzumaki because he could use shadow clones. Kidōmaru slowly picked the clones off to try and find the real one, but they all turned out to be shadow clones, the real Naruto attacked Kidōmaru from behind. He dodged and caught Naruto and tried to kill him but was stopped by Neji, who freed himself and everyone else from Kidōmaru's webbing using his Gentle Fist. Neji engaged Kidōmaru in battle after the others had gone ahead. At first, Kidōmaru was confident that he could kill Neji very quickly and sent several volleys of webs at Neji and managed to pin him to a tree. However, Neji broke free and even managed to get close to and attack Kidōmaru with his Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, though Kidōmaru blocked it with his armour. Since he couldn't win a close-range battle, Kidōmaru fell back and attacked Neji at a distance. Neji's Byakugan allowed him to detect all incoming attacks, which he blocks with his Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven and then threw a kunai at Kidōmaru which he barely dodged. Finally viewing Neji as a challenge, Kidōmaru activated the first stage of his cursed seal.

He then summoned the Kyodaigumo to blanket Neji in webbing and prevent him from using his Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven technique against his attack, but Neji is still able to dodge by slowing it down with chakra. Kidōmaru then continued to attack Neji by sending more spiders and kunai at him. He noticed that Neji did not avoid all of his attacks when a kunai cuts Neji's shoulder, and upon further testing realised the Byakugan had a blind spot. He then sent more kunai and spiders and hits him twice more. He claimed he couldn't beat him before signalling the Kyodaigumo to finish Neji. Neji repelled it with his Gentle Fist only for it to turn into thread. Kidōmaru then attacked Neji with more kunai and hit him three more times causing him to collapse. Kidōmaru then stated he had enjoyed himself even though he knew he would win before starting to leave, but Neji stood up again a moment later.

Happy that Neji had been so much of a challenge, Kidōmaru advanced to his cursed seal's second stage and created a bow and arrow. He fired at Neji's blind spot, but Neji is able to move it in time to keep it from hitting a vital organ and instead it hits him through his shoulder. Surprised, Kidōmaru realised that Neji must have been using exuded chakra to sense attacks directed at his blind spot. Kidōmaru creates a new arrow that is connected to him by a thread, which will allow him to move the arrow mid-flight to ensure it will hit Neji, but it was thrown off by the trees. Kidōmaru then jumped to the top of the tree line for a better vantage point and created a new arrow with spin so it will cut through a tree if it hits one. He then attaches a thread to ensure that he will hit Neji that time. He succeeded, but Neji — seeing the cord — sent some of his chakra through it back to Kidōmaru, damaging several of his internal organs, causing him to fall. Kidōmaru could still move through and became angry with himself for getting damaged in such a way.

Kidōmaru however believed this to have been Neji's dying effort and started to leave, all the while Neji was locating and approaching him. When he got close enough, he found he was wrong about Neji when he jumped up and turned off his chakra with his Gentle Fist attack and delivered a fatal blow to Kidōmaru's heart, causing him to scream in agony and collapse to the ground. Kidōmaru returned to his normal form having lost all his chakra and asked Neji how he was still alive. Neji told him he couldn't let down his friends while acknowledging him that he was the strongest opponent he had ever fought. As he coughed up blood and started dying, Kidōmaru told him that there is no way to save Sasuke since he had come voluntarily. Kidōmaru then collapsed again saying he hadn't been pushed that far since Kimimaro. With his last breath, Kidōmaru cursed Neji and then died, leaving Neji the victor of their battle.

Fourth Shinobi World War: Confrontation
In the anime, Kidōmaru was reincarnated by Kabuto Yakushi along with his Sound Four team-mates during the Fourth Shinobi World War. He was deployed at the northern edge of the Land of Lightning's peninsula and fought Neji again. Despite losing even when his body was enhanced by his summoner, Kidōmaru quickly reconstructed himself and cast the Space–Time Technique Formula: Underworld Turnover to teleport himself, his group, and their original opponents to another location. Kidōmaru rejoins his comrades in the Underworld Turnover barrier and they continue their battles with their enemies, switching opponents while Shikamaru comes up with an analysis. To reward them for their attempted efforts, Kidōmaru reveals that even their defeats will not release the barrier. Their battles rage on as the Sound Four overwhelm the Konoha shinobi with the hatred they hold for them. Taking advantage of this, Shikamaru continues to bait their hate to lure Naruto to the barrier and break his comrades free. With the souls of their most hated enemies freed, Kidōmaru and his comrades decide to take out their hatred on Naruto, only to be easily defeated before their souls return to the afterlife.

Legacy
Having used the DNA of the Sound Five in his experiments during his quest to find himself, Kabuto Yakushi gained access to Sakon and Ukon's kekkei genkai which allowed him to access the DNA of the other Sound Five members within his body by creating constructs of them which appeared from the base of his navel-snake. This copy of Kidōmaru has access to his unique abilities to create webbing which Kabuto used to corner Itachi and Sasuke Uchiha in his battle with them during the Fourth Shinobi World War.

Video Games
In Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm, Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations, and Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution, Kidōmaru is a support-only character.

Creation and Conception
Kidōmaru was the first of the Sound Four to be created by Masashi Kishimoto.

Trivia

 * He was the only member of the Sound Four to be seen wearing an Otogakure forehead protector.
 * means "demon child", and is a common ending for male Japanese names.
 * He also shares his name with an oni who appears in Kokon chomonjū, a compilation of legends from the Kamakura period. According to legend, this Kidōmaru was a son of the demon Shuten-dōji who attempted to avenge his father's defeat at the hands of legendary warrior Minamoto no Yorimitsu.
 * Kidōmaru can be seen during the omake of Naruto Shippūden episode 129, picking masks with Sakon nearby.
 * According to the databook(s):
 * His favourite phrase was:.
 * His hobby was playing games.
 * He desired to fight opponents that allow him to enjoy himself.
 * Kidōmaru has completed 46 official missions in total: 20 D-rank, 15 C-rank, 8 B-rank, 2 A-rank, 1 S-rank.

Quotes

 * (To Naruto Uzumaki) "I guess it was more fun this way…but now game over!!"
 * (To Neji Hyūga) "So you're the strongest of the bunch, huh. Sheesh..you're making me want to play even more. Gotta take it slow, you know. Or else it's not as much fun...First, I need at least three minutes to toy with you before you die!"
 * (About Neji) "What kind of a freak is this guy?"
 * "This game has a higher difficulty level than I thought!"
 * (To Neji) "The weakest one in the game always goes down first!"