Gold and Silver Brothers

The are two infamous shinobi from Kumogakure, who were respectively renowned for their great prowess as ninja. The Fourth Raikage has referred them as the most reviled criminals in the history of Kumogakure.

The two brothers share similar appearances to one another, including the presence of distinctive whisker-like marks on their faces, much like those demonstrated by Naruto Uzumaki, due to being swallowed by the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox when Kumogakure tried to capture the beast. They survived inside the fox for two weeks by eating its' materialized chakra "flesh" and wreaked havoc inside the beast which caused the Nine-Tails to regurgitate them.

During their lifetime, the siblings were known to have assaulted the Second Hokage and Second Raikage during a peace pact; they would later play a prominent role in the death of the former as part of the notorious Kinkaku Force. The reputation earned from this act, amongst others, resulted in the brothers being revered as the of Kumogakure even after their demise. At the same time, however, they are considered to be disgraces to the village due to their belief of treason and deceit being battle strategies.

When the pair are eventually resurrected by Kabuto Yakushi; their attendance alone caused one Kumogakure shinobi who observed them to tremble in fear and almost provoked A, the Fourth Raikage, into completely disregarding his duties as leader of the Allied Shinobi Forces to personally confront the brothers, due his great concern over their presence on the battlefield.

Trivia

 * Both Kinkaku and Ginkaku are based on two characters from the Chinese classic "Journey to the West". In this story; the siblings are two demon king brothers, known as the and the, who live in the  on . They possess five treasured tools, called the , the , the  the , and the . Amongst these, the pot and the gourd are capable of sucking in their opponents and melting them, once they are trapped within. Ginkaku is also said to have a technique that allows him to move mountains.
 * Due to the brothers' ability to assimilate the Nine-Tails' chakra by eating its meat, the Fourth Raikage suspected them to be distantly related to the Sage of the Six Paths.