Creation and conception

When creating the antagonists of the Naruto series, creator Masashi Kishimoto's primary goal was to create villains that were directly opposed to the lead characters' moral values. He stated that this focus on illustrating the difference in values is central to his creation of villains to the point that, "I don't really think about them in combat". The villains' physical appearances were embellished in order to differentiate them from other characters. Kishimoto commented that "the difference between the heroes and the villains must be obvious" and that the different appearances should make it easier for a reader to follow the story and "recognize that 'this character is a bad guy'", even in heated battle scenes.[1] In some cases, Kishimoto creates antagonists to fight specific characters, and ensures that the antagonists' unique attributes "make the battles interesting".[2] Kishimoto also noted that making the villains "flamboyant" with a "showy costume" is part of his "guiding principles" in ensuring the villains were clearly visible from the other characters in the story, as well as making them "more memorable".[1]
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Otogakure
See also: World of Naruto

Otogakure (音隠れの里 Otogakure no Sato?, lit. "Village Hidden in Sound") is a village founded by Orochimaru for the purpose of collecting ninja for his experiments to learn all the jutsu in the world. The village is not contiguous, consisting of multiple assorted lairs located within the Land of Sound and outside it.
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Orochimaru
Main article: Orochimaru (Naruto)

Orochimaru (大蛇丸?) is one of the primary antagonists of the Naruto series. To emphasize his role as a villain, Kishimoto worked towards making him appear "pasty and sickly" as part of his theme of distinguishing villains from the protagonists.[2] In the series, Orochimaru is a former ninja of Konohagakure and a student of the Third Hokage. During his time in the village, he distinguished himself as one of the village's most powerful ninja along with his teammates, Jiraiya and Tsunade.[3] His desire to obtain immortality led him to conduct experiments on other Konohagakure ninja, and he eventually fled the village and joined the criminal organization Akatsuki.[4] After a failed attempt to take over Itachi Uchiha's body, he left the Akatsuki and established his own ninja village, Otogakure, in the hopes of destroying his former home.[5] His immortality technique involves transferring his soul between different host bodies, and his desire for a new host, particularly Sasuke Uchiha, is one of his driving motivations throughout the series.[6] Because of his different host bodies and the disguises he assumes, a panoply of voice actors are utilized for Orochimaru; his most common seiyū in the Japanese anime is Kujira, and the corresponding English voice actor is Steven Blum.[7][8]
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Kabuto Yakushi

Kabuto Yakushi (薬師 カブト Yakushi Kabuto?) is Orochimaru's foremost servant. As a child, he was found on a battlefield by a medical officer from Konohagakure, who took Kabuto and raised him as a son.[9] Kabuto began acting as a spy for numerous countries and organizations, including the criminal organization Akatsuki, which ordered him to enter the service of Orochimaru.[10] Kabuto uses his various former affiliations as a means to gather intelligence on Orochimaru's behalf; for instance, he participates in the bi-annual ninja exams as a villager of Konohagakure so as to gather information on his fellow participants.[9] Although Kabuto has professed his utmost loyalty to Orochimaru, Orochimaru has admitted that he cannot determine where Kabuto's true loyalties lie, and has suggested that Kabuto secretly works against him.[11]

Kabuto is highly proficient with medical techniques, being likened in ability to Tsunade: he can regenerate from wounds by reactivating dead cells in order to grow new ones and can form a scalpel with chakra to deal precise blows to his opponents.[12] Orochimaru uses Kabuto's talents in his human experiments, primarily to keep test subjects alive for longer than is normally feasible.[13] During Part I, he infiltrates Konohagakure to prepare for Orochimaru's invasion, and rejoins Orochimaru in Otogakure following the invasion. While aiding Orochimaru in an attempt to get Tsunade's aid, Kabuto battles Naruto Uzumaki and nearly kills him, but suffers a blow from his Rasengan, which he manages to regenerate from, but is left unable to continue fighting. In Part II Kabuto integrates Orochimaru's remains into his body in order to become powerful enough to not serve anyone again. Orochimaru's remains gradually begin to take over his body, but Kabuto expresses desire to kill Sasuke Uchiha, and afterwards settle things with Naruto once he has learned to control the remains.[14] Once mastering Orochimaru's snake abilities and jutsu for summoning the souls of the dead, Kabuto makes his way to Madara Uchiha and forms an alliance with him under the promise that he can have Sasuke once they win. In the Japanese anime, Kabuto's seiyū is Nobutoshi Canna,[15] and his English voice actor is Henry Dittman.[16]
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Sound Four

The Sound Four (音隠れの忍四人衆 Otogakure no Shinobi Yonin Shū?, lit. "Hidden Sound Shinobi Four People", English TV: "Sound Ninja Four") are Orochimaru's elite bodyguards. They are introduced during Orochimaru's invasion of Konohagakure, but do not become a prominent part of the story until Sasuke Uchiha attempts to leave Konohagakure to join Otogakure. The Sound Four act as his bodyguards, and although they are all defeated by Konohagakure ninja, Sasuke manages to escape.[17] The group was originally known as the "Sound Five", as they were forced to accept Kimimaro as the leader after he defeated the entire group in battle. After Kimimaro became bedridden due to his illness, the group resumed calling themselves the Sound Four.[18] As a group they specialize in barriers, defensive walls, sealing techniques as well as possessing their own individual unique Jutsu. Orochimaru has given each member of the group one of his cursed seals, which allows him to control them and greatly increases the strengths of the users when active.[17]
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Jirobo

Jirobo (次郎坊 Jirōbō?) is the first member of the Sound Four to be introduced in the series. When Masashi Kishimoto was creating the Sound Four, he was the third member of the group to be created, and was intended to be the largest member of the group.[2] Jirobo is the physically strongest member: he can lift boulder-sized rocks and hurl them across long distances with ease. He can also absorb others' chakra, which he uses as a form of sustenance.[19] His fellow Sound Four member Tayuya frequently calls Jirobo fat due to his size and habit of consuming chakra, something he is quick to scold her for.[20] When Sasuke Uchiha leaves Konohagakure, Jirobo battles Choji Akimichi, and after criticizing Choji for his girth, Choji, after consuming a level three soldier pill, dispatches Jirobo.[21] In the Japanese anime, his seiyū is Kenta Miyake,[22] and his English voice actor is Michael Sorich.[23]
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Kidomaru

Kidomaru (鬼童丸 Kidōmaru?) is the second member of the Sound Four to be introduced in the series. He was the first member of the Sound Four created by Masashi Kishimoto, with his spider-like traits meant to be main aspects of his character.[2] As such, Kidomaru possesses six arms, a third eye, and the ability to excrete webs from his mouth. This webbing, a mixture of body fluids and chakra, is as strong as steel and can ensnare anything that comes into contact with it. He can also produce a golden webbing that hardens upon contact with oxygen, allowing him to make armor or weapons.[24] Kidomaru treats battles as a game and tries to get as much enjoyment from them as possible; when he battles Neji Hyuga, he calls him a "trash character" and looks for weaknesses in Neji's defenses to take advantage of.[25] Despite being near death, Neji manages to defeat Kidomaru.[26] In the Japanese anime, his seiyū is Susumu Chiba,[27] and his English voice actor is Peter Lurie.[28]
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Sakon and Ukon

Sakon (左近?) and Ukon (右近?) are twin brothers who share the same position in the Sound Four. Sakon was the final character in the Sound Four created by Kishimoto, who initially was unable to decide which character for him to fight. After deciding to have him battle Kiba Inuzuka and Akamaru in a two-on-two battle, Kishimoto created Ukon to complete the matchup.[2] In battle, Sakon enjoys toying with his opponents, causing him to waste time in battle by using showy techniques. Conversely, Ukon is impatient and likes to end battles quickly. Due to their genetic ability, the brothers can merge their bodies together. Ukon usually resides in Sakon's body, with only his head protruding on Sakon's back.[29] When Sakon battles an opponent, Ukon can protrude his arms and legs from Sakon's body to increase the strength of his attacks and defend his blindspots.[30] Both brothers can also merge with an opponent's body, where they can destroy the opponent's cells from within.[31] Sakon and Ukon manage to overpower Kiba Inuzuka and Akamaru in their battle, but Kankuro arrives and kills the former two.[32] In the Japanese anime, the seiyū for both brothers is Shunsuke Sakuya,[33] and their English voice actor is Brian Beacock.[34]