Village Hidden in the Sound (
Official Version)
Oto, the Village Hidden in the Sound, is the latest hidden village to be formed in the ninja world and the first to be founded by a rogue ninja, Orochimaru of the Sannin.
Its true nature is unlike any of the other ninja organizations meant to serve as the military power of its respective nation. His desire was to create a hidden village not bound to a nation or ideals and would instead be used to express the individuality of ninja who didn't conform to the standards of their society.
Oto never existed as a single settlement of ninja but as a network of bases spread throughout the continent, sequestered away in lands without the protection and surveillance of the Five Great Hidden Village. Each of them were built within the land itself or kept far away from any wanderers to keep them hidden away from the world, and every hideout contains different aspects of Orochimaru's research to prevent the discovery of one from every doing true harm to his goals.
They did, however, create a main headquarters in the Land of Thunder designed to emulate the other hidden village so that Oto could be recognized in an official capacity. It was a weak and impoverished country that Orochimaru knew would be vulnerable to his exploitation.
The Land of Thunder was a victim of Sasori of the Red Sands and his hundred puppets who had torn his way through their disunited ninja clans to turn their best men into his human puppets. Practically their entire military power had been wiped out by a single man - heralding his recruitment into the Akatsuki in fact - and leaving them incredibly weak for years to come. By offering to provide the country with a new powerful military force capable of protecting them from any enemies gave Orochimaru great influence over the country's leaders.
However the true purpose was to allow Oto to build an alliance with Konoha so they could participate in the International Chuunin Exams a year later, setting the groundwork for Orochimaru's plan to invade Konoha and spark the Fourth Shinobi World War. No-one outside of Oto knew the true identity of the village's founder, a mysterious figure believed to actually be a woman who have lived as a mercenary ninja.
Moreover, the village could provide more money and resources for Orochimaru's research and experiments than he could as easily gather on his own. And using Oto allowed him to capture ninja from various clans and confine them within the prison built in the main settlement so that he can utilize them as experimental material for the development of new jutsu.
Orochimaru's power and charisma drew many ninja to his side; ninjas who did not belong to any clans, clans who were being driven to extinctions and criminal shinobi who saw the opportunity to become a part of a greater power. His great ambitions, ruthlessness and mastery of ninjutsu caused those ninja to worship him and are willing to throw away their lives for the sake of his ambitious achievements.
Oto's numbers grew rapidly in spite of being so new as Orochimaru did not limit himself to recruiting from a single country, instead recruiting from any country that had those willing to follow him out of fear, admiration or simple lust for power. But a result of that indiscriminate recruitment and Oto's deliberately divided state, it lacked the military strength of many other hidden villages which raise as many strong shinobi as possible to fulfill any mission requested of them and be able to defend their borders from invasion. Oto's strength is in its numbers, the varied nature of its ninja and how they are distributed around the continent rather than pure military might.
These ninja were granted the headband and uniform of a sound ninja once they had sworn their allegiance to Orochimaru. Each one covers their face with a mask in battle to keep their faces so that they might frighten their enemies as a horde of anonymous foes, not unlike the Anbu. It also helped them operated throughout Oto's numerous bases as it meant that they were unlikely to be recognized when unmasked as they moved through different lands.
Orochimaru was particularly skilled in finding young talent to join his side; children who have lost their family or homes and with unique gifts to make them stand out in the ninja world. He made them believe that they were special and that he could offer them power or acknowledgment or a home. In truth, those young recruits were often those were often used as research material for him to study new abilities or technology.
Five among them had the greatest potential to become powerful ninja in the future and Orochimaru personally saw to their development. Jirobou, Kidoumaru, Tayuya, Sakon/Ukon and Kimimaro survived the branding of the cursed seal and eventually lost their free will to its power, becoming completely devoted to Orochimaru. And so he trained them as his personal bodyguards who he knew could never betray him, teaching them fuuinjutsu and barrier ninjutsu and helping them realize their individual potential.
Unfortunately for Oto, the failure of the Konoha Crush started a slow death for the hidden village. The loss of their forces during the invasion, Orochimaru's crippled ability to use ninjutsu and the sacrifice of the Sound Five led to the Sannin losing the illusion of invulnerability he once held, causing more and more ninja to defect from the ranks when possible.
After Orochimaru was presumed to have been killed by Uchiha Sasuke and Kabuto disappeared for the sake of his own experiment, Oto simply self destructed. He had not built this village with the intention of anyone succeeding him as a leader. Those who wished to take control of the hidden village fought and killed one another while others simply left and the prisoners revolted in hopes of freedom. Within a few months of Orochimaru's defeat, Oto no longer existed as a hidden village. and was quickly forgotten by the shinobi world.
