Within practical meaning, of course
Looking at the Sound Gate Guardians, they were pretty powerful. One notices that they were introduced in order of decreasing physical prowess and increasing specialisation of abilities. Jirobo is pure brute force, followed by Kidomaru with his six arms and armour, then Sakon and Ukon with their merging and finally Tayuya who simply delegates physical combat to her summons. Conversely, Jirobo uses Earth Style which is pretty normal for advanced shinobi, Kidomaru has what may be an bloodline inheritance with his Golden Silk and carries a non-elemental summon, Sakon and Ukon use special body modification and possess a special, non-living summon in the Rashomon Gate and Tayuya uses multiple summons and "the most troublesome" illusions.
However, as Gaara noted against Kimimarou, its not just what you have but how you use it that matters. It is because of that that Sakon and Ukon, sitting in the middle of both power and specialisation levels in the group, are probably the strongest.
In direct battle Kidomaru may be superior with his range and variety, but when one considers the full shinobi life Kabuto and Orochimaru may have been correct with their assessment. See, shinobi do not just do direct battle (fittingly, the entire period of their panel time involves skewed circumstances), but spying and so on. Indeed, Ukon himself said he was an assassination specialist.
While arguements of their general abilities can show them to be within reach of being the strongest, I think its better to just show how they are within range of being far beyond that that will best argue for them being the strongest. Arguing that Usain Bolt could beat a cheetah present a better arguement of him being faster than any other person than to argue the latter directly, see.
Looking at their power, it can be applied better than any of the others. When they enter into any person, they can not only contest them directly but indirectly. In the game of assassination, where most opponents wouldn't know what to look out for (even in direct fights such as Kakashi vs Zabuza, this was the case), Ukon is practically unstoppable. The first issue is that he can enter the body of the opponent and force a physical contest while he himself has no natural physical movement limitations. He can move and attack almost any part of the opponent while they can only block specific directions. Its practically impossible to block a strike to your back, FROM your back no matter how you turn. The second issue is that even for those with healing or strong defences, he can attack continuously or manifest his hands inside their brains to bypass those powers. The third issue is that his approach is practically unstoppable without prior knowledge AND special shields like energy cloaks. So even against the likes of Naruto, he could manifest inside them before they activate their cloaks. This means that in any scenario without knowledge, Ukon is basically unstoppable. Even with some knowledge, only specific counters like an energy release from a beast host could stop him. Otherwise, there is basically no level limit to who Ukon could kill.
In terms of the others, they have counters that are far too normal. Jirobo is easily countered by other elements and keeping range. Kidomaru is matched by sensing and simply being stronger than his attacks. Tayuya could possibly guarantee a win if she surrounded an opponent with her Ethereal Worms, but there is a chance that explosives (everyone carries tags) could clear them. Even if not, she cannot approach without alarming the opponent and the worms do start with very limited speed.
So in terms of application, Sakon and Ukon have the highest level range for beating targets, outside of those with natural counters of course. Perhaps it was to ward them off that Orochimaru made his own blood poisonous.
What say you?
Looking at the Sound Gate Guardians, they were pretty powerful. One notices that they were introduced in order of decreasing physical prowess and increasing specialisation of abilities. Jirobo is pure brute force, followed by Kidomaru with his six arms and armour, then Sakon and Ukon with their merging and finally Tayuya who simply delegates physical combat to her summons. Conversely, Jirobo uses Earth Style which is pretty normal for advanced shinobi, Kidomaru has what may be an bloodline inheritance with his Golden Silk and carries a non-elemental summon, Sakon and Ukon use special body modification and possess a special, non-living summon in the Rashomon Gate and Tayuya uses multiple summons and "the most troublesome" illusions.
However, as Gaara noted against Kimimarou, its not just what you have but how you use it that matters. It is because of that that Sakon and Ukon, sitting in the middle of both power and specialisation levels in the group, are probably the strongest.
In direct battle Kidomaru may be superior with his range and variety, but when one considers the full shinobi life Kabuto and Orochimaru may have been correct with their assessment. See, shinobi do not just do direct battle (fittingly, the entire period of their panel time involves skewed circumstances), but spying and so on. Indeed, Ukon himself said he was an assassination specialist.
While arguements of their general abilities can show them to be within reach of being the strongest, I think its better to just show how they are within range of being far beyond that that will best argue for them being the strongest. Arguing that Usain Bolt could beat a cheetah present a better arguement of him being faster than any other person than to argue the latter directly, see.
Looking at their power, it can be applied better than any of the others. When they enter into any person, they can not only contest them directly but indirectly. In the game of assassination, where most opponents wouldn't know what to look out for (even in direct fights such as Kakashi vs Zabuza, this was the case), Ukon is practically unstoppable. The first issue is that he can enter the body of the opponent and force a physical contest while he himself has no natural physical movement limitations. He can move and attack almost any part of the opponent while they can only block specific directions. Its practically impossible to block a strike to your back, FROM your back no matter how you turn. The second issue is that even for those with healing or strong defences, he can attack continuously or manifest his hands inside their brains to bypass those powers. The third issue is that his approach is practically unstoppable without prior knowledge AND special shields like energy cloaks. So even against the likes of Naruto, he could manifest inside them before they activate their cloaks. This means that in any scenario without knowledge, Ukon is basically unstoppable. Even with some knowledge, only specific counters like an energy release from a beast host could stop him. Otherwise, there is basically no level limit to who Ukon could kill.
In terms of the others, they have counters that are far too normal. Jirobo is easily countered by other elements and keeping range. Kidomaru is matched by sensing and simply being stronger than his attacks. Tayuya could possibly guarantee a win if she surrounded an opponent with her Ethereal Worms, but there is a chance that explosives (everyone carries tags) could clear them. Even if not, she cannot approach without alarming the opponent and the worms do start with very limited speed.
So in terms of application, Sakon and Ukon have the highest level range for beating targets, outside of those with natural counters of course. Perhaps it was to ward them off that Orochimaru made his own blood poisonous.
What say you?
