Zaku Abumi was a Sound Village genin best known for being part of the team sent to the Chunin Exams with orders to assassinate Sasuke Uchiha. Like other Sound ninja, he underwent physical modification—in his case, hollow air tubes were grafted through his arms and hands, letting him fire blasts of pressurized air and sound by controlling his chakra output.
What set Zaku apart from his teammates was actually getting a backstory. The anime revealed he'd grown up as an orphan on the streets, stealing to survive and getting beaten for it regularly. Orochimaru noticed him and claimed he saw potential and strength in his eyes—enough to recruit him. This gave him more depth than your typical disposable villain, and fans often note how his refusal to give up, even facing death, made him memorable despite his limited screen time.
During the Chunin Exams, Zaku saved his partner Dosu from Rock Lee's assault, then went after Sasuke while brutally taking down Sakura when she tried to stop him. When Sasuke woke up and found out who hurt her, he dislocated both of Zaku's shoulders in retaliation—a crippling injury that only he among the Sound team suffered directly from Sasuke.
His preliminary match against Shino Aburame proved his undoing. Despite his shoulder damage, cockiness got the better of him. He didn't realize Shino's chakra-eating insects had already filled his arm tubes until it was too late—his own enhancement became useless. In the manga, his right arm was blown off entirely; the anime showed both arms intact but riddled with holes, same result either way. Dosu swore he'd get revenge, but never got the chance.
Zaku and Kin were eventually killed together as sacrifices for Orochimaru's Impure World Resurrection to summon the First and Second Hokages against the Third.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
