I’ve seen some people say that it would’ve been better if there ended up being some casualties during this mission but I think the results are fine. The mission still ended up in a failure with Sasuke joining Orochimaru so you feel the weight of that, but you also provide for a chance for growth for all characters. If Choji and Neji died here that would’ve really fucked up Shikamaru and we already have enough with Sasuke going the “wrong path”.