Zōri

is an ill-tempered mercenary from the Land of Waves. He first appeared alongside his partner, Waraji, as a swordsman hired by Gatō to be his bodyguard.

Appearance
Zōri is a light-skinned man with bluish-white hair and black eyes. Lined markings are tattooed under his eyes. He commonly wears a dark purple hat on this head, the top of which extends far beyond the top of his head. Zōri also wears a blue jacket with multiple pockets and tied to his waist is his blue handled katana. He appears virtually unchanged in Part II.

Land of Waves Arc
Gatō ordered Zōri and Waraji to kidnap Tsunami to force Tazuna, Tsunami's father and the bridge builder, to stop building his bridge. When Waraji threatened to kill Tsunami's son Inari, Tsunami also threatened to kill herself unless they let him go. Since Zōri was told by Gatō that they only needed one hostage, they leave Inari alone and proceed to take Tsunami to the bridge. However, Inari (remembering what Kaiza told him) ran to save his mother. Ultimately, Naruto came and got Tsunami away from Gatō's men. Both Zōri and Waraji were then defeated by Naruto's Shadow Clone Technique and were tied up and left there. Once team seven "left" Zōri and Waraji gathered Gato's men and idnapped Inari and his friend. Naruto (with the assistance of the land of waves villagers) defeated them (again) and sent them to the authorities

Itachi Pursuit Arc
In the anime, Zōri makes a brief appearance when Suigetsu and Sasuke are wandering around the Land of Waves searching for the Kubikiribōchō. Suigetsu and Zōri bump into each other, and Zōri tries to provoke a fight. But as soon as he sees Sasuke, he becomes instantly unnerved and retreats. Later on, Suigetsu and Zōri bump into each other again. He attempts to flee again, but is quickly captured by the two and taken to a back alley in an attempt to interrogate him. He is initially reluctant to tell them of the whereabouts of the sword, but eventually tells them once Suigetsu threatens him.

Trivia

 * Both Zōri and Waraji are named after types of Japanese sandals. are a type typically worn with formal kimono.
 * Zōri and Waraji make an appearance in Hidden Leaf Village Grand Sports Festival!, when Naruto has to go to the bathroom.