Zōri

Zori and his partner Waraji were swordsmen hired by Gato to be his bodyguards.

Part I
Gato ordered Zori 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 Zori was told by Gato 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 Gato's men. Both Zori and Waraji were then defeated by Naruto's Shadow Clone Technique and were tied up and left there.

Part II
In the anime, when Suigetsu and Sasuke are wandering around the Land of Waves searching for the Decapitating Carving Knife, Suigetsu and Zori accidentally knock into each other. As soon as Zori provokes a fight, however, Sasuke intimidates him, and he retreats. Later on, Suigetsu and Zori bump into each other again, and Suigetsu interrogates him on the whereabouts of the sword. He cracks under the pressure of being killed.

Trivia

 * Zori and Waraji make an appearance in Hidden Leaf Village Grand Sports Festival!, when Naruto has to go to the bathroom.