Zōri

Pale-skinned and black-eyed, Zōri stands out for the bluish-white hair framing his face and the inked lines drawn beneath each eye. A dark purple hat towers well above his crown, and he throws on a blue jacket riddled with pockets, a blue-hilted katana lashed at his hip. The years leave him practically unchanged by Part II.

Of the two bodyguards, Zōri is the composed one, yet his calm hides the same cruelty as his partner. He is ready to cut down even a child like Inari, and he grinned as the pair forced their way into Tazuna's home. Described as a loyal sort, he also has a weakness for wagers.

Even before his mercenary work drew notice, he had carried out Kaiza's public execution with a single slash. He first turns up beside Waraji when Gatō arrives to berate Zabuza over a botched contract, and the two nearly draw on the missing-nin before Gatō waves them off and Haku turns their own swords against them. Gatō then sends the pair to seize Tsunami and pressure her bridge-building father into quitting, but when the boy Inari and then Naruto step in, both hired blades are dropped by shadow clones and left bound. His swordsmanship runs to a lightning-fast drawing strike built to finish a foe in one motion, and in the anime he flattens Tsunami with a single punch and cuts through several of Naruto's clones. A later revenge scheme, kidnapping village children, collapses again against Team Kakashi. Zōri also resurfaces during the hunt for Itachi, bumping into Suigetsu near the Land of Waves, fleeing the instant he recognises Sasuke, and eventually giving up the location of the great sword Kubikiribōchō under threat.