"Name: Hoshigaki Goki."
"Gender: Male."
"Age: 46."
The next second Rasa's body vanished. His consciousness was ripped out and hurled across the ocean at blinding speed. Islands dotted the endless blue water. Then everything dropped.
He opened his eyes inside a middle-aged man's body.
Hoshigaki Goki.
The entire Hoshigaki clan was crammed into one room for an emergency family meeting. Every adult male was present—including a teenage Kisame Hoshigaki. The boy already looked terrifying enough to make small children cry, but right now his expression was pure teenage sulk.
An older clansman sighed heavily.
"That Rasa guy is out of his damn mind. What the hell did Kisame ever do to him? He's just a kid!"
Another man nodded.
"Exactly. We were brutal to the Sand Village back then, sure. Demanding Pakura so we could execute her? That was fucked up. I get why they want revenge now. Wanting Elder Genshi dead and Jinpachi dead? Fine. But why Kisame? What did the kid ever do?"
All eyes turned to the silent teenager.
"Kisame, did you kill anyone important on the battlefield? Someone the Sand really cared about?"
Kisame thought hard, then shook his head.
"No. I only killed regular Sand shinobi. Never got assigned anything big. The only thing I did was tell Elder Genshi the truth about what Fuguki Suikazan was really doing."
One man slammed his fist on the table.
"That's it! That traitor Fuguki Suikazan must've sold us out to the Sand Village. He's probably working for them now. That's why Rasa's targeting Kisame—to get revenge for the kid telling the truth!"
The whole room erupted in curses.
"Fucking traitor!"
"Even after defecting he's still screwing the village!"
"Piece of shit!"
Kisame frowned. It did make sense. Why else would the Sand Village single out a nobody like him?
But one older clansman spoke up, voice tight.
"Even if that's true… does that mean we're actually going to hand over our own people just to end the war? Elder Genshi has served this village for decades. Jinpachi is the last of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. Without him the whole legacy dies. Are we really going to sell them out?"
Rasa—inside Goki's body—stood up.
Every head turned.
"I don't know what the Mizukage is thinking," he said calmly, "but this feels wrong. A hidden village that sells out its own shinobi to survive… what's the point of existing? If the village won't protect us, why should we stay loyal?"
The room went dead silent.
Rasa looked straight at young Kisame.
"Kisame. Are you afraid of dying?"
The boy shook his head without hesitation.
Rasa continued, voice steady.
"Death isn't the worst thing. Losing your dignity is. If we do this, every other village will laugh at us forever. They'll say the Hidden Mist sold its own people just to save its skin. I'd rather die than live like that. And once the village starts selling people, who's next? You? Me? How can anyone stay loyal to a place like that?"
An older man hissed.
"Goki, shut up! You can't say shit like that out loud. We're not the Kaguya clan—we don't have their power. The village is already cracking down hard. Keep your mouth shut or we're all dead."
Rasa nodded once.
"I know. I'm just saying… if the village is willing to throw us away, then maybe we're not really part of it anymore. Maybe we should get to choose for ourselves. The Sand Village was in way worse shape than us, and they never sold out Pakura. Not even once."
The room fell into heavy silence.
No one could argue. Even though they hated the Sand, they all knew Rasa was a far better leader than Yagura. Stronger. Smarter. More decisive.
"Too bad we weren't born in the Sand Village…"
"The Mist really is inferior…"
Rasa let the words hang, then stood.
"Meeting's over. I'm going for a walk."
Once outside, he started quietly gathering information—how the reparations to the Sand were progressing, whether any secret operations were being planned against Sunagakure.
It didn't take long before he overheard something interesting.