Gōshō

No description of Gōshō's physical features survives in the source. He is known chiefly as the ruler of Ceramic Village, governing from a grand mansion built above the hidden passage where he concealed the last of the Hanasaki clay.

Gōshō judged art purely by whether it sold; work that turned no profit, in his eyes, was not worth making. That conviction made him ruthless. He was willing to murder to protect the village's new fortunes, struck the disciple Kanyū when she pressed him, and threatened to banish anyone who came to her aid.

Gōshō was the son of Mashō, Ceramic Village's leader and the creator of the refined Hanasaki style of ceramics. As the special clay Hanasaki required began running short, Mashō refused to lower his standards, a stance that threatened to ruin the village once the supply gave out. To prevent that, Gōshō secretly killed his father and every other Hanasaki practitioner, claimed they had abandoned the village, and hid what clay remained, forcing the village toward new styles.

Under his rule the pottery grew ornate, luxurious, and colourful, and the village prospered as never before, even as some dismissed the work as artistically hollow. Mashō's disciple Kanyū begged him to revive Hanasaki, but he refused, and the two clashed openly in the streets. A decade into his reign, Sasori and Deidara of Akatsuki attacked his mansion in search of the Hanasaki clay; his guards were slaughtered, and Gōshō fled into the underground passage hiding the clay and his father's remains. Cornered at its sealed door, he had a C1 explosive placed in his mouth by Deidara, who, incensed by Gōshō's contempt for art, detonated it. Only afterward did Deidara learn that the door's seal could be undone by Gōshō alone, so he destroyed Ceramic Village to get through.