Half a month later, Shinichi received a message from Sunagakure.
It was a letter from Pakura, containing only two brief words.
It was done.
The Kazekage's seal was stamped on it as well.
Sunagakure had changed regimes from that day onward, but the news had been tightly sealed and had yet to spread outside. Shinichi was likely the first outsider to learn of it.
Along with Sunagakure's letter, one had also arrived from Kumogakure.
The letters from Kumogakure had never stopped. One arrived every few days, all with more or less the same content, pleading for Konoha to release their Raikage and offering to pay a price.
Besides Konoha receiving a letter from Sunagakure, the Daimyo's Palace had also received a letter from the Land of Lightning.
But the daimyo was no fool. He merely replied to Konoha, saying that the Raikage's fate was theirs to decide—whether to kill him, torture him, or trade him for benefits.
What Konoha lacked was not something other villages could provide. Shinichi had replied to Kumogakure only once: if they wanted their Raikage back, they could trade the Eight-Tails for him.
Then came another piece of good news. The Anbu Shinichi had sent to search for Jugo had returned.
The Land of Fire was not that vast. Shinichi had dispatched several Hyuga Anbu to inquire through villages in the Land of Fire and the Land of Rice Fields about newborn children named Jugo with orange hair.
After no small amount of effort, they finally found him. They heard that the child had turned into a monster at birth and killed his mother.
The Anbu paid some compensation and bought the child from his father.
When Shinichi saw the infant, an Anbu had already placed a Restraining Seal on him.
"This Sealing Jutsu is useless