"Heh, no need to be in such a rush. It's getting pretty late, anyway. Let's crash in a nearby town for the night and head out tomorrow. Besides, we need to gather some intel. The ninja world isn't exactly peaceful right now."
Menma shook his head with a smile, gazing toward the Hidden Leaf Village far to the southeast, his expression turning serious.
During his few days in the Land of Rice Fields, relying on Orochimaru's network, Menma had gained a pretty comprehensive understanding of the outside world. Orochimaru hadn't tried to block any information from reaching him; in the Snake Sannin's eyes, doing so would be pointless.
In fact, Orochimaru likely felt that letting Menma see just how dangerous the current political landscape was would only increase his own leverage. Menma was, after all, just one person. With the eyes of the entire ninja world fixed on him, Orochimaru was betting that Menma would become increasingly dependent on him.
It was an open conspiracy—a calculated power play by Orochimaru.
Menma was well aware of this, but he wasn't about to play by Orochimaru's script.
In Menma's plan, these people, forces, and organizations were merely hurdles he had to face and step over. How could he possibly submit to them? If he were the type to fold under pressure, there would have been no point in leaving the Hidden Leaf in the first place.
However, the situation in the ninja world was exactly as he had said—getting more dangerous by the minute. While some plot points remained the same, Menma's defection had clearly sent ripples through the timeline, creating a completely different unfolding of events.
Menma couldn't predict whether the Five Great Nations would spark a new Great Ninja War. He could only judge based on the current situation. Every step forward had to be taken with extreme caution.
"Let's go, Karin."
"Right!"
With a leap, Menma led Karin toward a town located to the northeast.
---
The night passed without incident.
After resting in a small southeastern town in the Land of Waterfalls, Menma woke up early the next morning, just as the first rays of dawn hit the ground.
Using the Transformation Jutsu, Menma moved through the town without worrying about blowing his cover. He drifted in and out of public spaces and underground hangouts, gathering whatever useful intel he could.
While this method didn't exactly yield top-secret classified documents, he could still get the basics.
For example, the troop movements of the Cloud and Stone ninjas were the easiest to track. We aren't talking about small squads here; these were massive deployments involving at least a thousand shinobi. Ordinary information brokers could track that kind of movement with pinpoint accuracy.
However, Menma felt a twinge of disappointment when he confirmed that the three major villages hadn't escalated into a full-blown conflict.
Maybe the Hidden Leaf's response, both publicly and in the shadows, had been timely and correct. Or perhaps the other villages still feared the Leaf's old reputation and hidden reserves. The main forces of the Stone and Cloud were just gathering at the borders without making any further moves.
To be honest, this wasn't what Menma wanted to see.
Whether for his future revenge against the Leaf or to achieve another wild ambition buried in his heart, a renewed war between the great villages was the scenario that best fit Menma's expectations. He wanted to see the Five Great Shinobi Villages weakened even more than the Akatsuki or Obito did.
He didn't want a peaceful standoff.
But if they didn't want to fight, there wasn't much Menma could do about it. It's not like he could single-handedly provoke the Five Great Villages right now. He was already walking a tightrope; one slip meant it was "Game Over." Why would he go looking for more trouble?
Not to mention, he was essentially a walking winning lottery ticket in the eyes of the major villages right now. The Hidden Leaf was desperate to capture him, and the Hidden Stone and Hidden Cloud—the two strongest villages after the Leaf—were absolutely plotting ways to get their hands on him.
The Nine-Tails.
That was a temptation no village aiming for supremacy could resist.
Menma had no doubt that right now, Hunter-nin squads from every major village were scouring the map, trying to pinpoint his exact location. Everyone wanted to grab the first-mover advantage.
So, until he was truly powerful enough, Menma had to think twice before engaging any village. He had to max out his caution stats.
Even during the "Konoha Crush" plan, Menma had managed to restrain himself. Now was even more critical. He had anticipated this stalemate from the start; a Great Ninja War doesn't just happen overnight. As the saying goes, it takes two to tango.
Menma quickly adjusted his mindset.
After double-checking the current state of the world, he felt safe enough to lead Karin north, heading toward the location of the Hidden Waterfall Village (Takigakure).
The village that possessed the Seven-Tails.
Because of this, even though the village had been in decline for years, it still held a pivotal status in the ninja world.
The Five Great Villages weren't willing to attack the Waterfall Village lightly. They knew better than anyone how destructive a Tailed Beast could be. It wasn't that the current Waterfall Village was a massive threat, but rather that no Great Nation wanted to push the Waterfall into an enemy camp by being too aggressive.
That would be the worst-case scenario.
Menma chose to visit this village at this specific time to scout the path and lay the groundwork for his future plans.
As mentioned before, if Menma wanted to build his own power base quickly, the most direct and effective method was a hostile takeover—a "cuckoo in the nest" strategy. Among the smaller ninja villages, the Hidden Waterfall had the most potential and was the easiest to manipulate.
The potential came from Fū, the Seven-Tails Jinchūriki, and the legendary "Hero Water" that could reportedly boost a ninja's chakra dozens of times over. The manipulability came from the fact that the current leader of the Waterfall was incredibly young.
Menma couldn't remember the exact details of the original plot or character designs perfectly, but he vaguely recalled the young Waterfall leader having a cowardly personality.
Compared to dealing with old foxes, Menma was much happier dealing with a youngster like that.
Because young implies "infinite possibilities."
Or, to put it bluntly: they are easy to con.
---
"Huh? The Hidden Waterfall Village is inside there? Menma, are you sure?"
Standing outside the territory, staring at the massive, spectacular waterfall crashing down before them, Karin looked at Menma with a face full of disbelief.
"Yeah, it's right in there. I just confirmed it in the surrounding settlements," Menma nodded with a smile.
"A ninja village, no matter how well hidden, eventually has its location known to the world. After all, shinobi need to accept missions to get paid. If clients can't even find where the village is, how are they supposed to hire you?"
---