In the original story, Naruto and his team entered the village directly through the waterfall.
However, according to the information Menma gathered from the locals in the surrounding area, there was a winding path on the other side of the mountain that led into the Hidden Waterfall Village. That was the actual road for receiving guests.
After all, you couldn't really expect every outsider—especially regular civilians—to swim through a waterfall to get into the village. That would be a joke.
"Let's go. The main gate is in the other direction. We need to change our looks, too."
This was a reconnaissance mission, not a raid.
Naturally, they needed to conceal their true appearances. Right now, Menma was a "Seed Candidate" for the Most Wanted list across the entire ninja world. Heaven only knew if the Waterfall Village had received his updated wanted poster. Menma didn't want to step one foot inside only to immediately trigger a massive riot.
"Got it."
Karin nodded, understanding the plan perfectly.
"Transformation Jutsu."
The two of them performed the jutsu in sync, transforming into adults who looked to be in their late twenties. Once disguised, they moved one after the other, flashing toward the main gate of the Hidden Waterfall. Menma had no intention of hiding the fact that he was a ninja.
That would be a foolish move.
Apart from incredibly minor villages like the Hidden Star, which might lack sensory-type ninjas, any village with a decent scale would have sensors on patrol. While the skill level of these sensors varied, even the worst sensory ninja could detect chakra signatures within a certain range.
If Menma tried to pretend he was a civilian tourist while leaking chakra, he would just be kidding himself—like an ostrich sticking its head in the sand.
They circled around the terrain.
After just a few minutes, they spotted the winding path. Looking at it from a tactical perspective, the geographic advantage of the Hidden Waterfall Village was honestly exaggerated. Whether it was the waterfall entrance or this narrow path, the defense was naturally formidable.
Entering normally was fine.
But if an enemy tried to invade? Unless there was a massive gap in power, or the Waterfall ninjas were caught completely off guard, it would be impossible for anyone to storm the village's heartland.
It was similar to the "Heaven's Gap" canyon defense of the Hidden Sand Village.
If not for the spy Sasori had planted—the Jonin Yura—opening the gates from the inside, even Sasori and Deidara wouldn't have been able to infiltrate the Sand so quietly. The same logic applied to the Stone, Cloud, and Mist villages. They all had their own unique defensive strategies.
The only exception was the Hidden Leaf. When it was founded, Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha were simply too powerful. They were strong enough to completely ignore these details. The Leaf was built right in the middle of a massive plain, accessible from all sides. Later on, they had to rely on a massive sensory barrier for detection, but that was only for spotting enemies, not physically stopping an invasion.
Although this was Menma's first time visiting other ninja villages in this life, he had a good understanding of their terrain from watching the series in his past life.
Seeing the Hidden Waterfall's location in person, he couldn't help but marvel at it. With such natural terrain advantages paired with competent guards, it would be incredibly difficult for anyone to break in without god-tier power.
"Halt! Who goes there? What business do you have with the Hidden Waterfall?"
Since Menma and Karin hadn't hidden their tracks, the Waterfall guards stationed on the path locked onto them immediately. If they had been civilians, the guards would have waved them through.
But since they were clearly ninjas of unknown affiliation, the guards had to intercept them.
"Greetings. We are envoys from Lord Tsuchimikado, the Minister of the Left under the Fire Daimyo. We have a mission to commission to your village and request an audience with your leader."
Facing the scrutinizing gazes of the two Waterfall ninjas who had flickered in front of them, Menma smiled gently. Without rushing, he pulled a token from his robe—clearly made of a special metal—and presented it to them.
This was the cover identity Menma had prepared before coming here.
Ninjas weren't exclusive to the Hidden Villages.
In the Five Great Nations, the Daimyos and high-ranking nobles maintained their own private forces. These ninjas were either trained from childhood or recruited as mercenaries. The most famous group was the Guardian Twelve Ninja of the Land of Fire. Generally speaking, these ninjas took orders directly from the Daimyo or the nobility.
It was a form of political counter-balance against the Hidden Villages.
But in reality, it was toothless.
The ninjas under the Daimyos were usually pitifully weak (Chunin level at best), or their loyalties weren't exactly pure.
Take the Guardian Twelve Ninja, for example. Asuma Sarutobi used to be a member. But who was Asuma? The son of the Third Hokage. Who do you think he'd side with in a crunch? Listening to the Daimyo's orders was a joke. The internal slaughter among the Guardian Twelve in the original story was proof enough of that.
However, while these capital-city ninjas rarely performed well in combat, their status commanded a certain level of recognition and respect. It was a matter of diplomatic protocol.
Although Menma's identity was fake, the token was real.
He had gotten it from Orochimaru.
The Snake Sannin hadn't even asked what Menma wanted it for; he just handed it over generously. To Orochimaru, this was a trivial matter. A status token from a noble? It meant nothing to him.
"Oh!? Honored guests from the Land of Fire. Please, come in. We will report to the Leader immediately."
The green-haired Waterfall ninja on the left couldn't tell if the token was authentic or not, but he didn't really care.
Identity, when you got down to it, was just a symbol. Ninjas cared more about practical reality.
He signaled to the guard beside him.
"Right."
Following that, the guard personally escorted Menma and Karin toward the village interior. Along the way, he spoke in a tone that sounded like helpful advice but was actually a warning: they were not to wander off. There were restricted areas strictly off-limits to outsiders, rigged with lethal traps.