The sun was in the middle of the sky, and Dan was currently standing at the bottom of the hole, panting heavily. Sweat poured profusely from his body, and his muscles burned from exhaustion. But he did not stop.
He formed a chakra axe in his hand again and struck the solid ground. The blue energy cut through the soil and rocks easily, and a large piece of earth broke away. He moved it aside, then struck again. And again. And again.
The digging project became clearer every day. The circular hole, a hundred meters in diameter, was constantly increasing in depth. The ten-meter steps between each level were clearly taking shape. Currently, he had reached a depth of one hundred and twenty meters. Twelve steps. He still had a long way to go to reach five hundred meters, but he was progressing steadily.
More importantly, Dan noticed the improvement and change in his body and chakra. His endurance had increased significantly. In the beginning, he could only dig for one hour before his chakra was exhausted and he was forced to stop. Now, he could continue for four consecutive hours. His mastery of chakra control and manipulation had improved even more. He became able to shape the axe faster, make it sharper, more solid, and more efficient in energy consumption. Every day of digging refined his skills further.
Dan finally stopped and climbed out of the hole using the steps he had carved. He reached the surface and stretched out on the ground to catch his breath. The sky was clear blue above him, and the sun was warm on his skin.
He had not abandoned his other physical exercises. Every morning, he still practiced his military calisthenics routine, then climbed the mountain. This routine had become an inseparable part of his life; he couldn't imagine a day without it.
But there was something new occupying his thoughts lately: Seals.
Dan sat in his hut that night, looking at his hands. He focused and formed the simple Fuinjutsu seal he had learned from the hunting team years ago. It was a basic seal used to bind the target's movement and chakra at the same time if used on humans who possess it. Of course, it had limits; it only affected those with weak chakra. It was useful for controlling animals, preventing them from escaping or resisting.
But Dan wanted to develop it. The next step he wanted was clear in his mind. He wanted a seal that binds chakra only, without hindering movement.
Why? Because this was part of his idea regarding longevity. If he could understand how to seal chakra and how to control it at a deep level, perhaps he could use this understanding for something greater. The idea wasn't entirely clear yet, but he knew that understanding seals had become necessary. So, he decided to start experiments in this field.
But he needed live subjects for his experiments.
During one of his walks on the mountain, Dan noticed a small flock of mountain sheep. They were wild animals living on the mountain slopes, feeding on grass and plants. The flock consisted of about ten sheep, including some young ones. Dan looked at them for several moments, then smiled.
Perfect.
He decided to catch them, build a pen for them near his hut, and raise them. This would serve two purposes. First, providing a permanent food source. He wouldn't have to hunt every day; he would always have fresh meat available, and perhaps milk from the female sheep. Second, and most importantly, they would be live subjects for experiments on the seals he wanted to develop. Living beings—although they didn't possess chakra—would allow him to test his ideas in analyzing and deconstructing the seal and see what works and what fails. Of course, the experiments would even be on the live rabbits he caught. Originally, Dan wished he had the ability to conduct experiments on humans, but current circumstances did not allow that.
In the following days, Dan dedicated part of his time to building a pen. He chose a flat, protected area near his hut. He started gathering wood, cutting trees using his chakra axe, then stripping them of branches to build the fence. It had to be a large, strong fence designed to prevent the sheep from escaping. Its height was about 3 meters, made of sturdy logs fixed deep in the ground. He also built a small shelter inside the pen to protect the sheep from rain and cold.
It took a full week to complete the pen, but he was satisfied with the result. Now, he needed to catch the sheep—a slightly difficult task. Mountain sheep are fast, cautious, and live in rugged terrain. But Dan was patient. He spent several days tracking the flock, watching them, and learning their behavior. He knew where they grazed, where they drank, and where they slept.
Then he set a plan. He dug traps for them in one of their paths and also tried to predict their escape routes after some of them fell into the trap, so he dug several more traps. Because of his high physical strength and his use of chakra for digging, it didn't take him long.
After he made sure most of them had fallen and a few had escaped, he approached them and began using the Fuinjutsu seal to catch the sheep one by one. He would approach quietly, release the seal, paralyze the sheep, then carry it to the pen. It was a slow, exhausting process that required a lot of patience and chakra. But after an exhausting day, he managed to move ten sheep, now in his pen.
The next problem was feeding them. The sheep eat grass and plants, but there wasn't enough inside the pen. So, Dan dedicated part of his time to gathering food for them. Every day, he went to the forest to collect wild fruits available in abundance: berries, wild apples, and different types of small fruits. He filled a large basket he made from bamboo. Then he went to the riverbanks, cutting large handfuls of the fresh green grass that grows there. He returned to the pen, placed the food for the sheep, and watched them as they ate.
It was extra work, consuming time from his day and reducing his training time. But for Dan, it was worth it. Because these sheep were not just a food source; they were tools to achieve his goal of experimentation and food, especially over time as they became slightly domesticated with future generations.
A week after bringing the sheep, Dan began his experiments. He chose one of the sheep—the smallest and weakest. He brought it outside the pen to an open area. The sheep was afraid, trembling while tied with a rope. Dan sat in front of it and focused. He formed the seal in his hand, but he changed the chakra flow slightly, trying to direct it in a different way.
He released the seal.
The sheep trembled, then fell to the ground. Failure. The seal still paralyzed movement. Dan tried again with a different adjustment. Same result. A third time. A fourth.
He continued for hours: trying, failing, analyzing, and trying again. The poor sheep was suffering, but Dan didn't care much, as he intended to eat it eventually after a while.
That night, Dan sat in his hut reviewing what he had learned. The experiments hadn't succeeded yet, but he was starting to understand the problem. The Fuinjutsu seal was targeting the body and chakra together; it was designed that way. To separate them, he needed a deeper understanding of how the seal worked at a fundamental level. He needed more experiments, more time, and more understanding.
But he thought he was on the right track. He looked through the window at the pen where the sheep were sleeping. He smiled slightly.
"I will continue. I will try every day until I find the right way."
He closed his eyes and began refining chakra as usual. Tomorrow, the digging would continue. The physical training would continue. Climbing the mountain would continue. And he would continue his experiments on seals.
Day after day, step by step, toward his goal. No matter how long it took.