After Dan arrived at the massive mountain range and decided it would be his home, he chose a large flat area at the foot of one of the mountains. It was covered in green grass and scattered trees. Nearby, a huge waterfall cascaded from the mountaintop, its clear waters falling powerfully to form a large pond below before continuing as a small river through the forest.
He began his first planned training. It wasn't ordinary training, but something that merged necessity with development. Dan needed to build a wooden hut to protect himself from the weather and animals. But instead of making it just a construction task, he decided to turn it into chakra control training.
He spent hours making some primitive stone axes. Using hard, sharp stones, he shaped them carefully and tied them to strong wooden sticks using ropes made from plant fibers. They were just primitive tools, far from good metal ones, but they were the best he had for now.
The plan was simple on the surface but complex in execution. He would use chakra to coat these stone axes and then try to cut down trees with them. Dan knew this method was very difficult. He remembered from the anime that ninja tools used in combat, like swords and kunai, are usually made of special chakra-conducting metals designed specifically to handle the flow of energy. His primitive axes were not like that. They were just stone and wood—non-conductive materials not designed for this purpose.
But that was exactly what he wanted.
His goal wasn't to cut trees easily. His goal was to upgrade his chakra control to a superhuman level. He had mastered water-walking before leaving the village, which improved his control significantly. But for Dan, that wasn't enough. What he wanted was absolute, superhuman control over his chakra. He wanted to use every single ounce of it effectively, without any waste or dissipation.
There were two main reasons for this goal. First, his small chakra reserve. He knew he could never compete with others in quantity. Therefore, he had to compensate with quality—perfect control and the efficient use of every drop of his energy.
The second, and more important, reason was the path he had drawn for his future. He had a theory, an idea, about how to gain longevity. He didn't know if it would work, but it was the only plan he had, and it required extremely precise chakra control.
Dan was a very realistic person. After a long time thinking about ways to achieve longevity in this world based on what he knew from the anime, he reached several conclusions.
First, Orochimaru's method, which depends on advanced scientific research and experiments. This was impossible for him because he wasn't a scientist. Even if he wanted to take this path, the current era didn't allow it; technical progress was very primitive. This period followed the sealing of Kaguya, so the world was still recovering. Finally, his scientific knowledge was limited to what he remembered from school. So, this path was unrealistic for him.
The second method was using ninjutsu like transplanting hearts or organs. This was also impossible because Ninshu arts were currently very limited and had not expanded into complex techniques yet.
The third method was the path of the Sage of the Six Paths—becoming a complete Jinchuriki like Obito. Of course, for Dan right now, this was pure fantasy.
The fourth method was using natural energy, learning how to absorb it, and developing Sage Mode into something higher, like the beasts of the Three Sacred Lands. Naturally, this was impossible now; he didn't even know how to enter the Three Sacred Lands. Even if he could, with his weak talent, Dan was certain he would turn into a statue on his first attempt.
Therefore, the most realistic plan for him was to forge his own path to immortality using what was possible given his current situation and capabilities. Here, he remembered some details from the anime about how Tsunade used seals to keep her body and fitness in top condition. Dan didn't know if Tsunade gained a long life in the original story because of her technique, but he knew she was always at her best because of it.
So, his current plan was to reach superhuman chakra control and try to pave his way in the field of Fuinjutsu (Sealing Arts) to see if he could gain something. This was his reason for learning seals from the village hunters. He also tried to ask if there was more knowledge in this field, but he found nothing. He understood that in this era, techniques were very few and raw.
Additionally, he had a clear idea about the fighting style he wanted. He didn't want to be an average fighter throwing powerful techniques randomly. He wanted something different—something based on precision, control, and efficiency. This also required a high level of chakra control. Therefore, this training was indispensable.
He knew that chakra could be used in a solid form, but how to reach that level of control puzzled him. After thinking outside the box, this is what he came up with.
Dan held one of the stone axes and stood before a massive tree. He closed his eyes and focused. He felt the chakra flowing inside him, warm and faint. He directed it toward his hands, toward the axe. Slowly, the chakra began to spread on the surface of the axe from the outside, coating it with a thin layer of faint blue energy.
He opened his eyes and looked at the axe. The chakra covered it completely, taking its shape. Of course, it didn't pass through the stone; it only enveloped it. He smiled slightly. This part was relatively easy because he had practiced spreading chakra on different surfaces over the past few years.
But Dan knew the real difficulty would come now. The problem wasn't coating the axe with chakra; the problem was keeping that layer solid, sharp, and stable during the strike. In reality, what would cut the tree wouldn't be the stone axe itself, but the chakra coating it. The axe was just a mold, a way to help the chakra take the right shape. Therefore, the chakra had to be solid enough to cut wood, sharp enough to penetrate it, and stable enough not to dissipate upon impact.
He raised the axe high and took a deep breath. Then he struck.
As soon as the axe hit the tree trunk, the chakra dissipated like steam, vanishing into the air. Failure. Dan looked at the axe, then at the tree, whose trunk wasn't even affected. It wasn't surprising; he expected it. But he didn't feel frustrated.
He tried again. And failed again. He tried a third time. And failed.
He continued like this for hours. Attempt after attempt, failure after failure. Each time, the chakra dissipated upon impact. Sometimes it vanished completely, and sometimes it distorted and lost its shape.
But Dan didn't stop. He knew he had weak talent. He knew he was old—thirty-four years now—which is a very late age to start training. But what he could use to compensate were his ideas. His unconventional ideas, different from this era. Ideas he brought from his original world, from his knowledge of anime, and from his understanding of science and logic. And his determination—his unwavering determination to survive, to achieve his goal, and not to die.
By evening, Dan lay down completely exhausted. His body ached from the repeated strikes, and his chakra had been drained many times during the training. Dan sat under the tree he was trying to cut, his back against its trunk, looking at the sky that had begun to turn red with the sunset.
"This will take a long time," he thought. "Maybe months. Maybe a year."
However, he didn't mind. He had all the time in the world. No one was waiting for him, no one was chasing him, and no one cared about his existence. He was alone in the wilderness, far from everything. This gave him freedom—the freedom to train the way he wanted, at the pace that suited him, without any external pressure.
"I will continue," he whispered to himself. "Day after day, attempt after attempt, until I master it."