After a brief moment of thought, Seimei made his decision. His gaze first fell upon the Mark of Self-Karma Binding.
Previously, he had only invested 36,000 chakra points into this technique daily, earning 360 proficiency points per day.
Later, after he had fully mastered Earth Release: Inner Decapitation Jutsu, the 40,000 chakra points he had saved were redirected into this technique.
With this adjustment, his daily chakra investment increased to 76,000 points, resulting in 760 proficiency points gained per day.
Currently, his proficiency level stood at Lv6 (8,970/10,000). At this rate, he would reach Lv7 in at most one and a half days.
According to the intel sent back by his shadow clone infiltrating the Hidden Waterfall Village, the village's higher-ups would be fully prepared in no more than three days to begin the Seven-Tails transplantation.
He couldn't afford to wait until the last possible moment. He needed to leave some room for flexibility.
Therefore, it would be ideal if he could upgrade this skill within one day.
With that in mind, Seimei decided to allocate 30,000 chakra points from the 150,000 points he had gained due to his increased Spirit attribute, dedicating them to further training of Mark of Self-Karma Binding.
This adjustment would allow him to reach Lv7 in just over a day.
As for the remaining 120,000 chakra points...
Seimei planned to invest all of them into training Four Symbols Seal.
Previously, he had allocated 80,000 chakra points per day to this technique. However, due to its high training difficulty, he could only gain 660 proficiency points per day.
At his current Lv6 (7,480/10,000) proficiency level, he would need nearly four more days to rank up.
But that timeline did not align with his plans.
Now, with the additional 120,000 chakra points, his daily proficiency gain would rise to an unprecedented 1,660 points.
This meant he could advance to Lv7 in just one and a half days.
If he upgraded Mark of Self-Karma Binding first, he could then redirect the remaining chakra from that day into the Four Symbols Seal, further shortening the timeframe.
In the end, it might take only one to two hours longer than Mark of Self-Karma Binding to reach Lv7.
With this plan, his requirements were essentially met.
Now, all he hoped was that the Hidden Waterfall Village wouldn't act within the next 24 hours.
If so, he would have a high chance of capturing the Seven-Tails intact.
However, even if something unexpected happened—such as the Hidden Waterfall Village acting ahead of schedule—there wouldn't be too much of a problem.
His main goal was concealment, as well as optimizing his capture and control of the Seven-Tails. It wouldn't impact the bigger picture.
As for personal safety...
Perhaps in the past, it would have been a concern.
But now?
Not at all.
Why?
Because with his Sharingan evolution progress reaching (40,000/50,000), he had unlocked the fourth stage of Susanoo.
This stage of Susanoo was the strongest form before the Final Complete Body.
Not only had its attack and defense capabilities significantly improved, but it had also grown legs, making it far more mobile and agile.
With this level of power, even if the entire Hidden Waterfall Village joined forces with the Seven-Tails, they still might not be able to defeat him.
After all, over time, his chakra reserves had exceeded 300,000 points.
What did this mean?
A standard Jonin—without special bloodlines or abilities—typically had only 7,000 to 8,000 chakra points.
Even a genius like Kakashi had only about 10,000 chakra points.
In other words, just in terms of chakra alone, he was already equivalent to thirty Kakashis—a 30 "Kakashi" level power.
While this still couldn't compare to Naruto Uzumaki, Madara Uchiha, or Hashirama Senju, it was already extremely impressive.
At the very least, it was more than enough to sustain him through a major battle.
Furthermore, he had perfected the Chakra Absorption Technique.
As long as he found the right opportunity, he could drain his enemies' chakra, making him immune to siege tactics and prolonged battles.
Because of this, he wasn't particularly concerned about his own safety during this mission.
With these thoughts in mind, Seimei took one last glance at the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, which had appeared on his status panel, but decided to ignore it for now.
He then began training in seclusion.
One day later.
The following morning—
After reabsorbing his shadow clones and processing their training experience and memories, Seimei snapped open his eyes.
Just as he had planned, after a day of training, both Mark of Self-Karma Binding and Four Symbols Seal had advanced to Lv7.
Originally, he had assumed these skills might have higher level caps.
However, upon reaching Lv7, he realized that this was their limit.
Now, both techniques had reached mastery and undergone substantial qualitative changes.
Seimei's understanding of sealing techniques had also deepened significantly.
For Mark of Self-Karma Binding—
He could now activate it instantly without hand seals and bind enemies over a much larger range.
Additionally, he could set it as a trap, allowing him to place it outside of his body. If a target stepped into the sealed area, they would immediately be ensnared.
This significantly improved its flexibility.
As for Four Symbols Seal—
This technique was far more complex than Mark of Self-Karma Binding, but its effectiveness was also far greater.
Unlike Mark of Self-Karma Binding, which was focused on restricting movement, Four Symbols Seal specialized in sealing objects or entities.
Now that it had reached mastery, Seimei was confident that he could seal an entire Tailed Beast inside a human host with just this technique.
And the process had almost zero risk of failure.
However, Seimei still wasn't fully satisfied.
After all, Four Symbols Seal was only a B-rank technique.
While it could seal a Tailed Beast, it also came with some drawbacks—
For example, the host would be more vulnerable to the beast's mental influence.
Additionally, Four Symbols Seal was not suited for sealing a Tailed Beast into objects—which limited its usefulness.
Because of this, Seimei began working on developing Eight Trigrams Seal, an enhanced version of Four Symbols Seal.
This would combine multiple sealing techniques, including:
Guardian Sealing Jutsu Object Sealing Array Mark of Self-Karma Binding (which he had already mastered)
His ultimate goal was to create a specialized scroll or artifact that could contain Tailed Beasts—allowing him to easily harness their chakra.
Nowadays, both the Mark of Karma Binding and the Four Symbols Seal have reached a state of perfection, undergoing a certain degree of qualitative change.
Along with this, Seimei's understanding of these two sealing techniques has deepened to an exceptional level.
As for the Mark of Karma Binding, there's not much more to say…
Now, not only can he cast this technique without hand seals, using himself as the center, significantly enhancing its binding power, but he can also set it as an external trap. By placing it outside his body, any target that steps into it will be immediately ensnared.
In short, its flexibility has greatly increased.
As for the Four Symbols Seal…
Compared to the Mark of Karma Binding, this technique is more difficult to master, but likewise, its effects are far more powerful.
While the Mark of Karma Binding specializes in restricting movement, the Four Symbols Seal excels in sealing.
Now that it has reached perfection, Seimei is confident that this technique alone is enough to seal a Tailed Beast inside another person.
The process has virtually no chance of failure.
However, Seimei still isn't completely satisfied.
Even though the Four Symbols Seal is powerful, it's still only equivalent to a B-rank skill. While it can seal a Tailed Beast, it's highly likely to cause some side effects.
For instance, the sealed Tailed Beast may more easily affect the Jinchuriki's mental state.
Moreover, it can't seal the Tailed Beast into other objects or locations, which makes it somewhat limited.
Therefore, Seimei plans to develop the Eight Trigrams Seal based on this technique.
If successful, he might be able to combine the Protective Seal, the Sealing Array, and the fully-mastered Mark of Karma Binding to create a scroll or tool specifically designed to seal Tailed Beasts.
With this, harnessing the Tailed Beasts' chakra would become much easier for him.
Wasting no time, Seimei calmed his thoughts and began developing the Eight Trigrams Seal, using the Four Symbols Seal as its foundation.
It's unclear whether his mastery of multiple sealing techniques gave him a clearer understanding of their essence, or if it's because the Eight Trigrams Seal is fundamentally a fusion of two Four Symbols Seals.
Either way, it didn't take him long to break through the limits of the Four Symbols Seal.
"Status Panel!"
With a thought, Seimei opened his proficiency panel.
Just as he expected, the perfected Four Symbols Seal flickered and transformed into the Eight Trigrams Seal.
However, its proficiency didn't reset to Level 0. Instead, it directly advanced to Level 7 (1/20,000).
Without hesitation, Seimei immediately allocated the 106,000 chakra points he had previously invested in the Mark of Karma Binding and the 200,000 chakra points from the Four Symbols Seal into the Eight Trigrams Seal.
After practicing the technique several times, Seimei concluded that improving his proficiency in this seal required approximately 150 chakra points per level.
At this rate, with 306,000 chakra points per day, he could gain 2,040 proficiency points daily.
Following this pace, it would take him less than ten days to reach Level 8, and another twenty-five days to reach Level 9.
Level 9 would likely be the seal's ultimate limit.
However, this timeline clearly wouldn't align with the upcoming mission to capture the Seven-Tails.
Still, Seimei wasn't too disappointed.
This technique wasn't part of his immediate plans anyway.
For this mission, the Four Symbols Seal alone would suffice.
As for the Eight Trigrams Seal and the series of ideas he had for it after reaching full mastery, those were preparations for better utilizing the Seven-Tails' chakra and didn't affect the overall strategy.
Therefore, he had no concerns about running out of time.