You can spin up a node or use a wallet to create an account directly on the Steem blockchain instead of doing it through the Steemit webpage.
You can create an account through steem connect if you have a friend with steem https://steemit.com/news/@timcliff/new-tool-from-busy-org-cr...
For advanced users you can do the steem account creation transation yourself using the steem cli
There are plenty of guides how to work with the Steem blockchain directly posted as blog posts on the blockchain itself. :)
(I've not read the white paper or other documentation so the info may be buried in there, I'm unlikely to find time for that in the near future though so asking out of "laziness" in case you have a quick answer to give)