Elemental and Non-Element chakra

Post Author: Mart

I decided to do an investigative blog about what Elemental and Non-elemental chakra can do.

 

Elements: 

First a general overview of Elements in the Naruverse: There are six elements in the naruverse, five of which have been confirmed. The sixth element was hinted at by both Pein and Kakashi, Pein claimed to have control of six elements and Kakashi vaguely referenced Light/Dark manipulation but no substantial information has been provided. The way Kishimoto presents elements is that they add distinct characteristics to Jutsu that are as follows Sharpness (Wind), Dampening (Water), Burning (Fire), Shock/paralysis (Lightning), Hardness/Density changes (Earth). All chakra IS energy, and can obtain any of these characteristics, what elemental manipulation does is bring out these respective characteristics out in the jutsu, all chakra can shock, burn, cut ect. but it won’t unless the ninja molds the chakra in a specific way to bring out these characteristics. He also tells us that certain elements are strong against others in this order: Fire–> Wind–> Lightning–> Earth–> Water–> Fire.

 

Here is a more in-depth look at each of the elements:

 

Fire Chakra:

 

As the element name suggests, this release creates fires. It super heats Chakra so that it becomes combustible and produces a burning effect by lighting the air on fire. Fire chakra has several uses besides just creating fire though, it has been used to; heat weapons such as shuriken, super heating the air, create explosive gas, and lighters (for explosives)

 

Water Chakra:

 

As the element name suggests, this release allows the user to manipulate water, but it can also affect any liquids and even some thick gases (those on the point of condensation). It works by pressurizing (think hydraulic systems) the chakra so that it can move the liquids in various forms and even create heavy mists that wouldn’t exist otherwise. This allows for several types of water based jutsu such as moving shields of water, traps (slow and stop opponents movement), and projectile attacks such as jet streams of water or bullet techniques.

 

Earth Chakra:

 

As the element name suggests, this release allows the user to manipulate earth, which including any solid particles. The element works by using chakra to harden or soften objects to uses them. This element can be used in several ways, it allows them to shoot rocks, create shields of rock, mold clay, shoot shrapnel bomb (Diedra), fuse with rocks, become as hard as steel (It’s not my fault Kishi is a perv.), move through the earth.

 

Wind Chakra:

 

As the element name suggests, this release manipulates wind. It works by sharpening chakra to the point where it cuts anything, even solid rock. Users can use this chakra in several ways such as blasts of air, swords of air, and weapon (and jutsu) sharpening techniques. All of which produce a cutting effect on contact.

 

Lightning Chakra:

As the name suggests, this release produces electricity. It works by converting chakra into electricity to shock an opponent. It has many uses such as Shocking, Paralysis, and Magnetism.

 

(This pic. is a composite of four screenshots, three from episode 56 one from 63, top left: Naruto’s non-element chakra; bottom left: Assuma’s wind chakra; Top right: Assuma and Naruto’s blades are thrown at a tree (Assuma’s went through); Bottom right: Assuma explains to Naruto and Sora how the wind chakra has a smaller hole than the non-element chakra because of the way it is consentrated.)

Now that you have a good idea of the characteristics of what the elements do, we will discuss non-element chakra.

 

Non-element chakra: This is chakra in it’s most basic form, it is used in several jutsu such as; the Rasengan, Water walking techniques, Tree Climbing techniques, and gentle fist techniques. Non-element chakra lacks the properties of the elemental chakra, however, it still has force and direction. This shouldn’t be confused with Wind Chakra or Water chakra which focus that direction into certain shapes for a unidirectional release, what this chakra does is provide a multi directional release of spread equally in all directions. A justu that has non-elemental chakra within it can still do damage, but when compared to a jutsu with the same amount of chakra that has been recomposed, it will lose because it lacks specific characteristics as demonstrated by Asuma’s Knife throwing contest.

 

Kishimoto clearly defines the abilities of non-elemental chakra, it is used in “shape manipulation” of jutsu rather than “elemental manipulation.” Shape Manipulation determines size, range, and power of a jutsu, but not the attack type. The best evidence of pure shape manipulation is the Rasengan,

Then Kishimoto shows us the combined product of elemental and shape manipulation, the best example is “Wind Release: RasenShuriken” though the combination is also present in most jutsu (If you consider Light/Dark manipulation as the sixth element, but Kishimoto has been unclear on this subject though)

 

Hope this helped you understand a bit, I know I learned a little bit doing the research.