Mission Briefing:
I hope this will wrap up the whole concept of chakra usage. I started with hand seals, wanted to continue with affinities but somehow managed to squeeze elements in there and now it is time to take a comprehensive look at the manipulations. I partially explained nature manipulation in the chapter on elements and I will draw upon it.
Thoughts and Speculations Four: Manipulations
As You should already know, when shinobis expel chakra from their bodies they can use it to power jutsus or change its nature or change its shape or use it in a different way, for example for water-walking or disrupting genjutsu, or do a combination of these. If the chakra is to be used for a jutsu, it is already moulded through the use of hand seals prior to the expulsion. If the chakra is to be used to disrupt a genjutsu, etc., it is expelled in a steady flow and that is about it. If the chakra is to be controlled and manipulated outside of the shinobi's system, then nature and shape manipulations come to play and these two will be the focus of this chapter.
Although Kakashi explained shape manipulation to Naruto first, I will begin my explanation with nature manipulation instead, because I have already covered some ground on it in chapter 2, chapter 3 was on affinities, so this will be an uninterrupted process. The exact Japanese term that is used in canon is "seishitsu henka". If You want the exact symbols as well, then I believe they are 性質変化. Since I know that even the best translations cannot replace the original, I decided to please those of You who know Japanese and thus give You a clearer idea of the concept. However, those of You whose computers are unable to display the kanji, hiragana and katakana symbols, just like mine at home, will probably find this piece of information pretty much useless. Ah well, that is life. All right, enough chitchat, it is time for some science. Nature manipulation is basically used to change the nature of the expelled chakra into that of one of the six elements or one of the elemental fusions. I am sorry to say this but I will have to inspect each of the six elements separately to get my point across better. That is because each element is formed differently. However, I hope I will be able to find some generalising information that will be valid for each one.
Well then, let's have a shinobi demonstrate for us. Because I am currently sick of writing in a politically correct, genderless way, I will let You imagine whichever Naruto character You like for this position, be it a male or a female or Orochimaru. I will pick my favourite adult of Naruto – Namikaze Minato. If You picked a female or Orochimaru, disregard the "he"s I will use and replace them with the proper pronoun. I will kindly ask him to focus some chakra into the palm of his hand, just to show us he can do it effortlessly. His hand glows with a pretty light-blue sheen as the chakra is undulating out of him and sort of evaporating and dispersing into the air like a cold blue flame. Since his name implies that he should be either a wind type or a water type and since wind nature manipulation is pretty well known, I will ask him to transform the chakra on his palm into water. He nods and starts to focus and soon his hand is getting wet, a small pool forming by his feet. I think that is enough so I thank him and say good-bye.
Now that the little demonstration is over, it is time to reflect on it. What Minato did back there was of course nature manipulation and, as the term suggests, it is the process of calling upon one of the natural alignments present in chakra and strengthening it to the point when it was able to govern the general behaviour of all the particles in question. He did it by focusing on the concepts that the element embodies and by keeping in mind what that element can serve as. This is the crucial part because for the nature manipulation to be successful, he had to understand the element and not force his own ideas on it – You cannot go against nature. It is possible to create water out of chakra but it is not possible to create sake; it is possible to create fire but, unless it is some freaky fusion I am not familiar with, it is not possible to make it cold. I think this is as general as I can make it. From this point on, the differences will rear their ugly heads. I am sorry.
In the chapter on elements, I was bouncing between nature manipulation inside and outside of the body and which situation is more likely for which element. Now, I will try to find an explanation for how it is done outside of the body for all six elements. I will preserve the order in which I presented the elements previously, meaning that I will once again begin with fire and finish with water.
Fire Manipulation: To give chakra the properties of fire, a shinobi probably has to focus on these concepts: heat, light, consumption and unbound propagation. Heat is understandable enough and it is probably achieved through commanding the particles to move very rapidly, since heat is energy and energy is movement. I picked light as the second concept because I proposed that every element must be understood in its entirety and light is an essential part of fire; it is the most evident manifestation of energy. The concept of consumption is as clear as that of heat. Because fire is to be all-consuming the chakra particles need to be commanded to absorb everything that gets in their way. Unbound propagation is a little problematic because while fire burns wherever there is fuel for it (consumption), a shinobi seeks to control it. It would not do any good to transform chakra into fire and then have it incinerate Your clothes or burn away Your skin. Therefore, the fire has to be allowed to do whatever it pleases and at the same time the shinobi has to focus it in the desired space. This also means that fire nature manipulation should never be attempted without basic shape manipulation.
Wind Manipulation: This one would be the easiest to describe, since it was explained in canon. I have already repeated the basic process of two grinding halves and I will focus on the other concepts that should be present in a shinobi's mind to successfully transform chakra into wind. They should be: movement, pervasiveness, encompassment and unbound propagation again. I will not lie to You, I know that the latter three concepts are variations of the first one but that is just it – they are variations, they are specifications. Pervasiveness is probably the second most important concept that needs to be kept in mind because "a blade of wind cannot be stopped". You know that with enough force wind is able to tear down a skyscraper (a badly-built one of course, but none the less). Encompassment and unbound propagation are also very similar to each other because the former is the result of the latter. Similarly to fire, the last concept has to be held in check but the situation is not so dangerous because wind is not concentrated like fire and its erratic movements are much less harmful. Therefore, it is possible to use wind nature manipulation without shape manipulation, if Your goal is to "just make some wind".
Lightning Manipulation: To give chakra the properties of lightning, the concepts a shinobi most likely has to apply are these: rapid linear movement, charge, piercing power and light. The rapid linear movement should be clear enough because natural lightning is a high-speed transfer of energy on a more-or-less direct trajectory. It also travels in bursts but it can be tamed into steady currents when it has some conductor medium. It is up to the shinobi to choose between a quick discharge or a longer lasting effect. The concept of charge is essential because lightning energy always follows two phases: accumulation and release. How much energy is built up and how it is released is up to the shinobi. The concept of piercing power is there because of what lightning is used for – drilling holes through everything. The concept of light can be called a "necessary evil", much like with fire, because the lightning energy cannot manifest itself without it. I theorised that to be able to produce lightning chakra, a shinobi has to "activate" the whole chakra system first to let the lightning pass harmlessly through. Without this, concentrating it into the palm would be dangerous and easily render the hand useless. Some shape manipulation is also needed to make the lightning chakra more harmful towards the targeted enemy because, as Kakashi explained, it gives it the discharging phase.
Earth Manipulation: My opinion is that earth nature manipulation by itself is pretty much useless and I will explain myself later. Now it is concept time again and I think the necessary ones are: dense concentration, stillness, palpability and firmness (totally expected). Similarly to wind, all of these concepts are in essence variations of each other but all have to be present to give sense to one another. The dense concentration is the basic one because for earth to be created, a whole lot of particles need to be gathered. However, I am reluctant to say that earth (and also water) nature manipulation is more chakra consuming than the others are. That would be unfair and disrupt the natural balance. To compensate for this, a way to provide the extra mass needs to be found. Breaking chakra at the molecular level is too far-fetched and would eventually serve nothing because the mass is constant. This leads me to believe that the focused chakra draws in molecules of weak bonds between each other. Some minerals could be procured from the shinobi's body as is probably the case when mud is created inside the larynx. Stillness is the concept that should follow the dense concentration because having chakra particles move about will not let You create a solid object. Palpability is where the concentration can end and it is up to the shinobi to choose how much more of it is needed beyond the state when the mass really "feels massive". The concept of firmness is the next significant stage of concentration but it needs to be achieved only when the shinobi wants to create more than mud. Now that the concepts have been explained, I should get back to the alleged uselessness of earth. It is because pure earth nature manipulation can only create unformed mud or scattered pebbles that the shinobi would just have to fling on the enemies. Shape manipulation is where it is at because shaping chakra that was transformed into earth can create pointy objects that can be used as weapons. This would be very useful if a shinobi ever runs out of all the shurikens, kunais and senbons.
Water Manipulation: This brings me back to where I started with Minato's imagined demonstration. You do remember, right? He was creating water out of his chakra and letting it flow off his palm and onto the ground. That looked a little uncool, did it not? Well, since I have already explained why earth is useless without shape manipulation and said that water is the same case, I will not repeat that. Instead, here is my take on the concepts necessary for water manipulation: concentration, movement, palpability and unbound propagation. There are no new concepts here, just some of the ones already presented and that is simply because I fail to find any more in water. Let's review how they contribute to creating water then, shall we? Concentration needs to be less emphasised than with earth because water is a liquid and not solid. It is only needed to the point where palpability is achieved. The movement of particles is slower than that of other elements besides earth, where it is undesirable. The last concept, that of unbound propagation, is there because, just like air and fire, water flows freely on its own and flow is where it finds itself at its strongest; stale water in a container can do very little. As You can see, water shares some traits with earth and the last one is the need for additional mass chakra needs to draw from the surroundings. In this aspect, water has it easier because there are already many water molecules in air.
Yin & Yang Manipulation: This is a tricky one. Although this is the reason why there are in fact six nature manipulations, it is not exactly an element. Also, I have absolutely no idea what simple concepts should be crucial to successfully create this element. The Yin & Yang is translated in Dattebayo fan-subs as "Light & Dark" (but it should be "Dark & Light") and this would propose the concepts of the same name to be necessary. However, I am reluctant to leave it at that or even accept it because the "Dark & Light" part is only another name and it would lead to misconceptions about the "good" and the "bad" side which is definitely not the case here. All I can say is that for a shinobi to use this manipulation, it is probably necessary to imagine and understand the situation that is true for everyone - that the whole chakra in the body is divided into two perfectly equal and opposite parts that are at the same time almost inseparable and infinitely intertwined. Once this process is over, step two is to let only one of the two sides show, as if the chakra were a coin that is lying on a surface so that only one side of it is visible. This means that calling upon both parts of this special element is equally difficult. As opposed to the other five nature manipulations, this one is neither potentially dangerous to the user nor requiring any additional mass. On the other hand, it is similar to earth and water manipulations because it cannot be used for attacking in its raw form and it needs to be complemented by a technique making use of it.
Phew, that will do it for nature manipulations and now it is time for shape manipulation. Needless to say, this will be shorter than nature manipulation because there is very little to it and there are no variations of it, just different uses. The exact Japanese term used in canon for it is "keitai henka". The exact symbols may be a problem because while I found those for nature manipulation on Narutopedia, I had to use online dictionaries to find the symbols for the term "shape". The result I came up with is 形態変化. If I had some raw scans of chapter 314, I would not need to worry but I am just too lazy to search for those so feel free to correct me if it is wrong.
What is shape manipulation? I feel really stupid for asking this but I have a certain way of doing things and I rarely change it. The answer to that question is that shape manipulation is a concentrated way of streaming the expelled chakra into a desired shape and at a certain speed. The speed is essential because chakra is energy and energy must flow. The shapes created are mostly short-lived and are used right after the moment they are formed. To create a semblance of steady solid objects through shape manipulation, it is necessary to make the chakra circulate around the outlines of the desired shape at high speeds; the higher the speed, the harder the object, and the larger the object, the more chakra is needed. The desired object can be both static and dynamic but the first association You make upon hearing this is wrong – static objects are not easier to create, it is actually the opposite. By static objects, I mean those that would have apparently unmoving surfaces and achieving that when chakra has to constantly flow seems nearly impossible. On the other hand, if anyone took their time to learn to form and maintain a static object from chakra, there would be hardly any use for it. For more than just battle purposes there are weapons, if a shinobi does not have any weapons at hand, fruits of Mother Nature can be taken; if a shinobi is in the middle of a bare wasteland, earth nature manipulation is always the answer because there is always earth. Additionally, the violent surfaces of dynamic solid chakra objects serve much better in combat.
Despite Kakashi saying in chapter 321 of the manga that regular shape manipulation has an A-rank acquisition difficulty level, I think that it is actually a lot easier than nature manipulation. I base this statement on the fact that Naruto was able to master the first two stages of learning the Rasengan in just a few days. He may be a whiz at learning fast when he wants to but he was able to make the water inside the balloon from the first step move right at the outset and it looked effortless. He was told what to do and he did it without hesitation. Managing a small cut on a leaf took him "more than a moment". Kakashi was probably talking about the difficulty of learning the complete Rasengan. Since You do not need to awaken one of the dormant natures in chakra when You practise shape manipulation, it takes a lot less mental effort. You begin with raw energy and You finish with it, the only important thing You do is giving it direction. I also think that shape manipulation is more versatile than nature manipulation. You can virtually achieve anything You desire with just shape manipulation but with nature manipulation, You only create the element. Although fire and lightning may have their uses in battle without some shape manipulation supporting them, a skilled shinobi knows better than to rely on it exclusively.
The only obvious uses of pure chakra shape manipulation I spotted on Naruto are: Rasengan, Ōdama Rasengan, Chō Ōdama Rasengan, Kabuto's Shōsen no Jutsu (the chakra scalpel), Hakkeshō Kaiten and Hinata's filler arc technique Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō.
Everyone should know that Rasengan is probably the highest form of shape manipulation. It consists of many thin chakra "threads" that flow at very high speeds and in numerous directions that are basically chaotic but are held in the shape of a controlled sphere. The other two versions are just bigger, deadlier and simply more badass.
Kabuto's Shōsen no Jutsu is a cutting tool formed around his hand and he apparently has constant control of its sharpness and density. He used it in an attempt to cut open Tsunade's heart without inflicting any superficial wounds and he also used it to break Yamato's wooden Sasori disguise. It is multipurpose and a very good example of the versatility I mentioned.
The Hyūga defensive technique Hakkeshō Kaiten is based on the ability to expel chakra evenly from the entire body, which is a talent any shinobi would have to develop over several lifetimes without Hyūga blood. The chakra is pushed outwards and spins around on the surface and the effect is reinforced by the rotation of the user. I have only seen Neji do it counter clockwise but I do not reject the clockwise alternative. The only way to go through this defence would be with the same speed and direction of rotation at the axis point, which is very unlikely for anyone to achieve. Anyone and anything approaching that sphere of defence will be pummelled and blown away.
Hinata's Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō could be dismissed without regret because it was created for filler purposes but it is popular among her fans and I am her fan as well so I decided to allow myself this guilty pleasure. With this technique, Hinata forms thin, straight, cutting threads that flow from the centres of her palms and by the rapid movement of her arms, she creates a sphere akin to Hakkeshō Kaiten. The surface of her defensive sphere looks more violent and she can keep it up for a long time but it comes at a price. It takes her longer to start it than it takes Neji to start Kaiten; her technique puts a lot of strain on the arms, while Kaiten puts equal pressure on the whole body and that is less harmful. On the other hand, the fact that she does not spin makes it easier to follow what is happening around her, although the Byakugan greatly reduces this possible downside of Kaiten.
To finally conclude this chapter and the whole matter of chakra usage, I need to address one more topic and that is the combination of shape and nature manipulations. I hope I will not take too long. To put it simply, it is a more complicated process than learning and practising the two separately because it requires "more than the sum of concentrations". However, mastering the very basic form of this combination should not be a problem for Chūnin level shinobis. Although I did voice my doubts in chapter 2 about Sasuke learning the Raikiri/Chidori in under a month, his potential was at about Chūnin level and I do consider him capable of such a feat in two months or more. Let's take Raikiri as our example. When Kakashi showed Naruto how it functions step by step, he started with the lightning nature manipulation and then complemented it with a little of shape manipulation to create the necessary discharge. Without it, the lightning created would still be harmful to the enemy but only to the point of minor electrocution; the discharge of the shape manipulation improves the piercing power and focus of the blow. If Kakashi used shape manipulation of the level present in Raikiri on its own, he would probably achieve even less than by just the nature manipulation part. Using both the shape and nature manipulated chakra of Raikiri one after the other would achieve only a little more than just the nature manipulation and never as much as an underpowered Raikiri.
Combining nature manipulation with shape manipulation of the Rasengan is considered by Kakashi to be of S-class acquisition difficulty level and here I agree with him. I believe that the difficulty of learning a combination of manipulations rises exponentially with the difficulty of each of them. Transforming the rapidly and erratically moving chakra of the Rasengan into wind took Naruto a few days of intensive training with 200 Kage Bunshins and he still has to use two other minds to help him with the concentration. Naruto is an exceptional shinobi because he has unreal chakra capacity with unreal replenishing rate and he is exceptionally quick to learn difficult techniques. A "normally exceptional" person with "normally exceptional" chakra capacity and with the same talent would take many years to achieve that. I do not think there is anything else that needs to be added. The process is hard as hell. When You understand the concepts of both manipulations, You understand the concept of their combination.
That would be all. Thank You for Your attention and patience and have a nice day!
Mission Accomplished:
Feel free to contest my theories and tell me if You think I have missed something. Believe me when I say that You would not want me to think that I am always right. I hope that the next topic I delve into will be a less technical one, although I cannot say I did not enjoy this.
Stay on the safe side!