Seeing the reply and knowledge Neji had, it seems like my intuition was not mistaken. He was a fairly smart intuition as he explained things fairly well. Even though the info itself was very raw, I give my own insights to this reply.
Alright, your answer was not bad at all, but if you don't mind, I will explain it myself, the way how I think lightning is and how it behaves. So listen carefully.
Lightning is one of the 5 basic nature transformations. Lightning is created by allowing your chakra to vibrate at really high frequencies , and as it moves faster and faster there will be sparks and flows of electrons visible which are a sign that the lightning element is created. This specific element will later allow you to create very strong piercing damage and very fast movement. Another very special trait is the fact that this element can in many cases numb the enemies movements which will give you one more chakra to finish them off. Now if you ask me, lightning is an element of pure death and destruction. Unlike the 4 other ones, they can even be used to breathe life, the heat of fire, calmness of water, versatility of earth, and free flow of the wind, lightning simply will kill everything it comes into contact with. And since you will be vibrating your chakra very fast, it will be hardest to control and one slight miscalculation will most likely cost your head. Lightning release is an element of pure destruction so it needs to be used with most precautions. I want you to be sure of the risk you are taking. Don't let this element use you, don't let it's raw power and speed fool you. Become a master of it, yield it into battle carefully, and come out victorious.
Getting this out of the way, I wanted to take about some misinterpretations or miss thoughts about this element. This element is not as fast as normal lightning. It actually is several times slower, and this is because of some reasons. If it were to move as fast as the natural lightning you wouldn't even be able to control it, in the slightest attempts you would simply be incinerated. And another one is that the amounts of chakra needed to make it that fast, are said to be so large that no real shinobi can carry them. You need to rely on external sources like the natural energy, and the bijuu chakra.
As for the relations with other elements, lightning has a very special relation with each and every element. Lightning release is a very rough, unpredictable one, so it is weird in most of the times, but please bear with me.
• Lightning is strong against earth release. This is because it is able to easily travel through the earth and break it up to such a level that it can't be controlled anymore. So when we say is it strong to, it means that one C-rank lightning technique is stronger than one C-rank earth technique. A C-rank lightning technique is strong enough to be equal to a B rank earth technique.
• Lightning is weak against wind release. This is because wind release has a natural property of being a natural insulator of lightning release. It is able to stop the flow of electrons in it, but this can't be said if you continue making the frequency of the vibrations even larger, this will eventually be able to break up wind techniques. The rules here is that a C-rank lightning technique, will pale towards a C-rank wind technique. Lightning as far as even B-rank, will not be able to beat a C-rank wind technique.
• Lightning has a very unique relation with water release. If they hit each other head one, we can say that they are equal in power, but water can benefit lightning a whole lot, because it will help lightning flow better. So if you make the enemy wet, before you chakra lightning at him, the damage will be a lot more efficient. Rule of thumb here is that C-rank lightning release, is equal to C-Rank water release.
• Lightning and Fire release has no real relation to be honest. They both are the strongest raw powered elements so they are pretty much equal in power, even though fire can be controlled easier. Rule of thumb here is simply C-rank lightning technique is equal to C-Rank fire technique.
As for Shape and Nature manipulation.
So the shape manipulation is one of the most important steps in creating a Ninjutsu. With shape manipulation we understand, the manipulation of chakra, so changing the shape, flow and direction in order to transform jutsu that already exist or create entire new ones. Which are all determined in size, range, and the overall purpose. By allowing your chakra to flow to a specific point of the space you can, at will, start creating an imaginary shape that the chakra will later fill up. You can make the flow of chakra faster and slower depending on the kind of jutsu you will use and you can adjust the size by depending on the density of chakra and the amount of it.
Unlike the shape manipulation, where you fill an image with raw chakra, in the nature manipulation, you give that chakra a special affinity, you do that by concentrating on the chakra you just released and changing the properties and characteristics. Just like on this case, in order to give chakra lightning affinity you will have to think about lightning itself, something quick, uncontrollable, and powerful. In the case of wind, something fast, free flowing, one with the environment, something that can move at great speeds and can cut through nearly everything, and so on for other elements.
Nikodo took a very deep breath before asking his student for anything he needed to understand.
Any questions before we can proceed?