Chakra
"Chakra" is basically life essence or life force which exists in human bodies and animals. Without it, a shinobi can die. It can be considered "blood" and soul for a ninja. It is the molding of physical energies and spiritual energies in the body. Physical energy is the energy given off by the body cells and can be increased with more stamina and practise. Spiritual energy is derived from the consciousness of the mind and can be increased through great concentration and meditation. It is the basis for all almost all the ninja skills like Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, except Taijutsu in some special cases. It flows through the chakra circulatory system, and in it, there are 361 points aka nodes in the body known as tenkutsu. The function of the tenketsu is to regulate and control the flow of chakra. If these weren't present, then chakra would flow through some specific organ, thus there wouldn't be a balance in the chakra flow. Every ninja in the narutoverse possesses a chakra pool. Shinobis with a very high chakra pool like Naruto can perform a lot of higher ranked techniques like Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, etc. without having the fear of getting their chakra depleted at once. Senju Clan members for eg, have very high chakra reserves and a high physical energy aka high "Yang" energy, thus their naturally strong bodies and on the other hand, the Uchiha clan members have a very high spiritual energy, i.e. high "Yin" energy, thus their proficiency in genjutsu and visual prowess. It is possible to have high chakra if you possess very strong willpower. If chakra runs out completely in a shinobi, then he dies as shown when Kakashi died due to his chakra completely running out against Deva Pein. It can be divided into several types like:
Elemental Chakra
Senjutsu chakra
Bijuu Chakra
Ninjutsu
Ninjutsu means "Ninja Arts" and is something that allows the shinobi to do something that a normal human can't do, like walking on water, manipulating elements, the usage of special as well as bladed weapons, stealth, transformation, etc. The effects of ninjutsu are real. Most of the time, it heavily relies on the usage of handseals as well as chakra. Regular ninjutsu doesn't incorporate the usage of elements for it, like stealth, a basic Rasengan, etc. Elemental Ninjutsu is an advanced form of ninjutsu, which incorporates the usage of basic 5 elements, as well as advanced combinations to create stronger jutsus which have the respective properties of the 5 elements. Elemental ninjutsu is stronger to regular ninjutsu, since regular ninjutsu only uses raw chakra, whereas, elemental ninjutsu uses both Shape Manipulation and Nature Transformation. The perfect Rp example would be that, a Wind natured or a Lightning natured Rasengan would have a greater destructive force than a standard Rasengan, obviously because the elemental Rasengan contains violently rotating chakra as well as the violently rotating chakra is given the property of the respective elements.
Handseals
Handseals are hand gestures, which primarily manipulate chakra and dictate the exact amount of chakra needed for the respective specific technique. Weaving of handseals makes chakra take different "patterns". Some techniques require a large number of handseals, which is related to the complexity of performing that technique and if not weaved properly, in order, or if the user loses focus in between, then the technique is either executed in a weaker state, or it is dispersed midway, depending on the specific technique. A good example is Water Dragon Bullet Technique. It was shown that the technique required a string of 44 handseals to perform, however the Second Hokage, Tobirama could perform it with a single handseal, due to his unparalled Water mastery. It is shown in the manga that with time, a shinobi after mastering the specific technique, requires one-literally no handseals to perform it, an example being Chidori, which required some handseals when Sasuke just learnt it. In our RP, the user can perform any 2 elemental releases of his choice, depending on the elements he has placed as specialties, with one-virtually no handseals/faster handseals. Usually, handseals are performed with both the hands, but Haku, Minato, etc have demonstrated the ability to perform it with only a single hand. The 12 basic handseals are Monkey, Ram, Dog, Horse, Dragon, Boar, Rat, Snake, Ox, Hare, Bird, Tiger.
Lightning
Lightning, as per real world definitions, is an electrical discharge that occurs from clouds which have occurred an "electrical" charge, which usually happens during storms. It obviously is a naturally occurring phenomenon and a wonder of nature. When one thinks of Lightning, a picture of pure destruction occurs in their mind, which holds true. It is one of my favorite elements, the reason being that it is extremely fast and deadly, and has sheer offensive power. Coming to the actual element, Lightning Release is one of the most destructive of the 5 elements. It is a vicious and powerful element. In the Narutoverse, it is one of the fastest elements that exist. With lightning and electricity, the molecules in the element move at such a high velocity, that they are so powerful and hard to control and that instability is reflected upon in the in the use of the element, meaning Lightning Release is one of the hardest elements to tame. In Lightning Release techniques, there is always some level of discharge showing the lightning’s rebellious and difficult to control nature, as I mentioned above. The speed generated by lightning doesn't only increase its instability but it can also increase properties such as sharpness and cutting power. The rapid flow of molecules being condensed to vibrate at high frequencies and speed allow for applications on bladed weapons. Take Sasuke's use of lightning with his katana; the famous Chidori Nagashi through his katana or Ameyuri Ringo, one of the seven swordsmen of the mist with her twin set of blades, Kiba. Lighting is added to those blades which increases their ability to slice through almost anything like butter. And, not to forget, Killer B, the Hachibi Jinchuuriki from Kumogakure, who wielded 8 swords at once and used lightning through them, which was scary! Another person on this list is Hatake Kakashi, who created the Chidori, through pure elemental recomposition or nature manipulation, since he couldn't apply the Lightning nature to the Rasengan, which is the highest level of spatial recomposition or shape manipulation, and his Raikiri, which had sheer cutting force, and could cut deeper than a sword. Finally, we have the 3rd Raikage and Darui's Black Lightning, which is an unknown, and advanced application of Lightning, and not to forget 3rd and 4th Raikage's Lightning Release Armor, which was a NinTaijutsu; using the Lightning element to make their neural synapses react faster, which in turn improved their raw speed and Taijutsu skills, as well giving them the ability to coat themselves with a deadly armor, which would electrocute anyone on contact. Though this isn't the only practical use for lightning, there is also the properties of electrocution. The amount of electricity a lightning technique possesses can cause so much damage from paralyzing one's opponent to completely overloading their bodies with electricity and killing instantly. Some cases (as suspected with Kirin though never proven), the complete obliteration of one's opponent. Not only electrocution but heat. One generally thinks of Fire when the word heat is brought up, however why is that? Higher energy is generated when molecules move more rapidly. As mentioned before, those within lightning and electricity move at great speeds, thus allowing for burns to be generated with lightning release as well, however that's not commonly thought of. If you notice, areas devastated by Lightning strikes, form a gigantic crater and also a tremendous amount of heat.
