Essential to even the most basic jutsu, chakra is a mixture of the energy present in every cell of the body and the spiritual energy gained from exercise and experience. Once mixed, it can be channeled through the chakra circulatory system, which is to chakra as the regular circulatory system is to blood, to any of the 361 chakra points (called tenketsu) in the body. Through various methods, the most common of which is hand seals, the chakra can then be manipulated to create an effect that would not be possible otherwise, such as walking on water.
By mixing different ratios of the two energies, new types of chakra can be formed. The most common product is elemental chakra, which is used to perform elemental jutsu. Most ninja have a natural affinity to one type of chakra, but they have the capacity to create elemental chakra apart from their own affinity. There are six basic elements, each stronger and weaker to another; five have been shown so far, but their relations, weaknesses, and strengths to each other are all explored with the unnamed sixth seemingly skipped. In addition to these six elements, certain kekkei genkai can mix elemental chakra to form new elements, such as ice (wind and water), wood (earth and water) and lava (earth and fire). While many ninjas can use more than one type of chakra, they cannot use them simultaneously.