#chakra lore

First, let's talk Chakra and Energy. What's the difference? Is there a difference between the two? Well, yes and no. The best way to think of the relationship between Chakra and Energy is to relate it to the Rectangle and Square Conundrum: All Chakra is Energy [All Squares are Rectangles], but not all Energy is Chakra [but not all Rectangles are Squares]. Chakra is a form of Energy--it provides "power, strength, force" and "the ability or capacity to produce an effect" (Oxford Dictionary, "Energy"), but only to specific things, wheras energy can act on everything.

In my Naruto Universe, Chakra exists on its own Electromagnetic Energy Spectrum. The Electromagnetic Energy Spectrum is a way that scientists have organized Radiation Energy--a specific type of energy which travels through waves, such as light, UV, and Gamma Rays--which helps them categorize effects, rules, and other scientific knowledge. Chakra's Energy Spectrum has been organized similarly by Naruto Scientists, going from the longest Wavelengths/lowest Frequencies of Chakra Energy to the shortest Wavelengths/highest Frequencies.

Fun Fact! Chakra had been originally thought to be the same type of Energy as Radiation Energy and was attempted to be placed on the same Spectrum--the Electromagnetic Energy Spectrum--, but there were just too many inconsistencies between the two rules of how they worked that scientists were forced to just start developing its own spectrum!!

The two most important parts of the Chakra Energy Spectrum are: Physical Chakra and Spiritual Chakra. Physical Chakra is Chakra that can affect the Physical World. It is the frequency of Chakra that Jutsus utilize and that can move the earth in Earth Jutsus, or water in Water Jutsus. Essentially, any Chakra or Effect of Chakra that is observable is "Physical Chakra." Spiritual Chakra, on the other hand, is a much higher frequency of Chakra which most spirits operate on, such as Yolkai or Ghosts. There is a slight bit of overlap between the two frequencies, which allows for some ghosts to become visible to the Physical World and Chakra Beasts to similarly be perceived, but it's mostly considered to be "Another World." Spiritual Philosophers like to propose that ghosts and spirits alike live alongside everyone--interacting with the same structures, same trees, same landmarks, etc.--except, the Physical World cannot perceive the "Spiritual World" (as they have come to call the Frequencies of Spiritual Chakra), and the Spiritual World cannot interact with the Physical World.

Note: On the opposite side of the Spiritual World, in relation to the Physical World, at a lower frequency, is the Sealing Realm. This will be touched upon in more detail in a later post, but it's essentially where all the Sealing Rules come from--any frequency/wavelength of energy comes with its own set of rules and, as you go up or down the wavelengths, some of those rules/effects change--and any Sealing Scrolls are banished to. Again, I will come back to this later!

The Chakra Energy Spectrum exists everywhere, just as Energy exists everywhere. It exists in Plants, Animals, the Air, Land, etc.--if a thing exists, it most probably has chakra of some form attached to it. But how does it get into living things to be able to use them for jutsu?

How Chakra is Collected into the Body

As stated in the last part of the previous section, Chakra is everywhere, in all different types of forms. Humans gain a large chunk of their Chakra through Food.

The best part about Chakra is that it loves Physical Energy. It forever wants to be where the Physical Energy is--so when Plants create their own energy via Photosynthesis, Chakra will automatically just latch onto that newly created energy and follow wherever it goes. This leads to Humans being able to gain Chakra via the Food they eat!!

As the Energy the Chakra is latched onto goes up the Food Chain, the Chakra follows it until the Energy is used upon an object that Chakra Energy cannot affect (see: Note for Clarification). Once the Energy transfers onto something that Chakra cannot continue with nor affect, the Chakra is shaken off and returned back to the open environment.

Note: Chakra Energy can only affect other Chakra Energy!! Yes, this does seem confusing with the multitude of examples of chakra affecting physical things in Naruto, but it is not affecting the physical things themselves--it is affected the chakra attached to those things. I'll get into this topic when I discuss Jutsus in later posts, but a good temporary overview of the explanation is that there is a small overlap between Physical Chakra and Physical Energy where the two frequencies align just right to affect each other. This makes Chakra able to act as Physical Energy to push things over and Physical Energy can make Chakra move.

Except!! Humans and those who have adapted to be able to utilize Chakra have evolved a specialized system in their bodies to be able to catch that newly available chakra and move it into specialized Chakra Systems called Nadis Pathways. Nadis Pathways are the names for our own Chakra Networks here on Earth in Hindu Philosophy, where our Energies flow in our bodies--so I thought it to fit quite well :)).

The specifics of how, specifically, Chakra is collected into the Nadis Pathways are still being debated today by scientists, but the general theory--until they can develop a way to find out--is that the Chakra already flowing in the Nadis Pathways attracts the now-free Chakra of the Cells (which gets shaken off at the beginning of Glycolysis, if you're wondering) and brings them in. As stated before, Chakra loves Energy and Chakra is a type of energy, so... it makes sense :).

Fun Fact!! Nadis Pathyways, in my Naruto Universe, are sort of a weird mix between the Nervous System and Blood Vessels, where the Chakra itself acts like the signals of the Nervous System, but it flows in circular pathways like Blood Vessels all throughout the body! Unbeknownst to Scientists, inside these pathways are little specialized cells which hold Chakra Energy to keep on attracting Chakra into the networks and also provide it a place to hold onto until it is transferred somewhere else!!

The Nadis Pathways: How Chakra Moves & Is Stored Within The Body

There are Three Types of Chakra within the body: Unspecialized Chakra, Chakra which is not designated to a specific Function or Element, usually freshly collected from their food and making its way to the Atman (the Organ which handles and Specialized Chakra; concept by me) or abundant in Civilians who have no use for Chakra beyond the basics of Muscle Enhancements or Water Walking; Specialized Chakra, Chakra which has been tuned to the specific person and holds their unique "Chakra Signature"; and Elemental Chakra, Chakra which has been specialized into one of the Five Elements.

As stated in the previous section, Chakra moves throughout the body via the Nadis Pathways--blood vessel-like structures which gather Chakra from the cells and guide them to the Atman Organ, Brain, and then back through the body. It carries all three types of Chakra simultaneously through it, dumping the Specialized/Elemental Chakra and gaining Unspecialized Chakra to be cycled back. These Pathways are what allows Jutsus to be cast (bringing the Elemental Chakra to wherever it needs to be expelled from--most commonly the hands), Genjutsu to take effect (they disrupt the flow of Chakra within the Nadis Channels, sometimes blocking the channels to block the Chakra flow and other times creating false signals the chakra relays to the brain), and Sensing to exist (the process of Specializing Chakra changes it to its own, hyper-specific wavelength unique to the person. That Specialized Chakra acts as a sort of Radio System within itself, relaying information solely to its same wavelength, allowing a Feedback System which Sensory Abilities are built off of).

But let's focus back on the specific Chain of Events that Chakra goes through when cycling throughout the body. After Unspecialized Chakra is collected from the Body's Cells, it travels to the Atman. The Atman is an additional organ present within most Humans and Animals of the Naruto World which allows them to be able to utilize Chakra. The name comes from early Uzumaki Scholars--Sanskrit, in our world--, who were the first to discover the organ itself and study it, and means "self, soul, or essence," after the original conception of Chakra being energy created from the Self. Many believed, before it was discovered to be everywhere, in every sentient, nonsentient, or non-living thing (to an extent), that Chakra was a physical manifestation of the Will of the Soul. That, if one believed they could do something hard enough, their Will would become Force, and allow them to move Water, Air, Lightning, Fire, and the Earth. They also observed the different Affinities--elements which were easier to manipulate by the individual person--and Struggles--elements which took much longer (or were concluded 'impossible') for one to manipulate--and concluded it had something to do with the Internal Balance of the User. Those who were born with a "Fire Mentality/Balance" (the specific term depending on the Geographic Area) could spit Fire, while those born with a "Earth Mentality" could move the Earth.

Fun Fact! These early theories were not actually that far from how Chakra actually works!! The Atman works very differently than the other organs of the body due to its Non-Vital Status--meaning that it working 24/7 is not a requisite for the organism to stay alive--and, as such, has adapted to be controlled more by the Conscious instead of the Unconscious Mind (meaning that one has to think about it to activate the organ). When at rest and not ordered to function, Chakra simply passes through the organ unbothered and continues on circulating within the body. But when the Atman is called to work, the user must consciously guide their Chakra through the organ into a specific pattern in order to Specialize it into a specific Element. Many are born with an innate understanding of how to form their Chakra Nature, which is slightly attributed to Genetics, whereas the ability to learn other Natures is attributed to the understanding of Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, and Air Chakra :)). Of course, as Shinobi gets older and better, this process of manually creating Elemental Chakra gets a lot more streamlined and eventually like second nature :)).

- Note! I am taking major inspiration from the Eastern Spiritual Understanding of Chakra within the Body--specifically the ideas of Meditation and Intentions being key in keeping open your Chakra Pathways--, and so I apologize for this part being a lot less science-y!! I also just haven't figured this part out yet :)).

After the Chakra goes into the Atman, it then continues up into the Brain. As stated previously, Chakra in the Body acts very similarly to the Nervous System--the Brain's Network throughout the body which allows it to command movement and receive sensations derived from our senses--with its own detectable code the Brain has learned to interpret. Think of Chakra as a massive gossip--it likes to take in everything and anything it's ever experienced, holds it in, and then dumps that information onto the first person it's able to dump it onto and then rinses and repeats the cycle over and over again.

"Oh, how does Chakra experience things to be able to gossip. It's energy--energy requires a source to give it specific information patterns to-" Frankly, I don't know. This is just how it has to work in order for Chakra to still achieve what it needs to achieve, like Sensory Information or form Jutsu. Maybe I'll figure it out, maybe I won't 🤷. For now, let's just pretend that Chakra has some sentience or something--that it's supernatural and the byproduct of some leftover god, or spiritual and we have a little whimsy. Whatever floats your boat in helping understand this!!

Anyway, let's get back to the Main Point: Chakra gets directed to the Brain after going through the Atman, dumps out all its information like the worst gossip, and gains new information in order to perform Jutsu. That's it's own ramble because this one is getting quite long, but essentially: Hand-Signs represent different codes of information given to chakra to then layer on each other to form their respective Jutsu. It's like a "This, But Do In This Specific Way" statement of first building the Chakra Nature, then giving commands to form the element in a Specific Way, then fine-tuning it all, and then a few extra signs if necessary to feed the right amount of chakra necessary into the Jutsu :).

And finally, after one's Chakra travels through their Brain to be primed with new instructions on what to do next, the Nadis Pathways circulate it back through the body to be dumped wherever it needs to be dumped. Whether it be in the mouth for Fire Jutsu, the hands for Medical Jutsu, the feet for Water/Wall Walking, etc., the Pathways just keep on chugging and grabbing more Chakra to continue anew.

Note: It will be explained later, in another post, how Storing Chakra works--such as once it's been Specialized but doesn't yet need to be used, alongside what happens when there's too much Chakra in the Nadis Pathways!! Stay tuned!!

Extra Notes & Fun Facts

I've made this post previously but have expanded on my lore a lot since then--especially with the specifics--so I decided to rewrite the post, and so here are just some notes from that previous one I think are cool, but I haven't managed to sneak in here!

Tenketsu Points

Tenketsu Points remain mostly the same in my lore as they do in Canon Naruto--they are points throughout the body which large portions of Chakra can be released from, mostly in the Hands, Feet, Joints, and Major Muscle Groups. They exist in order to provide Chakra for Jutsus, Water/Wall-Walking, and Extra Energy to the Body. Furthermore, they can be blocked by Techniques typical of the Hyuuga Clan (for they can see these points on each person) and are where most Chakra enters for Genjutsu (for these points are equally where Chakra is the most vulnerable to outside influence).

Civilians and Chakra

Civilians have typically been found to fall between one of Three Relationships with Chakra: some are entirely unwilling to use Chakra (these groups mostly consisting of Higher Nobility, who see Chakra as 'dirty work' and 'beneath them'), others use only the bare minimum of chakra to enhance their senses and/or physical abilities (workers and craftsmen, examples including enhancing their sight and dexterity for needleworkers while laborers choose to enhance their physical strength and healing factors), and the final majority simply do not retain enough chakra to make jutsu with.

Of course, there are some exceptions to these rules of why people are civilians instead of Shinobi--such as not having the proper teaching to use Jutsu, or being born with a defective Atman Organ, such as Rock Lee was and therefore cannot use Specialized or Elemental Chakra--, but these are generally the categories Civilians fall under!!

Thank you for bearing with me this long if you've stayed!! This is a mini-Passion Project of mine, spurred on by a friend asking and then continued with my own other projects I just decided to stick this onto 🥰🥰. I hope that the definitions I've provided are useful and me messing with science hasn't made your brain too mushy, because it was definitely hard--especially toward the end--to keep it all strictly scientific, and so I had to stretch some things a bit 😭😭. But, once again, thank you for staying and please ask questions if you're curious or open up some (respectful) dialogue about the specific science I've provided behind all this--especially if you're like 'maybe this would be a better reasoning behind that' because I'm only so far along in my studies and the human body is just so vast that one cannot be perfect at everything within it!!