Upgraded Chakra Natures in Naruto

Upgraded Chakra Natures in Naruto

Basic Elemental Chakra Natures

In this next installment in my unofficial series on chakra natures, we’re going back to the basics (temporarily). As you should all know by now, there are five basic elemental natures: Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, and Water.

There are also the combinations of these natures: kekkei genkai and kekkei tōta. As well as the Yin, Yang, and Yin-Yang natures which aren’t associated with the basic elements. Today we’re going to ignore all of those and instead focus on the five basic elemental natures pictured below.

Basic Elemental Chakra Natures from the anime series Naruto
Basic Elemental Chakra Natures

And although we’re all familiar with these five natures, did you know that they can actually be upgraded into new natures without being combined? You can have an upgraded Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, and Water nature with far superior properties compared to the original.

There have also only been two confirmed users of these upgraded natures, which are Sasuke Uchiha and Nowaki. We all know Sasuke, but Nowaki was one of the antagonists in the Book of Sunrise arc which takes place during the epilogue of Naruto: Shippūden.

Also, while it’s not entirely clear how these upgraded natures manifest, it’s heavily implied that they’re simply another form of kekkei genkai. The only issue with this is that from what we’ve seen, there are other steps needed before these upgrades can be unlocked, which isn’t generally the case for kekkei genkai chakra natures.

Naruto Chakra Nature Quiz

Naruto Chakra Nature Quiz

Find out what elemental chakra nature(s) you have!

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Known Upgraded Chakra Natures

Blaze release is the upgraded version of Fire release which Sasuke can use. Interestingly, Amaterasu is not considered to be a blaze release jutsu — it’s simply the strongest Fire release jutsu. Where the Blaze release comes into play is Sasuke’s ability to manipulate the flames of Amaterasu.

Itachi could also use Amaterasu, but he wasn’t able to manipulate it in the same way Sasuke can, which is part of the reason we know only the manipulation is the Blaze release. The other reason we know this is because of the jutsu name Sasuke uses when he manipulates the flames begins with “Enton” instead of “Katon.”

Now, like I said, these upgraded natures may very well be kekkei genkai, but they aren’t awakened by normal means. Sasuke specifically has to use his Mangekyō Sharingan to use Blaze release. And, what makes this even stranger, is that Blaze release only seems to apply to Amaterasu, which is actually a signature ability of Itachi’s Mangekyō Sharingan, not Sasuke’s.

Maybe my next Naruto series discussion should focus on the evolution of Sasuke’s eyes since that would take way too long to explain here.

Sasuke using his partial Susanoo and Blaze release from the anime series Naruto: Shippūden
Sasuke using his partial Susanoo and Blaze release

Typhoon release is the upgraded version of Wind release which Nowaki uses. Some people think this is a combination of Wind and Water, much like Ice (which would be the same as Wood and Mud both being a Water and Ground combination). However, it doesn’t seem like Water is actually necessary for this nature.

I think those people assume Water is involved because Nowaki is from the Land of Water, but that doesn’t actually matter. The Hidden Leaf Village is located in the Land of Fire, but that doesn’t mean everyone there knows Fire release.

Potential Upgraded Chakra Natures

Then there are the other potential upgraded chakra natures which aren’t confirmed and probably never will be. We don’t know what the upgraded versions of Water and Lightning could be, but I will say that it’s very possible Kakashi’s Purple Lightning jutsu is involved in some way much like Amaterasu is related to Blaze release.

The upgraded Earth release is interesting though. There are actually three possible natures which I think could be the upgraded version of Earth release: Mud, Crystal, and Steel.

Mud release is stated to be a combination of Water and Earth, it may actually simply be the upgraded Earth release. After all, Earth-style users can use mud jutsu anyway, so what’s the point of the nature being distinct if it’s not an upgraded version? Crystal and Steel are also possibilities because they seem to basically be better versions of Earth release.

And, although this article has been focusing on the basic elemental chakra nature upgrades so far, I do want to point out that there may actually be other nature upgrades. While Yin and Yang aren’t elemental natures, they are still considered basic and therefore, logically, could be upgraded.

My guess is that the Dark and Swift releases are the upgraded versions of Yin and Yang respectively. Yin is based on spiritual energy, and Dark release is able to absorb ninjutsu. Meanwhile, Yang is based on physical energy, and Swift release vastly increases the user’s physical speed.

Conclusion

So what are your thoughts on these upgraded chakra natures? Do you think Blaze and Typhoon release are both just single-base nature kekkei genkai? Or do you think there’s more to them considering the fact that Sasuke needs his Mangekyō Sharingan to use his?

Also, what are your thoughts on the potential Earth, Yin, and Yang upgrades? And, could Steel or Crystal be the upgraded Earth? Or does Mud make more sense even though it’s already said to be Earth and Water? How about potential Water and Lightning upgraded natures? Let me know in the comments.

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Want to see how I ranked all 23 chakra natures on a tier list? Check out the Naruto Chakra Nature Tier List article.

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