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Going back to the original topic: difference between Chakura and Reiatsu

As some have mentioned the idea behind these two forces/powers (and similar powers in other manga/anime), most likely originate from the same philosophy or train of thought. But in the respective shows, Naruto and Bleach, they are described slightly different.

One of the main differences that come to mind in these two particular shows, are the way the powers affect the user.

In Naruto the chakura is just one part of the power a ninja has and renders useless by itself. It can be looked at as a reservoir of potential power that needs to be used by the person either as a physical attack, genjutsu or ninjutsu.

This means that having large amounts of chakura alone does not necessarily make you a strong opponent, though a skillful user of this power will prove to be deadly. Also the more you practice your techniques the less chakura it will consume, though still dealing the same amount of damage (or possibly more). In the beginning of the series Naruto possesses a huge amount of chakura, even larger than Sasuke (yes, excluding the power of the kyubi). Despite this Naruto is not able to use his chakura effectively and is therefore no match for his rival.

In bleach the spiritual power (reiatsu) is different for two reasons. The power does not need to collaborate, if you will, with the body as in the other show (hand signs), before executing the technique. Every move used is unique, draining seemingly, the same amount of reiatsu every time. There are no mentions of training to lessen the use of reiatsu, in fact its quite the opposite. If the move becomes more powerful (in ichigos case the black getsuga tenshou when in bankai form as opposed to the normal blue) then it will drain more reiatsu.

The second reason is that in Bleach the amount of reiatsu is, in almost every case, directly proportional to the power of the opponent. If an opponent has an exeptionally "huge" reiatsu he will be able to defeat weaker opponents by simply being present. The other opponents will feel his "spiritual pressure" holding him down and making it hard to breathe.

Since the reiatsu can be felt, it also acts as a signature. When released, it can threfore alarm of someones presence and reveal their identity. This is also the reason characters might choose to suppress their reiatsu (to hide their presence).

I wrote a lot more than i intended, does this make me a geek? I guess il have to live with that from now on...!

Peace