Board Thread:Naruto Discussions/@comment-26403664-20160228225013/@comment-27660682-20160303013011

Well I look at it this way. Chakra in its base form is energy and is ethereal by nature so you can pass your hand through it like you can with light. But ninjutsu turns that energy into mass/ densifies it using various transformation s to make it a physical attack. A good example is naruto's tailed beast mode chakra mode. That chakra is dense and was seen tanking chidori, but naruto was able to revert it to its base state somehow and kakashi/ guy were able to pass through the cloak. The fact that totusuka blade pierces people and they react means it is a physical blade,however if it works anything like how naruto's chakra mode it works that means it can just pass through susanoo and stab madara. Or if the blade truly is just ethereal and can't change form, orochimaru reacting it doesn't make sense.