“An energy/matter form, to my understanding, is not exactly something concrete enough to satisfy either argument; as a matter it would be tangible enough to be affected by a chemical poison, but as an energy the poison itself would have to possess an energy form of its own (heat or, more practical in this case, chakra) that would cause the effect on the System.
A thing that can be classified as both literally has questions marks for this observer. The most I can make sense of the concept is reading some of the first paragraphs of this article:
https://profmattstrassler.com/articles-and-posts/particle-physics-basics/mass-energy-matter-etc/matter-and-energy-a-false-dichotomy/”
It being matter does not necessarily mean that it would be affected by a chemical poison. The degree of “tangibility” (that’s not even a term that makes sense in the context of physics) doesn’t determine whether or not something is affected by a particular poison, its chemical composition does. Also, heat isn’t energy. Heat is the process by which thermal energy is transferred from one body to another. Since we’re talking about physics, there’s no such thing as an “energy form”. Things possess energy. For example, a poison contains chemical energy between the bonds of atoms and molecules that comprise it.
Also, I think we have a bit of a misunderstanding here. When I said “matter/energy”, I wasn’t saying that chakra was both. I might be wrong, but I believe I very clearly stated that chakra was made up of an elementary particle (let’s say the Chakraton just for the explanation) just as electromagnetic waves are comprised of the photon.
“The original position falls behind your latest only when considering that the tailed beasts are made entirely of chakra, but can have massive forms that are very much like bodies in many ways, but can also be stored inside of people and things (jinchurikii and Sage jars respectively). The 9-tails being "a force of nature" THEN would make sense in a more ironic way that would be lost on a reader (and not likely be intended by the writer), but still, being eaten alive by and eating a force is... Just out there. Unless you argue it's a "natives unable to describe it any other way" point.”
Again, this is remedied by my assertion that the elementary particle that makes up chakra (the Chakraton, as so poorly named earlier) comes to interact with the electromagnetic force, and even begins to behave like it in sufficient quantities and concentration. This explains how people are able to see it, even with dojutsu, how jutsu can mimic real life objects like rocks, flames, etc, and how the tailed beasts can literally be made of chakra.
Additionally, while my mind is on the Dojutsu thing, my explanation for Dojutsu being able to see chakra normally is this: The minimum threshold (that is, the amount or concentration of chakra in a particular area) required for chakra to be visible to a Dojutsu user is far lower than a person with regular eyes.
Or perhaps it could be that just like light, (that is, electromagnetic waves) chakra that has a particular wavelength falls outside of the range of human vision. Under that explanation, dojutsu users just have a larger spectrum at their disposal, like other animals on earth who can see into the infrared or ultraviolet light.
“Nevertheless, getting back on track, even if chakra is some sort of energy/matter thing, then keeping this thing circulating through the body and released (and perhaps even taken through) tenketsu would require a system capable of interacting with and being interacted with matter, and thus likely itself being made of matter at least partially, potentially containing particles that move the chakra. We know that chakra can be infused into matter:
http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Chakra_blades If something were to happen to the physical particles, then the chakra network would be affected. Even if the whole network could not be dissected and held in gloved hands, parts of it would have to be. “
Again, elementary particle (Chakraton) that interacts with the electromagnetic force. I’ve been arguing that it was matter from the jump.
This doesn’t however means there’s a tangible system like the circulatory system running through the body. It could just as easily be a convenient way of describing the common paths that chakra travels throughout the body, it being invisible to the naked eye because chakra itself is invisible to the naked eye in its unrefined form.