There are a few methods...some of it is the skill-set one chooses to develop, and some of it is figuring out where one's natural talents lie.
[In some cases, that wasn't in the use of chakra techniques, but rather in hand to hand, or in making traps or poisons.]
For learning what element one is most closely linked to, there are special papers that react to a person's chakra and will have one of five possible responses. A person may learn techniques using other elements, but there will always be one they have more of an affinity for than others.
: [Action]
There are a few methods...some of it is the skill-set one chooses to develop, and some of it is figuring out where one's natural talents lie.
[In some cases, that wasn't in the use of chakra techniques, but rather in hand to hand, or in making traps or poisons.]
For learning what element one is most closely linked to, there are special papers that react to a person's chakra and will have one of five possible responses. A person may learn techniques using other elements, but there will always be one they have more of an affinity for than others.