Chōza Akimichi

is the father of Chōji Akimichi and former team-mate of Shikaku Nara and Inoichi Yamanaka. Together they were the previous Ino-Shika-Chō trio. The kanji on his chest armor means "food".

Background
Chōji was treated as an outcast as a child because of his weight and the belief that Akimichi were useless ninja. Chōza told him that one day, he would have true friends that would realize that wasn't the true Chōji.

Appearance
Chōza has long red hair and has marking on his cheek, with the latter being a common trait in the Akimichi Clan. He wears a samurai like outfit which entails a black suit completed with armor that has the clan symbol "food" on it. He also wears a rope belt, hand guards and, instead of a forehead protector, wears a piece of cloth tied to his head, possibly to hold back his hair.

Personality
Chōza is the head of the Akimichi clan, and was part of the first "Ino-Shika-Chō Trio" alongside Shikaku Nara and Inoichi Yamanaka, his name being the Chō part of the group name. He is a seemingly gentle and caring man with great wisdom and understanding of the world, and has deep love for his son, Chōji. Like the rest of his clan, he has a large appetite, and is prone to eat everything on an entire page on the menu.

He seems very keen to fight with his team-mates, and shares a very strong friendship.

Abilities
Like his son and the rest of his clan, Chōza uses the special technique that allows him to change calories into chakra. As the leader of his clan, it is highly logical that he is skilled in all of his clan's secret techniques. He has been seen using the Multi-Size Technique, the Human Bullet Tank and the Partial Multi-Size Technique, which all revolve around the clan's special ability to increase the size of their various body parts. He is also skilled at using a staff in combat, which seems to also grow when he uses the Multi-Size Technique.

Chūnin Exam Arc
He made his official appearance during the Chūnin Exam Festival, sitting alongside his former team-mates who were talking about the fact that Inoichi had a daughter, and how troublesome that was, according to Shikaku, while Chōza was looking at the menu only to order everything on the page that he was looking at. When Shikamaru came to pick up his father, Chōza invited him to come and eat with them.

Invasion of Konoha Arc
He made his next appearance during the end of the Konoha Invasion arc, using the Super Multi-Size Technique to trample some Sound Shinobi, and later met up with Inoichi and Shikaku to reunite the original Ino-Shika-Chō Trio.

Sasuke Retrieval Arc
Chōza visits the hospital after Chōji takes the Three Colored Pills. Although he is not able to see Chōji because he is recovering, he expresses relief that Tsunade returned to the village and thus was able to save his son's life.

Invasion of Pain Arc
He and Chōji, along with a third unnamed member of the Akimichi clan and other reinforcements, were seen during Pain's invasion, helping Kakashi by crushing the Asura Path. During a failed attempt to defeat the Deva Path with Kakashi and Chōji, Chōza was seemingly killed while protecting Chōji from Shinra Tensei. Later it was discovered that Chōza was still alive but needed to be brought to the hospital immediately, which caused Chōji to cry in joy.

Quotes

 * (To Chōji) "Chōji, you've got a kinder heart than anyone I know. There will be someone who will see that in you, and become your friend. If you meet him, treat him as your best friend, and become comrades who will trust in each other more than anything else."
 * (To Ino) "Tsunade's return to Konoha utterly saved us. If she hadn't come, Chōji would now be..."