Chōji Akimichi

is a member of Konohagakure's Akimichi clan. Though sensitive about his weight, Chōji is nevertheless dedicated to his friends, especially in Team Asuma.

Background
Chōji was born into the Akimichi clan, and is slated to become the after his father, Chōza. When Chōji was younger, he was often put down for not being good at a child's game called "Ninja", which appears to be a cross between tag and hide and seek, often employing the use of shuriken made out of cardboard and sticks. His peers would always berate him, telling him that any team that he was on was bound to lose. One day, they simply refused to let him play at all. However, Shikamaru Nara stuck up for him, saying that the teams would be uneven if Chōji didn't join them. This gave Chōji a little hope, although, in the end, they still refused to let him play.

Chōji and his father were later seen talking on the roof of a building while Chōji was still upset over the way he was treated by the other children, saying the Akimichi were all fat and stupid. Comforting him, his father told him that few people have a heart as kind and caring as his, and one day he would meet someone who would see that in him and respect him for it, and that eventually they would be the best of friends. Soon after, Shikamaru arrived. Chōji recognised him as the one who had defended him earlier, and asked Shikamaru why he wasn't playing the game, to which Shikamaru responded that it was too troublesome. He then told Chōji that he liked to come up there to watch the clouds and that Chōji happened to be sitting in his spot. Chōji moved over to give him space. Shikamaru proceeded to lie down before telling Chōji that he should watch the clouds with him. This delighted Chōji, and he eagerly asked Shikamaru if he wanted to eat some snacks that he had brought. Shikamaru took him up on the offer, causing Chōji to be overjoyed, and then Shikamaru said "This is the best, watching clouds and eating chips". From that day on, the two became best friends.

During Chōji's time at the Academy, he was often caught eating in class otherwise getting into trouble along with fellow deviants Shikamaru, Kiba Inuzuka, and Naruto Uzumaki. Together, these four would cut class or otherwise be testing the patience of Iruka Umino, their Academy teacher. During the Search for Tsunade, when Naruto was struggling to learn the second step of training for the Rasengan, he recalled how once, during his days in the Academy, he, along with Shikamaru, Kiba, and Naruto were held back in class, and lectured about their all around lack in concentration — in Chōji's case, he was thinking more about food than about doing his school work. During the arc involving the trap master Gennō from the long-gone Kagerō Village, it was mentioned how Shikamaru, Chōji, Kiba, and Naruto would skip class together and hang out at the kunai practice course, which was situated under the Academy, to hide from Iruka.

Personality
Chōji is a very kind, polite, and caring person. These characteristics are said to be his greatest strength by both his father Chōza and his former teacher Asuma Sarutobi while his greatest weakness was his lack of self-confidence. He is easily motivated by the prospect of food, and becomes highly agitated when somebody calls him "fat" (he refers to himself as "big-boned", "chubby") Asuma would say that he is just "pleasantly plump". However, he does not hide his love for food and his near constant hunger is also an annoyance to his team-mates, as eating often comes before other necessities such as stealth and teamwork. Food can also make him over-react about silly things, such as who gets the last chip, or when Akamaru tried to take his chips, and he refuses to let anyone else eat the last chip in the bag, even in battle-situation. Chōji also tends to eat a lot when he's angry. Since Part II of the series, however, his eating habits are more controlled and no longer interfere with his duties as a shinobi.

Chōji has a long-standing friendship with Shikamaru. The two have complete trust in each other, with Shikamaru being one of the few people to look past Chōji's lack of athleticism, and see that he had a kind heart; recognising Chōji's true strength. Because of this, Chōji has unwavering faith and loyalty to Shikamaru and, if necessary, would give his life for him, which nearly happened during his battle with Jirōbō. Chōji also cares deeply for his mentor, Asuma, and had a difficult time in fighting him during the Fourth Shinobi World War, due to not wanting to hurt his own teacher, even when Asuma called Chōji "fat" in an attempt to anger him.

As stated by his father and teacher, Chōji greatly lacked confidence in himself and his abilities which often times hindered his actions or even progression in some aspects. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, however, Chōji was able to overcome these issues and become one of the major contributing factors in the Allied Shinobi Forces turning the tide of the battle in their favour.

Appearance
Chōji has spiky, brown hair, swirl marks on his cheeks, and like the rest of his clan, he has a more robust physique. Since his childhood, he has always been quite husky, which is a necessity in his clan to perform their techniques since they convert calories to chakra. During Part I, Chōji wore black shorts, a long white scarf, a short-sleeved, green haori, over a light-green shirt (depicted as white in the anime) with his clan's obligatory kanji for on it, small, hoop earrings, and his legs and forearms were wrapped in bandages. His forehead protector was styled in a manner that allowed two tufts of hair to poke out at each side.

During Part II, he sports a red suit with plated armour on his torso, arms, and upper legs, which is seemingly the standard attire for shinobi in his clan. On the front of his chest armour is the obligatory kanji for. His brown hair has grown much longer reaching to his waist and he also changes his earrings from hoops to the studs that he got as a gift from Asuma. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, he wears the standard Konoha flak jacket over his outfit. After Chōji uses the Multi-Size Technique, he gains two extra markings underneath both his eyes as well.

In The Last: Naruto the Movie, two years after the Fourth Great Shinobi War, Chōji's overall appearance has slimmed down somewhat, being more plump as he considers himself. He has cut his hair short and sports a small chin goatee. His outfit is mostly the same, but wears larger wrist-guards and his boots reach his calves. Years later, Chōji's hair grew shoulder length and slicked back with some strands worn as braids. He also sports a full goatee around his mouth.

Abilities
Even at a young age, Chōji displayed a lot of potential as a shinobi, as seen during the Chūnin Exams when he helped battle the Otogakure genin that were attacking Team Kakashi, requiring Zaku Abumi to use the full power of his modified arms to stop his attack. Shikamaru noted that Chōji was physically the strongest member of the Sasuke Retrieval Team, which was shown when he single-handedly defeated a member of the Sound Four, Jirōbō. After the timeskip, Chōji's skills improved immensely and he was promoted to chūnin, helped fight off S-rank shinobi from Akatsuki like Kakuzu, and even proved instrumental in Kakashi Hatake's plan to nearly defeat Nagato's Deva Path. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, upon mastering Butterfly Chōji Mode, he could defeat Kakuzu, Hizashi Hyūga, and even battle the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, solidifying that he was one of the strongest ninja on the battlefield.

Physical Prowess
At the start of the series, Chōji's taijutsu was passable, and could be used to great effect with his clan's size-enhancing techniques to greatly increase the striking power of his blows. He is a 'power' type, using his massive physical strength enhanced with his clan's techniques to inflict crippling blows. When he fought against Jirōbō, after the consumption of the Green Pill, he was able to flip him with ease. After taking the Red Pill and forming his butterfly wings, Chōji could easily catch Jirōbō's Cursed Seal Level 2-enhanced fist, and kill him with a single punch, forming a large crater underneath. After the time-skip, Chōji's taijutsu improved immensely, being able to effortlessly destroy a few of Sai's lions with his Partial Multi-Size Technique. He could also stun two of Kakuzu's masks after growing to tremendous size and using the Super Open Hand Slap technique. By Pain's assault on Konoha, he was nearly able to destroy Deva Path with a massive punch, and due to his massive physical strength he was key in restraining the Path after Shinra Tensei was used. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Chōji could get into striking range of a reincarnated Asuma twice, but was unable to land a blow due to his hesitation to hurt his teacher.

After gaining confidence and using the Butterfly Chōji Mode technique, he was able to smash Asuma with relative ease, also using the Multi-Size Technique to increase the power of his blow. When full sized, using Butterfly Bullet Bombing he was able to create an immense shock wave from hitting the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, even making it stagger a bit. He was also durable enough to survive the chakra blast retaliation the statue used. Chōji's speed has also seemingly increased, as he was fast enough to save Shikamaru from being stomped by the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. In the anime, he was also able to save Neji Hyūga from being hit by Kidōmaru's extremely fast arrows. Even without enlarging himself, Chōji has demonstrated a considerable increase of strength, able to hold back with brute force the reincarnated Jirōbō without the aid of his clan's pills.

Akimichi Clan Techniques
As an Akimichi slated to become the 16th head of the clan, Chōji knows various secret techniques that allow him to expand body parts to several times their normal size, the most common of which is the Multi-Size Technique. He uses this to perform his Human Bullet Tank attack, where he turns himself into a giant ball and attacks opponents by running them over, shouting "roll" repeatedly as he does. He can also add spikes to this attack to make it more damaging. In Part I this was done by wrapping a chain of kunai around his body. He can also use the Partial Multi-Size Technique to expand his arms and legs as well as other body parts. After the time skip, Chōji's Spiked Human Bullet Tank does not involve kunai wrapped around him, but instead involves a technique that hardens his hair into extremely sharp spikes that cover his body, similar to Jiraiya's Needle Jizō technique, after which Chōji spins rapidly. Also, Chōji no longer needs to take any pills to perform the Partial Multi-Size Technique.

Three Pills
By consuming the Akimichi clan's Three Coloured Pills to greatly increase his strength, speed, and stamina for a short time. These pills convert the body's fat reserves into chakra, and are considered a last resort, since they take a tremendous toll on the body. The last pill is said to increase the clan member's power 100 times more than normal, but known to be always fatal, although Chōji survived the effects, thanks to the Nara clan's medical book and Tsunade's medical expertise. The one consuming it loses most of their bodily fat, which is converted in an enormous amount of chakra, so much that it manifests in two massive butterfly-like wings on the user's back.

Originally, Chōji requires to take these pills in order to use the more advanced Partial Multi-Size and Super Multi-Size Techniques. After two and a half years, however, he can now rely on his own improved chakra control to do so, without the pills forcing it out for him. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, when forced to fight the deceased Asuma, Chōji is able to replicate the red pill's effects without actually consuming it. Since he formed the butterfly wings without the pill, he negates the negative side effects, and could tap fully into the calories he stored up without danger. The amount he stored made the wings grow to the size of the entire battlefield after Asuma's defeat.

Nature Transformation
Chōji has shown some skill with Earth Release nature transformation. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, after being taught the hand-seals by Kitsuchi, Chōji and the rest of the Allied Shinobi created several earth walls, in an attempt to slow down the Ten-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball. He is also proficient in Fire and Yang Release.

Chūnin Exams
During the first phase, he and his team-mates met with their old classmates of Team 7 and Team 8 until the written exams begun. After Ino cheated off of Sakura's test answers using Mind Body Switch Technique, she went into Shikamaru and his body to pass on the answers to them. They ended up passing regardless because the true test was to overcome pressure and intensity.

During the second phase of the Chūnin Exams, Chōji was reluctant to join his team in helping Sakura fend off a team of Oto genin, fearing for his own safety, and continuously asking to run. However, when Zaku Abumi called Chōji "fatso", Chōji proceeded to go berserk as he defended his size, and yelled that Konoha and the Sound ninja were now at war. Properly motivated, Chōji fought against the Oto genin, but were unable to defeat them. His actions, however, bought time until Sasuke Uchiha awakened and forced them to retreat with the power of the Cursed Seal.

In the preliminaries of the exam, Chōji began feeling hesitant about fighting, but Asuma convinced him to fight, promising to treat him to barbecue if he won, and to intervene if he was in danger. In the last match of the preliminaries, Chōji was matched against Dosu Kinuta. At the start of the match, Ino Yamanaka yelled to him that he was fat, so that he would be spurred into fighting. Figuring Dosu's sound based attack won't work on him if he doesn't hear it, he uses Multi-Size Technique and uses Human Bullet Tank to charge at Dosu. After Dosu manages to avoid Chōji's attack a few times, Chōji gets lodged in a wall as the result of Dosu dodging another one of his attacks. With Chōji unable to get out the wall, Dosu sent a blast of sound into Chōji's bulk, with its effectiveness increased as sound travels better through water and the result of Chōji's increased size, ends in his defeat. As a reward to Chōji for getting so far in the Chūnin Exams, and as a bribe to help with Shikamaru's training, Asuma took Chōji to a buffet, but Chōji ate too much and hurt his stomach, forcing him to spend some time in the hospital. He recovered in time to watch Shikamaru and Sasuke's matches, but was put to sleep during the ensuing invasion of Konoha.

Konoha Crush
Chōji can be seen at the Third Hokage's funeral alongside the other villagers, mourning his death.

Sasuke Recovery Mission
Shortly after Shikamaru's promotion to chūnin, the team celebrated at Yakiniku Q. After a brief argument over the meat, Asuma told Chōji that he should eat less and train more. While Chōji was briefly depressed, Shikamaru convinced him to be himself.

When Sasuke Uchiha abandoned Konoha, Shikamaru asked Chōji to join the Sasuke Retrieval Team, to which Chōji refused. Determined to have Chōji come with them, Shikamaru and Naruto Uzumaki ate some of Chōji's favourite snacks in front of his house. When they got to the last chip, Chōji burst through the front door to eat it, saying that the last chip was sacred and he cannot let someone else have it. Having fallen for Shikamaru's trick, Chōji joined the team to retrieve Sasuke.

At the start of the mission, Chōji took on the Sound Four member Jirōbō. Jirōbō initially proved to be too strong for Chōji to beat, forcing Chōji to use the Akimichi clan's special Three Coloured Pills. Although reluctant to use the pills, Jirōbō's constant mocking of Shikamaru as a worthless, selfish, and uncaring leader convinced Chōji to take all three pills. With the accompanying increase in strength, he was able to kill Jirōbō noting that while it was fine for people to mock him and even eat his food, it was unforgivable to speak ill of his best friend. With that Chōji sends a fist crashing into Jirōbō's stomach, killing the Oto-nin.

As he headed through the forest, suffering the effects of the pills and severely emaciated, Chōji sees the arrow left by his comrades, he collapses beneath it, and tearfully mused to his father that he had finally found good friends. Near death, Chōji was found by members of the Konoha Medic Corps and rushed back to the village for emergency treatment. With the efforts of The Nara clan's medical encyclopaedia which they had listed their research on their comrade's pills and their effects along with Tsunade's medical expertise allowed Chōji to evade death, and make a full recovery.

Follow My Lead! The Great Survival Challenge
In the anime, Chōji demonstrated a working knowledge of the relationship between ninja and food in this episode When the Academy students were divided into teams of three, and were assigned a genin to lead them on a mission against the other teams. Chōji was assigned to lead a team of three academy students; Dango, Ame and Choco. On route, Chōji imparted to them the importance of being able to acquire food during a mission, introducing a plant called the "Ninja-Aid Plant", which is edible and nutritious. Chōji even stopped one of his team from eating the wrong plant, the "Ninja Blockage Plant", even though it looked similar to the Ninja-Aid Plant, it was in fact noxious, and Chōji identified the difference between their leaves.

Mix it, Stretch it, Boil it Up! Burn Copper Pot, Burn!
In the anime, Chōji helped rescue Ayame, the daughter of Teuchi, from cooking-nin from the Land of Lightning. Chōji knew of them and explained to Naruto and Sakura that their purpose was to provide their country's active ninja with food, as on a mission in the field, where food may be scarce, gathering food was such a chore that cooking-nin were supposed to do this job themselves, allowing for the other ninja to focus on their mission and not worry about gathering food. To save the daughter, Chōji and his team-mates were forced to create the perfect ramen, to which Chōji assisted by tasting the noodles and improving their quality when they didn't meet his approval.

Peddlers Escort Mission
In the anime, Chōji was teamed with Naruto in fighting a water-user, and the two were frequently able to save the life of the other. After Hinata defeated the second of the three ninja, and was badly injured in the process, Naruto sent her away with Chōji. The two were captured, but Shikamaru and several other ninja saved them.

In Naruto's Footsteps: The Friends' Paths
In the anime, about two years after Naruto left the village with Jiraiya for training, Konoha decided to host an early Chūnin Exams alongside Sunagakure. Later, as Team Asuma began discussing their joining the exams, it became noted that with Shikamaru already a chūnin and therefore ineligible to join, it left the rest of the team short. Ino came up with the idea of having Sakura be their team's third member. After Sakura accepted to join the team, once entering the exams, Chōji and his team-mates were randomly split into different rooms to take the written test. He was placed in room 1 with Hinata and Neji. On a monitor, Shikamaru, as proctor, explained that everyone only needs to answer one question on the test, but their team's combined score must equal exactly 100 points to pass. Later, Ino telepathically contacted him and Sakura to make sure their score would be even. After time is up, Shikamaru reveals a bonus question that must be answered unanimously by each team which asks what member of their respective team would be chosen to be a decoy and the one picked will be disqualified. He was again contacted by Ino, telling him to leave the question blank on Sakura's orders. His team ultimately passes the first round. However, a preliminary round was issued to lessen the many partipants, involving a race to Sunagakure where only the first 30 teams to arrive at the destination would qualify for the second exam.

Ultimately, his team were among the first 30 teams to make it. The following night, as all the genin were ready to eat dinner, everyone grew nervous about the overly-sweaty Burami ruining the food, which caused the genin to quickly try to stop him, resulting in Neji using the Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven and accidentally destroying the food. As tension grew between everyone over the recent event, an all-out brawl began. Eventually everyone lost their desire to fight when Fū arrived with her optimistic ways. Later, while everyone returned to their rooms to prepare for the following day, an anxiously hungry Chōji decided to go to the next building in hopes that the jōnin supervisors would share their food. As Sakura and Ino went after him, they were all attacked by a giant scorpion. They were saved by the joyful Fū, who swiftly defeated the massive beast. After Chōji recieved food from Guy, everyone turned in for the night. The following day, the second exam began. Like the last exam in Konoha, the teams were each given either a Heaven or Earth scroll and were required to within three days to obtain a matching set. They were then required to bring the set to the main building in the centre of Demon Desert.

On the third day of the exam, Team Asuma lost their provisions in a previous fight. Following Sakura's decision, they went for an oasis to replenish themselves. Taking so long to arrive, Ino and Sakura got into another heated argument. Their bickering was quickly ended by the attack of another giant scorpion. While Ino didn't have enough time to use her clan techniques and the scorpion overpowered Chōji, Sakura surprised everyone by defeating the creature with a single punch. Afterwards, Ino healed Sakura's hand from the attack. With everyone calming down, they used the scorpion's meat as new provisions and commented on each other's growth, reasserting their desire to pass the exams.

Not feeling the provisions from the scorpion was enough, Ino insisted that the team go to the nearby oasis. Before arriving, they were cut off by a Suna-team to which, Ino attacked first, letting the enemies counter and pretended to be knocked out. While the enemies engage Sakura and Chōji, Ino senses the enemies' movements and telepathically informs her allies. Seeing through Ino's ploy, Shishio erects a barrier to disrupt her ability to sense. Ino improves by linking minds with her allies, allowing Chōji and Sakura to counter-attack and defeat the Suna-nin. Afterwards, Sakura, Ino and Ameno heal all members from both parties. While the Suna-nin openly admit defeat and offer their scroll, Sakura notes that it is unneeded as they already have two matching scrolls. The two teams then part ways, agreeing to meet again in the third exam.

Ultimately, Ino succeeds in expelling Saya from Chōji's mind, allowing Chōji to regain control of himself and attacked the enemies, forcing them to retreat. Later, with Chōji and Ino still exhausted from the last skirmish, Saya's team soon returned, keeping Ino and her team pinned down in a sandstorm while attacking them with sand puppets. While Ino tried to keep up her sensory mode, her team convinced her to conserve chakra and rely on their eyes. The Konoha-nin easily dealt with the sand puppets, until one of them was revealed to be Mamushi in disguise and poisoned Chōji and Ino. Afterwards, gaining enough chakra, Sakura was able to propel herself out of the sandstorm and defeat the enemies with a single strike. Afterwards, Sakura healed her team-mates, to which Chōji and Ino voiced their pleasure in having Sakura for a team-mate. Later, Team Asuma was caught in a massive sandstorm.

Tenchi Bridge Reconnaissance Mission
Chōji made his Part II début shortly after Naruto returned from successfully rescuing Gaara. Like most of the Rookie Nine, he had reached the chūnin rank. Chōji had also improved his skills during the time-skip, and was now able to enlarge various parts of his body without much concentration. His reaction time had also increased, being able to immediately prevent an attack by Sai from harming Shikamaru or Naruto.

Chōji was then seen in a restaurant together with Team Asuma and Team Kakashi, now including Sai. Sai was surprised to see them after his encounter with them. Sai then started giving nicknames to everyone, in the hope of getting along better with them. He almost called Chōji fat, but Naruto covered his mouth to prevent him doing so.

Twelve Guardian Ninja
In the anime, when Sora explores Konoha, he gets into a conflict with Kiba and Akamaru. Chōji then appears with Shikamaru while Sora and Kiba were arguing, telling them not to fight. Sora then insults Chōji calling him fatty which enraged him. After Lee and Naruto join the "fray" it is ended before it gets serious by Shikamaru and Asuma. Asuma then treated the Konoha 11 boys to lunch accompanied by Sora.

Later, when a horde of zombie ninja attacked Konoha under the summoning of Furido. Chōji along with Ino, Shikamaru, Kiba, Akamaru, Rock Lee, Izumo and Kotetsu held the resurrected ninja at bay. Afterwards, Chōji along with his team-mates then acted as back up for Team Yamato when the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's chakra was unleashed in Sora's body. Chōji then uses his Partial Multi-Size Technique to immobilise Sora but soon after the chakra cloak begins burning Chōji's hands. Sora, now having four tails, attacked Chōji and the others, but Yamato was able to shield them with his Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall. Ino and Sakura then attempted to heal Chōji's burned hands, and Sakura stated that wounds caused by the Nine-Tails cannot be easily healed. Chōji is later seen with the other ninja seeing Sora off.

Akatsuki Suppression Mission
Later, Chōji arrived with Raidō Namiashi, Aoba Yamashiro and Ino as back-up for Asuma's Nijū Shōtai team in their fight with Akatsuki members Hidan and Kakuzu. As the Akatsuki pair fled due to their arrival, Chōji prepared to take the fatally injured Asuma back to Konoha for treatment. Asuma, however, knew that he wouldn't make it back to Konoha, and gave some parting words to his team. He told Chōji that he was a kind-hearted boy, who thinks about his friends, and, therefore, may be a stronger ninja than anyone else, and to simply believe in himself. Asuma also told Chōji to diet a bit more, and Chōji said that, while it was difficult, he would try. Chōji then reminisces his memories with Asuma like the day when they were assigned to him as students and he treated them for a meal and Chōji had ordered a banquet, which hurt Asuma's economy. Chōji then cried. After smoking one last cigarette, Asuma died, leaving Chōji, Shikamaru, and Ino to set out in an attempt to avenge him with Kakashi as their temporary leader.

After discussing a plan created by Shikamaru, they located Hidan and Kakuzu. Chōji attacked the two from above with his Spiked Human Bullet Tank when Shikamaru distracted them, with its effectiveness increased with his new ability to grow and sharpen his hair, creating a huge crater in the ground on impact. His attack however didn't phase them since Kakuzu was able to protect himself and Hidan merely endured it. Not long after did Kakuzu unleash his masks and Hidan was freed from Shikamaru's possession. When Hidan called Chōji "fatso" and insulted his sensei, Chōji enraged, charged at him but was stopped by Shikamaru's shadow for going in carelessly, unfortunately leaving an opening for Hidan to attack. Fortunately he was saved by Kakashi who dealt with Hidan himself with Kakuzu appearing before him. He acted fast and attacked Kakuzu with his colossal fists but Kakuzu easily managed to stop his attack and knocked him out. When he regained consciousness, he increased his body size and used Super Open Hand Slap to crush the two of the masks and keep them at bay.

His attempt was unsuccessful, and Kakuzu was able to capture he and the rest of the team. As they were going to be hit with a massive fire attack by Kakuzu, they were saved by Naruto and Yamato's combined technique to cancel it out. After Naruto arrived and defeated Kakuzu, Chōji returned to Konoha with the rest of his team, noting that Naruto defeating Kakuzu made him "cool", even if not as much so as Shikamaru.

Pain's Assault
When Pain began his assault on Konoha, Chōji and his father arrived at the scene of Kakashi and Pain's fight, stunning Pain's Asura Path. After the Deva Path launched a counter-attack at them, Chōji and Chōza tried to distract the Path so Kakashi could land a finishing blow. Their effort failed, resulting in Chōza being gravely injured. Kakashi, unable to move, sent Chōji to tell Tsunade about the Deva Path's ability. Though believing his father to be dead, Chōji did as instructed, and was delighted to learn from Tsunade that his father was alive. But he quickly sobered after finding out that Kakashi died protecting him. He went to attend to his father, and stayed with him during the destruction of Konoha. After witnessing Kakashi returning to life, Chōji greeted Naruto as he returned to Konoha, supporting Shikamaru on his shoulder.

Five Kage Summit
Chōji is seen comforting Ino after Teams Guy, Asuma, and Kurenai agree that Sasuke must be stopped. He is also noted by Shikamaru to want revenge if Ino was to be killed personally to prevent a devastating international war. Along with the rest of Konoha 11, Chōji is prepared to kill Sasuke. Chōji was later seen with the rest of the Konoha 11, hearing Naruto's decision about Sasuke. When Naruto explained it wouldn't have been easy to defeat Sasuke, even at his current level, Chōji asks what he means by that.

Power
In the anime, Chōji and his team-mates are sent out as backup for Team Kakashi while they were investigating what was happening at The Hole located in the Tonika Village. During this time, Chōji confronted a reincarnated Kumo-nin and used his colossal fists to battle the shinobi. He and Shikamaru were later able to incapacitate a few of the shinobi, but had to take cover when Naruto's clone grew larger.

Later, he, Ino and Shikamaru battled a snake clone of Hidan made by Kabuto Yakushi, but Hidan's body died out just as Hidan was gaining the upper hand. When Naruto defeated his clone and Kabuto retreated, the Konoha-nin bid their goodbyes.

Fourth Shinobi World War: Confrontation
When the Fourth Shinobi World War begins, Chōji is placed in the Fourth Division alongside Shikamaru. Chōji, Shikamaru, and other members of their division are later sent to provide support for the First Division. They meet up with Ino - sent as backup from her own division - and they team up to help Darui fight Kinkaku. Chōji attacks Kinkaku with his Human Bullet Tank, creating an opening for Shikamaru and Ino and ultimately leading to Kinkaku's capture. Ino–Shika–Chō next engages the reincarnated Kakuzu. As they prepare to face him yet again, he points out that he is not the only ninja to have been reincarnated: Asuma is on the battlefield too.

As Asuma's students and thus experts on his fighting style, Shikaku leaves fighting him to Ino–Shika–Chō. Chōji is reluctant to fight Asuma, and despite Shikamaru and Ino's attempt to reassure him he cannot bring himself to attack him. Asuma attacks him with his Wind Release: Dust Cloud Technique and Ino tackles him to get him out of the way. As Chōji struggles to come to terms with what is happening, Asuma tries to motivate him by calling him fat. Although Chōji lashes out in his usual fashion, he still cannot bring himself to strike Asuma. Ino transfers her consciousness into Chōji's body to fight on his behalf. As she fights, Chōji reflects on his duty as an Akimichi, only coming back to his senses when his father shields them from Asuma's attack.

Seeing that his team-mates and his own father have the will to fight despite the circumstances, Chōji finds the resolve he needs. He uses Butterfly Chōji Mode to create butterfly chakra-wings without the aid of the Three Coloured Pills, a feat which amazed his father. While Shikamaru manoeuvres Asuma into a vulnerable position Chōji grew to gigantic size and used the Butterfly Bullet Bombing technique to punch Asuma into a nearby cliff. Immobilised, Asuma uses his last few moments before being sealed to congratulate his students on their perfect formation as well as thank Chōji for finding the confidence. Chōji then grew his wings to an enormous size, catching the attention of nearly everyone in the battle. He asked Shikamaru and Ino to back him up while he ended the battle.

By nightfall, Chōji has managed to capture Hizashi Hyūga in his hand while crushing Kakuzu underneath his other fist. The apparent victory is short-lived, as Tobi soon appears on the battlefield Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. Chōji and his father confront the statue but are no match for it, only being flung back in the failed offensive. Returning to his regular size, Chōji bunkers down with the rest of his team as Statue goes on a rampage. After the attack subsides, Chōji plans with the rest of his team and Tenten.

The next morning, in the anime, while everyone is still concerned about who to trust because of the transformed White Zetsu that had invaded their ranks, the Sound Four emerge on the battlefield, reincarnated with enhanced cursed seals. Chōji quickly engages Jirōbō, who notes Chōji's much slimmer built. Despite not having his clan pills to aid him, Chōji is able to hold back the Sound ninja and subdue him. However, his victory is short-lived, as Jirōbō engulfs himself and Chōji in a strange technique. Chōji's body was left in a comatose state while his soul was sent to a new location where it was reanimate within a large barrier. Inside, the inhabitants are able to battle normal. However, the Sound Four inform their enemies that in time, their actual bodies' halted chakra flow will eventually cause them to die. In addition, killing the Sound Four will not undo the technique. Despite the initial stalemate, the Sound Four's enhanced Cursed Seals grow even stronger from their accumulated malice, quickly overwhelming the Konoha ninja. Seeing that, Shikamaru begins to intentionally provoke them, knowing that Naruto's new senses would pick up on it. Eventually, Naruto finds them and breaks through the barrier, allowing Inoichi, through a telepathic connection, to release the technique and restore Chōji and the others to their bodies. Upon awakening, Chōji is tearfully hugged by a relieved Ino.

Later, Chōji and the rest of the shinobi stand in circles as a countermeasure against the White Zetsu until Naruto could come and differentiate them. Getting somewhat restless, Chōji asks how much longer they'd have to stay like this, noting that if the Demonic Statue came back they'd be in a lot of trouble. He is greatly relieved when Naruto's shadow clone finally arrives.

After being informed by Inoichi from HQ that Naruto and B were fighting the "masked Madara", Chōji and the rest of the Konoha 11 rush to his aid. As he runs, he states to Shikamaru that it seemed Naruto was doing well. He then states that Naruto was as stupid as he was fat but that people were not always as they seem. Thinking to himself, he jokingly tells slightly stupid Naruto to wait because slim Chōji was coming.

Fourth Shinobi World War: Climax
Upon arriving at the battlefield alongside Shikamau, Chōji announced their presence to Naruto and later stood alongside the other members of the Allied Shinobi Forces to face their opposition. After Shikaku and Inoichi were killed by the Ten-Tails after relaying their final strategy, Chōji attempted to console Shikamaru, only to be reminded by his friend that they were in the midst of battle and did not have time to grieve. He was later shocked alongside the others, by Neji's death.

After Kurama had accumulated enough chakra, Naruto sent shadow clones to Chōji and the rest of the Allied Shinobi Forces to distribute Kurama's chakra. Kurama's chakra cloak enveloped Chōji, causing his body to naturally begin converting the chakra into calories leading him to rapidly began to regain weight, somewhat to the young man's dismay. Soon after, the Ten-Tails launched an attack, Chōji and several other Akimichi stopped its tails. This gave Ino the chance to take over Obito with her Mind Body Switch Technique to deflect an attack launched at them. With the other tails thrashing about, Shikamaru and several other Nara use the Shadow Imitation Technique to immobilise the beast. Later when Madara and Obito bear down on the Alliance with their Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation and Fire Release: Blast Wave Wild Dance, the cloak surrounding them protected them from the attacks. This lead Chōji to comment that if it hadn't been for the cloak, they would be no different than pigs roasting on a spit. He would later remark that once again Naruto had protected them from the Tenpenchii.

Later as the Alliance banded together to protect themselves against the Ten-Tails' enormous Tailed Beast Ball, Chōji and the other shinobi are able to create multiple weakened defences in an attempt to deflect the attack. However, when these seem to fail, they are saved by the Fourth Hokage's appearance on the battlefield, and even more so when the other Hokage arrive. He was later shocked to see Sasuke arrive on the battlefield as well, and went along with his team-mates to where they were. As Ino rushed forward, Chōji cautioned her that Sasuke was dangerous and that she needed to keep her distance. Chōji and the others were later shocked and confused to hear Sasuke's resolve to become the next Hokage.

He then comments on the reunion of Team 7, saying that it has been a while since their entire graduating class has gathered in one place, the last time being the Chūnin Exams. He then charges at the Ten-Tails with his friends. Ino then rallies her own team together, for them to perform Formation E. While Chōji uses his Multi-Size Technique, and Shikamaru uses the Shadow Clutch Technique on him, Ino uses her sensory abilities to lock onto all of the clones in the surrounding area, before using the Perception Transfer technique on Shikamaru. With Ino acting as the mind, Shikamaru as the body and Chōji as the yo-yo, the trio perform the Human Bullet Yo-Yo technique, obliterating all of the surrounding clones. As Chōji prepares to double in size to strengthen his assault, Shikamaru states that the team has a lot more to show, with Ino then berating him for his sudden competitiveness with the other teams. He then watched Naruto and Sasuke attack the Ten-Tails, silently spurring them on.

Birth of the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki
With the situation looking grim as the Alliance was trapped in a barrier with a Tailed Beast Ball-firing tree, Chōji and the other shinobi soon found themselves shrouded in the previous Version 1 mantles again. Shocked that it had reappeared, he noted that it was even stronger than before. He and the other shinobi subsequently found themselves on the outside of the barrier, escaping the near-fatal attack thanks to Naruto and Minato's action.

Ready to begin the final stages of his plan, Obito unleashes the Ten-Tails' tree form. It begins unleashing countless branches, attacking every living target to absorb its chakra, killing the victim in the process. To Chōji's horror, Shikamaru fell victim to the tree's attack and drained of nearly all his chakra, Shikamaru collapsed in Chōji's arms. Hashirama Senju has Ino everyone link-up telepathically to inform them of what his original had learned of the Eye of the Moon Plan as well as try and rally them. While Hashirama's words fail to inspire anyone, Naruto's senjutsu-enhanced Tailed Beast Mode combined with Ino's telepathy caused his emotions and personal memories to be conveyed to everyone, during which Chōji sympathised with Naruto over the loss of Asuma.

Chōji was later so overjoyed when Shikamaru recovered that the young man unreservedly embraced his friend while shedding tears despite Shikamaru's protests. He and his team-mates later mobilsed when Naruto called for them via their telepathic link. While shocked when Naruto's Tailed Beast Mode mantle surrounds him, Chōji and the others were successful in using the Rasengan formed in Kurama's tails to break through Obito's defences and give Naruto and Sasuke a clear shot at attacking their opponent. He and his comrades later also assisted Naruto with wresting control of the tailed beasts' chakra from Obito to effectively stop the Ten-Tails' tree form from blooming.

When Madara was revived, Chōji aided his comrades in combating Tobi. He later wondered just what exactly was going on across the battlefield when they saw meteorites falling from the sky close by. He and the others fell prey to the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Inside the genjutsu, Chōji dreamt of eating a large meal while a beautiful girl praised him for it, as his father watched on proud of his son.

Kaguya Ōtsutsuki Strikes
Ultimately, the world was freed from the genjutsu by Naruto and Sasuke after they ended the war.

Kakashi Hiden: Lightning in the Icy Sky
Chōji makes an appearance in this novel.

Shikamaru Hiden: A Cloud Drifting in Silent Darkness
Chōji makes an appearance in this novel.

The Last: Naruto the Movie
Chōji makes an apperance in the film which is set two years after the Fourth Shinobi World War. He was seen with his team as they look at how popular Naruto is now with Ino noting many people, mostly women, are drawn to him as a hero. He was last seen at Naruto and Hinata's wedding.

Konoha Hiden: The Perfect Day for a Wedding
Chōji makes an appearance in this novel.

Epilogue
Several years afterwards, Chōji married Karui, who together had a daughter named Chōchō. He began helping his friends train their respective children to become the new generation of the Ino–Shika–Chō trio.

Naruto Shippūden the Movie
He made a small cameo before Team 7 was being called up, he, Shikamaru, and Ino were seen running through the streets.

Naruto Shippūden the Movie: Bonds
Chōji played a short role while they were trying to fight off the sky ninja and was seen with Sakura, Neji, and Yamato while Naruto destroyed the Land of the Sky.

Naruto Shippūden the Movie: The Will of Fire
Chōji was first seen eating barbecue with Shikamaru and the others celebrating Naruto and Sai's recovery. Later when Hiruko announced that a Fourth Ninja World War would occur once he gets the final kekkei genkai, Chōji was seen with the rest of Konoha 11 except Naruto assigned by Tsunade to secure the village. When Naruto and Sakura left the village to rescue Kakashi, Chōji, and the others left to stop him. While they encountered them, they got ambushed by San which caused them to fight while Sai took Naruto and Sakura ahead. Later when Hiruko finally approached them they all fought and defeated him.

Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie
Chōji first appeared with his friends battling several White Zetsu clones disguised as deceased Akatsuki members. Later, a different version of Chōji appeared in the alternate universe. There, while still a user of the his clans expansion techniques, Chōji was seen slimmer and more fit, with square-shaped swirls on his cheeks. Also, this Chōji was more level-headed and keen-minded, as well as more self-conscious about what and how much he eats.

Live Spectacle Naruto
Ryo Kato plays as Chōji in this stage play adaption.

Trivia

 * "Chōji" means "butterfly (Chō-)" and "the second son (-ji)" added together. Butterflies are insects known to eat sweets. Chōji also manifests butterfly wings made of chakra after eating the third red pill during his fight against Sound Four ninja Jirōbō.
 * Chōji was the only member of the original 15 genin to not be ranked within the top 30 characters in the sixth and most recent Naruto character popularity poll. He was not ranked among the top 30 in the fifth poll either. The only poll he placed in was the fourth where he was ranked 21st most popular character.
 * According to the databook(s):
 * Chōji's hobby is buying and eating snacks.
 * While Chōji doesn't wish to fight anyone in particular, Chōji will fight anyone as long as there is food involved.
 * Chōji's favourite foods are Korean barbecue and junk food, whilst his least favourite food is anything inedible.
 * Chōji has completed 39 official missions in total: 17 D-rank, 13 C-rank, 6 B-rank, 3 A-rank, 0 S-rank.
 * Chōji's favourite word is.
 * Chōji is the only character to have a stat go down between databooks: his hand seal score goes down by half a point between the second and third databooks.
 * In Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles 2, it is revealed that Chōji has a fear of lizards after he sees Ibushi's puppet lizard.
 * In the omake of Naruto: Shippūden episode 163, Chōji seemingly uses Wind Release by sucking up Potato chips, calling it which angers Naruto questioning what kind of Wind Release was that.
 * In a 2012 Shōnen Jump interview, Masashi Kishimoto stated that Chōji and Killer B were currently his favourite characters in the Naruto series.
 * Despite Chōji using Earth Release: Practice Brick Technique in the manga, Earth Release is omitted from his list of natures in the fourth databook.

Quotes

 * (To Dosu) "Fat!? I'm big boned!"
 * (To Ino about Shikamaru) "I told you he'd give up. It's you who doesn't know anything about Shikamaru, Ino."
 * (To Ino) "The last bite! The end of the meal, the most precious morsel of meat. I won't let any one take the last piece away from me!"
 * (To Jirōbō) "You've never heard of the phrase: "a grudge over food is deeper than the ocean"? That strike was for eating the last piece of my snack…"
 * (To Jirōbō) "I can't forgive you for calling me fat! But even more than that… Not just for stealing the last chip… or calling me fat… most importantly I won't forgive anyone who insults my best friend!"
 * (His oath)