{"id":"expansion-akimichi","name":"Akimichi body expansion","japanese":"忍","category":"techniques","subtitle":"Origin, how it works and limits.","summary":"Growing in size and converting reserves are part of a training tradition.","facts":[["Procedencia","The profile tells anime and manga apart"],["Alcance","Original summary, not a universal repertoire"]],"lvl":1,"sections":[{"h":"How it works","lvl":0,"ch":"naruto-87","t":"The Akimichi convert the calories they store into chakra to enlarge their bodies. With the Expansion Jutsu, Chōji becomes huge and, tucking in his arms and head, rolls over his opponents like a human boulder. In the Forest of Death he attacks the Sound ninja this way, and in the Chūnin Exam preliminaries he tries the same against Dosu, who beats him with his sound attack. The technique is powerful in open spaces but depends on the user's reserves: bearing the surname is not enough, it takes training and food.","pos":87},{"h":"The three pills","lvl":0,"ch":"naruto-235","t":"For extreme cases, the clan keeps three colored pills. The first boosts the expansion; the second lets the user enlarge only parts of the body, such as the arms; the third, the red one, burns all the user's fat to turn it into immense chakra that forms butterfly wings. On the mission to bring back Sasuke, Chōji takes all three to defeat Jirōbō, who dies in the fight. Afterward Chōji collapses, wasted away, and is hospitalized at death's door; only a special treatment saves him. The pills give enormous power in exchange for the user's life.","pos":235},{"h":"Chōza, Chōji and the invasion","lvl":1,"ch":"naruto-423","t":"In Part II, Chōji and his father Chōza face the Deva Path together during the invasion of Konoha. Chōza uses partial expansion to defend his son, and in the fight Chōji discovers that the Deva needs a few seconds between one repulsion and the next. Wounded, Chōza tasks Chōji with taking that information to Tsunade. The scene shows father and son using the same clan techniques, but each in a different role: one protects and the other runs with a decisive piece of information.","pos":423},{"h":"Butterfly without the pills","lvl":1,"ch":"naruto-534","t":"In the Fourth Great Ninja War, Chōji faces his teacher Asuma, brought back with the Impure World Reincarnation. To stop him he reaches butterfly form without the pills, through sheer will and chakra control, something that nearly cost him his life the first time. Together with Shikamaru and Ino, in the Ino-Shika-Chō formation, they manage to pin Asuma down so he can be sealed. The technique is still demanding, but training lets him reach it without the extreme cost of the red pill.","pos":534},{"h":"Chōchō and the new generation","lvl":2,"t":"In the Boruto era, Chōchō, daughter of Chōji and Karui, carries on the clan's techniques with partial expansion and her own version of the butterfly, which also takes a toll on her body. Karui, from Kumogakure, does not gain the expansion by marrying Chōji: it is an ability trained within the clan. The technique still depends on reserves, practice and control, just as in the previous generation."}],"characters":["choza","choji","chocho"],"related":["chakra"],"reference":"Reading guide for the series indicated. The linked source offers editorial context and does not by itself verify every detail of the technique.","sources":[{"title":"Guía oficial de anime: Naruto y Shippuden","url":"https://naruto-official.com/en/anime"}],"figures":["
RESERVES · TRAINING · COST
Akimichi expansion · Original diagramSize and reserves relate to training and costs. The illustration does not credit every Akimichi with advanced mastery.
"]}