Naruto: Why does Choji lose weight so suddenly in battle? Akimichi clan's secret jutsu explained

The Akimichi clan is one of the strongest clans of the Hidden Leaf Village in Naruto. They have a special type of jutsu technique since their emergence that is unique only to them and hasn't been seen in any other clan of the series.

Arguably, the strongest member of this clan is Choji Akimichi, a classmate of Naruto and part of the Ino-Shika-Cho team that was under Asuma Sarutabi. Due to his chubby physique, Choji was a person who didn't have much confidence in himself or his technique but he would do anything for his best friend, Shikimaru.

Throughout the technique, he displayed his family's original technique which gave him the appearance of a butterfly. During this technique, his body physique would also change, raising the question as to what this technique is.

This article will break down the Akimichi clan's Butterfly Mode technique which made them one of the strongest in the Hidden Leaf Village.

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Naruto: Explaining the secret clan technique of Choji Akimichi, the Butterfly Mode

Choji Akimichi as seen in the anime (Image via Studio Pierrot)

The Butterfly Mode is a transformation jutsu technique, unique to the Akimichi clan, that allowed its user to transform the calories inside their body into chakra.

This would lead to the user losing body fat, which was the reason Choji lost weight while fighting, using this technique.

This technique can either be activated naturally when the user has reached a certain age or can be induced using one of the Three Colored Pills. Inducing using the pills endangered the life of the user, just like what happened during Choji's battle with Jirobou.

Shikamaru (left) and Choji (right) as seen in the anime (Image via Studio Pierrot)

Choji Akimichi is a supporting character in Naruto who is a part of Asuma Sarutobi's Team 10. He was also part of the legendary trio of Konoha that comprised members from the Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi clan.

From the very start of the series, he had little confidence in himself due to his body physique. But Shikamaru looked past his physical appearance and appreciated his kind heart, which led to them developing a friendship like none other.

Choji's fighting abilities involved using Multi-sized jutsu techniques which are his clan's specialty. These range from expanding the whole body to partially expanding a single part of the body.

But the strongest technique of this clan revolves around their secret technique, known as the Butterfly Mode.

The technique involves the transformation of body fat of Choji into chakra that is visible in the form of butterfly wings on the back of his body.

This chakra can then be directed at the enemy either as a thrust or in compressed form as a punch. This remains Choji's strongest technique on the battlefield.

Throughout the series, Choji has demonstrated this technique in two ways. One was through Calorie Control when he fought during the Fourth Great Ninja War as a grown-up.

This gave him voluntary control over how much fat needed to be converted into chakra, thus reducing the chances of loss of excess body fat, which could lead to his death.

Jirobou (left) and Choji (right) as seen in the anime (Image via Studio Pierrot)

The other time he used this technique was when he was genin and was a part of Sasuke Retrieval Team. He transformed using the Three Colored Pills, which forced the calories inside his body to transform into chakra in an uncontrolled amount.

This helped him awaken his Butterfly form against Jirobou, one of the Sound Five. Although he won against a strong opponent, he risked his life and made a hair-close escape from death, due to the Nara clan's medical team and Tsunade.

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