#chōji

[the-konoha-daily]

Eligible Shinobi Showdown: Jōnin Take the Spotlight!

Who says it’s all about the younger generation? Rumor has it that the Jōnin elite are ready to throw their kunai into the ring, and trust us, dear readers, it’s already causing a stir!

First up, the eternally suave Genma Shiranui. Known for his casual charm and signature senbon, Genma is allegedly the fan favorite among Konoha’s tea-house regulars. But here’s the kicker—he was overheard telling Raido, “I’ll win this with one wink and a grin. Who needs anything more?” Confidence, or a hint of overconfidence? Only time will tell.

Speaking of Raido Namiashi, the ever-loyal shadow to Genma’s antics, he’s reportedly been spotted ALLEGEDLY perfecting a series of dramatic combat poses in preparation for a “Most Dashing in Battle” category. Could this mean a Genma vs. Raido rivalry is brewing? And more importantly, who would Konoha’s kunoichi root for if it came to a vote?

But the wild card in this competition? Anko Mitarashi, of course. The queen of chaos herself is rumored to be planning a spicy dango-eating performance to prove her title as the most daring shinobi in Konoha. Insiders at her favorite dango stand report her shouting, “I’ll eat 50 sticks if it means proving I’m the best!” Could this be the start of a new food-fueled rivalry between Anko and Chōji Akimichi?

And then there’s Ebisu, the “esteemed” tutor of the next generation. ALLEGEDLY, he’s been taking this competition way too seriously, drafting a formal presentation on the “Virtues of Shinobi Decorum” to sway the judges. One witness even claims he’s been rehearsing bowing techniques. Will Ebisu’s “sophisticated” approach stand out—or fall flat in the face of flashier competitors?

But let’s not forget, dear readers—this isn’t just about charm; it’s about scandal. Rumors are swirling that Genma and Anko have entered into a secret pact to sabotage Ebisu with a series of harmless “pranks,” including replacing his sunglasses with bright pink frames.

Whether they’re rivals or allies, one thing is certain: the Jōnin category is about to bring a whole new level of intrigue to the Eligible Shinobi Showdown. Who will rise, who will fall, and who will eat too many dango? Stay tuned for all the messy details!

[wordswhisperinthedark]

OUGH I was not expecting the sheer aura😯😍

[bearpoll2023]

[wenx]

[dante-heller]

ALRIGHT! LET'S FUCKING G-

Oh... I guess I'll be watching her fight next time.

[narasnooze]

Chōji: No matter how hard you work, Chōji: or how big a celebrity you become... Chōji: You will never be as famous as cheese.

[thesandyfreak]

@majorluz comment made me remember another potential that was wasted here: most people in Naruto share the same physique, and while you could argue that it makes it easier to draw and/or ninjas are all ectomorph, it just another prof of how much potential was wasted here because of a simple reason: story telling.

Alert for big study post (aka: frustation-venting post)

Most people, especially the artists, will know what I'm talking about, but for those who don't know: story telling is much more than simply using words to describe what a character is like; it's using the state of their clothes to show their personality, the look in their eyes and the way they stand to show their mental state, the structure of their bodies to go along with their fighting style. All of this is story telling performing without a single word, it's beautiful and it's divine when done right.

And Naruto didn't.

An example of failed story telling? Might Guy and Rock Lee. We know that their fighting style is, in its simplest form, a brawl; while they do have knowledge about martial arts, most of the time they use brute strength.

But their design. Don't. Reflect. That.

And worse is, it's not just a passing "oh, they punch, yeah, that's cool", no, we have an active idea of how tough their train is, and even for an ectomorph, it's a plain example of failed story telling. We'd NEVER realize what their style is like using their design (okay, maybe we could, but it's a big maybe)

Not to say I dislike a nimble-slim Lee (he uses strength AND speed after all), but Naruto has decided on copy-pasting the same bodies for almost all of the main and major side characters and that's just lazy work. (I mean, c'mon, Lee as an adult is, apart from two or three scenes that made him right, thin.

As an counter idea, we have Neji: he too relies on taijutsu, and while he doesn't show muscles as well, his design actually works for him: the Hyuuga have a deeply ingrained martial style, an it's show on the style of their clothes (in Neji's case. Hinata doesn't use her clan's traditional wear). They use force, but their fighting stance relies on speed and precision, hence a more nimble body structure.

I know that's just how anime is, but Kishimoto and Pierrot decided to throw design charism out of the window and then stomp on it until earth shattered and sent it to hell.

(tldr: most characters have shared bodies and I'm mad that every female has the same size)

(AKA: Temari should have been taller than Shikamaru because I said so)

(AKA: Gaara should be smaller, that boy barely slept his growth spurts were DOOMED and his body hated every hour of it)

(AKA: Chōji is perfect)

Nothing, just,

[youghvaudough]

Wind Breaker characters have a theme to their names, a thread, part 2:

(part 1: Bōfūrin!)

Shishitōren / 獅子頭連

with a name that literally means "lion's head (legion)", you can find some sort of animal in each of shishitoren members' last names

兎耳山 丁子 • Tomiyama Chōji: 兎 / rabbit

(fun fact: his last name, if we break it down kanji by kanji, is "rabbit" "ear" "mountain")

十亀 条 • Togame Jō: 亀 / tortoise

(fun fact: his last name, kanji by kanji, is "ten tortoises")

basically Jō and Chōji are literally the tortoise and the hare of wind breaker.. cute

佐狐 浩太 • Sako Kōta: 狐 / fox

有馬 雪成 • Arima Yukinari: 馬 / horse

鹿沼 稔 • Kanuma Minoru: 鹿 / deer

(next part: part 3 (manga spoilers) - noroshi!)

[tanuki-kimono]

Perfect match for those kimono and obi depicting all-season plants (chrysanthemum, pinks, cherry blossom and maple leaves) kusudama.

Kusudama (flower ball, lit. ”medecine ball”) were originally kind of potpourri pouches which were hung on Tango no sekku (5th day of the 5th month, today held in May as Kodomo no hi). Kusudama would be kept until the 9th day of the 9th month (Chrysanthemum/double ninth Festival) and then replaced by chrysanthemum flowers.

Auspicious goshiki no ito (five long dangling ribbons) were used to close and hang kududama. In rich households, the ornamental pouch would be made of luxurious Nishiki brocade. Inside, you could find jakō (musk/incense), jinkō (agarwood), chōji (cloves), kanshō (a kind of honeysuckle?), ryūnō (kind of camphor), etc. All those elements were thought to ward of evil and prevent illness.

Overtime, the pouch slowy became a kind of flower arrangement. Because of their auspicious nature, they are often found on antique girl and women garments.

[the-konoha-daily]

BREAKING: The T&I Chief’s Guilty Pleasure!

It seems even the most intimidating of Konoha’s shinobi aren’t immune to a little juicy gossip! ALLEGEDLY, none other than the fearsome Head of T&I, Morino Ibiki himself, is an avid follower of The Konoha Daily. Sources from HQ report that Ibiki is often seen thumbing through the latest edition, occasionally chuckling (yes, chuckling!) at the spiciest tidbits.

And, of course, it’s all alleged, but rumor has it he once postponed an interrogation because he was too engrossed in reading about Tsunade-sama’s alleged sake escapade. Could it be that our scandalous headlines are his ultimate guilty pleasure?

[wordswhisperinthedark]

Just throwing this in from Takahashi-san:

it's really cool how this song encapsulates the shishitoren arc as a whole

After listening Stronger (the song I was waiting for weeks) more than once (it's still on the loop) I can understand why they waited for Choji and Umemiya's fight to release it it's literally and I'm not exaggerating it's literally Choji's song every word of it is for Choji

"Always remember protecting someone"

[wordswhisperinthedark]

I wish this got animated I think it's really cool imagery

Also, I really like how the high contrast in the manga makes Sakura & Togame look like stars in Chōji eyes. It's kind of alluding to how this fight is the fun and freedom Chōji's seeking (and will eventually get back)

[el-moleskine-de-kusubana]

ANBU

Bueno no es suficiente, los ANBU primordialmente son asesinos

✿Género: Crimen, Angst

✿Personajes: Neji Hyūga, Rock Lee, Tenten, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyūga, Ino Yamanaka, Chōji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara, Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki

✿Tipo: Canon Divergente

✿Estado: Completo (12 capítulos)

✿¿De qué va?

Una de las cosas que siempre me ha llamado la atención en el fandom (el clásico, al menos) es la idea de un ANBU como "lo mejor", pero esta idea es un poco vaga e imprecisa, sobre todo considerando que los ANBU nunca resuelven nada de los arcos argumentales y pareciera que caen como moscas.

Para mí, ANBU, es solo un asesino, los que hacen lo que normalmente no hace un ninja promedio, cosas no tan heroicas.

Así que, habiendo cientos de miles de fics en los que nuestros 11 de Konoha (más Sasuke) se vuelven ANBU, y haciendo énfasis en las chicas, que normalmente acaban ahí por despecho, decidí hacer un one shot con una misión de prueba, para ver si realmente tienen lo que se necesita para entrar en el cuerpo.

La verdad, cuando empecé el proyecto solo tenía perfectamente claras en mi mente la situación de dos: Neji y Shikamaru, y creo que se nota bastante, creo que son los dos mejores.

Neji sirve como apertura y para establecer la premisa general: el examen no es para demostrar siquiera si tienes madera de asesino, el examen es para probar si puedes responder bien ante lo que más te duele, lo que sería lo opuesto a tu camino ninja.

Por eso, para él elegí aquello que lo marcó profundamente; la idea de que hay personas más "valiosas" que otras, y que todos están sujetos a ese orden natural.

La inspiración para Lee llegó al revisar, literalmente en la wiki, la clasificación de las misiones, y saltó a la vista una en la que jamás me imaginaría a Lee.

Además, me di cuenta de que la dinámica del grupo tendría que ser importante, no solo argumentalmente, sino para evitar que uno como lector se aburra de ver el mismo patrón en las interacciones, sobre todo para dar esa falsa sensación de seguridad, de que puede hacerlo.

Por lo mismo, me costó mucho trabajo Tenten, pese a que sí tenía en la punta de la lengua el tema que "debería" tocarle: la sexualidad.

Y es que, tradicionalmente, el rol de las kunoichi va precisamente por ahí, pero es algo que no se aborda explícitamente en el manga (por la clasificación, por supuesto), aunque se referencia con algunas chicas, a veces con humor.

Sin embargo, Tenten siempre estuvo lejos de ese tema, quizás por su poca participación en la historia, quizás por ser kunoichi de asalto, o quizás porque en general siempre se mantuvo lejos de los dramas de chicos y amores. Sin embargo, ahí estaba, servido en bandeja de plata, un evento para el que nadie se prepara, y ni siquiera teniendo el poder, se puede evitar.

Kiba es resultado de varios experimentos para definir la dinámica familiar Inuzuka, de la que ya hablé en Alfa, y acá tomó forma en cómo afecta al núcleo familiar tener este rol de asesino para la aldea. Por eso la misión, aunque con cierto impacto, es secundaria al tema que realmente le importa a Kiba, y es cómo podrían cambiar las cosas en casa si no separa el trabajo de su vida personal.

Por alguna razón, tengo head canon de Shino como reflejo de Kiba; los dos son hijos de clan relevante, pero sin estar ligados a la figura de herederos. También los suelo tratar como miembros de una familia funcional, cercana, y al margen de los detalles "normal". El capítulo de Shino va un poco ligado al de Kiba, al mismo tiempo en que toma un rumbo completamente diferente, aterrizando en la idea de que, pese a ser callado y bastante raro, para él, las relaciones humanas tienen mucho valor, incluso me animé a poner algo que no se esperaría de él; la forma en la que entiende a Naruto.

Hinata es otra de las que más me costó, esta vez, porque es de los personajes que menos me gusta, sin embargo, quería un capítulo justo e imparcial que estuviera al nivel de los otros. Aunque había un segundo problema, y es que incluso sus fans pueden dar fe que esta chica no quería ser ninja, no realmente, y si se hizo más fuerte, fue en beneficio de terceros, para no ser una carga o un estorbo, pero que le hiciera ilusión subir de rango, ser una leyenda o cambiar el mundo, pues no.

Así que, ¿tendría algún interés especial en ser parte de ANBU?

Pues solo podía pensar en que no quería ser la desgracia del clan, y aunque mantiene la convicción de que debe dar lo mejor de sí, no puede imponer su voluntad a un sistema jerárquico que sistemáticamente la convenció de que no vale nada, aun antes de empezar propiamente su prueba.

La trama de Ino, curiosamente, fue saliendo casi a la par que Hinata, porque es todo lo opuesto; ella si quería ser ninja, ella si aspiraba crecer en esa profesión, a ella no le pesa el legado familiar, y más que nada, deseaba servir en ANBU (en todos mis head canon). Sin embargo, abundando y sobrando las tramas de ella como una de las chicas de moral más ligera, decidí darle una oportunidad con un tema que ni ella esperaba.

La obligué a formar un lazo, un vínculo afectivo desdibujado por el papel que tenía que aparentar y uno de los aspectos más importantes (en mis head canon) de su identidad: el vínculo padre-hija. Y todo para que al final, sea ella misma quien tenga que cortar ese vínculo.

Para algunos es el capítulo más largo y lento, pero para establecer una cotidianidad, era necesario.

Entonces, llegamos a Chōji, al que nadie le tenía fe, ni lectores ni sus compañeros y, sin embargo, toma fuerza de quien es y quién quiere llegar a ser para demostrar lo que vale.

Personalmente, el equipo 10, es que tuvo la mejor evolución; empiezan con la expectativa de ser los herederos de sus clanes, que, de hecho, son una formación estándar que va por su segunda generación (posiblemente más), para pasar a ser el peor de todos y volver a remontar el vuelo, quedándose sin maestro siendo muy jóvenes.

El capítulo de Chōji quise precisamente reflejar que ellos ya habían pasado por más, que en cierta manera van un par de pasos adelante en madurez y asientan sus carreras profesionales con más solidez, y la verdad, menos drama.

Lo que nos lleva a Shikamaru, responsable de su equipo luego que de Hidan y Kakuzu despacharan a Asuma.

El fic iba a cerrar con él, la conclusión de todos los capítulos para que el chico tomara una decisión, saliera de su comodidad y aceptara la responsabilidad que viene con su talento (y a notar que lo escribí mucho antes de llegara a esa conclusión en el canon); Shikamaru es más que un estratega, es un líder, y toma responsabilidad por todos los que están a su cargo, explotando sus talentos y personalidades.

Como había decidido que Shikamaru sería el último, pero cambie de opinión porque el siete merecía su oportunidad, los capítulos de Sasuke y Sakura están un poco desconectados.

De Sakura, la verdad, no creo que ella tenga esa aspiración profesional, sus prioridades claramente son otras. Aun así, pensé que sería bueno verla en una faceta absolutamente lejos de Sasuke-kun, así que me incliné por la faceta médica, en lo que sería bastante adecuado en la división ANBU.

Hubo algunos comentarios con un lector al respecto de por qué decidí que Sakura no tiene la capacidad emocional de permitir la tortura, incluso si se trata de un extraño, porque la verdad, pese a sus defectos de carácter, en realidad si creo que puede llegar a ser bastante empática y, sobre todo, tomar decisiones motivadas enteramente por sus emociones.

Para Sasuke, opté por una historia del pasado, sobre lo que el consejo esperaba de él, porque decidí respetar el hecho de que él no quiere servir a Konoha, sino a Naruto (que este sí se preocupe por la aldea lo alinea con el concepto general, pero ni siquiera usa su hitai-ate).

También juega un poco con los head canon que tengo de la infancia de Sasuke post masacre Uchiha, y el proceso de manipulación de los viejos del consejo que acabo por llevarlo a donde acabó.

Finalmente, Naruto funciona como un segundo epílogo, posterior al de Shikamaru, y en el que, la verdad, dejé ir toda mi queja sobre el guionazo para volver un villano como Orochimaru en el personaje cómico que puede andar libre por ahí pese a todo lo que hizo (que incluye, pero no se limita, a matar a un Hokage, provocar una guerra, secuestrar y torturar civiles y ninjas, masacrar aldeas, experimentación humana, y casi llevar a la ruina a Suna).

Dejé eso, pero sin el matiz "aquí nada pasó, mírenlo, es un buen tipo que cuida a su hijo ejemplarmente", e hice énfasis en la hipocresía de la voluntad de fuego en un sistema de mercenarios que hacen lo que sea por la paga adecuada.

Creo que, pese a todo, por eso el capítulo de Naruto funciona mejor como cierre que el de Shikamaru, porque aborda bien la premisa de ANBU como lo menos heroico, precisamente, lo que se oculta tras una máscara.

✿En FanfictionNet

✿En Wattpad

✿En Ao3

✿En portada

✿Ilustraciones de Higurashi Workshop Studios (editadas). Fondo, texturas, filtros y elementos varios recuperados de freepik. Tipografía: Appendix Normal.

[giustoart]

Did someone say TEAM 10?

Love them three! Do you like The Last’s concept of Chōji? I really don’t. He was so handsome in shippuden…so here you can see my alternative concept art of the trio!

TEAM 8 here

[dante-heller]

I don't think Ino's doing okay.

[usagirln12003]

Shikamaru Nara: Hogwarts AU

Shikamaru Nara is a Pureblood wizard that was born on the 22nd of September 1978 and started attending Hogwarts on the 1st of September 1990, being sorted into Ravenclaw House.

He has a Beech wand with a Phoenix Feather core.

His Patronus is a Sloth.

His favorite subject is Charms and his least favorite is Defense Against the Dark Arts.

He was one of the Ravenclaw Prefects of his year.

Shikamaru is naturally a lazy person and his inclination is to do as little work as possible. As a Hogwarts student and even during his early career at the Ministry, Shikamaru is able to get away with this, spending his days sleeping, watching the clouds, or playing games of Wizard Chess. Even when told by many that he could be a great minister, he stated that he didn't want to deal with such responsibilities. His goal is to live unremarkably, free of anything of noticeably good or bad, and then to die just as unremarkably as he lived. When he is faced with the potential for conflict or commitment, he responds first by saying, "how troublesome," and then by trying to find some way out of it, either by pretending to be indisposed or even outright saying that he doesn't want to do whatever it is.

Although Shikamaru describes himself as "the number one coward", he has a strong moral compass and dedication to his friends. It is these qualities that earned Chōji Akimichi's friendship, as Shikamaru was one of the first people to look past his weight and find value in who he naturally was. It is also these qualities that force Shikamaru to move away from his lazy pursuits, as he finds himself volunteering to do work or to sacrifice himself if it will in some way benefit his allies. Such selflessness, displayed during the Fourth Wizarding War, exacerbates his "troublesome" situations: he is given the responsibility of leading his friends into battle, for which reason he does everything that he can to keep them safe, for which reason he is given even more responsibility over even more of his friends, and so on. He still clings to his lazy origins as much as he can; even if he can't spend his entire day being idle, he at least avoids having long-term goals or confessing any particular pleasure in the duties he's assigned.

Shikamaru undergoes a rapid maturity after the death of his teacher, Asuma Sarutobi, whose loss forces Shikamaru to recognise that the world is not safe that he cannot be kept protected from it forever. After avenging Asuma, Shikamaru takes it upon himself to do all that he can to make things better for future wizarding generations, especially Asuma's then-unborn daughter, Mirai; such is the Will of Fire. He may still balk at the prospect of the work he must do, but he no longer runs from it, even going so far as to argue in favour of difficult choices if it will guarantee his friends' and others' survival. He describes his new goal in life as, rather than living unremarkably himself and watching the clouds all the time, to instead make a world where his children or grandchildren can live that way if they choose to.

One of the more "troublesome" things that runs throughout Shikamaru's life is the subject of women thanks to his experiences with the women he knows: his mother, Yoshino, one of his best friends, Ino Yamanaka, and his pen-pal from Durmstrang, Temari. He describes each of them as aggressive, demanding, and sometimes even scary. Shikamaru tries to treat women delicately, being non-confrontational or at least polite to them and never asking anything of them that he believes he can do himself. During his first years at Hogwarts, he generally believes he can do anything himself, and as such is mortified if and when a woman needs to assist him in any way; his frustrations are similar when he repeatedly finds himself facing female opponents in the Dueling Club. Because his father, Shikaku, has similar views and experiences with women, Shikamaru asks him for help in understanding them. Shikaku explains that men destroy themselves without a woman's influence and that women, despite how they may act, are kind to the men they love. As with most things, Shikamaru resists entanglements with women as much as he can; in the Mirror of Erised he sees himself successfully avoiding marriage entirely. However, upon realising later on that Temari is one of the most important things in the world to him, he ultimately marries her and even has a son with her, Shikadai. Ironically, his relationship with Temari became very similar to his parents, where he once mocked Shikaku for being "whipped", which he himself became.

Overtime, having come to recognise Naruto's great contributions to the wizarding world despite his own hardships, Shikamaru came to sympathise for him, deciding to be there to support him much like the former headmaster of Hogwarts did for his older brother. His newfound goal became to aid Naruto in his goal of becoming minister and act as his personal adviser. Ultimately, as an adult, Shikamaru succeeds in this goal, often handling many duties to lighten the workload for Naruto as minister. At the same time, he still holds much of his original carefree nature from youth. He is not very strict with his son, viewing his acting out and/or punishments at school as a learning curve for him, trusting that Shikadai will find his way. He is a man of conviction and drive, always pushing himself to protect the ministry. His mental fortitude is proven very strong, able to put some resistance against Ada's allure. In adulthood, he also picked up Asuma's interest in smoking.

Per his role as Naruto's secretary, Shikamaru possesses a more methodical and somewhat draconian viewpoint and mindset in regards to the safety of the wizarding world. Occasionally clashing with Naruto's more humble and carefree outlook, Shikamaru often attempts to handle matters by considering anything or anyone mysterious or unknown as potential threats, such as suggesting Kawaki be placed under heavy supervision at all times when the latter first transferred to Hogwarts, to the point where Naruto commented it felt like Shikamaru advocated for confinement. Likewise, when a potential threath against the ministry almost came to be, Shikamaru immediately threatened to kill both Kurotsuchi and Chōjūrō when they accused Naruto of secrecy and plotting, much to Naruto's great displeasure and anger. Shikamaru even went as far as to order Mirai to allow Tentō Madoka to be kidnapped by the Mujina Bandits in order to place his father Ikkyū, the minister of the Japanese's ministry, under Great Britain's debt once they managed rescue him. Nevertheless he still continues to support Naruto's decision regardless of his own option.

After being affected by Ada's charm and having his memories of Boruto and Kawaki switched, like most of the rest of the world, Shikamaru grew to hold a grudge and anger at Boruto for his false crime of killing Naruto. Sarada and Sumire both also noticed that Shikamaru's personality had changed slightly, having become irreducible and more stubborn, especially when it came to giving Boruto the benefit of the doubt or lifting his execution order. This only relented when he received a report that Amado independently considered the possibility that his memories had been altered, and offered Boruto covert assistance. As the new minister, Shikamaru was shown to prioritise even more the will of Hogsmead's citizens and their safety, since during Code's invasion, he gave priority to evacuating the civilians and protecting them from the Claw Grimes than trying to capture Boruto when the same appeared in the village.