Neji Hyuga is one of the most beloved characters in the series Naruto. He first appeared in the Chunin exam arc as a character who is reserved and a person who strongly believes in his morals. Neji belongs to Team 9 which is led by Might Guy as Sensei along with Tenten and Rock Lee as his team members. He was a very kind child with a smiling face before he lost his father in a tragedy. He became very serious and cold towards the main house of the Hyuga clan holding the reason for his father’s death. His way of thinking changed after his fight with Naruto and became Naruto’s loyal friend.
Neji was the only Jonin in Konoha 11
❝ The heavens will not allow a pawn who can only seek victory at the cost of himself to advance..❞
During the time skip in Naruto, the Chunin exam was held, but halfway through the exam, it was canceled due to the attempted kidnapping of Gaara and Fu. So instead of rescheduling the exams, the competitors were chosen to be the Chunin according to their skill sets. Neji’s skills were off the charts for a Chunin exam, so they announced him as the only Jonin in the Konoha 11, making him the person with more potential.
Neji was always right
❝ The difference between stupidity and genius, is that genius has its limits.❞
During the Chunin exam, Neji believed no amount of hard work would help you if you were not destined with talent, and Naruto proved him wrong by winning the fight against Neji. But later in the war arc, we can see that Naruto is a boy who is the reincarnation of the Ashura and the Child of Prophecy who is destined to follow his path, indirectly proving that Neji is right.
A Talented branch member of Hyuga Clan
❝ Fear. That is what we live with. And we live it everyday. Only in death are we free of it..❞
Neji is from the branch house of the Hyuga clan, a person who is a slave to the Main branch of his clan. The main branch has a way of protecting their secret techniques by not sharing them with the branch house member, but Neji is such a genius who was able to learn those techniques at such a young age just by observing them and able to master them by surpassing many main branch house members. The clan already chose Hinata to become the next clan Leader but since she doesn’t have any intention of fighting his sister Hanabi they even considered Hanabi as the future leader but not Neji who was much stronger than both of them at that time.
Battle intelligence
❝ There's no method but death to escape this horrible curse.❞
During the Sasuke rescue arc, Neji had to fight against one of the sound village shinobi Kidomaru. The sound village shinobi who is a long-ranged fighter along with the curse mark makes him a tough opponent. During the fight, Kidomaru was able to detect that Neji’s defense must have a blind spot and tried to attack Neji where he couldn’t see with his Byakugan, but Neji soon realized how to counter this attack by sending a small amount of chakra to the blind spot and sensing kidomaru’s attack which helped Neji to win the battle.
Neji's Death
❝People share only one common fate... death.❞
Neji is one of the characters with the most potential in the series. During the war arc Neji sacrifices himself to protect Naruto and Hinata, Neji’s death is needed to make Hinata the strongest member of the Hyuga clan. Hinata couldn’t surpass Neji even after Neji’s death she only became powerful after receiving the otsusuki’s chakra, Hinata’s goal is to become the leader of the clan so she could change the Hyuga practices, but if Neji was still alive the chances of him becoming the clan leader is high if we don’t consider the nepotic politics of the Hyuga clan.
Boruto was named after Neji
❝All this time I've been called a genius, so I cannot lose.❞
In the Boruto series, Boruto was named after his uncle Neji Hyuga. Even though it doesn’t look similar. In Japanese the translation of Neji means “screw” and the meaning of Boruto is “bolt”. It arguably looks like a tribute to the death of the beloved character Neji, making it look like Neji’s death is the most impacted death in Naruto and Hinata’s life.
Neji's Perspective on Freedom
❝Father, I finally understand your feelings… The freedom you felt when you chose to die to protect your friends…❞
During the whole series Neji was ordered to protect the life of the main branch member at the cost of his life, this made him believe that he will never get the freedom that he ever wanted. But later on in the series, it is shown that Neji got his freedom in the hands of death, making it look like death is the only way towards his freedom and the Hyuga clan will never be changed.
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