Neji Hyūga

was a member of Konohagakure's Hyūga clan. Though a prodigy even by the Hyūga's standards, Neji was a member of the clan's Branch House; no matter how skilled he became, he would always be in service to the Hyūga's Main House, a fact that convinced him fate was predetermined. After experiencing Naruto Uzumaki's refusal to be limited by such an ideology, Neji realised his fate was what he chose it to be, and as a member of Team Guy, sought the strength necessary to make the future he wanted for his family and friends.

Background
Neji was born into the Branch House of the Hyūga clan to Hizashi, the twin brother of the clan's current head Hiashi Hyūga. When Hinata, the heiress apparent, turned three years old, as customary Neji's previously unmarked forehead was branded with the Hyūga Main Family's Juinjutsu by his uncle Hiashi. All Branch House members carry this cursed seal, and Neji believed it to be a symbol that one lives only to serve, and protect the Main House. In the anime, Neji would occasionally perform duties outside the village for the Hyūga clan, including areas like Sunagakure.

Neji's father, was well aware of Neji's natural talent, and he was frustrated that despite Neji's tremendous skill, he still carried the fate of a servant. Often times when contemplating this fate, Hizashi's anger would subconsciously turn outwards; consequently, he was punished through Hiashi's activation of his curse seal who noted that he would no longer tolerate such animosity. Around this time, the Konoha and Kumogakure had signed an alliance treaty. However, the treaty only served as a means into Konoha and a way to lower the village's guard so the Head Ninja of Kumogakure could abduct Hinata and steal the secrets of the Byakugan. This attempt failed, however, as Hiashi intervened and killed the man within moments.

When word of the murder reached Kumogakure, they demanded Hiashi's body as compensation as per the agreement in the treaty (as his body would hold the Byakugan as well). Konoha wasn't prepared to comply to this request until Hizashi stepped in and offered to give himself up instead. Due to him being bound by the Hyūga Main Family's Juinjutsu when he died, the Byakugan would be sealed away, thus protecting its secrets. Hizashi made this sacrifice willingly in order to protect his brother, family, and village. However, Neji came to believe that the main branch had forced him to do so. This misconception became the primary basis of his nine year grudge against the main branch and of his concrete view on one's unalterable fate. In the anime, during one of his sparring sessions, Neji attempted to harm Hinata but is intervened by Hiashi, who then activates his curse seal. Neji then passed out and Hiashi became Hinata's sparring partner instead.

Later, Neji entered the Academy, where he became a stand-out and graduated top of his class. He was then assigned to the jōnin tutelage of Might Guy, alongside his classmates Rock Lee and Tenten. For their final test to become genin, Guy forced his potential students to spar with him and see their commitment to succeed. Ultimately, all three passed. Later, Neji and his team-mates were offered the chance to enter the Chūnin Exams in the possibility of being promoted to said rank. However, all three decided to pass on the exams for the time being to further hone their skills.

Personality
Neji was extremely serious and mature for his age, and had great control of his emotions. Before and during the Chūnin Exams and his fight with Naruto, he was cold, and somewhat arrogant. In his younger years, Neji was a kinder, optimistic child who smiled more often. He even told his father he thought Hinata was "cute" when the two branches of the Hyūga clan met for her third birthday.

While under the belief that his father had died because he was a member of the branch house, Neji concluded that fate is something decided at birth and that no matter what one does, people cannot escape their destiny. Neji often applied this to people he viewed as weaker than himself, such as his cousin, Hinata. During his match in the Chūnin Exams, he told Hinata that she was unfit to be a ninja, due to being too kind and not confident enough. When she was eventually able to turn his philosophy against him, telling him that she believed that he was suffering from trying to become worthy of the main house, despite him being born into the branch family, Neji became enraged, and attempted to attack Hinata. He was stopped by multiple jōnin, but Hinata, nevertheless, was left in critical condition from his earlier attacks.

Neji displayed similar efforts to condescend others during his match with Naruto Uzumaki who, despite being repeatedly struck down, continued to try and fight him. While Neji tried to show Naruto that fate cannot be fought, and that someone who is weak will always remain weak, Naruto was unwilling to accept this mindset, arguing that Neji, for all his belief in fate, had not accepted his own destiny. Naruto went on to defeat Neji, suggesting that, if a "failure" like himself could change his destiny, think of what a "genius" like Neji could do.

With this example of overcoming "destiny", as well as finding out the truth about his father's death soon afterwards, Neji abandoned the concept of inescapable fate. No longer bound by the idea that he was stuck at his current status, Neji resolved to become strong enough to never again lose in a battle. To do so, he began putting more emphasis on working well with his team and started to value a mission's successful completion and his team-mates' safety over his own betterment, even encouraging Lee to continue pursuing his own dream. His abandonment of the concept of inescapable fate was most prominent during his fight with Kidōmaru, where despite the Oto-nin's discovery of the Byakugan's weak spot and Neji being severely wounded, he was still able to fight on and eventually defeat Kidōmaru, because he remembered what Naruto had said to him.

In addition, Neji began trying to remedy the estranged relations between himself and the main house members, most particularly by being kinder to Hinata and his uncle Hiashi. It was also shown that since then he has been training with Hinata, sparring with each other in order to hone their skills. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, the two cousins protect each other's back as well as the great concern Neji showed for her safety on the battlefield. The strongest amount of care towards Hinata was shown when he unhesitatingly sacrificed himself to save her and Naruto from being killed by the Ten-Tails. He similarly has great confidence in Naruto's capacity to change others, as he stated that the latter could redeem Sasuke and bring him back to Konoha. However, it seems that he gave up hope for Sasuke, and gave up his thoughts that even Naruto could bring him back as Sasuke became an international criminal who risked pulling Konoha into a devastating international war.

In battle, he was able to stay relatively calm in most situations and carefully look at the situation at hand. He had shown himself to be a bit stubborn, as seen during the Fourth Shinobi World War, when Kiba told him to go to the medic corps, he refused, insisting that he was fine, despite the fact he was shaking and barely able to stand.

Appearance
Neji had long, black hair, which is usually depicted as dark brown in the anime. In Part I, his hair reached the middle of his back and was tied back a few inches above the end in a loose ponytail, while two straps attached to a smaller headband underneath his ninja forehead protector frame the sides of his face. In Part II, he got rid of these straps, and allowed his hair, which is now longer, to frame his face instead. When he appears with the rest of his clan to protect Naruto in the Fourth Shinobi World War, he had his hair out of the ponytail. Like the rest of his clan, he had very fair skin and possesses the renowned Byakugan, which when activated, stimulates the veins and arteries immediately around his eyes to protrude more prominently. In the anime, his eyes are depicted with a slight tint of lavender to them.

In Part I, Neji wore a black forehead protector that he wore snugly over his forehead. He wore a khaki shirt, under which he wore a dull blue shirt with a mesh armour underneath it, dark brown shorts, blue shinobi sandals. He also had bandages wrapped around his right arm, chest, and right leg.

In Part II, Neji abandoned the bandages and is clad in more traditional Hyūga-like robes: a white shirt with loose sleeves, closed on the right shoulder, with a fastener running down the right part of the chest, matching pants, with a dark navy grey apron tied around his waist and black shinobi sandals. This may or may not have been to facilitate easier execution of his techniques, or to symbolise his warming relations with his clan. Neji usually carried a large, tan and black drawstring bag, which he carries over his shoulder. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, he dons the standard Konohagakure attire with a flak jacket, and the Alliance's forehead protector.

In Part I, Neji's facial expression was usually stern, hard, and cold. As the series progressed, however, his expression relaxes. He even smiled and chuckled at times. While still composed, Neji looked to be more calm, confident, and mature, rather than challenging.

Abilities
From a young age, Neji had been hailed a natural genius even amongst the Hyūga clan. He was labelled the top-ranked rookie in his class, and was said by Lee to be the strongest genin to take the Chūnin Exams in Part I. His father even stated that with his talent, he could potentially surpass all other members of their clan. On the quest to retrieve Sasuke from the Sound Four, Neji proved able to kill Kidōmaru, a very capable subordinate of Orochimaru. Over the time-skip, while most of the former Konoha 11 genin reached chūnin rank, Neji was the only one to advance to the rank of jōnin, which he demonstrated by destroying three of Kisame Hoshigaki's water clones after breaking out of his Water Prison Technique. In addition, he was said to have surpassed everyone else in the clan, including his uncle.

Byakugan
As a member of the Hyūga clan, Neji possessed the Byakugan, a dōjutsu kekkei genkai which granted him near-360° vision, along with x-ray vision, and the ability to see chakra networks, amongst other things. The Byakugan however, does have a small blind spot located at the third upper thoracic vertebrae — a weakness of which Neji was actually aware of and took extra precaution in concealing it from opponents. While the Byakugan naturally has an immediate 50 metre field of vision when activated, Neji was able to increase its range several times that by the start of Part II, to at least 800 metres. He was also noted to have a particularly strong Byakugan in comparison to the other members of the Hyūga clan.

Taijutsu
As a member of the Hyūga clan, Neji specialised in close-range taijutsu combat. In battle, Neji has shown tremendous agility and dexterity, capable of simultaneously dodging and striking an opponent with no wasted movement. His attacks are fast and fluid, precisely striking in rapid succession to leave very little time for his opponent to find an opening to counter.

Neji's fighting style was the signature style of his clan, the Gentle Fist, which takes advantage of the Byakugan's insight into people's chakra pathway system. Gentle Fist allows for severe internal trauma with minimal external force as it relies on surgical injection of chakra into an opponent's chakra pathway system. As Neji's Byakugan was stronger than most, and was able to see special nodes on the chakra network, called tenketsu, Neji could use Gentle Fist to not only damage opponents, but control their chakra flow as well. Using the Gentle Fist, Neji could affect internal organs, and was capable of killing an opponent with a single strike should he aim to harm the heart. Training in the Gentle Fist style implies superior chakra regulatory control and mastery of the human chakra network. As a result, Neji could eject chakra from any tenketsu in his body as a means to slow or impede incoming projectiles. He can also release himself from chakra-based substances using this technique. Continuously maintaining this expulsion of chakra allowed Neji to create a quasi-sensory barrier around himself to detect anything that enters his immediate area, making up for the Byakugan's blind spot, although it rapidly depleted his chakra reserves as seen when this tactic was employed against Kidōmaru.

Neji had learned many of the Hyūga clan's most powerful techniques, such as the Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven, which allows him to repel every attack thrown at him. For more offensive means, he could use the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms to rapidly dispatch enemies by rapidly striking many of their tenketsu, making it hard for them to both move and control chakra. In the anime, he could even double the number of strikes in the technique. Neji was also trained by his uncle Hiashi, who taught Neji all the other secrets of the Gentle Fist style. Since mastering these techniques, Neji has begun to refine and strengthen them for more specialised needs. In Part II he learned the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm, which allowed him to expel chakra from his palm to attack opponents out of his physical reach. In the anime, his Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm was strong enough to obliterate Kidōmaru's Cursed Seal Level 2-enhanced Spider Web Unrolling, even inflicting a mortal wound on Kidōmaru so he would be vulnerable for sealing. Neji could also collaborate with Hinata to perform the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Wall Palm. When trapped by an enemy, he could release chakra from his tenketsu to free himself. Working alongside his uncle, he could stop the Ten-Tails' tail from crushing the shinobi around them, with his Eight Trigrams Revolving Heaven reaching the same size as his uncle's, showing growth from the size in Part I.

Nature Transformation
While taijutsu was his speciality, Neji also had proficiency in Fire Release, Water Release, and Earth Release.

Intelligence
As stated by Tsunade, Neji had excellent instincts, both on the battlefield and as a leader. When forced to make difficult decisions on missions, he showed himself able to make a decision through keen observation and analysis. His observational skills were quite advanced, being able to deduce the workings of the Hyūga clan's secret techniques and use them effectively despite being forbidden to learn them as a member of the branch house, further exemplifying his status as a genius. In the anime, Neji was also shown to be a capable teacher, helping Hinata improve and refine her skills, among other things, her Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists.

Chūnin Exams
During the first phase of the Chūnin Exams, Neji used his Byakugan to read off of other examinees' tests. During the second phase, Team Guy split up to find weak rival teams. Neji ran into Team 10, but thought them too weak to bother with. When Team Guy later reunited, and Neji and Tenten realised that Lee was uncharacteristically late, they went looking for him. They found him after having been defeated by Team Dosu. Angered, Neji threatened to fight them, but decided not to, after noticing that Sasuke Uchiha had woken up. Once Sasuke drove off the Otogakure genin, Neji and Tenten took Lee away to recover, still managing to pass the round.

In the preliminary matches, Neji was paired up against Hinata. He attempted to have Hinata forfeit the match stating that people would never be able to change no matter how hard they tried, though Naruto snapped Hinata out of her rising panic and with this, the two cousins begin fighting. After exchanging blows using the Gentle Fist-style of their clan, Hinata seemed to defeat Neji, only for Neji to reveal that he had closed Hinata's chakra points, rendering her Gentle Fist useless. He also hit a chakra point close to one of Hinata's vitals moments beforehand, putting Hinata in critical condition. However, Hinata refused to back down, insisting that Neji was also fighting against what could not be changed. Enraged, Neji attacks Hinata, intent on administering a killing blow when most of the jōnin in attendance stepped in to save Hinata. After the fight, Naruto, angered by Neji's philosophy and treatment of Hinata, swiped up some of Hinata's blood, and swore to defeat Neji during the finals. Neji dismissed his threats, and watched Lee's match with Gaara. He was surprised by Lee's strength, but, after the fight, thought Lee foolish to try to win by using a self-sacrificial method.

Neji was pitted against Naruto in the first rounds of the finals. Neji was easily able to handle Naruto's shadow clones and several attacks used in unison with them. He was finally able to find the real Naruto and cut off his chakra flow but Naruto was determined to fight against Neji, and prove that fate was not predetermined despite listening to Neji's past. Naruto tapped into the power of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox sealed within him, and was able to keep up with Neji for a time. Neji's Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven protected him from Naruto's attacks, but when he approached a supposedly defeated Naruto, Naruto sprang out of a tunnel he had dug in the ground, and delivered an uppercut to Neji in the jaw, defeating him. Neji was angry with himself for falling for Naruto's signature technique, but Naruto revealed that the technique used to be his worst one, and that he only became good at it through practice.

Neji then heard of his father's fate from his uncle (in the anime, it was changed to Neji reading a scroll written by his father, which explained everything), and broke down in tears. When Hiashi bowed before Neji, entreating his forgiveness, Neji asked him to rise and forgave him. Neji then silently told his father that he wished to finally have control over his destiny, and that he hoped to never lose again.

Konoha Crush
In the anime during the invasion, two Kumogakure ninja used the chaos as an opportunity to take Hinata. Reaching his cousin, Neji was nearly killed when Hiashi came to his nephew's aid. Upon being told by his uncle that he is the last memento of his late brother, Neji began to understand Naruto's words and see that he is not a slave to the clan as he thought he was. While the younger ninja questioned what his story had to do with Naruto, Neji explains that he chose to rescue Hinata because of the change of heart brought about by his defeat during his fight with Naruto in the Chūnin Exams. After the invasion of the village was staved off by the shinobi, Neji attended the Third Hokage's funeral alongside the other villagers, mourning his death.

Search for Tsunade
A little before Tenten met up with him, Neji was in a forest training with his Byakugan. As he attempted to locate birds with his Byakugan, he was able to see seven birds before Tenten arrived and announced that they had a new Hokage: Tsunade who had returned to Konoha. She also asked Neji to accompany her, but only he declines her offer, stating that he was not interested. Shortly after this, Neji realised that it had in fact been eight birds.

Sasuke Recovery Mission
Neji was recruited as part of the five-man team to retrieve Sasuke from the Sound Four. Neji was chosen to be the rear lookout in the single file line Shikamaru organised because of his ability to use the Byakugan. When, during the course of the mission, the team was captured by Kidōmaru's webbing, Neji was able to free them with his Gentle Fist, and sent them after the remaining members of the Sound Four while he fought Kidōmaru. Kidōmaru was able to analyse Neji's defences, and found the blind spot in the Byakugan.

At one point in their fight, Kidōmaru summons a giant spider. The spider released many smaller spiders, and Neji used his Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms to stop them.

Neji realised that Kidōmaru was more powerful than he was, but was determined to never give up, as he wanted to show those who considered him a genius that their faith in him was correct, and to prove that he no longer surrendered to fate. Neji was severely wounded when Kidōmaru managed to fire an arrow through his chest. However, he was able to keep it from hitting his heart by moving at the last moment.

After dodging yet another arrow, Neji realised that he couldn't stop the next one. He allowed the arrow to hit him - however, he prevented it from being fatal, and took advantage of the string attached to it that Kidōmaru used to guide its trajectory by channelling chakra through the web, severely injuring Kidōmaru. He then ran towards him, saying for the sake of those believe that he was a genius he could not lose, caught and struck the latter repeatedly with Gentle Fist.

Before he died, Kidōmaru said that Sasuke was beyond salvation, and couldn't be brought back to Konoha as he had made his own choice to leave. However, Neji proclaimed that Naruto would be able to save Sasuke from the darkness, as Naruto had saved him. Afterwards, Kidōmaru died, and Neji collapsed due to his injuries. He was critically injured after the battle, but was saved with the help of Shizune and other medical ninja with the Healing Resuscitation Regeneration Technique.

Later, in the anime, since making peace with his uncle Hiashi, the Hyūga clan leader decided to help oversee his nephew's training and as such Neji would regularly train with Hiashi when not on missions (in the manga, this takes place at the end of the Sasuke Recovery Mission ). Also during this time, Neji began training with Hiashi in an attempt to hone Neji's skills. On missions, Neji was commonly the team leader for Team Guy when Guy was absent, and was more cautious and pragmatic than Naruto was.

Kurosuki Family Removal Mission
In the anime, Neji was made leader of Team Guy (minus Guy sensei) with Naruto added as an extra member. After battling members of the Kurosuki Family, Neji attempted to use his Byakugan against Raiga but Ranmaru's kekkei genkai created illusions that he mistook for real people. During the second battle, he was easily defeated and knocked out. While he was unconscious, Tenten attempted to wake him up by feeding him the Curry of Life twice but due to his low tolerance to spicy food, he merely fell unconscious again.

Follow My Lead! The Great Survival Challenge
In the anime, the Academy students were divided into teams of three and were assigned to a genin who would lead them on a mission against the other teams. Neji was assigned to lead a team of three Academy students; Kōji, Jin and Futaba. His time with them was not covered much except that he was doing better than Naruto. Neji instructed his students on how to use a watch as a compass.

Star Guard Mission
During this anime arc, Neji suggested that he and the others should concern themselves with finding the star, as the mission instructed, rather than with the potential dangers the star training had to the children. When the villagers confronted Akahoshi, Neji initially refused to get involved, and when Naruto attacked Akahoshi after Akahoshi disabled Naruto's team-mates with an attack, he told Naruto that he would deny knowing anything about what Naruto did, unwilling to betray the client and erode people's trust in Konoha ninja. Despite saying this, when Tsunade reprimanded the group for Naruto's destroying the star to defeat Akahoshi, Neji accepted responsibility as team leader, before Tsunade revealed that, as Akahoshi was the client, no one would complain about their failing the mission.

Menma Memory Search Mission
In thie anime, being assigned a mission, Neji suspected that Menma was an Otogakure ninja, and openly admitted to Menma that he didn't trust him. While testing the theory, he learned of Menma's incredible speed. His suspicions were confirmed in part when it was revealed that Menma was part of a bandit clan, but Menma remained on Naruto's side, and sacrificed himself to save a town from bandits.

Konoha Plans Recapture Mission
In the anime, Neji, along with the rest of the Konoha 11, were recruited by Shikamaru to investigate any traces of the trap master's plans. Using his Byakugan he found an explosive tag inside the Academy and discovered a wire that led to a log in which a thrown kunai hitting the bullseye would trigger an explosion that would potentially destroy the whole village. Neji later helped in locating all explosive tags through Konoha and joined Naruto and the genin in confronting the trap master, Gennō, at the Hokage Monument.

Sunagakure Support Mission
In the anime, Neji, Hinata, and Shino try to help Shikamaru by clearing the areas. When the Konoha 11 gather to look at Gaara's fight, Neji explains about Seimei's absorption ability that is affecting Gaara. After the mission, Neji suggests that Hinata should see Naruto leave Konohagakure in training with Jiraiya, being aware about the feelings Hinata has for Naruto. A similar scene happened after the Sasuke Recovery Mission in the manga.

In Naruto's Footsteps: The Friends' Paths
In the anime, Neji continued to develop his skill in the following years, later mastering the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm. About two years after Naruto left the village to train with Jiraiya, Konoha decided to host the Chūnin Exams early alongside Sunagakure. As Neji and his team-mates waited to officially enter, they were surprised to see Naruto returning. Neji however, quickly revealed it to be Konohamaru in disguise since he didn't want to let this opportunity pass for Naruto. Neji insisted that Naruto will return when he is ready as he aspires to become Hokage, something that Konohamaru and his friends accepted.

Once entering the exams, Neji and his team-mates were randomly split into different rooms to take the written test. He was placed in room 1 with Hinata and Chōji. 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. Calmly assessing the situation, Neji finally came up with an idea, deciding to have Hinata perform the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm with him to demonstrate it. As everyone in the room failed to understand, Neji explained that they could tell their team-mates which question to take by simply striking on the walls to create enough vibrations. While explaining his reason, Sajin decided to ruin Neji's plan by striking the wall an extra time as he already got ahold to his team-mates. Neji however was unfazed, noting that with the math of the nature at hand, the message would still be correctly interpreted by everyone. While an irritated Sajin was ready to fight, Neji reminded him of the rule of no fighting in this exam. After time was up, Shikamaru revealed a bonus question, asking which team member you would sacrifice in a situation that requires a decoy, noting that while the answer had to be unanimous, the person picked will be disqualified. Seeing through the nature of the question, Neji chose to keep his answer blank like his his team-mate, ultimately passing the first round. However, a race to Suna was issued where only the first 30 teams to arrive at the destination would qualify for the second phase to lessen the participants.

Ultimately, his team were among the first 30 teams to make it. While settling in, Neji noted his concerns of the Taki-nin team, who arrived much faster than any other team. 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. 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 obtain the missing scroll within three days. They were then required to bring the set to the main building in the centre of Demon Desert. As the exam began, Neji took advantage of last night's brawl to know which enemies to avoid. His team began searching for enemies, only to find none of them within sight. As they began wondering around aimlessly, Lee realised a pattern and began marking rocks with kunai, and concluded that they were wondering in circles. As the team dispelled the genjutsu, they finally found an enemy team, only to be forced back by Team Shira. Sen removed another genjutsu, revealing to Lee's team that they were standing in quicksand, which dragged them down a Sand Waterfall Pit. Lee then used the Second Gate to save his team, after which Tenten summoned an enormous ladder to escape the pit. Soon finding Team Shira, they saved them from their treacherous fellow Suna-nin. Afterwards, Shira asked the Konoha-nin why they came to their aid, to which Neji simply explained they felt compelled to help. As Neji asked why they attacked Shira's team at all, it was explained that they had no respect for Shira as a ninja since he held no skill in ninjutsu nor genjutsu.

Recognising Shira's greater struggles than his own, Lee angrily went after the other Suna-nin to make them atone for their actions. He and Tenten soon caught up with the overzealous Lee and saved him from the Suna-nin's group assault. Despite leaving them prime for defeat, Shira arrived and begged the Konoha-nin to leave them be. He insisted that their distaste of him is his own fault for the person he is right now, determined to be a man of recognition in the future. After Neji's team agreed, Shira offered his scroll to one of the Suna-nin teams as they technically defeated his team earlier. As Shira's words finally reached the spiteful Suna-nin, they declined and instead gave Shira's team and Neji's team their own respective scrolls as they lost this battle. The other Suna-nin then left, determined like Shira to prove themselves by finding more scrolls. After the other Suna-nin left, Lee challenged Shira, which the latter happiy accepts. As the two began fighting, Tenten stated how equal they are, to which Neji states that they are indeed equal in raw speed and skill, but Shira had a slight advantage over Lee with his more solid built and by extension greater raw strength. Watching the two rivals battle it out, Neji thought about his own rival in Naruto, eagerly awaiting Naruto's return. Neji ultimately marveled in Shira's self-taught taijutsu skills, including producing soundless blows and battling Lee's Eight Gates by first blocking them out completely and then matching its power with his own Seven Heavens Breathing Method. Ultimately, the fight was called off when Shira's previous wounds reopened. Acknowledging Shira and his team as friends, the two teams parted ways. As his team were on the move, Neji tried to think of the right time to break the new to his team-mates — that the two scrolls they got are both Heaven scrolls.

On the third day of the exam, Neji's team ran into a team of Ame kunoichi. As Neji calmly asked the other team if they had an Earth scroll, they quickly attack Neji and his team. After the initial skirmish, the enemies decided retreat, deciding that Team Guy was not the target they sought from their chakra levels. Despite this, Neji's team pursued the Ame-nin into an old ruins. During their continued battle, the ground collapsed, swallowing Tenten and Ajisai and separating them from their respective teams. Neji insisted to the other Ame-nin that they call off the battle as their respective team-mates were more important. While they agreed, the Ame-nin decided to go about saving their third member on their own. Lee suggested to Neji that they plow their way through the rubble, only for Neji to reject the idea in fear of causing more damage than desired.

Kazekage Rescue Mission
During the timeskip, Neji is the only member of the Konoha 11 to advance to the rank of jōnin. At the start of Part II, Neji and the rest of Team Guy were sent to provide back-up for Team Kakashi. They were intercepted by Pakkun, who redirected them to Team Kakashi's destination: an Akatsuki hideout. Along the way, they were confronted by Kisame Hoshigaki, who quickly captured Neji, Tenten, and Lee in a Water Prison. Neji was able to free Lee and himself with his Gentle Fist, allowing Lee to rescue Tenten. Afterwards they watched as Guy finished off Kisame. Upon Kisame's defeat they discovered that it was not really him they were fighting against, only a lookalike. Realising they were being stalled, Pakkun led them off towards Team 7.

When they convened with Team Kakashi, Team Guy was tasked with bringing down the barrier blocking the entrance to the Akatsuki lair. Neji used his Byakugan to find the seals keeping the barrier in place and directed the locations of them to his team-mates. Once they found the seals they simultaneously removed them, succeeding in removing the barrier but in the process were immediately ambushed by copies of themselves. Soon after Neji and his clone started fighting, matching each other attack for attack. After being evenly matched with his clone, Lee communicated to Neji and the rest of the team who were in the same situation and proposed a solution: to become stronger than they had been when the copies had been created. Upon listening to Lee's words, Neji managed to get the upper hand in his fight and defeated his clone.

With their battles won, Team Guy reunited and went to meet up with Team 7 again. On their way Neji spotted Deidara with his Byakugan and the team manage to sneak up behind him in time to block his escape. After fighting the team, Deidara realised he was outmatched and he attempted to retreat with Team Guy perusing him. While on Deidara's tail Team Guy cornered him, leading him to make a exploding clone, resulting in almost killing both teams were it not for Kakashi's intervention. Later when Chiyo began to use a strange technique, he mistook it as a medical ninjutsu, but later realised what it really was. After Gaara was rescued and their mission completed, both teams accompanied him back to his village and later paid their respects at Chiyo's grave. Soon after both teams left for Konoha. On the way back, Guy resorted to carrying Kakashi in order to move faster. Lee, seeing this as a new way of training, requested Neji to go on his back, but Neji entirely refused. Later both teams arrived back in Konoha.

Akatsuki Suppression Mission
After Asuma Sarutobi's death, Neji can be seen at his funeral mourning his loss alongside the other villagers in the anime.

Pain's Assault
When Pain began his attack on Konoha, Team Guy was away on a mission. During a pit-stop on their return home, they noticed a number of birds apparently escaping from the village. They rushed to the village, Neji using his Byakugan to see what he could find out before their actual arrival. With it, he noticed a defeated Gamabunta, who told them of the village's destruction. Upon their return, they found Hinata badly injured, and they quickly got her medical attention after Tenten noted that her wounds weren't fatal. After Hinata was healed, they later learned that Naruto had defeated Pain. Neji insisted on going to help him confront Nagato, even though Naruto did not want back-up, saying that it was too reckless for Naruto to go alone when he was exhausted. Despite this, he remained in the village, and greeted Naruto with the other ninja upon his return.

Five Kage Summit
When news reaches Konoha of Sasuke's recent dealings with Akatsuki, Neji and the rest of the Konoha 11 decide that they should personally kill Sasuke before he involves the village in a war. When Naruto returns to the village, the Konoha 11 try to find out what happened in the Land of Iron. Neji then asks Naruto if Sasuke was in such a weakened state why didn't he kill him, but Sakura notes that Sasuke was not alone and doing so would not have been an easy feat.

Power
In the anime, Neji was one of the Konoha-nin sent for backup for Team Kakashi. Arriving he battled Kabuto Yakushi's reincarnated ninja. After catching Hinata who was flung by the four tails snake clone of Naruto, he and the other Konoha-nin moved the villagers to a save place as the clone of Naruto grew colossal and went berserk. Later, after Naruto beats his clone he and the rest of the ninja return to Konohagakure.

Fourth Shinobi World War: Confrontation
When the Fourth Shinobi World War began, Neji was placed in the Second Division. The Second Division was sent to intercept part of the White Zetsu Army. Part of the Fifth Division joined them, and Neji updated them on the plan of attack. When division-commander Kitsuchi unearthed the Zetsu army, the entire division attacked, with Neji joining forces with Hinata to perform the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Wall Palm.

The Zetsu prove very resilient to damage and the battle dragged on, with one Zetsu almost managing to trap Neji and absorb some of his chakra. He used Gentle Fist Art One Blow Body to free himself, but noticed that the Zetsu absorbed some of his chakra. As the battle raged on, Hinata and Neji fought side-by-side protecting each other's back.

As nightfall approached after the first day of the war, Neji rested alongside Hinata, Kiba, Akamaru and Shino. Exhausted from prolonged use of his Byakugan, Kiba urged him to visit the Logistical Support and Medical Division for treatment but Neji refused, and continued to use his Byakugan until he collapsed, causing Shino and Hinata to take over his scouting duties. Unbeknownst to Neji, the white Zetsu that had absorbed his chakra previously impersonated him and infiltrated the medical compound, killing five medical-nin before being stopped by Sakura. The real Neji was in actuality still on the battlefield, being carried on Akamaru's back.

As the second day of war starts, they once again engaged the White Zetsu Army clones who had this time impersonated their comrades. Neji who was seemingly rested, in the anime, he is shocked to find the familiar chakra webs of Kidōmaru. After freeing his allies with his Gentle Fist, he spots the reincarnated Sound ninja, drawing him out with a substitution technique. Neji quickly overwhelms him with his new long-range Gentle Fist. However, his victory is short-lived, as Kidōmaru engulfs them in a strange seal. Neji'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 Neji and the others to their bodies. Upon awakening, Neji is tearfully hugged by a relieved Hinata.

Later, confronted by one of the transformed Zetsu, Kiba called out to him that Hinata is in danger. Quickly dispatching the shinobi, Neji cursed that he would not make it to Hinata in time and watches on with horror as his cousin is plummeted into a mountain-side only to be revealed as a Zetsu clone. As Naruto passes overhead, Neji wonders if it was really him before following after Kiba and Akamaru. He arrives in time to see that it was in fact Naruto and that he had protected Hinata from an enemy attack. After telling Kiba and an Iwa-nin that he did not realise that it was him because of his change in appearance and chakra signature. Demanding that Naruto prove that he is who he says he is, Hinata said there was no need for that because he came to their rescue. The group then mobilised to finish off the rest of the enemies. After being informed by Inoichi from HQ that Naruto and B were fighting the "masked Madara", Neji and the Konoha 11 rush to his aid.

Fourth Shinobi World War: Climax
Arriving to the front of the battlefield, Neji informed Naruto that he was the key to the new battle strategy, and before he could tell him what had happened to Inoichi and Shikaku, the Ten-Tails attempted to attack the group again. Rushing to his uncle's side, and following his orders, the two Hyūga used the Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven to deflect the beast's attack, gaining the praise of others on the battlefield for their prowess. Echoing his uncle's later sentiments that people might die on the battlefield and that it was better for a parent to know that they died before their children, as his own father had, Neji, Hiashi and Hinata declared that they would protect Naruto on the battlefield. As the battle between the Alliance and the beast waged on, Neji was able to buy Naruto enough time to enter Sage Mode and use the Rasenshuriken, but when the beast used a single fast-moving pinpoint attack which they were unable to deflect in time.

Hinata flung out her arms to protect Naruto, but Neji intercepted the attack and protected the both of them, becoming impaled by them as Kitsuchi subdues the Ten Tails' and Hiashi looked on in horror. Naruto shouted for a medic, to which Neji, accepting his fate, explained that it was too late for him. Neji explained to Naruto that Naruto's life also contained the life of Hinata and himself, due to their willingness to die for Naruto. When asked by a devastated Naruto why he, a genius from the Hyūga clan, sacrificed his life for him, Neji remembered his fight with Naruto in the Chūnin Exams, and told Naruto that he did it because he called him a genius. He then mused that he finally understood his father's choice of sacrifice to protect his friends. As he passed away, Neji's juinjutsu activated, and his Byakugan was sealed forever.

Kaguya Ōtsutsuki Strikes
Neji's body was later recovered from the battlefield, and he was buried in the Konoha Cemetery after the war ended.

Legacy
Because Neji died in Naruto's arms, Obito Uchiha sought to use Neji's death to break Naruto's resolve. Hinata however reminded Naruto of Neji's final words and not to give into Obito's ideal. Though his comrades, particularly Rock Lee, were shocked that Neji had been killed, Neji's sacrifice ultimately strengthened the resolve of those within the Alliance to follow his example and fight to keep the bonds they had. To this end, Neji became a martyr for the Allied Forces and his death inspired many.

When the Infinite Tsukuyomi is initiated, Neji is present in several dream worlds of those who knew him: in Hinata's dream, he and Hanabi spy on Hinata sitting with Naruto; in Lee's dream, Lee is finally able to beat him and Naruto in a fight; in Tenten's dream, he is worried about Guy and Lee's new-found seriousness.

At the wedding of Naruto and Hinata, Hanabi held up a portrait of Neji during the group photo of all those present at the ceremony.

Hinata would later take her daughter Himawari to Neji's grave to place sunflowers in front of it.

Naruto Shippūden the Movie
Neji, replacing Kakashi Hatake, led a group comprised of himself, Naruto, Rock Lee, and Sakura on a mission to protect Shion, a priestess destined to save the world from the demon, Mōryō. The group arrived at Shion's temple to discover it already under attack by The Gang of Four. Naruto, having recklessly charged into the fray, got himself trapped, prompting to Neji send Sakura and Lee to his aid. Noticing that Shion was being pursued by Kusuna, he caught up with her to narrowly prevent what would have been a fatal blow, forcing Kusuna to retreat.

Later during the mission, Neji led the group, now with Shion and Taruho, through a large torrent because he had seen the enemy group fighting with fire. However, he was proven wrong when Shizuku attacked them with Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique. This surprised Neji, as he detected no water-natured chakra in Shizuku during their first encounter. Once he and the others reached higher ground, Neji used his Byakugan to locate Shizuku. Lee and Naruto impulsively ran off to engage Shizuku and Gitai, leaving only Neji and Sakura behind to guard Shion. To quickly distance Shion from their pursuers, Neji knocked her out, and fled to the forest with Sakura, the priestess unconscious on her back.

Neji and Sakura were pursued by Kusuna and Setsuna. Telling Sakura to go ahead with Shion, Neji engaged the two enemies, hoping to stall them. Setsuna assailed Neji with Wind Release: Rotating Shuriken, which Neji deflected using Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven. However, Neji later realised that Kusana had been a puppet all along and Setsuna was merely playing decoy. Fearing for Sakura and Shion's safety, he rushed to save them. He was too late. While Neji managed to prevent Sakura from receiving a fatal, toxic bite, he failed to save Taruho, who had taken on Shion's appearance to also act as a decoy.

Later in the movie, Neji sent Naruto to aid Shion in sealing the demon while he, Lee, and Sakura battled their enemies. Neji learned from Lee's fight with Gitai that the enemy ninja received chakra from an unusual source. The three of them provoked an attack from The Gang of Four and remained on the defensive until they depleted their chakra. Before Kusana could perform the chakra injections, Neji killed him with a slightly upgraded version of Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, effectively crippling the remaining Gang of Four.

At the end of the movie, Neji waited alongside with everyone else, waiting for Naruto and Shion to reappear from the mountain.

Naruto Shippūden the Movie: Bonds
Neji made a few short appearances in this movie. He was first seen rescuing children when ninja from the Land of the Sky when they attacked Konoha. Using his Byakugan, he scanned the Sora-nin's equipment to discover that chakra circulating though their Winged Mechanical Devices enabled the Land of the Sky ninja to fly. He later relayed this information to Shikamaru, who pinpointed the location of the Land of the Sky carriers.

Neji reappeared at the end of the movie, where he, Chōji, Yamato, and Sakura ran into Shikamaru's group. There, Neji wondered what was happening in the Land of the Sky's base as it was being destroyed by Shino's kikaichū.

Naruto Shippūden the Movie: The Will of Fire
Neji made many appearances in the movie. He was first seen at Naruto and Sai's recovery party. He then was included in the mission to bring Naruto and Sakura back, and was instrumental in defeating the monster created by the Chimera Technique with Hinata using the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms. At the end of the movie, he and Sai are on a rock as Sai explains that after going through life and death could breed love meaning Kakashi Hatake could be in love, freaking Naruto out.

Naruto the Movie: Blood Prison
Neji appears along with the other members of the Konoha 11, Kakashi, Yamato, Guy, Shizune, and Tsunade to help save Naruto from the Hōzuki Castle and help defeat Satori.

Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie
Neji first appeared alongside his friends battling several Zetsu clones disguised as deceased Akatsuki members. Later in the alternate world, different Neji appeared. Compared to the Neji that Naruto and Sakura know, this one is very immature with a lively personality and a huge pervert that has no regrets abusing his Byakugan to shamelessly peep on girls constantly, making his personality very similar to Jiraiya, which typically earns him a beating from the alternate Hinata.

Trivia

 * Neji's name means 'whirl' or 'screw', which may be referring to his Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven. Is possible to be a play on "Nejia", an internal Chinese martial art that focuses on developing internal chi through whirling and spinning techniques.
 * According to the databook(s):
 * Neji's hobby was meditation.
 * Neji's desired opponents were Hiashi Hyūga and Naruto Uzumaki.
 * Neji's favourite food was herring soba, while his least favourites were pumpkins, and he also had a low tolerance for anything spicy.
 * Neji had completed 62 official missions in total: 26 D-rank, 19 C-rank, 4 B-rank, 11 A-rank, 2 S-rank.
 * Neji's favourite phrase was which refers to making rapid progress in something.
 * Neji's personality had been described as cool and realistic.
 * When Neji was first seen in the manga, his hair tie was higher, directly below his head. However, after the second part of the Chūnin Exams, it moved lower, to the hairstyle he has now. In the anime, he had the newer hairstyle nearly the whole time.
 * In the manga, his curse mark is a Manji, a common symbol used in Buddhism, instead of an X in the anime. It was edited to avoid confusion, as the manji looks similar to the symbol of the Nazi.
 * Neji shares his relation as first cousin once-removed with Boruto and Himawari. Despite being a cousin to Himawari, she calls him uncle out of respect just as Hinata calls him her brother, in view of genetics in some regions, Neji might be considered as uncle, since Hinata and Neji fathers' are identical twins, Neji and Hinata could be considered as half-siblings, but they are indeed first cousin in relation to each other.
 * In the Naruto character popularity polls, Neji was placed 12th in the first, 13th in the second, 10th in the third, 6th in the fourth, 7th in the fifth and 8th in the sixth. He finished 10th in the seventh, 15th in the eighth and 13th in the ninth and most recent. While at first Neji was in between 10 and 19 in most of the character popularity polls, and Lee was in the Top 10, Lee has gradually become less popular, while Neji has become more popular, even though the two had equal exposure. However, in an overall tally of all of their scores, Lee and Neji made it to the Top 10.
 * Neji and Tenten have the same theme song in the anime, but Tenten's has a slower beat, and Neji's is more upbeat.
 * In an omake in Naruto: Shippūden episode 156, Naruto highlights how Neji doesn't appear much in Shippūden in contrast to his team-mates Lee and Tenten, who appeared in the anime-only Three-Tails' Appearance. Neji argues that, as a jōnin, he is constantly away on missions and never has free time.
 * Throughout the series, birds have been used to allude to Neji's will.

Quotes

 * (To Hinata) "People are judged by their true nature. It is the way of the world. That is why we have an elite, and that is why we have outcasts. We can change our physical appearance and improve our skills with training and study, but ultimately, we are judged by what we cannot change. What can't be changed must be endured. We are who we are, and we must live with it."
 * (To Naruto) "These eyes of mine show me many things. One thing they've shown me… people's limitations are set, fixed, and unchangeable. Only a fool wastes his time trying to become something he can never be! The only destiny that everyone shares… is death."
 * (To Naruto) "The curse represents a mark of the bird in a cage… It is… the symbol of being tied down to an inescapable destiny."
 * (To his father) "Father, is a person's destiny a thing like a cloud flowing with an inescapable flow? Or can a person choose the flow he wishes… I still don't know the answer to this. Either way the destination may be the same in the end. However by choosing to live like the latter, a person can live and strive towards a goal. And in this match I have finally understood those who have that are truly strong. Father, I have but one goal, I want to become stronger… Enough not to lose to anyone… That's how I feel. Father, the birds are flying freely today… They look so happy."
 * (To Naruto) "Naruto… sometimes your eyes are even better than mine."
 * (To Kidōmaru) "Even if my enemy is far stronger, even if my body should fail me, I cannot lose, there is a reason I cannot lose… …I was always known as a genius so I cannot lose. Especially for the sake of those who believed I was a genius being my weak and powerless self."
 * (To Kidōmaru) "No one can determine… another's destiny."
 * (To Naruto after sacrificing himself) "Hinata-sama was willing to die for you Naruto, so keep in mind that your life is not your own any more. It also includes mine now as well."
 * (Last words) "Father, I finally understand your feelings… The freedom you felt when you chose to die to protect your friends…"