Neji Hyuga
Neji Hyūga (日向ネジ, Hyūga Neji?) is a character from the manga and anime Naruto. He belongs to the Might Guy team, which Rock Lee and Tenten are also members of. As his last name indicates, he belonged to the Hyūga Clan. The translation of this surname means: "Towards the Sun".
Creation and conception
Neji is one of the known members of the Hyūga Clan whose name does not begin with a Gojūon kana (ha (ハ, ha?), hi (ヒ, hi?), fu (フ, fu?), he (ヘ, he?), or ho (ホ, ho?)). His name means "helix" or "spiral", which refers to one of the techniques he uses in the series, the Hakkeshō Kaiten.
This name also recalls Nei chia, one of the Chinese martial arts that is based on combat techniques that use smooth movements, such as Tai Chi Chuan or Hsing I Chuan. This type of martial art places emphasis on "internal power", to the detriment of "external power", tending to accentuate a circular redirection that seeks to control the force of the opponent instead of facing force. against force. In this way, these martial arts are a possible origin of the fighting style of the Hyūga Clan, based on the Jūken (Soft Fist).
Finally, his fighting style is similar to Pa Kua Chang and his techniques handle the philosophical concept of the Eight Trigrams.
Personality
Neji is a very quiet boy who initially holds a deep grudge against members of the main branch of his clan, whom he believes are responsible for his father's death. In his childhood, Neji had nothing against the main branch as he was too young to fully understand the implications of being a member of the sub-branch, but as he grew older, seeing that his father felt nothing but hatred for his brother and the first branch, little by little he began to experience it. He also develops a feeling of arrogance towards his cousin Hinata, constantly telling her that she can never be the heir to the Hyūga clan. All this made Neji believe that a person's future is decided at his birth and there is no way to escape or change his fate, but after being defeated by Naruto he seems to understand that he was wrong.
After learning the truth about his father, Neji begins to understand the true value of friendship and even decides to follow his uncle's training. Furthermore, he abandons the idea of a predetermined destiny and understands that one must always be stronger in order to never lose a battle.
The hatred Neji felt for the main branch eventually turns into respect for it and brotherly love for his uncle and cousin, not forgetting his position in the clan and his purpose to protect them. Initially, Neji he also denigrated his partner Rock Lee's dream of becoming a great ninja using only taijutsu with no knowledge of ninjustu, though he later changed his mind. Both he and Tenten often resent Lee and Might Guy's jovial and hyperactive demeanor, but are equally willing to fight for their teammates to whom they are very attached.
History
Past
When Neji was four years old, a great party was held to receive the envoys from the Country of Lightning to sign an alliance with the Hidden Leaf Village, all the inhabitants attended, except the Hyūga clan, which did not participate, since it was a day commemorated due to the third birthday of Hinata Hyūga, heir to the clan as she is the daughter of Hiashi, Hizashi's twin brother, who was born seconds later, which placed Neji, as his son, in the secondary branch of the clan. That day the two branches met, Neji met his cousin.
Hiashi asked his brother to leave Neji with him for a while so that he could place the cursed seal of the main Hyūga family on him, which would allow the main branch to kill him whenever they wanted, destroying his brain cells, and consigning him to servitude. and protection of these, thus turning it into a "caged bird". Days later, Neji and his father watched the training between Hinata and Hiashi; Hizashi explained to his son that his duty was to protect Hinata and the secrets of the clan, but faced with Neji's innocence, his father activated his Byakugan, which Hiashi considered an attempt to kill the clan. his niece The main branch leader stopped him by activating his brother's cursed seal and warning that it was the last time he would forgive him, reminding Neji not to forget his fate, prompting the boy to cry and change. in his personality.
Later, the ninja chief of the Village Hidden in the Clouds tried to kidnap Hinata to try to learn all the secrets of the clan and incidentally obtain her Byakugan, since this being from the main branch does not have the cursed seal, however, he would end up being killed by Hinata's father and clan leader, Hiashi. Not satisfied with what happened in that incident, the Village Hidden in the Clouds tries to retaliate for the murder and in view of the doors to a new war, but both villages agreed to reach a new treaty to try to maintain peace between both nations, so the Hidden Cloud Village agreed to accept the terms, but on the condition that the Hidden Leaf Village handed over the corpse of the Hyūga clan leader as compensation; It was secretly decided that Hizashi, Hiashi's twin brother, would be delivered as a tribute to appease the war, causing his death and taking advantage of the fact that he possessed the cursed seal of the Hyuga with which his Byakugan would self-destruct after his death and thus form the secrets of his clan and his doujutsu would not fall into enemy hands; although some time later it would be revealed that Hizashi actually decided this on his own to sacrifice himself for his brother and his home, but at the same time this fact was hidden from his son Neji, who believed that he had been forced to surrender instead of the main branch. Before dying, Hizashi said goodbye to his son, asking him to live as he was blessed with the greatest talent in the Hyūga clan, explaining that he wanted Neji to be born into the main branch, later Neji would cry over his father's corpse.. Finally, this resentment would end up marking Neji, causing him to develop a very bad and vengeful personality over the main branch of his clan, thinking that destiny is something decided from birth, something that people cannot change no matter how hard they try., specifically his uncle Hiashi and his cousin Hinata.
Part One
Neji along with Team Guy of which he is a part, participates in the Chūnin Exams during which he initially tries to go undetected under Might Guy's advice. He manages to pass the first and second exam tests, later defeating Hinata in the preliminaries, proving to be someone quite strong and leaving his cousin Hinata almost on the verge of death, but in the middle of the fight his cousin lets his cousin know that the only one who is suffering from the differences between branches is only him. Not satisfied with this comment from his own cousin, Neji tries to assassinate her, however his act is quickly stopped and subjugated by the Jonin, Hayate Gekko, Kakashi Hatake, Kurenai Yūhi and his own sensei Might Guy, where the latter represses him saying that he does not let his emotions and hatred cloud his judgment. In the third and final test he confronts Naruto, manifesting techniques he perfected, which the sub-branch shouldn't know about because they are only taught on the main branch, much to the consternation of his uncle, but finally, surprisingly, he would be defeated by Naruto, who also used a small part of Kurama's chakra. After his defeat, Naruto approaches Neji and mentions that he had to repeat the test of graduation three times in a row, since one of the requirements to pass at the time was to use the clone jutsu, but since Naruto could not do them well, he always ended up failing, until that day when he learned about the Shadow Clone jutsu and managed to perfect the technique to such a degree that it has become a fundamental part of his development as a ninja and with which he was finally able to graduate from the academy, it is also thanks to Naruto's words that Neji finally understands that the destiny of a human being is not marked from his birth. birth, but rather their actions in life are the ones that truly mark a person's own destiny and define who we are.
After a meeting at the village hospital, Neji learns the whole truth about his father's sacrifice from his uncle Hiashi, who was waiting for the right moment to explain all the fatal events of the past and was on his knees. Hiashi and in the midst of tears of pain asks his nephew a huge apology for all the hatred and resentment that he made him go through for a long time by hiding the truth from him, in addition to this Hiashi gives him a letter written by Neji's father prior to his death where he explains his actions. From that moment on, Neji begins to put aside his grudge against the main branch and agrees to be trained by his uncle and also reconciles with his cousin Hinata, whom he helps to improve her skills. training.
Following Sasuke's escape, he joins Sasuke's Retrieval Team, led by Shikamaru, to bring him back to the village. As part of Shikamaru's plan, Neji confronts Kidomaru of Hidden Sound Village.. However, he was damaged despite defeating him, his injuries were later treated in the intensive care ward by four medical ninjas.
Part Two
Two years later, Neji becomes a jōnin. However, on a mission with Team Guy, he rushes back to his village when he notices a flock of birds flying in the opposite direction and Gamabunta, the leader of all the Toads, lying unconscious not far from the village, informs them that the village is about to be destroyed. Arriving at the village, he finds Hinata injured and seeks a medical ninja to heal her.
During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Neji is recruited into the Second Division, led by Kitsuchi and, along with Hinata, faces several White Zetsu. After the first day of battle, during the night he guards the camp using his Byakugan, along with Kiba and Akamaru, to warn their teammates in case of enemy attacks. Meanwhile, a white Zetsu assumes the appearance of him through a particular transformation technique and infiltrates the medical unit: however, he is discovered by Sakura, who defeats him. Neji falls to the ground from exhaustion while awake, while Hinata takes his place, along with Shino.
After recovering and defeating the White Zetsu with his group, he runs to help Naruto who is facing the Ten-Tails. In the fight, his cousin Hinata was about to sacrifice her life using her own body as a shield to protect Naruto from a deadly attack, however at the last second, Neji jumps in front of her and Naruto, receiving the deadly attack on him. his place and ends up being impaled by several wooden stakes, after which Naruto desperately tries to ask for the help of a medical ninja for Neji, but the latter tells him not to bother saving him, since according to his words, he had accepted his fate and he ends up dying with a smile on his lips and in his friend's arms after telling him that he chose to die to protect his loved ones, as his father did at the time, moments after he dies the cursed seal activates and seals his Byakugan forever. After the Fourth Great Ninja War ended, Naruto and Hinata in tears appear in front of Neji's grave, to honor his sacrifice as well as the other ninjas who fell in the conflict.
Skills
Neji possesses the Byakugan, his clan's innate ability, which gives him almost 360º vision, and a special fighting style called «Juken» (柔拳, Gentle fist?), which allows him to damage the chakra circulatory system and internal organs. Neji is considered the genius of the Hyuga clan: he was, in fact, the first freshman in his class to graduate from the academy and was considered the strongest and most talented of all the Leaf genin who participated in the chūnin exams. At a young age, Neji already knew how to use the Byakugan, and knew all of the main branch's secret techniques (such as the Celestial Rotation and the 64 Palms Technique), which he learned and perfected on his own with extreme ease.
His Byakugan is more developed compared to that of the other members of his clan: he has developed, in fact, the ability to see perfectly the vanishing points of the opponent and in adolescence he has a view of 50 meters at 358º and he can zoom up to 1 km in a straight line. Despite his great abilities, Neji has a weak spot which is the blind spot of the remaining 2° on his back. In fact, when that happens, Neji finds himself in serious trouble, like in a confrontation with Kidomaru who manages to exploit it by fighting at a long distance. Although in the second part he manages to learn the «Hakke Kūshō» technique (八卦空掌, Eight Trigrams Air Palm?) to compensate for the weakness.
Completed missions
Over the course of the story, Neji has completed a total of 61 missions.
- Rank D: 24
- Rank C: 12
- Rank B: 15
- Rank A: 9
- Rank S: 1
Appearances in other media
Neji was one of the most prominent characters in Naruto. He also appears in some movies like Naruto Shippūden: The Movie, where with Naruto, Sakura and Lee they head to Demon Country. Neji also appears in the third OVA where he, along with all the protagonists, participates in a tournament in Konoha, losing to Naruto.
Neji also appears in many video games, including the Naruto: Clash of Ninja and Naruto: Ultimate Ninja series.