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Credit: Naruto
Without a doubt, the Hyuga clan was among the biggest wasted potentials the Naruto series ever had.
And no one bares that cross as much as Neji, the gifted ninja that became a fodder character after a single uppercut.
So in this ranking we’ll continue the clowning by looking into some hypothetical anime battles where Neji would absolutely eat some dirt.
And we’re avoiding overpowered characters, so don’t expect Goku or Saitama to be on here. Because that’s no fun.
10. Izuku Midoriya
Anime: My Hero Academia
Neji already got clowned on by one optimistic protagonist that supposedly had no talent, but ended up with the most powerful dormant power in the verse – so why not add another to the pile?
Midoriya at the beginning of MHA came nowhere near Neji’s level. But the second he learned to control One for All to an extent, it spelled game over for our Gentle Fist friend.
And there are two main reasons for this.
Number one: as we’ve seen in the fight with Naruto, the Gentle Fist means next to nothing if you’re rocking that third party power source.
In fact, Deku even showcased this point when his body moved on its own to break the brainwashing spell.
So odds are his power isn’t getting sealed away that easily.
Number two: Neji can’t really deal with enormous upfront power.
Just like base Naruto was able to simply punch through Neji’s rotation, Deku can send him flying into the sky like the next Team Rocket.
Fun sidenote: Deku could even deflect Neji’s long ranged attack with his own Gentle Finger Flicker. So even if Neji wanted to keep his distance, he couldn’t really keep it up for long.
9. Satoru Gojou
Anime: Jujutsu Kaisen
Gojou vs. Neji would probably be the most depressing matchup ever.
Since his entire thing is shutting down your chakra points and causing some organ damage through his quick strikes, not being able to actually touch the opponent would be quite the hassle.
And this goes for his long ranged attacks as well, since a literal infinity surrounds our favorite Reverse Kakashi at all times.
So Neji’s rotations would be as effective as just dancing at Gojou and hopping he would bust a gut laughing.
But a perfect defense would mean nothing without a good offense, right?
Well, Gojou has him beat in that regard as well. Because we’ve seen Gojou perform speed feats that are literally akin to full-on teleportation.
And although he isn’t exactly destroying arenas with a single punch, he can definitely knock Neji out cold with one solid blow.
Or he could just go for his own Haze Purple and make things a bit more interesting and a lot more morbid.
Whenever I see Neji start one of his square number punching routines, I can’t help but think of a certain “ora ora” man and his remarkably similar technique.
That being said, Joutarou wins by such a high margin here that it’s not even funny.
While Neji is out trying to defeat his enemies by causing pancreas damage, Joutarou can punch with enough force to destroy a giant monster’s diamond teeth like they were nothing.
And while Neji gets knocked cold after a single punch (and nearly dies from an arrow), Joutarou is out here stopping his own heart just to freak Dio out.
One might say that Neji beats out Star Platinum when it comes to speed, but that’s not true either.
If we looked at Star Platinum from episode one, he could catch bullets at point-blank range – while Neji is out here struggling against arrows and debris.
And all of this is not even mentioning the facts that Neji couldn’t even get to Joutarou’s main body, so his technique is meaningless. And that he’s facing a dude that can freeze time and push him down some stairs if he really feels like it.
7. Kurapika
Anime: Hunter x Hunter (2011)
Okay, some conditions do apply when it comes to this matchup, as pre Nen-vow Kurapika is extremely underwhelming.
However, if he wanted to do an alternative universe Itachi and get rid of the Hyua clan, Neji would likely not stand a chance.
There are a few main reasons for this.
Number one: Kurapika is way better at long ranged combat than Neji.
Sure, the air palm can cover some distance and do some damage. But it honestly can’t compare to Kurapika’s chains that can one-shot you if you let your guard down.
Number two: a blood-lusted Kurapika has way higher stats than you would think.
You can slam this dude into a mountain and he would still get up and continue fighting, while Neji is way more akin to a glass cannon.
Number three: Kurapika can chain Neji up and finish the fight before it even begins.
You might think that Neji could just destroy the chains and repel the attack. But considering these chains held down Uvogin, the dude whose punches craters and who could casually tank bazookas, I sincerely doubt Neji would be up for the task.
6. Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
Anime: Bungo Stray Dogs
Next up, we have Emo Gaara.
I say that as a joke – but honestly Ryūnosuke wins for the exact same reasons Gaara would win in this matchup:
More versatility and a better kit.
Just like Gaara, Ryūnosuke can simply keep Neji at a distance with his Rashomon and block every attack that manages to get through with his barriers.
We’ve already seen these barriers tank dozens of consecutive strikes from Fury Power, a character much stronger physically than Neji. So tanking the Gentle Fist shouldn’t be a problem.
Plus, Rashomon isn’t solely hard to predict, but also incredibly fast, launching dozens of spikes or even coming out from the ground and catching you off guard.
And if he really doesn’t like you, Rashomon could even just form a mouth and simply eat you.
Overall, I do think Neji would hold his ground initially. But since he can’t exactly stay on the defensive forever, he’s bound to get impaled sooner or later.
5. Mori Jin
Anime: The God of High School
It felt lame to only include characters with destructive powers on this list. So let’s talk about someone who actually knows some martial arts.
In terms of hand-to-hand combat, Neji outperforms Jin on speed, but falls drastically behind when it comes to strength.
And as far as they’re technique, it’s rather difficult to gauge.
However, what turns the tables in Jin’s favor is the fact that Jin is also a literal God – and has the most powerful stick the world has ever seen.
With its ability to change size at will, both Jin’s damage output and his unpredictability skyrocket. Because he’s now capable of dishing out meteor-sized punches and the sneakiest of all outplays.
And since Neji is hardly going to break a stick used to bop literal monsters and devils on the head, the fight might get really messy really quickly.
4. Asta
Anime: Black Clover
The best way to stop someone from canceling all of your powers is to simply not have powers to begin with.
Or at least, not the types of powers that would translate as chakra in the Naruto universe.
So how does this fight go?
In his human form, Asta is as durable as the fandom’s hate for Boruto.
His strength is far above anything Neji could take on. And his speed is at the very least on par with Neji.
It’s also worth pointing out that while Neji can’t stop Asta’s power, Asta could arguably just wave away Neji’s rotations, and perhaps even dispel the chakra that enters his body through his Demon-Destroyer sword.
So it’s not looking great for young Hyuga over here.
But then we get into the discussion of Asta going even slightly demonic, and all of our hypothesizing is done away with immediately.
We could all watch in awe as Neji gets made into a kebab for the third and final time.
3. Rudeus Greyrat
Anime: Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation
I’d say this matchup is a bit more iffy than the rest, but it would be an amazing fight. So I’m going to add it to our list.
There’s no doubt in my mind that your initial thought after seeing this matchup is “Rudeus gets slaughtered”. Because he’s a mage in a ten-year-old’s body.
However, I wouldn’t count Rudeus out just yet.
First off, Rudeus has his pseudo-sharingan which we’ve seen in the anime – it allows him to battle on par with Eris, one of the strongest swordsmen in the series.
And that’s not even mentioning just how much firepower Rudeus really has with his spells.
Even while basically dead, he managed to fire off a spell so powerful that he almost damaged the strongest dude in his respective universe.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but Neji definitely didn’t even touch Madara or Kaguya.
Plus, Rudeus is incredibly clever, and can weave spells together to take full control of the battlefield.
My prediction would be that Rudeus would keep his distance and nerf Neji’s mobility by creating some mud, or maybe a hole for Neji to fall into.
And then he’d dish out a spell too powerful for Neji’s rotations to destroy.
Caveat: I will admit that if Neji does manage to land even a single hit, it’s kind of game over for our boy Rudeus.
2. Rock Lee
Anime: Naruto: Shippuden
I wanted to throw Lee into the mix because the notion that Neji could stand up to the taijutsu master is laughable.
Regardless of whether we’re talking about the original series or Shippuden, Neji gets absolutely bodied by Lee – and there’s very little room for counterplay.
I mean, just by dropping his weights, Lee is way faster than anything Neji could ever handle.
Plus in terms of damage output, Neji is also nowhere near Lee’s level – especially if he goes anywhere beyond the third gate.
Considering how Lee was able to play ragdoll with Gaara and even cause damage to an Edo Madara fricking Uchiha, there’s no way that Neji is surviving even a single hit.
All in all, Lee considering Neji as his rival at any point past the Chūnin Exam is just self-doubt with a hit of fanboying.
1. Garou
Anime: One Punch Man
I would honestly pay someone just to animate this clash.
Garou is basically Neji’s perfect counterpart when it comes to their fighting style. So this swapping of hands would be nothing short of a spectacle.
However, I do think Neji could get bodied after a really intense warming up sequence.
This is for a few main reasons.
One big reason is that I don’t think Neji could actually keep up with a dude that can perfectly deflect thousands of bullets like they’re nothing.
And even if he could, that victory would not last for long.
That’s because Garou just gets stronger and stronger as the fight continues, by tapping into more of his monster side.
Not to mention he can also turn into half a Uchiha and copy your technique after sparring with you for a few minutes.
Overall, I think these two would be rather equal initially.
But Garou can ramp up hard.
Plus the fact that his durability is way higher, and that he doesn’t use any chakra – yeah, Neji would be eating dirt by the end.
